Dear parents and carers

It has certainly been a time of great joy and celebration at St Michael’s over the past couple of weeks. Our school has been filled with joyful moments that remind us of the beauty of everyday life in our school community.

From special sacramental celebrations and feast days, the warm welcome of new teachers, to the arrival of precious new babies and even a wedding, there has been so much to celebrate! 

Amidst all this excitement, our classrooms continue to buzz with energy as students dive into their learning with enthusiasm and dedication. We are excited to share some of these wonderful highlights with you in this week’s newsletter.

NEW PE TEACHER

As you know, our PE teacher, Mr Shields, had to resign from his position a couple of weeks ago, due to medical reasons. He was sad to leave our school but had to put his health first. We wish him all the very best with getting his health back on track.

On a happier note, we have a new PE teacher starting this week. Ms Kerrie Jago is an experienced teacher, who has worked as a gymnastics coach and loves sports of all kinds.

Ms Jago is very excited to be joining the St Michael’s family. Staff and students have welcomed her this week as she gets to know more about our wonderful school. 

CONGRATULATIONS TOM and SHONTELLE

On Saturday, our Wellbeing Officer, Mr Tom Skinner was married to his beautiful bride Shontelle. The happy couple were married in a beautiful ceremony at St Monica’s Cathedral. Congratulations to you both from all of us at St Michael’s!

NEW BABIES

Our wonderful School Officer, Mrs Shelley became a proud grandmother recently when her daughter Hannah brought a little bundle of joy into this world. We are all so excited to welcome Harrison to our extended family. Congratulations to Hannah and Kurt!

We wait with baited breath to meet two more little people as their expectant mums and siblings eagerly await their arrival.

We wish all our families blessings of happiness and love and thank God for the precious gift of new life.

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME - A Special Step in Faith - Reconciliation

We are delighted to celebrate a significant milestone in the faith journey of five of our Year 4 students (and 3 students from other schools in the area), who recently received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. With reverence and joy, they took this important step in the presence of Father Sabu, supported by their families, sacramental programme teachers, and parish community.

This sacred moment marks a deepening of their relationship with God and a beautiful expression of forgiveness, reflection, and grace. We are so proud of their commitment and spiritual growth. Congratulations to each of them!

Candidates from St Michael’s who are taking part in the sacramental programme are:

Ashton Galeano, Harper Lloyd, Arthur Stephens, Oliver Lizzio and

Remi Summers

ST MICHAEL’S CELEBRATES THE FEAST OF OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS

Last week, the whole of St Michael’s School came together to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, a special day in the Catholic calendar. This feast honours Mary, the mother of Jesus, and reminds us of her role in offering comfort and support to people in times of need.

For Catholics, Mary is seen as a loving and caring figure who helps guide and protect us, much like a mother does. The celebration included a joyful Mass, presided over by Father Sabu, singing and classroom activities that helped students reflect on kindness, compassion, and helping others - values that everyone can appreciate and share and that echo the St Michael’s Way.

BUILDING STRONG FOUNDATIONS IN LITERACY AT ST MICHAEL’S

You may have noticed that children have been engaged in some slightly different work in English lessons recently. Perhaps you have received some information from your child’s teacher about Literacy Block routines or even some homework that looks a little different. So what is a Literacy Block?

At St Michael’s, we are committed to using the latest research to guide how we teach children speaking and listening, reading and writing. Across the whole school, every morning begins with a dedicated Literacy Block, where teachers explicitly teach the essential skills known as ‘The Big 6’ of reading. These include

• Oral language
• Phonological Awareness
• Phonics
• Vocabulary
• Fluency

Lessons are carefully tailored to each child’s stage of development, ensuring every student is supported and challenged appropriately.

Research shows that a consistent approach across all year levels builds student confidence and leads to greater success - and we’re already seeing the benefits in our classrooms!

If you want to know more about Literacy Blocks and how you can help your child at home with reading, writing or speaking, come along to our next St Michael’s Community Group meeting where our Leader of Learning and Teaching (Ms Kelly Evans) will be presenting a workshop for parents.

FEEDBACK SURVEYS

From Monday 26th May, students, staff and parents will receive an invitation to participate in a short Feedback Survey asking for your feedback on the service St Michael’s provides you and your family.

Feedback surveys play a crucial role for several reasons:

• They provide an opportunity for students, parents/carers and teachers to express their opinions and provide feedback on various aspects of education.
• Incorporating feedback surveys as a regular practice fosters a culture of continuous improvement within our schools.
• Surveys promote accountability and transparency within the education sector.
• These surveys assist schools in meeting legislated accreditation requirements.

