Phased Return to Classroom Learning

 Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers

The Victorian State Government has announced that Victorian school students will begin a phased return to classrooms. Monday, 25 May 2020, will be a pupil free day to support all school staff to prepare and complete the necessary planning for a successful transition back to school.

This means that from Tuesday, 26 May 2020, all Foundation (Prep), Grade 1 and Grade 2 students will return to on-site learning.

Students in Grades 3 to 6 will continue Remote Schooling at home until Tuesday, 9 June 2020, except for:

• children of parents who cannot work from home;
• children who are not able to be supervised at home and no other arrangements can be made; and 
• vulnerable children.

On Tuesday, 9 June 2020, all students will return to face to face classroom learning and will be expected to attend school as normal. 

This decision has been made to give staff, schools to and families time to prepare for the return to classrooms and will give the Victorian Government and the Chief Health Officer time to monitor and evaluate the effects that the phased return to school has on the increased movement of people and transmission within the community.

I wish to reassure you that the safety and wellbeing of our school community will remain our highest priority with physical distancing provisions being made for the safety of students and staff.

I appreciate that Remote Schooling has been a challenging time for all and I thank all our parents, guardians, carers and the wider school community for their hard work and support during this time.

Further information is currently being prepared to facilitate the return to classroom learning and will be provided to you as soon as possible. 

If you require assistance or additional support, please contact the school on 51743295.

Congratulations to Mrs Hanrahan and the School Captains for their efforts in putting together our “remote” Mum and Me night. From all reports lots of fun was had by all, and our  mums were left feeling very pampered.

Thank you and the students for organising such a fun night. It was so nicely presented and we really enjoyed all the activities. Candice made me a beautiful bottle filled with lots of love. Our favourite part was the dance offs and we sure got lots of exercise. Thanks again for all your effort, it is very much appreciated.

Mother’s day this year has been extra special for three of our teachers as they prepare to welcome new babies into their families this year. Mrs Wyers has been tucked up safely in her home since term one and is getting closer to welcoming her new baby. Mrs Celima has stepped up into that grade in a fulltime capacity. Ms Arber will be leaving us next week to start her maternity leave and we welcome Mrs Nicole Leeder to the St Michaels family. This week we will also start advertising for a replacement for Mrs Clarke who will begin her leave in term three.  An exciting time for our growing St Michael’s family!

In other news, School Photos were scheduled to be held this term but like many other things have had to be postponed. We have been in contact with the photographer and once we know more about when we are returning we will book a new date and let you all know.

Don’t forget the parent webinar on “Raising children in a digital world” is on this Thursday 14 May, 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm. An email outlining how to access this webinar was sent out last week. The webinar focuses on cyber issues including: managing devices in the home, keeping safe online, unsafe apps and social media.