I hope that everyone had a peaceful and restful fortnight. Welcome back to Term 4! The last quarter of 2019. We have had a massive, successful year and we will continue to strive to do our best this term as we finish off 2019. 

Staffing Annoucement

I am pleased to announce that Nadia Farhadi has accepted a temporary full time class teacher role for 2020. Nadia completed her 4th Year Prac on 1/2M this year and will be working on various classes this term. We are very pleased to have Nadia join the team. 

In 2020, both Damien Webb and Meaghan Younger will be in an 'off class' role. They will support various classes across the school for those teachers who are part-time or to release teachers for various roles/responsibilities they have within the school. Damien will oversee B Block (K-2) and Meaghan will oversee C Block (Years 3-6). I will announce further roles that teachers will lead in 2020 in coming weeks. 

Staffing 2020

As mentioned previously, all teachers who have been with us in 2019 would like to remain in 2020. This is great news for us as we can continue to push forward. It is quite a unique situation to have all staff keen to stay at a school, very reflective of the amazing school we have!

With that, I am pleased to annouce the classes for 2020. Of course, things can change and if that occurs we will work that out at the time and I will inform you of any changes. 

KL - Jessica Lewis

1/2M - Bridgette McCann (Thursday - Damien Webb)

1/2B - Shannon Blakey

3/4FR - Laura Frogley

3/4A - Sarah Anderson (Friday - Meaghan Younger)

3/4F - Nadia Farhadi

5/6F - Jessica Figura (Tuesday - Meaghan Younger)

5/6K - Natasha Kapantais

Class Placement 2020

At this time of year, we begin forming classes for 2020. As you can imagine, there is a lot to consider from academic, social, emotional and behavioural needs, as well as friendship pairings and separations. 

As a parent, I am aware that there may be certain personalities that clash from time to time and for this reason, if any parent wishes to request a certain placement regarding their child, I would ask that you email me directly at patrick.ellis@cg.catholic.edu.au Only requests emailed directly to myself by Friday 25 October will be considered. There are no guarantees because of the complexity of class placements, however, I will do my best. The final decision regarding class placements sits with me. 

If you are intending of leaving St Michael's at the end of the year (apart from Year 6 students), could you please email the Front Office with that information. This will assist with our planning and class placement for 2020. 

Notification of Classes for 2020

In the past, it has been practice here to place class lists on the library door on the last day of school. I have concerns about this process. Focus at all times should be on each individual child and not other children in the class. It is also important that students get the opportunity to share the news of their new class with their parents. Parents wanting to know who their child/ren's class teacher is and who is in their class, can directly ask their child. 

Step Up will occur at 1pm on the last day of school (Thursday 19 December) where all students will be able to visit their new class, meet their new teacher for 2020 and class mates. 

Parents, whose children who will be away on the last day and would like to know before the break who their child's teacher is, will need to email the Front Office requesting this information. An email will be sent out at 3pm to those parents informing of the class teacher. 

Protective Behaviours

Over the next few weeks all classes with be focusing on Protective Behaviours during Health lessons. Please see attached letter from Damien Webb.

Protective_Behaviours_Newsletter.pdf

Protective_Behaviours_Newsletter _pdf 640.01 KB

The below poster might provide a starting point to talk to your child/ren around Protective Behaviours and Body Safety. 

my body safety

ACT Children's Week 

A big congratulations to Mischa (5/6B) for receiving an Exceptional Young People’s ACT Children’s Week Award. Mischa is receiving the award due to her volunteer work and passion for animal welfare and sustainability. Mischa will receive her award on Wednesday 23 October at the Children’s Award Launch.

I will be attending the ceremony as being part of the ACT Children’s Week Committee.

Cinderella - Canberra Theatre

Congratulations to Sienna (5/6B) who was lucky to be selected to promote Queensland Ballet’s production of Cinderella in Canberra.  She will be performing as an extra in her first role with a professional ballet company.  Cinderella will be at the Canberra Theatre Centre from 5-10 November.  See the article in The Canberra Times.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6433904/canberra-kids-to-perform-with-queensland-ballet/?cs=14257

World Teacher's Day

World Teacher’s Day is on October 5th each year. As that falls in the school holidays, in Australia we celebrate it on the last Friday in October. This year, that is Friday 25 October. Please take the time this week to say thank you to the amazing teachers we have at St Michael’s. We appreciate all that they do!