We really do appreciate your feedback, so please take some time to complete the survey as soon as you are able. Thank you.

SUGAR SOLSTICE

We are excited to invite all of our students to participate in the Sugar Solstice Parade at Norman Park on Saturday 14th June 2025.

To ensure we arrive on time and in full spirit, we ask that all participating students assemble outside St Michael's School at 1:30pm. From there, we will walk together to Norman Park as a group in the community parade.

Important Details:

• Students should come dressed in the nominated colour for their year level (see table below). We encourage everyone to dress entirely in that one colour to create a vibrant and unified look.
• All students must wear their school hat and enclosed shoes for safety and sun protection.

To help us with planning and supervision, please let us know if your child will be participating by completing the parent slip that was sent home today.

We look forward to a colourful and joyful celebration with our school community!

That’s it from me for this week. Keep a lookout on our Facebook page for updates and special events happening at St Michael’s.

Don’t forget to book your tickets for our upcoming Trivia Night ‘Out of this World’!

Have a wonderful two weeks!

God bless

Prep B

The maths focus last week in maths was representing number in different ways. The kids played with number puzzles, subitised and practiced showing number in a variety of ways up to 20. 

Class 1B

This term, Year 1 students have been exploring narrative texts including The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Wombat Stew, How the Birds Got Their Colours, and Tiddalick. They have created detailed story maps using pictures and words to represent key elements such as characters, setting and main events. We are now extending this learning by using the Book Creator app, where students are enjoying recording their story maps using the microphone tool to bring their stories to life.

Class 2B

Recently we were very lucky to have Mrs Anderson in to chat about the history of St Michael's and take us on a tour around the school. She explained how each building has changed over time and what school has been like for students from over 100 years ago to now. We also learnt a bit more about St Michael and St Alphonsus, which ties into our Year 2 religion unit this term.

Class 3B

Class 5B

Students in year 5 are working very hard at completing assessment for all the subject areas at the present time to ensure that all tasks are completed for Reporting at the end of term.

At present, in English studies, many are using persuasive writing to write letters or orally craft arguments to persuade others. This is connected to the studies in HASS where the Australian form of government is investigated. As you know, debating in parliament is very much executed on a daily basis.

In Mathematics students have completed an investigation on chance and data and have concluded that the odds of winning Lotto are indeed slim. We can all take note of that one!

In Religion we have been studying the Pentecost story and the various gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. We attended a short Liturgy on Thursday in the classrooms and will host Assembly prayer on Friday.

The school sports carnival is coming soon and we look forward to seeing you all there. Remember that the carnival is at Johnson Park and is a two day event.

Class 6B

For the past 2 weeks 6B students have been researching and describing some interesting marine life aggregations that occur in different parts of the world, with a particular focus on the importance of the aggregations for researchers, the local economy and survival of the species concerned. Our recent maths focus has been on angles. In addition to using protractors to measure angles, students have reinforced their understanding of different types of angles and applied their knowledge of corresponding, interior, adjacent and opposite angles to solve a variety of problems. Here are some examples of students’ angle work and their research on marine life aggregations.

CLASS AWARDS

Term 2 Week 6

2025 Premier's Reading Challenge

Hi everyone! I’m Chandell, Tuckshop Convenor. I’m all about making our tuckshop a lively, fun-filled place, and I’d love for you to be part of it!

How You Can Get Involved:

• Volunteer: Whether you’ve got an hour or two to spare, or just want to pop in for a quick hello, your help is gold to us! No need to let us know in advance—just swing by and join the fun. Don't forget to complete your volunteer induction first!

• Bake for Us: If volunteering isn’t your thing, we’d love your support through baked goodies. Sweet or savory, your treats make our tuckshop extra special!

Come for the laughs, stay for the community, and help us keep our tuckshop the heart of the school. We can’t wait to see you there!

     

Parents can see all of our current Tuckshop items in the Flexischools app.

2025 Catholic School Fees and Discount

2025 Concession Card Information Sheet

Kind Regards,
Justine Hind | Finance/HR Officer
accounts.gordonvale@cns.catholic.edu.au

Can you help? Are you able to offer your talents?

Commentator, Reader, Choir, Musician, PowerPoint Operator, Altar Server, Church Cleaning, Trimming Hedge, Helping with Sacramental Program, Hospitality -helping with morning teas after Anointing Mass, Setting up for coffee/tea after Sunday 8am Mass, Assist on Wednesdays with Free coffee/tea Norman Park  3.30-5.30pm. 

Contact Rita in the Parish Office 4046 5215 / 4046 5216 / 0409 054 401.