What an amazing fortnight I have had interviewing new enrolments for 2020. I have mentioned it before, but what an amazing school we have. When walking around and talking about St Michael's with the new families, I am reminded of what an amazing school we have. At this stage, we have 25 Kinder enrolments for 2020. This is up from the last two years which is great - the news is spreading. We are also welcoming 3 new families next term with students going into Kinder (2), Year 2 (2), Year 4 (1) and Year 6 (1). We will welcome these 6 new students towards the end of this term as we set up transition visits before their official start in Week 1 next term. 

Tomorrow I will attend the ACT Principal's Meeting. Over the last few weeks, talking to various Principals across Canberra, I am reminded of the positive and supportive environment we all have created at St Michael's. Any issues that arise at St Michael's regarding student needs are managed quickly and effectively. Whilst at times, from the outside or recounted from a student perception, it might seem like these are big issues where nothing is followed up. Rest assured that every incident, whatever it might be, is dealt with in line with our policies and procedures and followed up most appropriately. If at any time you feel this is not the case, the best course of action is to speak directly with the class teacher or a member of the executive. 

Sustainability Parent Action Team

Last week our first Sustainability Parent Action Group met. Thanks to Damien Webb, Esther Coghlan, Irene Culjak, Nat Ryall and Belinda Larner for joining this team. As you can imagine, for a school our size, running the Greenhouse is a massive job and requires a team to ensure everything is running smoothly. It is an amazing resource for our students and we would like to make sure that it thrives well into the future. If you would like to help out in anyway (it could be to help feed the fish, water plants, help coordinate a family event or anything else you may think of) please reach out to one of these members. 

School Fees Reminder

A reminder that school fees are now due. If you have not paid, or organised a payment plan or direct debit arrangements, please contact the Front Office as soon as possible. Reminder letters were sent out to families last week. 

Early Supervision Reminder

A reminder also that we open the library at 8am for early supervision. As this is not part of our required operating hours, we ask for a gold coin donation. I thank the executive team for giving up some of their own time to assist families with this early drop off. Formal supervision starts at 8.20am. 

Refugee Week

Starting on Sunday, Damien Webb, Laura Frogley and myself will start the Ration Challenge to raise awareness of the refugee crisis during Refugee Week. The three of us will live on the same rations as a Syrian Refugee for 7 days. Please be gentle with us as we learn to do without coffee, alcohol, vegetables, red meat and sugar. We really appreciate all the sponsorship that we have already received from the school community. We originally aimed to raise $1500 collectively and have now surpassed this to have a total of over $2400. You can still sponsor us, every little bit counts to help us to help those in need. You can sponsor us at https://my.rationchallenge.org.au/t/stmichaelsstaff

Enjoy the week ahead.

Regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal

Whole School Prayer Time

Thank you to 5/6FW for their engaging Whole School Prayer Time last Friday afternoon. 

First Eucharist

Thank you to the families who joined us in our special preparation evening last Thursday. It was great to see parents involved in exploring the Three Worlds of the Text with their children and learning more about our sacred scripture.

Tomorrow, Thursday 13 June, all of Year Four will take part in a special retreat day focussing on the Eucharist. We will be joined by St Monica’s Year Four and the School of Religion students as we prepare together as a parish to celebrate First Communion at the Feast of Corpus Christi. Families are most welcome to join us at Mass in St Michael’s at 9:30am tomorrow morning. Students will have pizza for lunch and need to bring their own morning tea, fruit break and a water bottle.

If you have not already taken part in a commitment ritual at Mass please ensure you see Father Loi at this preparation evening. Thank you to those families who have already paid the $30 administrative fee for First Communion. If you have not done so yet could you please contact Ms Younger ASAP.

Mini Vinnies 

This Friday, 14^th June, Mini Vinnies will be holding their ‘Winter Woolies’ day and hosting a ‘Stay Out’ again. Students are invited to come dressed in warm woollies for the day and bring donations of jumpers, scarves, gloves and blankets. The warm Winter clothing will be donated to St Vincent de Paul Night Patrol for use with the homeless and poor in our city.

From 4:00pm Mini Vinnies will also host a ‘Stay Out’. Students are invited to come back to school between 4 – 8pm to share in some activities learning about homelessness and life for the poor in our community. We will have a visit from the Night Patrol van, sort the clothes and pack some toiletries for them and have a small experience of what it is like to sleep outside. Dinner of hot pumpkin soup and a bread roll will be provided. Please note that no other food is to be brought in to eat during the Stay Out, both to engage the children in the full experience and also to support those children with allergies. Permission notes have gone home for the Stay Out and are available on the school website.

This year, to ensure we are keeping on track of our goals set through our Annual Improvement Plan, staff are focusing on particular areas each fortnight. Teachers have set professional goals which align with our school goals and targets for the year. Some areas that are being focused on are setting clear learning intentions and ensuring students understand what these are, modelling think alouds when reading and writing, incorporating student voice more in the learning process and being more specific with our questioning and feedback. 

