Thank you to the parents and family members who attended our Meet and Greet last week, whilst the attendance was low, discussions among teachers and parents were constructive and positive.

As you know, St Michael's is an inclusive learning environment, one that encourages and celebrates diversity. All children have different needs whether they be physical, social, academic, emotional or behavioural. For children, sometimes it is harder to understand students who may require additional supports, if they are not physical. It is important however, to have conversations with your child and encourage empathy, acceptance and inclusion. 

Basic ideas to share with your child...

No two people are the same -- some differences are just more noticeable.
People have many facets: likes and dislikes, strengths and challenges.
We are all the same in the sense that we all want friends, to be respected and to be included.
We all learn differently and for some, it might take them longer. They may require different tools or equipment to help with learning and focusing.

Try to use clear, respectful language when talking about other children. There are many students who have additional needs across the school with many unknown to the parent body, for this reason, it is important to keep in the back of your mind that there may be additional supports in place. Know that we, as a school, are working with families consistently regarding supporting each student. Our Classroom Support Team go in and out of every classroom each day to work one-on-one with students or with small groups. At times, there may be a need for some students to leave the classroom for individual support.

Accommodations are present in all classrooms, some may be more evident such as visuals around the room and others not so noticeable like individual safety plans. 

Again, rest assured that we are working very closely with many families across the school to ensure additional supports and adjustments are being made. We are also doing work across the school with all children to foster our values of empathy, acceptance and inclusion.

BYO ipad Information & Bootcamp Night - Year 5/6

Thank you to those parents who have expressed interest in this night going ahead. We will move forward with this night, however, we have had to change the date due to staff availability to lead the session. The BYOipad Night will now be on Tuesday 26 February at 6pm. We apologise for any inconvienence caused with the change of date.

We thank everyone for the feedback at the end of last year regarding topics to be covered. Some topics will include effective use in class, posture, games, messaging, expectations, consequences, homework, just to name a few. There will be time for parents to share tips and ideas they have used at home for appropriate use of devices etc. 

Moving forward, this night will be held in Term 4 for families of students in Year 4/5 in preparation for the following year.

School Fees - Term 1

Term 1 school fees are due soon. Please ensure school fees for Term 1 are paid by 8th March, unless paying by Direct Debit. Thank you to those parents/carers who have already made payments. A reminder to those families on direct debit, please ensure you have increased payments this year to ensure fees are finalised in time.

Enjoy the week ahead.

Be kind.

Pat Ellis

Principal

Mini Vinnies

A huge thank you to Maya C, Clarisse U, Ana L, Stella B, Stella C, Eamon C, Cameron C, Alexander C, Macy R, Samara R and their associated adult helpers who all took part in our Doorknock Appeal last Thursday. It was a warm afternoon but their smiles were warmer and brighter and encouraged our neighbours to donate nearly $400. Special thanks to Mrs Whalan for her ongoing support of Mini Vinnies at St Michael’s and for leading the team who walked around Florentine Circuit.

Shrove Tuesday

Before the fasting and prayerful reflection of Lent we celebrate Shrove Tuesday on Tuesday 5^th March. It is tradition at St Michael’s to enjoy pancakes on this morning. If you are able to help with setting up, cooking and distributing pancakes could you please contact Ms Younger at school. We cannot run this special day without a lot of parent support and I thank you in advance for your help.

Ash Wednesday

There will be a special Ash Wednesday Mass at St Michael’s on Wednesday 6^th March at 11:45am. 3/4YM will be preparing the music and readings for this Mass to mark the beginning of Lent.

This year in Kindergarten and Years 1 & 2 we are using Seesaw to share your child’s learning and communicate with families! Your child or teacher will post to Seesaw to share their learning at various times throughout the week. Your child’s teacher may also use Seesaw to send you messages and reminders. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child or teacher. You are welcome to save and re-use INDIVIDUAL photos of YOUR CHILD. If you receive a group photo you are NOT to save or share in any form.

