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Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
Last Friday we had our school athletics carnival at Harold Preston Park. We were blessed with a warm day, and it was lovely to see so many children participate with enthusiasm and joy. I’d like to thank Mrs Louise Clarke and Mrs Sharon Dortmans for their amazing effort in coordinating the day. We do it for the kids - and we know they absolutely love it.
Finally, days like this cannot occur without the help from parents and we thank those who assisted us throughout the day. The remainder of the Athletics events; Aerobics and Tug of War will occur this Friday. Due to the forecast warm weather, we will be holding this event at 11:30am in the school yard, rather than late in the afternoon.
Can you believe we are over half way through the term?!! We are in week 6 at the moment and things only get busier from here. Be sure to keep your eye on key dates and events in our school calendar. On Wednesday we have a small group of children representing St Michaels in the Latrobe Valley Division Swimming event at GRAC, Thursday we have school photos and on Friday, the Year 1/2s have their Mass at 9:30am.
Next week we begin NAPLAN for Year 3 and 5 students. It is important that all children are in attendance, so where possible, please refrain from booking appointments or arriving late to school on these days. Please refer to the school calendar for specific times allocated to the tests.
School Photos:
Please ensure that all students are in full Summer uniform on Thursday as we want them all to look their best. This includes correct black shoes and grey socks. If your child has sport throughout the day, they could bring their sneakers in their school bag and change into them later in the day.
Finally, I hope you all have a lovely long weekend. Remember there is no school on Monday 11th March due to the Labour Day Public Holiday and there is a school closure day on Friday 15th March as staff will be attending a professional development day with Father Rob Galea.
Kind regards,
Lia DiCorleto
Deputy Principal
Term One Key dates:
- 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
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.
HOT CROSS BUN FUNDRAISER 2024
Our St Michael’s Hot Cross Bun Fundraiser is on again in 2024 with Missen Link Burgers!
They are offering a great variety of flavoured buns. Including Traditional, jam filled donut, Strawberry & white chocolate, Caramel White Choc and Chocolate chip!
This offer is available to anyone you know, so please ask family, friends, grandparents, neighbours and workmates if they are interested in ordering.
Order forms have been sent home to help you keep track of all your orders.
Tally up your totals for each variety, then order and pay online through our CDFpay.
Remember to keep your completed order form for easy distribution to family and friends.
Orders close Thursday 14th March at 10:00pm!
Your order will be ready for collection between 2:45pm & 3:45pm on Thursday 21st March 2024 at the school hall.
Please organise someone else to collect your goodies on the day if you are unable to do so yourself.
This is going to be so fun, what a fantastic way to support both your school and a great local business!
Thank you for your continued support.
St Michael’s Parents & Friends Association
This week’s gospel focuses on the Temple and the powerful symbolise of holiness and the connection and relationship between God and the Hebrew people. It is often assumed that Jesus’ anger when he tipped over the tables in the Temple, was directed at the traders and money changers. The Temple was the holiest site for sacrifice to God. The tradition dictated that sacrifice made by a priest on the altar was the highest form of worship. The best animal to sacrifice was a healthy, properly formed creature. Rather than walking a lamb all the way from somewhere like Galilee to Jerusalem, the faithful would purchase their sacrificial animal at the Temple itself – thus the presence of the people selling cattle, sheep and doves. However, the Temple traders would not accept Roman coins to purchase the sacrificial animals as they bore the image of the deified emperor. Therefore, money changers were required to exchange Roman currency for acceptable coinage – so the money changers were also playing their part in the prayer life of the Temple.
Jesus’ outrage is not so much with the traders and the money-changers as with the whole religious practice and hierarchical structure that has developed to a point where the only way a person can pray in a ‘valid’ way is to purchase an animal and hand it over to a priest who goes behind a screened wall to sacrifice the animal. The only way to seek God’s forgiveness and mercy was to ‘buy’ it at the Temple. This was what outraged Jesus. He could not stomach the injustice nor the barriers that had been erected between the people and their God. This about our world today …. What injustices do we see around us? How can we challenge these injustices?
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 6 the School Wide Expectation focus is Safety:
I have the right to feel safe in our school environment.
| Aarnavi Parankusham | Eva Skarlatis | Dan Turner |
| Maggie Love | Harrison Ingram | Aurora Buhagiar |
| Sara Paolini | Clarence Mavhundu | Max Murphy |
| Melliya Jayaseelan | Ollie Sutherland | Chrish Stepehen Siju |
| Xavier Pavich | Jack Owen | Penn Mason |
| Gemma Wood | Violette Cummins | Scarlett Baxter |
| Janina de Souza- Daw | Elise Janiw | Kelsey Reed |
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.