Just a reminder to any parents who would like to be involved in the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) group. I am hoping to get this up and running before the end of the term with our first meeting to occur before school holidays. A RAP is a formal statement of commitment to reconciliation. It is a way for us as a school to reflect on what we are doing well and where we need to improve, with implementing and including Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander cultures and perspectives. A diverse working group ensures the responsibility of implementing reconciliation initiatives does not sit with one person. If you would like to be involved, please email Jessica Lewis jessica.lewis@cg.catholic.edu.au

• Establish a home reading routine. Read aloud with your children everyday. Talk about the illustrations, discuss themes and characters that emerge and contribute where you can. Share your excitement for reading and this will be the model your child will adopt.
• The reader holds the book! There is a lot of power and control in the world of reading. The reader needs to have the power.
• During home reading time, turn off electronic devices and give each child at least ten minutes of your undivided attention.
• Before you read a book, set your child up for success. Reading is not a test! Reading time is only ten minutes so do some of the following: Keep the introduction short – one minute is enough. Talk about the illustrations and the title. Read the blurb and talk about the author, talk about any unusual words, read a page here and there as your child flicks through the book, discuss the characters. This is a short introduction, not an interrogation. If the book is already a familiar one, then this step is unnecessary.
• If reading time is stressful, move the reading to a new location. Instead of sitting at the kitchen bench, move to the lounge room floor, or go outside and sit under a tree or take the books to the local coffee shop.
• Find a reading time that works for your family. Limit the time and set the timer if reading in the past has always been difficult. It is better to have an enjoyable 10 minutes than a laborious 30 minutes where everyone is left feeling frustrated.
• At the end of the 10 minutes, ask questions that encourage discussion, for example: What was your favourite part? Tell me about the characters. What do you think will happen next? What did you think about that setting? What do you like/ dislike about this book? There is no need to interrogate the reader. Make it a conversation as you would in a book club.
• Encourage your child to read independently. A bedside light is one of the best enticements for your child to read before going to sleep. After the 10 minutes of reading with you, the child can elect to continue reading independently.
• The less you interrupt the 10 minutes of reading, the more you are supporting the readers independence, resilience and confidence. Zip your lips, monitor the miscues, and listen as your child reads.
• Avoid judging your child’s reading with words such as: ‘good’, ‘excellent’ or ‘getting better’. Instead say things about the strategies your child uses when reading such as: ‘I like how you read on when you came to that difficult word.’ ‘I like how you changed your voice to be the voice of the character in the story’. ‘I noticed that you reread the bit that did not make sense.’
• If you child is reading independently and has reached the level of chapter books, it is not necessary for you to read aloud together any more. That is not to say, you cannot continue to share reading time because it is what you love to do as a family or that you sit and read silently together or that you talk about the books your child is reading because you are interested in his reading choices. Readers read differently in their heads as compared to reading aloud.
• Visit the local library — make it a family ritual on a set day every fortnight. Let your children select their books while you select books you are interested in reading. Not every book has to be read cover to cover. Your child might select books based on illustrations or factual information about a topic of interest.
• Independent readers pick and choose what they read. They are entitled to read some and reject others. They are entitled to not complete books because they are boring. Readers make choices.
• Model what it means to be an enthusiastic reader. Create a home of readers where everyone reads – It is just what we do in this house! Talk about what you have read. Read aloud what makes you laugh and enjoy and share it with your child.

This year the students in Years 4 to 6 have been invited to participate in a pilot program designed by Centenary Professor Tom Lowrie from the University of Canberra. This program focusses on the use of spatial reasoning and visual imagery to solve mathematics problems.

Areas that will be focused upon include spatial visualisation, mental rotation and spatial orientation. Concepts such as symmetry in the environment, symmetrical patterns, pictures and shapes, two-dimensional shapes that result in combining and splitting common shapes, translations, reflections and rotations of two-dimensional shapes, line and rotational symmetries, prisms and solids formed from combinations of prisms, 2D objects and the properties of the resulting image compared with the original, routes using landmarks and directional language, simple prisms and pyramids and recognising and using patterns and relationships.

Congratulations to Amelie 5/6FW who has been selected to represent St Michael's at the upcoming Rostrum Public Speaking Competition Quarter Finals at Turner School on Thursday 13 June at 6pm. Congratulations also to Tayla 5/6FW who was selected as runner up. All students in 5/6 were asked to write a speech choosing from various topics and present to their class. Amelie's topic was xxxx and Tayla's topic was xxxx This is a great opportunity for students to practice the craft of public speaking. 

BOSTIK AND SMART SCHOOLS COMPETITION

Year 3/4 will be entering as a group​, a competition to create a fun and imaginative craft project using a range of Bostik products and materials.

