Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

Planning for 2022 is well underway with teachers meeting together after school to plan the classes for next year. As a result, the children will be starting to visit different classrooms and teachers each week as we begin our transition process. We are mindful that the children may be feeling a range of emotions at the moment as they begin meeting new children, new teachers and becoming familiar with new learning areas. The emotional well-being of everyone across our school community is at the forefront of the discussions teachers are having as they plan these grades. Your child’s teachers will be working with your child(ren) to support them through this process. 

Last Thursday, we celebrated  Remembrance Day with the school captains laying a memorial wreath at the base of the flagpoles in the school yard. After school the wreath was then taken down to the Traralgon Cenotaph in Kay Street and placed with the other wreaths from the ceremony held earlier. Thank you to Mrs Hill for organising this. 

A heads up that the Grade 5 /6 children are busy planning a fundraiser to raise money for Catholic Mission. There will be a range of market stalls that the children are planning with various games and items made by the children to buy. Each grade will get the chance to visit the “market”.It will be held between playtime and lunchtime on Friday 26th November. More information will be in next week's newsletter.

Vaccination Requirements of Parents, Guardians and Carers and Other Visitors Attending Schools

The State Government Guidelines outline that parents must meet the full vaccination criteria to access upcoming school activities.

Parents, guardians and carers who enter reception must be fully vaccinated or have a valid medical exemption with the following limited exceptions:

• when attending to administer medical treatment to their child when the school cannot administer the treatment.
• when attending to collect their unwell child
• when attending for a momentary period that does not involve any sustained contact with staff or students, for example, to collect a completed art project or similar.

All adults, including parents, guardians and carers attending any school event or activity including, but not limited to tours, graduations, transition days or whole of school events, are required to be fully vaccinated and show evidence of vaccination.

Meetings and other discussions (such as Parent Support Group meetings) with parents, guardians and carers who do not meet vaccination requirements should be held virtually.

Parents, guardians and carers attending school sites for drop off and pick up who do not enter school buildings do not need to comply with vaccination requirements.

Kind regards

Jodie

Many in our school community continue to face financial impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to supporting families experiencing financial challenges through our School Fee Concession programs, and encourage any parent/carer/guardian experiencing difficulties to contact us regarding fee assistance.

Fee payers who have recently qualified for a Centrelink Concession Card should communicate with the school at their earliest convenience to determine eligibility for a Category One Centrelink Concession Card Concession. 

Please contact Maria Churton, School Finance Administration Officer via email, office@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au,  to explore confidential financial support arrangements or to obtain further information.

Walk to School Month

The month of November is Walk to School month.

Now’s the time to kickstart some healthy new routines with our kids. Join in #WalkToSchool and help make walking, riding, scooting or skating before and after school part of the ‘new normal’ in our community.

Encouraging kids to walk, ride, scoot or skate to and from school sets them up for healthy, active lives. It also helps make the streets and drop-off zones around our school safer and less congested and creates opportunities for them to stay connected with one another. 

Grade 6 2022 Memento Polo Shirt

A reminder to Grade 5 families to purchase a Grade 6 2022 memento polo shirt to celebrate your child’s final year at St Michael’s Primary School.

The shirt will have a list of all Grade 6 children and teachers on the back as well as the St Michael’s logo on the front and back of the shirt.

Shirts will cost $24 for short sleeve and $27 for long sleeve. They will be a red polo shirt that students can wear as part of their school uniform. The shirts are available to order as a uniform item on CDFpay.  All orders must be placed by 10pm on Sunday 28^th November 2021. Delivery is expected to be in week one of term 1 next year.

If you would like to purchase a shirt and wish to check the sizing there will be a size kit available in the Grade 5/6 area.  

Due to the differences in sizing between our normal school uniform and these shirts from a different supplier, we strongly recommend that you get your child to try on a shirt to determine the correct size. As this is a custom order it is not possible to offer any exchange or refunds.

When placing your order you will be asked to enter your child’s name as you wish it to appear on the shirt. E.g. Samuel Smith may be Sam Smith. This is very important as once ordered no changes will be able to be made.

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 in their classrooms.

In Week 6 the School Wide Expectation focus was Safety: 

Dear Parents,

School Sport Victoria will once again be offering the opportunity for gifted and talented students from school communities to register to trial for school sport Team Vic teams in 2022.
Registrations will open on 1st December 2021 for Australian Football, Netball, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, and Boys Football (Soccer).
These trials are for emerging athletes who have reached a certain standard or level Eg. Played in a representative team. They are a process for selecting a Team Vic State Team going to School Sport Australia National Championships.
Each school is allowed a maximum of three (3) students per team mentioned above to attend these trials so it’s important that as a school, we acknowledge the capacity and ability of these nominated students to be able to participate well in these trials. It needs to be emphasised that these trials form part of School Sport Victoria’s Gifted and Talented program and are not ‘come and try’ opportunities.
Each child is trialing for a state team and as such we must attest to each child’s athleticism, skill level and school behaviour.

If you would like your child to be endorsed by the school can you please return the form below to school by Friday 26th November:

School Sport Victoria Application 2022

Thank you,
Sharon Scholtes
Sports Leader