Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers, 

Being a leader at St Michael’s is something our students take very seriously. Many look forward to the opportunity to be a leader very early on, eagerly talking about what they would do and how they could make a difference to our school community. I would like to introduce this year's school leaders, and I warmly invite their parents to the assembly this Friday at 1:45pm, where we will present each leader with their badge.

2025 St Michael’s School Leaders

Changes to Athletics Day 2025 

This year, our whole school athletics carnival will look a little different. The decision has been made to split our Athletics Day into two separate events: a Foundation–Year 2 Junior Athletics Day and a Year 3-6 Senior Athletics Day.

Under this new structure, the Year 3 to Year 6 Athletics day will be held on Friday 28th February. The Junior Athletics Day will take place later in the year and include involvement from our Year 5/6 students and school captains to help run the event. 

All students will continue to participate in the Aerobics component. Our House captains are busy preparing the dance routine and this will begin each morning, very soon. Aerobics will be held each morning for the duration of Term 1 with the judging competition between the different houses occurring at the conclusion of the Term. 

The advantages to this structure, aligns with what most schools and districts are now implementing as standard practice. Separating the events allows for a more tailored approach to the needs and abilities of different age groups, ensuring the day is engaging and age-appropriate for all students. It also provides leadership opportunities for our senior students, while offering a more intimate and focused environment for younger students. Additionally, parents and the wider school community would be invited to actively participate and support both events, fostering greater engagement and connection across year levels. We hope that this change will help create a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere, enhancing the sense of collaboration and celebration within our school.

School Uniform

School uniform is compulsory at St Michael’s Primary school. You will receive an email from your child's teacher letting you know which day your child will be wearing their sports uniform.  We take pride in being a part of the St Michael's community and we ask for your help in ensuring that your child is wearing the uniform in the correct way.  

School Photos

For many years, our School Photos have been taken by John Ansell and his wonderful team. As he has recently retired, our school photos this year will be taken by CS Photography. We thank John, Rosemary and the team for their many years of service and the beautiful photos provided. We welcome Catherine and look forward to working with your team. 

Photos will occur on Thursday 20th February. Children are to be dressed in full summer uniform, not sports uniform. Jumpers will not be worn for the class photos, so these are not necessary for the children to have on the day. We ask that the correct black shoes and grey socks be worn. If classes have PE lessons on this day, students are welcome to bring their sports uniform to change into later in the day.

If your child is going to be absent on school photo day you can contact Catherine to arrange a sitting at her studio at a later date. Please email her directly  catherine@csphotography.net.au 

CCTV on school premises 

Lastly, over the holidays we have had CCTV installed on the external buildings of the school. The purpose of the CCTV is to help provide a safe environment for all employees, students and visitors. It is an effective crime prevention tool that can assist with improving risk management controls and personal safety. 

Access to CCTV footage is limited to authorised employees or delegates (DOSCEL/police) who have a legitimate reason to view the footage.  

Important Dates - these dates are also located on the school website 

• Monday 17th February - District Swimming 
• Thursday 20th February - School Photos 
• Tuesday 25th February - Open Classroom Afternoon (more details to follow) 
• Friday 28th February - Year 3- 6 Athletics Day 
• Wednesday 5th March - Ash Wednesday whole school Mass 12pm (all families are welcome) 
• Friday March 7th - School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development Day 
• Tuesday 11th March - School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development Day 
• Wednesday 12th March - NAPLAN begins 

Regards, 

Lia DiCorleto 

Luke 5: 1 - 11

The theme that comes through this week’s readings is one of ‘being called’. The first reading is the call of the prophet Isaiah (Is 6:1-8). Isaiah experiences a vision of the glory of God and is humbly reminded of his own deficiencies: he believes himself to be ‘a man of unclean lips’. As such, he is certainly unfit to speak on behalf of God as his unclean lips would taint whatever message he may speak. But his lips are cleansed by God who then asks, ‘Whom shall I send?’ Demonstrating a complete conversion of heart and mind, Isaiah immediately replies, ‘Here I am, send me!’

This first reading provides a perfect balance to the gospel. Jesus is being closely pressed by the crowd when he asks a nearby fisherman to take him just off shore to preach without being overwhelmed by the crowd. Seemingly at random, he has selected the boat of the fisherman Peter. Having finished preaching for the day, Jesus tells Peter to set out into deeper water and pay out his fishing nets. Peter is certainly not keen on the idea! Out of some interest or good nature he had agreed to allow this preacher to use his boat for a while, but now this country bumpkin is trying to tell him how to fish! Just to prove Jesus wrong, Peter agrees to go through the futile exercise and is overwhelmed by the enormous catch of fish. Like Isaiah in the first reading, Peter is suddenly acutely aware of his own deficiencies – ‘Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man’. Like Isaiah, he recognises that he has just seen the glory of God revealed and he feels unworthy to be part of the experience. But Jesus reassures him, ‘Do not be afraid,’ and calls Peter to follow.

At St Michael’s we are lucky enough to team with The Resilience Project again in 2025. The Resilience Project is an evidence- based program that is designed to teach positive mental health strategies to all students and members of the school community. 

The four pillars of the program are Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy. Each part plays an important role in helping children understand their emotions and build positive mental health and coping strategies from an early age. Lesson content includes learning how to help others, practising mindfulness, being grateful and thankful for things they have and learning to recognise and understand their emotions.

GEM chats are done regularly and are practised by both students and teachers, and this is something that you can do at home with your child. 

Good News: New CDFpay mobile app available to download

St Michael’s School will be using the new CDFpay mobile app for uniform shop, events, fundraising, and special lunch days at our school from the start of Term 1 2025. 

How to register for a new CDFpay account

1. Download the CDFpay mobile app on the Apple or Google store, then click ‘Sign up now’.
   No app? Register here

Important:

• You will not be able to use your existing CDFpay credentials to log in to the new CDFpay mobile app. You will need to follow these steps to create a new CDFpay account (you can use the same email address if desired).
• Register for a new CDFpay account before the start of Term 1 2025 and we will transfer any remaining balance on your account before the end of March 2025.

2. Enter and confirm your email address, then click ‘Sign up’.
3. Check your email inbox and follow the prompts to complete your account registration (check junk/spam if lost).

After you have registered and entered your child’s details, you can:

• Top up your parent wallet.
  • To avoid card surcharges, top up $50 or more using a debit card or bank transfer any value.
• Order and pay in seconds!

Have questions? View CDFpay powered by Flexischools Help & Support for detailed FAQs or chat to the Flexischools Digital Assistant. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please complete the online Contact Form and Flexischools will get back to you directly.

We offer hot lunches weekly on a Monday with Munch Lunch. They are a local company that offer a variety of lunch items. 

Ordering is simple, download the Spriggy Schools app via your App Store or Google Play store, select St Michael's School,  add your children and their class to the app and place your order!  Lunches will then be delivered to school. Orders need to be placed by 9:00am on the day. You can pre order lunches 2 weeks in advance.

Contact: Munch Lunch 0459 220 445 or hello.munch.lunch@gmail.com