Dear Parents and Carers,

At the beginning of each year, I am obliged to provide information about student attendance. Here is a brief summary of main points in CECG Policy compliant with ACT Law. This is important to know if you are planning any extended family trips during the school term.

• Parents/carers must ensure students attend school
• Parents/carers must provide an explanation to the school for any absence
• Parents/carers must notify the school of planned absences of up to 25 school days in a 12- month period (including 25-part days) in writing, including the reason for the absence
• Planned absences of more than 25 days in a 12-month period, other than sick leave, have additional requirements and parents/carers must apply in advance for extended leave.

Please reach out if you have any questions as we are very happy to support you regarding any attendance concerns.

2025 Student residential address and other information Collection Notice

There is a letter attached to this Newsletter, parents are not required to do anything, but we are required to let you know that the Australian Government gathers this information.

The Student residential address and other information collection (address collection) informs Australian Government school education policy and helps ensure funding for non-government schools is based on need. The information collected is used to inform school funding calculations. It is combined with Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data to calculate a non-government school community’s anticipated capacity to contribute to schooling costs, known as the capacity to contribute (CTC) score. There are contact details on the form if you have further questions.

NAPLAN

A letter is coming home to Year 3 and 5 families informing you about NAPLAN (Wed.12-Mon.24 March) At St Michael’s, NAPLAN is treated as a routine event on our school calendar.  

You are all very welcome and encouraged to come along to our Parent Information Session on the evening of Wednesday 19 February 5:30 – 6.30 pm.
The information session will be in the library. You can enjoy some nibbles, hear school information and then you are welcome to visit your child’s classroom and meet your teacher.
This year our Community Services#1 Team will help out our families by providing supervision for our students from Kinder-Year 6, whilst the meet and greet is happening.

Please drop off your child/ren and sign them in at the hall by 5:30pm. Popcorn and activities will be available. All students are required to be signed out by 6.30 pm.
For catering purposes please consent or decline this event via Compass under your child's name.
Please come along to meet other families and build important relationships that benefit your child.

Community Council

We have a wonderful group of parents who form our Community Council Executive and a generous team of helpers who support us for events during the year. We will have some Council members at our Information Night so if you would like to hear more, please introduce yourself or add your name and contact to a working group and they will be in touch.

The Swimming Carnival is just around the corner- Tuesday 18 February Yr 3-6 students at Gunghalin Pool and K-2 students have some water fun play at school. If you can help out at the pool, please let Erin know.

Erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au

Friday Assemblies

For the first few weeks we will have our birthdays and awards on Thursday morning at 8:50am, so we can include our wonderful Kindergarten Class. What a sensational bunch of children- they are already veterans! First Assembly- this Thursday 13 February 8:50 am- all welcome, (meet in courtyard, hall if wet weather).

School fees

We are very grateful to all families who support us by paying fees. Term 1 Fee Statements will be issued: 20^th February 2025. If you have any questions or would like clarification around School Fees, please call.

Thank you to all our families for as we walk together in friendship in 2025.

Many Blessings,

Judy Egan     

Special wishes to those children who will celebrate their birthdays this week: Adeline B, 5/6I, Lydia W, 5/6P, Florentina K, 2R, Peltsho C, 5/6P. 

Congratulations to the following students who achieved a Harmony Award this week.

Well done!!   

Parish Sacramental Program

2025 Sacramental Program – for students who are baptised and will be in years 4-6 in 2025.

Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated in term 1, 2025

Sacrament of First Communion will be celebrated in term 2, 2025

Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated in term 3, 2025

For further Information – please contact the Sacramental Program Coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or check the parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Swimming Carnival

Our swimming carnival will take place next Tuesday, 18 February at Gungahlin Leisure Centre for all students in years 3-6. K-2. Students will remain at school for a water fun day. Please see the Compass event for all relevant information. Buses will leave at 9:10 so please ensure your child arrives at school on time.

We are looking forward to a fun day!

School Sport ACT - ACT Teams Selection - Important Information 

Please see the School Sport ACT webpage http://www.schoolsportaustralia.edu.au/stateterritory-school-sport-offices/school-sport-act/ or Facebook page for the most up to date information.

SCHOOL SPORT ACT TRIALS – Please keep an eye on the School Sport ACT website www.schoolsportact.asn.au for upcoming ACT trials. The process for registering can be found below. If you need any assistance registering your child please feel free to ask for assistance.

How to register your child with School Sport ACT

School Sport ACT now collects all registration information online – this is to prevent the movement to and fro of a paper note and have all information readily available to officials prior to the trial. As this process incurs a fee for data storage, system maintenance and admin, a small fee payment via credit card will be required.

1. Go to the School Sport ACT website – www.schoolsportact.asn.au
2. Click Register (top right corner of homepage) for an Account – enter parent details and password
3. A confirmation email will be sent to your chosen email that will contain a link that you must click on to verify the email account.
4. Click Log In (top right hand corner of home page) enter password then click on top tab My Profile
5. You will see a ‘dashboard’ of your information, click green box to Add Student – enter student and medical details and save.
6. Go to the Sports Tab – choose your specific sport, click on Trial Information box then click on the Register to Trial link.
7. Select your child’s name from the dropdown box and then enter the optional fields for Playing History, Preferred Position (if applicable) and Representative Experience. If you are already in the system, ensure your child’s school is up to date in your profile – have they moved onto High School?

We are so pleased to continue the Resilience Project program at St. Michael’s this year. Students will focus on the core concepts of Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness, and Emotional Literacy (G.E.M + EL), which promote well-being and resilience. In our school newsletter, we will share strategies that you could use to try G.E.M + EL at home.

This year we are also delighted to be trialling URSTRONG Friendology. This program will intertwine nicely with The Resilience Program as it will teach our students to establish and maintain healthy relationships, manage conflict with kindness, and increase their overall resilience.

For any inquiries about these programs, please contact Shianne Sahariv: shianne.sahariv@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Positive Partnerships is a helpful resource for all families. This one-day workshop is a great opportunity for our families who have children with autism.

Student Attendance Term Dates 2025

Term 1 4 February to 10 April
Term 2 29 April to 3 July
Term 3 22 July to 25 September
Term 4 14 October to 18 December