Information for students in KL, 1/2W, 1/2F and 1/2M will be coming home in the coming weeks on how to register and start connecting with your child's learning in the classroom. By seeing some experiences that occur during the week at school, this could initiate conversations at home about learning. 

Thank you for your support!

K-2 Teaching Team

The app of the week is Lightbot Code Hour. This is aimed at introducing students into the world of coding and directional movement. Move the Lightbot to the end of each maze by providing the right directions. This one can get tricky quickly as you move through the levels, so would be more suited to students from Year 3 to 6.

The Book Fair is Almost Here!!

The Scholastic Book Fair will arrive next week! This year’s theme is ‘Catch the Reading Wave’ and we are hoping this Book Fair will be another way we can promote a love of reading for our students and within our community. The students will have the opportunity to visit the book fair with their classes and during library lessons. At this time they can browse through the books and make a ‘wish list’ of books they are interested in.       

The Book Fair will be open Tuesday – Friday (26/2-1/3)
Times: 8:20-8:50am and 3-4pm.
Location: Library  

Volunteering

If you are interested in volunteering in the library I’d love to hear from you. It is a great way for parents, grandparents and carers to get involved in school life and your time makes a valuable contribution to the running of our library for staff and students. We are always looking for people willing to help out with covering new library books. It is an easy job that can even be done at home. If are able to volunteer with this task please get in touch.

Student Borrowing 
Library lessons for each class will be on Wednesday's. Each Wednesday students can return books and borrow new ones for the week. If you wish to return books at other times, they can be placed in the returns slot on the front of the library desk. I look forward to working with all the students to develop their love of reading and literature throughout 2019.

Visiting our Library 
We hope that the library is an inviting space for our students and families too. If you wish to come in and spend a few minutes reading to your child/ren either before or after school, please know that you are welcome to do so. We ask that you return the book to the returns slot (on the front of the library desk) and it will be re-shelved for you.

Parent Library

A new initiative to the library this year is the parent borrowing bookshelf. It is located just inside the library, opposite the library desk. The system is based on a book swap approach. Please feel free to take a book and return when you are finished or bring in a book to swap. We are hoping to include literature that is for enjoyment and also related to parenting and educational information. If you have any books to donate to our parent library, they would be gratefully accepted.

We would like the library space to be 'the heart' of St Michael's. A space to gather and enjoy. So, if you have any ideas, feedback or questions, please flick me an email erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au 

We will look at artworks created by Paul Klee (pronounced like clay). We will be developing our skills for appreciating, contextualizing and talking about art.

Art is not meant to be looked at only for what it is. It is meant to stimulate thought because it allows viewers to draw on their own emotions and pull from their personal experiences. Promoting these conversations about art help students develop visual thinking skills where they are able to observe closely, describe what they see in detail, and also provide evidence for their observations.

So next time you have a long car ride, are waiting at the doctor’s office or having a family dinner, think about engaging your child’s artistic and critical thinking skills. Small efforts like these can lead to a great appreciation for art!

What’s going on in this picture?

What do you see that makes you say that?

What more can we find?​

Catholic Schools’ Soccer Carnival

Last week a note come home with students who expressed an interest in playing in this year’s Catholic Schools’ Soccer Carnival. Registration forms were due back to school today, as we need to register our teams by this Friday. At this stage we do not have enough players to enter either a 3/4 or 5/6 team. If your child would like to participate, and you have not returned a registration form, the notes can be returned tomorrow. Unfortunately, Friday will be too late for notes to be returned. 

School Swimming Carnival  12th March at Queanbeyan Pool.

Thank you to those families who have already returned the permission notes and nomination forms. Please assist us by returning them on or before 1^st March. Unfortunately, no late nominations will be accepted. My thanks also to the 6 parents who have already volunteered to help out on the day. If you are able to assist at the carnival, your assistance will be greatly appreciated as we are still in need of a few more helpers. All students in Year 3-6 will attend the carnival, along with competitive swimmers in Year 2 who turn 8 this year.

