Dear Parents,

As a school we want to thank you for the way you have embraced remote, flexible learning. The teachers are sharing so many wonderful examples of the learning that is occurring at home and we are very proud of the work your children are doing. We know it is not always easy so we don’t expect you to be a subject matter expert or a teacher. The most important role you have is to continue to provide comfort, support and encouragement to your child.

Some ways you can support your child is by:

• having a routine and setting expectations
• making sure your child has a space to work in
• providing a level of supervision suitable to your child’s stage of development and individual needs
• monitoring communications from teachers
• checking in with your child often to help them manage and pace their work
• monitoring how much time your child is spending online.

To support you with keeping your children safe online, The Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Sale (CEOSale) is working in collaboration with Inform and Empower to provide an exclusive webinar ‘Cyber Safety: Parenting in a Digital World’ to all primary schools in the Diocese of Sale, focusing on supporting our parent communities to keep students safe online.

Inform and Empower are a trusted eSafety provider and are approved through the eSafety Commissioner. The webinar is co-presented by Carley McGauran (psychologist) and Martin McGauran (primary school teacher) from Inform and Empower. The webinar focuses on cyber issues including: managing devices in the home, keeping safe online, unsafe apps and social media.

The parent webinar will be conducted on Thursday 14 May, 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm. Parents who are unable to watch the live broadcast will have access to a recording. A flyer including outlining how to access this webinar will be sent out later this week.

Just a reminder that whilst we will continue to offer limited on-site learning for those students who need to access it, this information needs to be sent to the school via the note on the school website each week. This is so we can ensure we have adequate supervision each day as we maintain the 1:10 ratio as we work to maintain social distancing and keep all who attend school safe.

We are accepting enrolments for Foundation 2021. If you have a child who will start school in 2021 please fill in the form on the school website and email to principal@stmtraralgon. If you have friends who are considering sending their child to St Michael’s please ask them to contact the school office and we will arrange for a handbook to be sent out to them. Due to current social distancing regulations we are unable to offer school tours or hold the Foundation Information night at this stage, we will advise when they are able to be held.

Regards

Jodie

The leadership team at St Michaels Traralgon will provide a care and supervision program for some students. These students must meet one of the below criteria:

• The child’s parents/carers are classified as essential worker/s and cannot work from home during school hours
• The child is in statutory (court ordered) out of home care
• The child may be at an immediate risk of harm

It would be expected that this would only be necessary during the days you are at work, if you are working part- time then the days you are at home your child would be learning at home with you. We know that we will have families who meet one of these criteria and whilst the majority of staff will be working from home, we will have staff available to provide supervision during this time. To ensure we have adequate numbers please fill in the intention form each week.  

Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Doctor Brett Sutton has amended the current stay at home directions to provide further clarity about childcare arrangements. You can have another person come to your house to look after your child if you need to go out for one of the four listed reasons (food and supplies, medical care and care giving, exercise, and work or education), or if you are working or studying at home. You may also drop your child at another person’s house to be looked after, while you are out, if it is for one of the four listed reasons. This may help some families who have concerns about how they will manage their work commitments during this time.

The intention form for week 5 is due by Thursday 7th May by email to principal@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au

The Office team will also be working remotely for Term 2 therefore the office will be unmanned.

• If you need to contact the Office please email office@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au or call the school mobile on 0455 952 026 and they will pass on messages via email to staff.
• If you have any questions regarding remote learning please contact your child's classroom teacher via email.
• Please refrain from contacting all staff via personal mobiles/email or social media.

As per the fee letter sent to families on 6th April 2020, Important Message about School Fees, there will not be an automatic reduction in school fees for term 2. 

School fees are an essential portion of resources for the operation of our school and assist our leaders and staff to enhance curriculum and teaching programs.  Therefore, we are asking, for those who can, to continue to support the school financially.

If you have concerns about your financial situation, please contact Maria Churton, School Administration Officer at office@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au so that we can explore confidential financial support arrangements to enable your child(ren)’s education at our school to continue.

2020 Camp Fees

At this stage all camps are still proceeding and therefore camp fees have not been removed from fee accounts.

Grade 4 camp - September, due 07/08/20

Grade 3 camp - October, due 30/10/20

Grade 6 camp - November, due 30/10/20 (this fee is not due in term 2 as shown on fee statements)

We will keep you updated on any activities that are cancelled such as  camps and swimming and where no alternative is available those fees will be removed and not payable.

Thank you for your understanding.

Answer from last week:

15 (Chicken)
15 – 8 = 7 (Vegetarian)
7 + 14 = 21 (Beef)
15 + 7 + 21 = 43
43 sandwiches were sold in total.

Save the Date

  Mum and me stay at home style

Many of you will have joined in our annual ‘Mum/special person and me’ night which we hold each year in our school hall prior to Mother’s Day. This year will be a little different to other years as we will not be able to gather as a community.  Our hope is that this will not stop us from being creative and taking up the challenge to recreate our fun night in our homes.

Date: 8^th May

Time: 6.30-7.30 pm

Venue: Somewhere relaxing in your house!

Get your best stay at home outfit ready!

The school captains and Mrs Hanrahan have planned a night full of surprises. A link will be sent to all families on Friday morning. The link will provide you with a video program for the night. We hope lots of our school families will take part in our first ever ‘Mum and Me’ stay at home style.

Please follow the link if you wish to order from this catalogue. Orders Will close the 8th of May. We will not be accepting cash payments for this catalogue. 

https://scholastic.com.au/book-club/virtual-catalogue-1/

Welcome to the 2020 Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and St. Michael’s Primary School is excited to be participating. A new application is being used this year that offers a range of exciting features including: 

• access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)
• a modern user-friendly interface
• rewarding  students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved
• the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review 

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 4 September 2020. 

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books. 

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers. 

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit:www.education.vic.gov.au/prc 

As you know, reading helps ensure children develop important foundational skills –
setting them up for school and for life. Just as importantly, reading also helps our kids imagine, explore and learn more about the world around them.
This year, everyone who completes the Challenge will receive a Certificate of
Achievement – and with more than 12,000 titles on the Challenge’s reading list, there really is a book for everyone.
For children not yet at school, the Challenge invites parents and carers to experience
40 books with their child. For students from Prep to Year 2, the Challenge is to read or experience 30 books and for students in Years 3 to 10, the Challenge is to read 15 books.
I also encourage you to visit the Challenge Facebook page: facebook.com.au/VicPRC
There you can join the community of avid readers to share stories, stay informed and
recommend books.