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Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
Term One feels like it's flying! We are already halfway through the term with Easter coming in quickly. Thank you again for your participation in the Meet the Teacher interviews last week. The teachers found them invaluable and we hope you did as well.
Thank you as well for all the people who have volunteered to help out at the Athletics Day on Friday. There is still time to put your name down if you can. The weather at this stage looks like it is going to be a lovely day.
I will be absent from school Monday and Tuesday in my role as a school reviewer. I will be unable to respond to emails or messages until I return to St Michael’s on Wednesday. Lia DiCorleto will be in charge in my absence so please contact her with any urgent matters.
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 13 March 2024 and finishes on Monday 25 March 2024. Schools will schedule the tests within the testing window.
Further information can be found in this pamphlet from VCAA:
Please speak to your child's teacher if you have any further questions about this.
TRP
I’m sure your children have been coming home talking about the Resilience Project. They may have even been sharing some of the GEM chats that have been occurring daily in each classroom. As I walk around the school I hear the language of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness occurring each day.
For more information about the Resilience Project please check out their website:
And check out TRP@HOME; a place filled with inspiration and activities for the whole family, to help improve your wellbeing and build resilience.
We would also like to share this video with you that introduces the story behind the Resilience Project. In this presentation, Hugh shares a personal experience about his sister's battles with Mental Illness. Note: This video contains a story about an Eating Disorder that may be triggering. Please consider this before watching. For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.
Part 1: Meet Hugh and learn about The Resilience Project - https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-hugh/
POSITIVE PARENTING
The latest article from Happy Schools:
Term One Key dates:
- 1st Mar - School Athletics Day
- 7th Mar - School Photos
- 11th Mar - Labour Day Public Holiday (school closed)
- 15th Mar - School Closure Day
- 25th Mar - 2025 Foundation enrolments open
- 28th Mar Term One ends - 1pm finish
- 16th Apr - Term Two commences 9am
Kind regards
Jodie
Term 1 school fees were due by Friday 23rd February. Thank you to those families who have already paid.
Camp Sports and Excursion Fund
Camps, Schools and Excursion Funding (CSEF) is provided by the Victorian State Government for students (of eligible Centrelink cardholders) to attend activities like: - School camps or trips - Swimming and school-organised sport programs - Outdoor education programs - Excursions and incursions. Funding is provided annually at $150 per student for primary school students. Applications must be submitted to the school by 28 June 2024.
The applicant must be one of the following on the first day of Term 1 (29 January 2024) or Term 2 (15 April 2024):
- a parent or carer who is the beneficiary of a financially means-tested Centrelink concession card – please refer to the list of eligible cards
- a temporary foster carer
Full information (including list of eligible card types) is available on the following website:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/guidance/eligibility
School Fee Concessions
St Michael’s endeavours to make Catholic education affordable for all in our local community.
The school has an application process for any enrolled family to seek a fee concession based on financial hardship. There are two categories under which an application for a concession can be made:
Category 1 – Eligible means tested Health Care Card (HCC) and Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holders. Any family in which the fee payer holds an eligible means tested CCC is automatically eligible for a school fee concession. There is a simple application form and streamlined approval process. The Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited recommended concessional fee for 2024 is $520 per family.
Category 2 – Special Consideration
For other families experiencing financial hardship, the application process requires more detail to be provided to enable a fair and equitable assessment of eligibility for, and level of, fee concession.
Please contact the school office if you wish to discuss your eligibility for a fee concession.
Like so many other important events in the Bible, the events of this week’s gospel occur on a high mountaintop. Mountaintops were places of special and dramatic encounter with God and the disciples’ experience of the transfiguration is clearly no exception! In this instance, the disciples suddenly see Jesus’ power fully revealed but they fail to fully understand what is going on. One might think how much more obvious could God be about trying to reveal Jesus’ identity to the disciples, but still they don’t really catch on. Peter thinks he has caught on to the message. When the great prophets Elijah and Moses appear beside Jesus, Peter understands Jesus to be part of the line of prophets in the Hebrew tradition. He believes he has had a great insight and is so impressed that he wants to remain on the mountaintop – setting up tents in honour of Jesus, Elijah and Moses. In essence, Peter has still only partially understood who Jesus is. He thinks Jesus is the Messiah, but a Messiah in the same mould as the prophets of old, a prophet of the old tradition. He has not understood that Jesus is breaking that mould and creating a new vision, a new tradition – one that is endorsed by the voice of God on the mountaintop.
Rather than allowing the disciples to set up tents and remain in the ‘high’ of this experience, Jesus immediately leads the boys back down the mountain. This is perhaps the greatest message of this passage: that life is not lived on the mountaintop but back down in the valley. Although the mountaintop experience may have provided some new insight and new energy, it is back down in the valley that the world waits; that the real work needs to be done; that the sick and the poor are crying out for God’s love and mercy.
Each week students from each class are awarded Student of the Week certificates. These children are nominated for the example they have been within the school based on the School Wide Expectation focus for that week. The weekly focus will be from Wednesday until Tuesday the following week. Awards will be presented to students at Assembly on Friday.
In Week 5 the School Wide Expectation focus is Resilience:
I view mistakes as a learning opportunity.
I persist through challenges and difficulties in my learning.
| Kaylee Carmody | Mila Campbell | Jessie Ing |
| Harvey Anderson | Noah McMahon | Logan Tatti |
| Lachlan Franklin | Thea Webster | Leah Kalapurackal |
| Leo Graham | Indiana Devitt | Oscar Marotta |
| Hendrix Lear | Scarlett De Ligt | Jonah Joseph |
| Amelia Wisewould | Lincoln Milliner | April Wangman |
We are excited to 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.
We are very excited to announce that St Michael’s Parish, Traralgon are hosting a night with Fr Rob Galea. This is an event for all; young, old and anyone in between.
You may ask “Who is Fr Rob?”
Fr Rob Galea is an ordained Catholic Priest, currently serving in the Sandhurst Diocese, Victoria after moving to Australia from Malta. He is the founder and executive director of ICON Ministry (formerly known as FRG Ministries) a charity organisation that ministers to over 1,400,000 people each year across the world.
Fr Rob is an internationally acclaimed author, singer, and songwriter with one book (Breakthrough), a reflective journal, and eight album releases. Fr Rob has performed at several key events before an estimated single live audience of over 1,000,000 people. He has been featured in newspapers, magazines and TV shows worldwide, and was a contestant in Australia's 2015 The X Factor. Fr Rob’s book Breakthrough is intended to be released as a Hollywood movie in 2025.
Fr Rob is passionate about sharing the Good News, recognising that before everything that he is a follower of Christ, a priest and only then, a speaker, musician and artist. He has a significant evangelistic and outreach ministry, speaking and singing to students and teaching staff, as well as conferences and churches around the globe.
Come along for an evening of music and testimony. An event not to be missed!
When: Thursday 14th March
Where: St Michael’s Church, Church St, Traralgon
Time: 6:30pm
