Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

We look forward to sharing what we have been doing in The Resilience Project with you tonight at 5pm. This parent session will give attendees a chance to see what The Resilience Project looks like at St Michael’s as well as discussing the benefits of the program for our students. We will also discuss the importance of practising The GEM principles at home and how this can promote well being in your family. 

The session will run from 5-6pm in the school hall. Please sign in and enter via the hall door near the church. We look forward to seeing you there!  Thank you to Leanne Kamphuis and her team of helpers for putting this together. 

There will be no Assembly this Friday - The hall is being used for an incursion for the F - 2 grades. Awards will be given out in classrooms.

Regional Cross Country 

On Thursday 6th June St Michael's had 5 students participating in the Regional Cross Country, Tessa Jennings, Poppy Howe, Levi Stanistreet, Kaiden Warne and Chloe Rawson. This course is more challenging to the previous courses the students have participated in so far and Thursday’s conditions were also less favourable. However, all of the students performed magnificently with Tessa Jennings and Poppy Howe progressing through to the next round!

Traralgon District Winter Round Robin Sports

On Tuesday 4th June St Michael's 5/6 students attended the Traralgon District Winter Sports day. St Michael's was well represented across all four sports of Football, Soccer, Netball and T-Ball, with multiple teams in Netball and Soccer. Whilst the day was cold we were fortunate to not have any rain and the spirits and smiles of the students kept us all warm! Whilst we don’t have any of our teams progressing through to the next round we do have a group of students who represented St Michael's proudly and displayed wonderful sportsmanship. 

We would like to also send a BIG THANK-YOU to the following parents and volunteers who put their hand up to help on the day (to either coach or umpire) Jodie Wilson, Krystle Ing, Maree Athanasiadis, Rachael Quinlan, Megan Harper, Luke Thorton,  Alana & Emily Scholtes, John Buhagiar, Conor Clarke, Gus, Clayton, Eddie Goicoa, Damien Blackford and Mark McMahon. Whilst the list of names of helpers might look long, don’t be deceived, it was a big day for our helpers who didn’t get a break all day. Without help at these events we can’t offer the opportunities to our kids and we are very grateful for their support. 

TEACHING CHILDREN THAT MISTAKES ARE OKAY

You won’t find a child more chuffed with themselves than a preschooler who is learning to write their own name. In the beginning, they courageously create a jumble of mixed-up letters and back-to-front S’s to piece together the first iteration of what will become their signature. Very quickly, those mistakes lead to mastery, and they’re equipped with a skill they’ll use hundreds of thousands of times throughout their lives.

As our children grow, their fearlessness in the face of mistakes often gives way to a paralysing fear of failure. They become less willing to take risks, try new things, and broaden their experience because of the risk of not getting it “right” straight away.

How do we help our kids overcome perfectionism and make friends with mistakes again?

Here are my top tips for parents and educators:

#1: Talk it through.

Whether it’s learning to ride a bike or writing a story, when a child shows reluctance to try before they start, ask them what they’re worried about. Give them the chance to share their fears and talk it through. Ask them, ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen?’ Putting words around their fear can help contextualise and minimise it, making ‘the scary thing’ seem smaller and easier to handle.

#2: Share your story.

Younger children love to hear stories from their parents and trusted adults. Share a story with them of when you were scared, then tried, failed, and learned something from making a mistake. You can make it funny to lighten the load and help diffuse their worry.

#3: Resilience.

Making mistakes and learning from mistakes helps children build resilience, which will stand them in good stead later in life. If they have tried, failed, and then tried again, it helps them build confidence to tackle bigger, more daunting tasks down the track. Failure is not the enemy; failure to try is! Failure, ironically, can build success. As the saying goes, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, then try and try again.’

#4: Reward the effort.

If you have coached and coaxed your child or student into trying something new for the first time, or if they have worked hard to conquer their fear, then regardless of the outcome, let them know they are champs for trying. This way, the reward is linked, not to whether they failed or succeeded, but to the effort they made in the first place. Being a ‘doer’ with a positive ‘at least I tried’ attitude will help children build a positive approach to tackling new activities and tasks later in life.

#5: Practice makes perfect.

Perfect is of course not needed but practice is important. Give children plenty of opportunity to keep trying their chosen activity, whether they’ve taken up a new sport, musical instrument, or hobby, or whether they’re plucking up courage to make new friends at school. Help them stay positive and celebrate their achievements and learnings with them along the way. Whether they tell you this or keep it to themselves, kids love it when their parents, carers and teachers are their support team (and they’ll remember it later too!).

 Written by Dr Justin Coulson

St Michael's Primary School Parents and Friends Committee are having a Lamington Fundraiser.

The lamingtons are being supplied by the Heyfield Bakery. You can purchase chocolate or raspberry flavours. From each packet sold, $3 will go back to St Michael's!

All orders and payments must be made via CDFpay by 10pm on Tuesday 18th June 2024.

Your fresh lamingtons will be delivered to the school from the Heyfield Bakery on Tuesday 25th June for collection at the staffroom between 3:15pm and 4pm.

Just a reminder that 2025 Foundation enrolments are due in by Friday 28th June 2024. Acceptance letters will be sent out early next term so that families and the school can start to prepare for the transition program in Term Four. 

   Mark 3: 20 - 35

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, the author explores the question of who people believe Jesus to be. Whilst his disciples have a less than perfect understanding of the question, ‘Who do you say I am?’, those whose faith reveals the truth of Jesus are quickly sworn to secrecy. In this week's gospel, the misunderstanding of Jesus’ family and the misunderstanding of the Scribes show their incomplete grasp of who Jesus is. 

At the end of Sunday's gospel passage, Jesus states, ‘Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ Family bonds were critically important in First Century Palestine. Jesus does not deny his family kinship, but expands it to include anyone who does the will of God. All those who work to bring about the Kingdom or Reign of God share a bond with Jesus, they share a familial link with him. Whenever we act to bring about God’s dream for this world, we join our efforts with those of our brother, Jesus.

We 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.

Contact: Munch Lunch 0459 220 445 or hello.munch.lunch@gmail.com

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and St. Michael’s Primary School is excited to be participating. The PRC application 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 6 September 2024.

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 booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit:

https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge

To register to be part of the challenge, please click on the link below:

Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge 2024