Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers, 

We hope you all enjoyed an extra long weekend! Last Friday, staff had a professional development day led by our Religious Education Leader, Sue Rickwoood. We looked at different pieces of scripture from the Bible, and how we can make these more relevant for our students. Staff then spent time planning for term two as it is creeping up on us very quickly. 

Yesterday, staff engaged in a professional development day with Tracey Ezard. Tracey is a highly regarded educational consultant who worked with staff on developing a collaborative school culture that shows trust and professionalism. Tracey also worked with the Leadership Team a couple of weeks back, and all staff now look forward to implementing our learnings at St Michael’s. 

The Resilience Project Digital Wellbeing Webinar for Families - Wednesday 19th March at 6:30pm 

All parents, carers and guardians of St Michael’s children are invited to attend a webinar hosted by the The Resilience Project. The webinar will focus on looking at how screen time affects your household. It will share some practical tips and strategies for creating healthier digital habits. 

Parents and carers, please individually register for the webinar using  this link. 

Traffic reminders - drop off and pick up

Whilst I have already mentioned this in an earlier newsletter this term, I unfortunately need to raise this with the parent community again. Please use the correct parking bays to drop off and pick up your children. Please do not park in driveways, this includes the Church driveway - which is privately owned. Please do not use the disabled car park, unless you have a permit allowing you to use these parks. 

Latrobe Council will be patrolling the school block at drop off and pick up times to help enforce safe practices and to ensure parents are parking in signed parking areas. We are in constant communication with Latrobe Council about the traffic situation around the school, however as individuals, we all need to take responsibility for making sure we are driving and parking in a safe manner. 

Bike Safety around St Michael's Primary School 

Unfortunately we have had some very near misses from students riding their bikes in an unsafe manner around the school grounds. Riding a bike or scooter is a great way to encourage students to be fit and active, but we must remind all students about being safe and riding their bikes. 

Last week we were contacted by concerned members of the public on multiple occasions advising of large groups of students riding their bikes straight across the roundabout roads with no regard for instructions. Further to this, concerns were raised that a large group of children were meeting at a nearby park at 8am and then riding to school in an unsafe way. 

We have the following expectations: 

• Students must ride their bike safely to school, taking extra precaution when crossing busy intersections and roads. 
• Students must walk their bikes across the school crossing and follow the instructions given by the school crossing supervisor. 
• Students must walk their bike or scooter when on the school grounds at all times. 

We ask that all parents remind their children about the need to ride their bikes safely to and from school, and double check that your child is leaving home at a suitable time; not too early!  Teachers will also continue to provide the bike safety message in their classrooms. 

Regards, 

Lia DiCorleto 

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

• 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 
• Monday 17th March - 21st March - Dental Van onsite 
• Thursday 20th March - Hot Cross Bun Order closes on CDFPay 
• Friday 21st March - Year 3/4 Mass at 9:30am