Dear parents and carers

Welcome Back to Term 2!

I hope all our families had a peaceful and holy Easter break. I was lucky enough to have some leave for a holiday with my husband, my eldest son and his wife. We spent quality time together making wonderful memories and making the most of some down time together. 

As we embark on another exciting term of learning, we are thrilled to see our students ready and eager to dive into the many opportunities ahead.

This term promises to be filled with exciting learning experiences and social events for both students and families. We are particularly proud of our students who participated in the ANZAC Day parade in Gordonvale last week. It was heartwarming to see so many St Michael's students in attendance, with our school leaders laying a wreath at the cenotaph to honour those who served. Lest we forget.

Our term has already started on a high note with a visit from Andrew Chinn, who delighted us with new songs and revitalised some of our old favourites.

Andrew Chin is a singer/songwriter whose faith-based tunes have been used in Catholic Primary Schools for many, many years in the faith development of children. At St Michael’s we sing Andrew’s songs in class liturgies, in church and on school assemblies.

Andrew has visited more than 1200 Catholic primary schools, performing in 4000 concerts across Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada sharing his music and his faith with children, teachers and parents. On Wednesday this week, St Michael’s hosted Andrew for a concert that was attended by the whole school and by St Rita’s school from Babinda.

Additionally, congratulations to our students who qualified for the TCS Cross Country event at St Mary's this Thursday. Our PE teacher, Mr Shields and School Officer Liz Daniel accompanied our students and have proudly reported how well each student did on the day.

All students put in their best effort, cheered on their friends and should be so proud of themselves.

The following students placed and will be attending the Peninsula Cross Country trails later this month.

• Pikaila Demas - 2^nd place
• Ben Ganley - 3^rd place
• Nate Pritchard - 2^nd place
• Gareth Nerot - 7^th place
• Mila Weidner - 9^th place (and is a shadow for Peninsula).

St Michael's also placed 3^rd overall! 

Congratulations to all of those who ran yesterday!! 

Week 3 will kick off with a public holiday for Labor Day on Monday, giving everyone a chance to recharge before we dive into the rest of the term. We have a fantastic lineup of events to look forward to, including:

• Premier's Reading Challenge begins - Tuesday 6th May (Week 3)
• Prep Mother's Day Pamper morning - Thursday 8th May (Week 3)
• Mother's Day Stall - Friday 9th May (Week 3)
• Do It For Dolly Day - Friday 9th May (Week 3)
• Walk Safely to School Day – Friday 16th May (Week 4)
• Trivia Night - Saturday 17th May (Week 4)
• National Simultaneous Storytime - Wednesday 21st May (Week 5)
• Playgroup Messy Play Day – Tuesday 27th May (Week 6)
• CSPQ mini conference (for parents) – Saturday 31th May (Week 6)
• Senior School Athletics Carnival - Thursday 12th & Friday 13th June (Week 8)
• Teddy Bears Picnic - Friday 13th June (Week 8)
• Gordonvale Sugar Solstice – Saturday 14th June (Week 8)
• Junior School Athletics Carnival – Friday 20th June (Week 9)
• St Michael's Chess Tournament - Friday 27th June (Week 10)

Get Involved and Make a Difference!

At St Michael's, we believe that a strong partnership between parents and the school is key to our students' success. We encourage all parents to get involved in their child's education in any way they can. Whether it's through volunteering, fundraising, sharing your unique gifts and talents, supporting various projects, or participating in school improvement planning, your involvement is invaluable.

Together, we can create a vibrant and supportive community for our children. Below are the dates for our 2025 Community Group meetings:

We look forward to your active participation and support!

We are excited for a productive and enjoyable Term 2. Let's make it a great one!

Warmest regards

Prep B

We were so lucky to have a visit from Spencer's dad who is a Police Officer in Gordonvale. The Prep children were super excited and had lots of questions. Thank you constables for visiting us. Come back any time.

Class 1B

Our Year 1 students have returned from the Easter holidays refreshed and ready to learn! They’ve settled back into school routines and expectations beautifully, showing great responsibility and enthusiasm each day. It’s been wonderful to see them approach their learning with a positive attitude and a smile. We were especially proud of the respectful way they commemorated ANZAC Day, taking the time to reflect on its significance. The highlight of this week was an energetic and joyful music concert with Mr Andrew Chinn, which brought lots of fun and singing to our day!