BYOipad Information Night - Save the Date

A BYOipad information will be held for parents of children in Year 4 and 5 on Thursday 28 November. Two sessions (both the same), one at 3.30pm and one at 5.30pm. This is an opportunity for parents to get any information they need in preparation for your child/ren to bring their own ipad to school in Year 5/6 in 2020. More information to come in coming weeks. 

JumpFest

A reminder that Jump Fest is coming up on Sunday 27 October (10-2pm). This is an event to raise much need funds for Jarrah Education Centre in Kenya, our Global Partner School. Our target is $2500 so the school can purchase a water tank to have regular access to clean drinking water. 

We are looking for volunteers to help us on the day. If you could spare some time, please add your name to the google doc. We are also looking to hold a Bake Store, so if you could please consider baking something to donate, that would be appreciated. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EivbL4sjpZ_nNeDJ8fWJJqhr9fyCBX6cw9b4D34T4Ro/edit

TQI Board

I have recently been appointed to the ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) Board. TQI is governed by this Board which is comprised of key ACT education stakeholders, the teaching profession and the ACT community. I look forward to working closely with TQI over the next 3 years. 

Grandparent's Day

Tomorrow we celebrate our Grandparents. An opportunity for us to thank all the Grandparents and Grandfriends of our St Michael's Community whether they can attend or are elsewhere. We especially remember those Grandparents/friends who have passed. It is also a time for us to reflect upon St Anne and St Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and grandparents of Jesus. Whilst the Feast Day of St Ann and Joachim is in July, decision was made to move our Grandparent's Day to October when the weather is a bit warmer. A special day for us tomorrow. 

Enjoy the week ahead.

Regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal

Reconciliation

Dates for the Fridge:

• Reconciliation Retreat Thursday 24^th October @ St Monica’s School 9:30 – 1:30
• Reconciliation Parent/Child Evening 24^th October @ St Michael’s School 6:00pm
• Reconciliation Liturgies 12^th November St Michael’s 6:00pm & 13^th November St Monica’s 6:00pm.

Youth Mass

As the third Sunday of the month, this coming Sunday is our Parish Youth Mass. This will be at the 5:30pm Mass in St Michael’s Church on Sunday 20^th October. All young people are invited to take part in many different ways either reading, processions or music ministry. Is this your invitation to be more involved in your Parish life? Especially for those who recently received the sacrament of Confirmation? Let us recall the Bishop’s challenge to believe, belong and become.

Light supper is offered after Mass. See you all there!

The Appetizer

The app of the week is National Geographic World Atlas. This is an interactive map great for finding the location of various countries and providing a general overview. Children can choose from four different map styles and read about local weather and temperature.

PORTRAITURE

Self-portraits are a fantastic way for children to explore their sense of self and build their self-identity.

What images come to mind when you hear the term “Portrait”?

This term we will be creating Self-portraits. We will begin the term by finding out about the Archibald Prize. The Archibald Prize is awarded annually to the best portrait. It was first awarded in 1921. In establishing the prize, JF Archibald’s aim was to foster portraiture as well as support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians. 

Sydney artist Tony Costa won the 2019 Archibald Prize for his portrait of artist Lindy Lee. The National Portrait Gallery is well worth a visit!!!

Boorowa

Yesterday all students received a copy of the draw and a note with some last minute reminders for next weeks carnival. As traffic is expected to be heavy when approaching Boorowa, I would recommend adding approx. 45-60min travel time to your trip. We are looking forward to a great day and hope you are too. If you have any questions please get in contact.

New Competition Sports Shirts

We are excited to be taking delivery of our new St Michael's competition playing shirts in the next few days!  Thank you to the Community Council for purchasing these for our school.  Our touch football teams will unveil the playing tops at Boorowa next week.  

Author Visit

We are very excited to be welcoming author Chris Collin, author of the very funny Funky Chicken series,  to our school early in Term 4. On Monday 28^th October Chris will present two workshops; one with the students in K-2 and then another with the students in Years 3-6. We look forward to meeting Chris and learning more about being an award winning author and the writing process.

For more information and resources visit the FunkyBooks website https://www.funkybooks.com.au/home-2/about-us/

ACT Public Library Book Apps

BorrowBox and Libby are two apps which are offered through ACT Public Libraries. They are a terrific way of accessing books and audio material to download to a personal device. They can be downloaded free through the apps store.

Congratulations to the following children who have achieved a Harmony Award in Week 1 and will receive their award this Friday at morning gathering (weather permitting).

Special wishes to those children who celebrated their birthday in the holidays:

Madison 3/4YM, Allegra KL, Hamish 1/2M, Brooke 5/6FW, Amalie KL and Massimo 1/2W

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

Jett D 5/6B, Sierra & Coco 1/2M, Cameron 3/4AK and Lilly 3/4AK

We hope you have a great day!!