A photo of the completed single project will submitted to the Promoter.

First prize is $5000 to the school. Second prize is a Bostik product pack valued at $1000 and the people’s choice winner is $3000.

Visitors to the website may vote for the best entry during the Promotional Period.

If you do not wish for your child to be part of this group entry please email Mrs McKeough, as parental consent is required.

Competition Website: https://bostiksmartschools.com.au/

The app of the week is Goldie Blox and the Movie Machine.

Your child will learn the basics of animation and create her own one-second animated GIFs. A fun and colourful way to create a writing prompt for home or act out a scene in a story.

The lost property bins are filling up very fast.  If your child/ren have misplaced an item, please check the boxes near the sliding doors, all unclaimed items will be disposed of at the end of this Term.

If you have misplaced a pair of 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses, please see Lisa in the Front Office.

Please ensure that your children's belongings are all clearly labelled to enable them to be returned.  

Congratulations 

Congratulations to Alisa 5/6B, Liana 5/6FW and Pearl 5/6B who have been selected into the ACT U12 Girls Football (Soccer) Team. The girls will compete at the Nationals held in Canberra in August. 

Belconnen Region Athletics Carnival

The team for the Belconnen Region Athletics Carnival was announced today. Congratulations to the 33 students who will represent our school on Monday 19^th August at the AIS. Permission notes will come home at the beginning of next term.

Our Fastest Sprinters

Congratulations to Josh 5/6FW who took out the fastest sprinter title! In second place was Liam 5/6FW and third Anthony 5/6B. Congratulations to Liam, Anthony, Josh, Oliver, Liana, Tamika, Jacob, Mitchell and Samuel who competed for the top spot.

Congratulations to the following children who have achieved a Harmony Award in Week 7 and will receive their award this Friday at morning gathering (weather permitting).

Lunch Orders are to be placed by MIDNIGHT on Wednesday nights. 

The canteen still require assistance on Fridays from approximately 12.30-1.45 to help pack lunch orders, if you can assist in anyway, please contact Lisa in the Front Office.  Any help is greatly appreciated.  

Please feel free to contact Empire Catering on 0408 200 481 for queries with lunch orders or any constructive feedback you have regarding menu items.  

Playgroup is held on Wednesdays in Weeks 2 to 9 from 9am til 10.30am in the School Hall. It is for children ages 0-5 and their parents/carers.  Please contact Kylie Arena or Lisa Monro on 62414022 for any enquires. 

Special wishes to those children who celebrate their birthday this week:

Parth 1/2W and Dylan 5/6FW

We hope you have a great day!!

#MERICI60 CONCERT

As part of Merici College’s 60^th Anniversary celebrations, a very special concert and fundraiser will be held on Friday 9 August and Saturday 10 August in the College Auditorium, Wise Street Braddon. The concert starts at 7.00pm (arrival and seating at 6.30pm) on both nights. Walk down memory lane as each decade is revisited through dance, music, drama performances, Alumni reflections and current students highlighting life at Merici College. Tickets and refreshment packages available at www.trybooking.com/BCWAY. All funds raised will be used to improve indoor and outdoor learning spaces for students. 

Belconnen Youth Ministry

Junior - Inviting all students in year 3-7 to join us for an afternoon of faith, friendship and fun at South Belconnen Parish's Youth Group and Youth Mass. Join us in Marian Hall just outside of St Matthew's Church, Page on Saturday 15th June at 4:45pm for Youth Group (yr 3-7) then come to celebrate the Youth Mass (all ages) at 6pm. Contact Youth Minister Sarah for more information at Sarah.Larkin@cg.org.au

Senior - Agape is a youth group for students in year 7-12 who are interested in learning more about their faith with friends. Join us at St John's Parish, Kippax on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month following the 6pm Mass from 7-9pm. Contact Youth Minister Eoin for more information at Eoin.Garton@cg.org.au

Young Adults - Young adults aged between 18-30 are invited to casually meet up for dinner on Saturday the 15th June. Join us for the 6pm Youth Mass at St Matthew's Church, Page then move with us to get dinner as a group in the Belconnen city. Contact Youth Minister Sarah Larkin for more information at Sarah.Larkin@cg.org.au

The Woolies Earn and Learn program is back running from 1 May till 25 June.  For every $10 spent at a Woolworths store you will be given a sticker, the stickers can then be placed on a sticker sheet (available from the Front Office), or placed in the boxes on display in the Front Office or at the Woolworths store in Belconnen Mall.  The stickers will then be redeemed for resources from Modern Teaching Aids.  Start collecting today to enable us to receive some great resources.

The 2019/20 Entertainment Book is now available to purchase.  Books can be purchased at the Front Office for $60 or digital copies can be ordered through the following link.  Please see Lisa in the Front Office for more information.