Dear parents and carers

Welcome to the second edition of the St Michael’s school newsletter for the year! We are thrilled to report that the year is off to a fantastic start. Our students have eagerly settled into their classrooms, diving into their studies, making new friends, and getting to know their dedicated teachers. The energy and enthusiasm around the school are truly inspiring.

As always, St Michael’s remains committed to continuous improvement in all areas of learning. We are dedicated to providing an enriching educational experience that supports the growth and development of every student. Our school offers a nurturing environment where students can thrive academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually, while also engaging with the wider community.

Each year, we review how we are going with our improvement plans and how they are impacting our students’ success. In 2025 we have developed our School Annual Improvement Plan with four key goals:

Our main focus this year is to improve our connection to the community through outreach projects and developing partnerships with local social justice organisations such as the Parish Pantry.

By the end of the year, we will have fostered a contemporary understanding of Mission through staff engagement in activities on Catholic Social Teaching that promotes a more just and equitable community.

The focus for 2025 is on creating a school-wide, consistent approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling. Our aim is for every student to achieve success.

By the end of 2025 there will be a school-wide and embedded Agreed Practice for Literacy Blocks with a focus on Reading and Spelling.

Throughout the year, we will be focusing on developing teaching excellence in the area of Mathematics so that every child will succeed.

By the end of 2025 all teachers will be using the 4 Key Dimensions, Strategies and Practices that underpin effective practice in Mathematics.

Our goal for 2025 is to continue developing and building the capacity of our teaching and support staff to deliver the highest quality, effective teaching practices.

By the end of 2025 there will be a school-wide plan for staff professional learning that is monitored for impact and that includes peer observations, mentoring and coaching opportunities, differentiated to meet individual staff needs.

ST MICHAEL’S APPROACH TO POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR

St Michael’s has developed its approach to supporting positive behaviour using a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to maximise success for all students The goal of the multi-tiered framework is to provide high-quality instruction and support, based on student need.

A matrix has been developed for teachers and students to identify the expected behaviours at St Michael’s School. The matrix includes appropriate behaviours in specific areas including:

• The classroom
• Playgrounds
• Toilets
• Church
• Stop-Drop-Go area
• Toilets
• On-Line

At the beginning of each school year, classroom teachers work with their class to review and ‘unpack’ the Classroom Behavior Matrix specific to their students as well as learning the whole school expectations.

The matrix clearly defines expectations which are explicitly taught and modelled to reinforce expected behaviour. Every teacher utilises a Classroom Behaviour Management Flowchart which guides their response to student behaviours.  Social skills are also explicitly taught and linked to the Behaviour Expectations Matrix to reinforce expected behaviours.

Posters have been placed around the school to remind students of the expectations at our school.

For a complete version of our Whole School Positive Behaviour Support Plan, please visit our school website at https://www.stmichael.qld.edu.au or click on the link here.

CONDUCT, COMPLAINTS AND GRIEVANCES

Catholic Education in the Diocese of Cairns is committed to safe, ethical and legal workplaces based on the respectful and responsible behaviour of all members of our system and school communities.

To assist with this, we have a Code of Conduct – Staff and a Code of Conduct for Parents, Volunteers and Visitors

If you have a grievance or complaint, please refer to our Grievance Policy and Grievance Procedures. These are summarised in a series of posters:

COMMISSIONING OF STUDENT LEADERS - “We lift our eyes to the mountain”

Last week we gathered as a school community, with Father Sabu presiding, to commission our newest school leaders. Coordinated by Ms Kelly Evans (APRE), the Liturgy of Commissioning was a delightful, moving ceremony that saw our Year 6 leaders for 2025 acknowledge the responsibility of their leadership and their pledge to uphold the ‘St Michael’s Way’ of Faith, Community, Respect, Trust and Learning in everything they do.

Our student leaders for 2025 are:

School Captains: Ben Ganley and Charli Daniel

School Vice-Captains: Logan Azzopardi and Kiriana Young

Barron House Captains: Pikaila Demas and Mila Weidner

Russell House Captains: Kyla Clarke and Hayden Howard

Mulgrave House Captains: Oliver Davison and Lane Summers

In 2025 we are revisiting our Student Leadership development with a focus on student voice. This year we hope to hear from our student leaders about how they would like to work together as leaders, to make improvements to our school and to continue the great work of their predecessors. We start our Student Leadership preparation with a special day of learning at the Seville Centre next week.

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN COMMITMENT

Cairns Catholic Education is actively committed to fostering communities of safeguarding that recognise and uphold the dignity and rights of all children. We encourage open communication whereby families and communities are informed of relevant issues and participate in decisions about the safety of children.

It is particularly important to us to look for avenues to empower children to have a say and be listened to. We actively seek to become and remain informed of the causes and signs of child abuse and neglect.

When we receive information about concerns or witness any matter relating to abuse of a child, we respond appropriately and report any such concerns to the appropriate authority. This includes contacting the police immediately where there may be immediate risk of harm to any person, especially a child.

Our Student Protection contacts at St Michael’s are below:

IMPORTANT DATES IN TERM 1 (2025)

Updated information is regularly posted on our Facebook page and through our fortnightly newsletter, but please make a note of these important events for Term 1:

Basketball Programme commencing - Tuesday 25th February

PROJECT COMPASSION begins - Week 5

Gordonvale Markets (visit the St Michael’s stall) - Saturday 1st March

Clean Up Australia Day (Norman Park) - Sunday 2nd March

Shrove Tuesday - 4th March

Ash Wednesday - 5th March

NAPLAN testing (Years 3 and 5) – begins Wednesday 12th March

Swimming (Prep, Years 2, 4, 6) - 17th  20th March

St Patrick’s Day – Monday 17th March

National Close the Gap Day - Thursday 20th March

Harmony Day - Friday 21st March

Easter Bonnet Parade - Tuesday 1st April

Cross Country – Wednesday 2nd April

Holy Week Liturgy (whole school) - Friday 4th April

Parent/teacher/student conferences - 31st March - 4th April

Please remember, our whole school assemblies are at 2:10pm on Fridays on the basketball court.

All families are welcome to join us!