Class 2B

This term we will be writing information reports, and we have started looking at how we can organise our information. We have been learning all about the Green Tree Frog over the last two weeks, including some of their physical features (appearance), where they live (habitat) and what they eat (diet). We have then organised our information into a planner with headings that will help us when writing our information reports.

Class 3B

Year 3 using a 1m measuring tool to investigate the dimensions of the basketball court and oval.

Class 4B

Class 5A & 5B

The term has begun with lots of stops and starts as the public holidays have added some extra leisure time for all of us. 

Students in Grade 5 have begun the term enthusiastic and relaxed. The second term brings with it some extra testing and increased workload as all students are expected to further improve their usual work standards by aiming higher to gain more impressive marks at report time. You will notice that the homework is a little more demanding. In year 5B for example, students are expected to fill in the reading log daily and the expectation is that they read daily for at least 20 minutes. If other commitments interrupt this then of course double up the next night. 

Thank you to those of you who made the effort to parent teacher interviews.It is always wonderful to meet with you all and discuss your child’s needs. I personally learn a lot from these meetings and better understand my students as a result. 

If you need anything, please feel free to contact us via email or phone at any time. 

Ryan Mafua and Mrs Drew.  

Year 5 visit from St Monica's Catholic College

Class 6B

6B students have made an excellent start to the new term. Students have returned from their holiday break refreshed and keen to continue with their learning and equipping themselves with the skills necessary to make a smooth transition to high school next year. This term we are studying Asia as well as looking at animal adaptions and environments with a particular focus on the Great Barrier Reef. Students will be reading, appreciating and critiquing a range of picture books over the coming weeks with a particular focus on interpreting the visual images and other literary devices in each book to identify the tone, mood, theme, plot elements and challenges the characters face by maintaining a reading response journal throughout the term. Here is Zoe’s journal response to Suri’s Wall.

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.

Please contact accounts.gordonvale@cns.catholic.edu.au if you have not received your Term 2 fee statement by the mentioned date below.

School fees and levies for Term 2 2025 will be sent via email by close of business on Friday 2^nd of May 2025.

There is a 14-day due by date period. The due date is Friday 16^th of May 2025.

Reminder letters will go to families who may have overlooked their fees on Monday 19^th of May 2025.

Please do not hesitate to contact accounts.gordonvale@cns.catholic.edu.au for any queries regards to payment plans, direct debits, financial hardship, concessions,  or Centrepay.

School fees are made up of tuition fees which are set by Cairns Catholic Education, and the school’s levies.

2025 Fees and Levy Schedule

Tuition Fees

Our school is part of an independent school system. The need to charge fees arises from the policy of governments to deliver significantly lower per capita grants to non-government schools than to state schools. Whilst this necessitates tuition fees and levies, it also ensures we can maintain some independence as a school system and achieve the ideals of the Catholic Church in our school organisation.

The schedule of tuition fees is set by Catholic Education Services.

The current schedule is at the link below.

CES 2025 Tuition Fees

Levies

School Levies are set and reviewed annually.

• Capital Levy (buildings and maintenance)
• P&F Fundraising Levy
• Resource Levy
• Activities Levy

Please contact accounts.gordonvale@cns.catholic.edu.au the school accounts department for current levies.

Discounts

Every attempt is made to make an education at St Michael’s affordable so that no Catholic child is denied a Catholic education because of financial difficulties. Parents are often pleasantly surprised at the affordability of Catholic Education in the Cairns Diocese, especially when compared with other non-government schools (private/independent), or Catholic schools in capital cities.

A sibling discount applies to families where more than one child is attending one or more Catholic schools in the Cairns Diocese. 

Holders of a current means-tested Australian government health care or pensioner concession cards receive an automatic 70% discount on tuition fees (does not apply to school levies).

Families who are not concession card holders yet are experiencing financial hardship are encouraged to make a confidential request to the principal for special consideration. Please contact the school’s Finance Officer to arrange an appointment. 

Unless prior arrangements have been put in place, failure to follow school policy and procedures may result in the engagement of a Debt Recovery Agency.

2025 Catholic School Fees and Discount

2025 Concession Card Information Sheet

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

The Enrolment Day, Family Mass Day  and Lesson 1 will be postponed to Sunday 11^th May, as Andy the Sacramental Co Ordinator has to go south for family reasons.

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.