K- 2 Water Fun Day Tuesday 12^th March

All students in Years K-2 will enjoy a water fun day and special recess here at school, while the older students are at the swimming carnival. Please continue to return the special recess order form. If you are able to help with the preparation of fruit skewers between 10-11am, we would appreciate your support.

Cricket Clinics

Cricket clinics are going along smashingly! It has been fantastic to hear that the students are enjoying the program.

NAB AFL AUSKICK

An afterschool AFL program is being offered on Kaleen Playing Fields commencing 6^th March between 3:30-4:30pm. For more information on this 4-week program or to register go to Play.afl/auskick

SunSmart        

A reminder that all students should be wearing a school hat during play times. Hats can be purchased from the Front Office. It is great to see that many students are
coming to school with sunscreen already applied. We have sunscreen available for students to reapply throughout the day.

Cross Country Carnival
Save the date: 4th April, 2019 (Thursday Week 9)
If you are willing to assist on the day as a course marshal, your time would be much appreciated.

Please contact me via email if you have any questions, feedback or are able to offer your assistance at any of our sporting events throughout the year.

Looking forward to another big year of sporting participation,

Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au

Congratulations to the following children who have achieved a Harmony Award in Week 3 and will receive their award this Friday at morning gathering.

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION

We are very excited to be taking part in ‘Clean up Australia Day.” Students at St Michael’s will be taking part in this event next week, Friday the 1^st of March.

If any parents or carers are free, you are welcome to join us in the school courtyard at 2:30. We will be cleaning up the school grounds, the church areas and some of the path area adjacent to the school. All students will be given gloves to help collect the rubbish and there will be plenty of spares for helpers who are able to come and join.

Let’s make our community look amazing!

Many thanks

Mr Webb

Saturday 16 March 10-2pm 

We only have 10 days to go until our Autumn Fete. Many people have been busy behind the scene organising and preparing to make this day a huge success. Like any fundraising, there is a certain risk involved regarding how much work has gone into the event vs the amount of people who will turn up to support and the amount of money we will raise. Please support by attending and purchasing as much as you can and please invite friends and families to do the same. We are a small Catholic primary school who rely heavily on funds raised at events such as this to purchase bigger ticket items like playground equipment, furniture and tech equipment to name a few items. Please support and please give generously. 

We are still looking for

• Jars
• Craft items to sell
• Second hand books (in good condition) to be dropped off (tables on stage in the hall). We are after children's books and good quality literature.
• Next week, information will come home regarding baking items for the cake store. 

Each class has been allocated a stall, and we would ask parents/carers from that class to volunteer to help run the stall on the actual day. 

Please follow the link below to the google doc to put your name against a time slot, all help is greatly appreciated. 

All volunteers will need to have a WWVP card, however if you do not have a card you are required to sign a statutory declaration which is available at the Front Office.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OwudBffkTMb_hHJCyUvlkZYtNJcKUKwU4GW9-b8oyt0/edit?ts=5c732a8d#gid=2097185166

Please support businesses that support our school.

We have a new canteen menu for 2019! This is an exciting, healthier change and we thank Empire Catering for engaging in conversations and making these changes. Feedback from the school community assisted in these changes.

All lunch orders now need to be placed by

MIDNIGHT 12pm on Wednesday nights.

Empire Catering have added some new Gluten Free options to the menu: 

• Gluten Free Muffins $3.00
• Gluten Free Nuggets $5.00
• Gluten Free pasta bolognaise $6.00
• Gluten free garden salad  small $4.50 and large $5.50
• Gluten free chicken Caesar salad small $4.50 and large $5.50
• Gluten free salad sandwich $4.50
• Gluten free chicken, avocado & lettuce wrap $5.00
• Gluten free garlic bread $2.50

The canteen still require assistance on Friday's 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 0408200481 for any queries with lunch orders or any constructive feedback you have regarding menu items. As we outsource for Empire to cater our canteen each week, we would appreciate you communicating directly with them regarding any issues, problems or concerns you may have regarding the canteen. 

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

Lucas 5/6F, Lucas KL and Zavier 5/6F

We hope you have a great day!!