Dear Parents, guardians and carers,

We have reached the end of term two, a term like no other that we have ever experienced before. It has challenged us all in so many ways but we have come through it more committed than ever to working together to provide the best learning environment for your children. 

Firstly, thank you for your support in keeping your children home when they are unwell, we understand it is creating pressure at home, as it does at school when staff are staying away as well, but we know it is important, so that we can do everything possible to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and get back to ‘normal’.

A reminder that half-yearly school reports will be sent home via students today. The Semester One school reports will give you a snapshot of what your child has achieved throughout the semester. Due to COVID-19 and the length of time spent in remote flexible learning these reports are very basic and are an indicative guide of where your child sits in accordance to the progression of learning in Reading, Writing and Number. The circumstances around the flexible, remote learning have provided unique opportunities for continuous written feedback about your child’s learning from their teacher and as such there are no comments included for this semester. More detailed reports will be sent home at the end of the year.

School holidays start at the end of this week. School will finish at 2pm on Friday. This is due to the bus pick up time. We hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy holiday and look forward to starting term three on Monday 13^th July.

Kind regards

Jodie

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.

If a student will not be attending camp for any reason, written notification advising the reason for non attendance must be provided to the office as soon as possible and at least 4 weeks prior to the camp date. Failure to provide this notification will result in camp fees being due and payable. In the event of an unexpected illness resulting in non attendance at camp a medical certificate will need to be provided.

Thank you for your understanding.

Notifying Student Absences

• For all absences please notify the school via the website or School App by 9:30am the morning of each absence. Your child’s name, class and reason for absence is required.

• Students arriving late to school, after 8:55am, need to be signed in by their parent/guardian and the teacher or office staff advised of the reason the student is late.

• If a student is absent without notification to the school by 9:30am an SMS will be sent to parents/guardians. This will be followed up with a phone call if the school is still not advised of the student’s reason for absence.

• A written note to your child’s teacher is required when they return to school if the reason for absence has not been provided by the School website or App.

• For planned absences please provide the school with notification via the School website or App stating the reason and dates that they will be away prior to the absence. By law every absence must be accounted for on our rolls and written notes kept. Prolonged or frequent illness requires a doctor's certificate.

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 in class until assemblies can resume.

In Week 10 the School Wide Expectation focus was Learning.

I set high expectations of what I can achieve.

I work hard and always try my best.

I reflect on my own learning and how I can improve.

I can receive and act on feedback.

The award winners for week 10 were: 

Answer from last week:

13 mins + 19 mins + 32 mins + 6 mins = 70 mins
8:00 am – 70 mins = 6: 50 am
Scott leaves home at 6:50 am.

Mt 10:37-42

Through the readings for this weekend children can be introduced to the act of hospitality, the gift of welcoming. The Gospel, Jesus tells us to welcome all people, in particular prophets and holy people. How do we welcome the prophets of God's word today? How do we show them hospitality and welcome? Do we recognise the fact that in welcoming them, we are welcoming Jesus himself? Keep that in mind the next time someone rings your doorbell!

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.