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

The canteen require assistance on Fridays for Term 4 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 aged 0-5 and their parents/carers.  Please contact Kylie Arena or Lisa Monro on 62414022 for any enquires. 

DANCECORE -  Dance classes are held on Wednesday’s at recess in the school hall, forms are available at the Front Office. 
Contact Cassie 0417 442 750 

CHESS -  Chess classes are held in C Block on Tuesday’s at recess, forms are available at the Front Office.  Contact Sydney Academy of Chess 9745 1170

GUITAR - Guitar lessons with Sam on Thursday's, please contact
Sam on 0408 196 855

PIANO - Piano Lessons with Mary-Liz on Mondays & Tuesdays,
please contact Mary-Liz on 0413 425 753

SPEECH & DRAMA  -  Drama classes are being held on Tuesday’s at lunchtime, please contact Elizabeth McIntosh if you are interested on 6255 9054

SCHOOL BANKING  -  Banking day is Thursday, please leave your books at the Front Office.

BOOKCLUB -  Scholastic Bookclub runs eight times a year, there will be two issues each Term.  If you have any queries, contact Mrs Monro or Mrs Arena. 

Belconnen Youth Ministry

Inviting all students in year 3-7 to join us for an afternoon of faith, friendship and fun at South Belconnen Parish's Junior Youth Group and Youth Mass. Join us in the Orana Parish Center just outside of St Vincent's Church, Aranda on Saturday 26th October at 4:45pm for Youth Group then stay on to celebrate Mass at 6pm. Contact Youth Minister Sarah for more information at Sarah.Larkin@cg.org.au

Learn to be a chess champion! Coaching for students at St Michael's Primary School (Kaleen, ACT) is held on Tuesdays from 11:00am to 11:40am, starting on 15 October 2019. Learning and playing chess helps children develop their logical thinking and problem solving skills, improves their concentration and focus, while also being a great source of enjoyment. Activities include group lessons on a demonstration chess board or interactive whiteboard, puzzle solving and fun practice games. Students earn merit awards by making checkmates, or by displaying skills and positive qualities, which all good chess players strive to develop.

If your child is interested in taking part, you can collect an enrolment form from the school office, or email enrol@sydneyacademyofchess.com.au for a copy. For all enquiries, please contact Sydney Academy of Chess on (02) 9745 1170

Changes to School Sport ACT

From the commencement of this year there will no longer be Belconnen Region level trials for specific sports. To replace the regional level completion, many sports are holding gala days for schools to attend. We will enter teams in these gala days where there is student interest. The pathway for selection to an ACT sporting team is through trials offered in the same way as they have been previously. Please see the information below in relation to the process of registering your child for ACT trials on the School Sport ACT website.

SCHOOL SPORT ACT TRIALS 

Please keep an eye on the School Sport ACT website www.schoolsportact.asn.au for upcoming ACT trials.  The process for registering can be found below.  If you need any assistance registering your child please feel free to ask for assistance.

How to register your child with School Sport ACT

School Sport ACT now collects all registration information online – this is to prevent the movement to and fro of a paper note and have all information readily available to officials prior to the trial. As this process incurs a fee for data storage, system maintenance and admin, a small $5 fee payment via credit card will be required.

1. Go to the School Sport ACT website – schoolsportact.asn.au
2. Click Register (top right corner of homepage) for an Account – enter parent details and password
3. A confirmation email will be sent to your chosen email that will contain a link that you must click on to verify the email account.
4. Click Log In (top right hand corner of home page) enter password then click on top tab My Profile
5. You will see a ‘dashboard’ of your information, click green box to Add Student – enter student and medical details and save.
6. Go to the Sports Tab – choose your specific sport, click on Trial Information box then click on the Register to Trial link.
7. Select your child’s name from the dropdown box and then enter the optional fields for Playing History, Preferred Position (if applicable) and Representative Experience. If you are already in the system, ensure your child’s school is up to date in your profile – have they moved onto High School?
8. Make the $5 credit card payment then click to register.
9. An automated email will then be sent to your Principal/School Approver for their approval to trial (no need to take anything to school for the Principal to sign).
10. You will be able to see the process has been complete back in My Profile – once your Principal/School Approver has completed the approval process your child’s information will be collated onto a list for the Team Manager and Coach prior to trial.
11. Note the registration process closes two days before the first trial date to allow sufficient time for approval and sharing of collated information.

Looking forward to another big year of sporting participation,

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