Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

The events of last week were a reminder of the power of mother nature. The destruction of the storm and flood waters have played havoc with our community. Staff and students were not able to get here safely and we thank you for your understanding regarding the changes over Thursday and Friday when it was not possible to deliver our normal program. For some families the flood/storm damage is still impacting them and you are very much in our thoughts and prayers. Please reach out to us if you require assistance from us in any way.  

At this stage a number of bus routes are still impacted and will be until an evaluation of the road conditions occurs. We have received notification from the Bus Lines that the following buses WILL NOT run today due to road closures; 

• Cairnbrook
• Cowwarr
• Cowwarr Weir
• Toongabbie Shop
• Glengarry & Glengarry West will not be available for students living in Glengarry however will run in the town of Traralgon.

These routes may be diverted in the coming days, we will let you know as soon as alternate routes are finalised via our school app. 

 The following services will run with modifications to their routes;

• Glengarry & Glengarry West will run from Marshall’s Road & Ellavale respectively.
• Tyers Hills and Tyers Flats will run via Thom’s Bridge
• Koornalla will run, however will not be using the Monument bus stop

Tutoring program 

The State Government Tutoring initiative has been running at St Michael’s  for some Year 3 and 4 students since the end of term 1. Kerry Adams has been running the program 3 days a week with a focus on direct instruction to improve reading comprehension skills of the students involved. Kerry is currently assessing the progress of the students, with initial results indicating pleasing progress. The initiative will continue to run for the remainder of the year and may provide opportunity for other students to also be included. 

Learning Conferences

Learning conferences are scheduled to be held next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, At this stage restrictions do not allow parents onsite to attend meetings. We have held off sending out the link to book a time as we are hoping that this will change this week. The students have started preparing for them so if they can’t go ahead as planned, we will send the information home with them so they can share it with you at home. 

Kind regards

Jodie

Establishing digital boundaries for a good night's sleep
https://www.parentingideas.com.au/schools/insight/establishing-digital-boundaries-for-a-good-nights-sleep/

It’s well established that sleep is vital for children and adolescents’ learning, physical health, mental wellbeing and emotional regulation. Yet, a concerning number of Australian children and adolescents aren’t meeting the national sleep guidelines according to a recent study*.

There are many reasons for young people’s poor sleep habits including school demands, co-curricular and/or work commitments, perceived pressure from parents and educators and consumption of energy drinks. Young people’s digital device habits can have a significant, negative impact on their sleep.

Handheld devices emit blue light which hampers melatonin production. This can result in the delayed onset of sleep and potentially shorten critical phases of the sleep cycle. Research confirms that children who have not yet gone through puberty are particularly vulnerable to blue light exposure in the evening as they have larger pupils, compared to post-puberty adolescents.

Strategies to stop screens from sabotaging your child’s sleep

Parents can have a positive influence on their child and teens’ digital habits and doing so will yield positive results for their child’s sleep and subsequent learning and wellbeing.

Establish a digital bedtime

Kids should switch off digital devices 60 minutes prior to falling asleep. Reinforce this habit by establishing a ‘landing zone’ such as a kitchen bench, or desk in a study or sideboard where digital devices go for charging and storage. Many students report that they ‘need’ to complete homework or submit assignments late at night. Verify the validity of such statements and work in partnership with your child’s school to limit this type of required screen activity at night. Parents need to also be good role models by switching off before bed too.

Tech-free zones

Bedrooms should be tech-free zones so consider buying an alarm clock if your child uses a mobile phone to wake themselves up. Keeping devices out of bedrooms removes the tech-temptation to use them throughout the night, reduces the likelihood that they’ll reach for them upon waking and lessens the chance of cyberbullying incidents. Ensure any devices left in bedrooms are on airplane mode and that the device is away from their line of sight.

Ensure a daily dose of ‘greentime’

Exposure to natural blue light from sources such as the sun is critical for regulating circadian rhythms and promoting sleepiness at night. Ensure your child/teen is exposed to bright, natural, daytime light preferably before midday each day.

Use blue light filters

Most devices include options for ‘night mode’ or ‘dark mode’ that reduce blue light exposure. Dimming the brightness of the screen in the settings or applying a filter on a desktop or laptop also assists.

Do a screen swap before bed

Encourage passive tech activities before bed such as watching TV, listening to an audiobook, music or podcast, or reading on an e-reader.

It can be a challenge navigating digital boundaries with your child or teen particularly when it involves sleep, which is vital for health, wellbeing and learning. Talk to them regularly about the importance of sleep using science and facts to substantiate your claims.

*The Australian Department of Health recommends between 9-11 hours of sleep for children (aged 5-13 years) and between 8-10 hours of sleep for adolescents (aged 14-17 years). A 2019 study published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found that a quarter of 12-15 year olds were experiencing a concerning lack of sleep and more than half of the 16-17 year olds in the study were not getting the recommended 8-10 hours/night (Source: https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/lsac-asr-2018-chap4-sleep.pdf )

Billy G Cookie Dough Fundraiser 

Thank you everyone for supporting this fundraiser!

Your orders will be ready for collection Wednesday 23rd June between 3:00 and 4:00pm from the school hall. 

As we have no refrigeration storage space, please organise someone else to collect your order on the day if you are unable to do so yourself.

Lunch Order Day

Lunch order day is this Friday the 18th June. Orders close tomorrow,

Wednesday the 16th June at 1:00pm, so please make sure to 

get your orders in ASAP on CDFPay.

These days can't go ahead without the support of our school community. We are still seeking helpers for lunch order day this Friday, particularly in the morning from 9:30 - 11:30am. Even just an hour of your time would be much appreciated! If you can assist, please follow the link below so that we can get in touch, Thanks!

Lunch Order Day Helper 18th June 2021

Facebook Page

It's great to see so many people engaging with the event reminders, information and photos on Facebook. If you haven't already followed our Facebook page, head on over to St Michael's Primary P&F Events Page! This is a great way to keep up to date with school events and information.

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 on Friday at assembly.

In Week 8 the School Wide Expectation focus was Learning: 

Our class student leaders have finally been presented with their badges.  Congratulations to all students for being chosen to represent their class in 2021.

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 17 September 2021.

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 see the Premier’s message, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

We have 41 students registered
347 books finished
50 Book Reviews
5 Students Completed

95 days left until it finishes on 17th September 2021

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