Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers, 

This week marks the beginning of Lent in the Catholic Church. Today, students will have the opportunity to eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Thank you to Sue Rickwood for organising this special treat. 

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the official first day of Lent. On Wednesday we will have a whole school mass at 11:30am in our Church. During Mass, ashes are placed on the foreheads of those attending to signify forgiveness and new beginnings. Ash Wednesday means that it is 40 days until Easter. 

The sun was shining for Friday’s 3-6 Athletics Day and I’ve heard the results so far are very close. Thank you once again to Michelle Coates, and to all parent helpers who assisted on the day. You are all very much appreciated. A big shout out to the Lavalla students who also supported the running of events. Results of the day will be shared at assembly next week (Friday 14th March). 

I’d like to warmly invite all parents, carers and guardians to our St Michael’s Parents and Friends Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday 27th March at 9am in the staffroom. We are looking for new members to join the group who are a very important part of the St Michael’s school community. Many events and fundraisers would not occur if it was not for the P&F group, so come along and consider how you could contribute to the success of St Michael’s school. 

Email contact with teachers 

At St Michael’s we promote and encourage an open and respectful line of communication. The teachers at St Michael's welcome and value the communication between parents and teachers, however, we ask that parents be mindful of the timing of an email being sent to teachers, inclusive of weekends. We ask that any email communication between parents and staff is sent at an appropriate and respectful time. This is particularly important during the school holidays, when our teachers are spending time with their own families and children. 

Most often it is not possible for teachers to respond to parent emails during the school day as they are in class, have yard duties or have meetings. Therefore, we ask that parents allow a period of 24 hours until a response is received. To help, where possible, please keep your emails brief and concise.  We all, parents and teachers alike, have families and outside of school, our day to day lives continue. 

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. The NAPLAN test window is over 9 days. This is to accommodate schools that may not have the capacity to complete the tests in a shorter time frame. The NAPLAN test window starts on Wednesday 12 March 2025 and finishes on Monday 24 March 2025.  Schools will schedule the tests within the testing window. 

Further information can be found in this pamphlet from VCAA:

NAPLAN information for parents

Please speak to your child's teacher if you have any further questions about this. 

Lia DiCorleto 

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

• Wednesday 5th March - Ash Wednesday whole school Mass 11:30am (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 
• Wednesday 12th March - Andrew Chinn performance
• Thursday 13th MArch - Regional Swimming 
• Friday 14th March - Year 5/6 Mass at 9:30am