St. Michael's Primary School ~ Term 2 Week 2

IMPORTANT DATES

Principal's Message

Hello families & friends of St. Michael's

I’m thrilled to announce that I have stepped into the role of Principal at our school. Having spent the past six years as part of this wonderful community, and serving as Lead Teacher for the last three, I feel truly honoured to take on this new opportunity.

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Lisa Hitchcock for her leadership and dedication during her time as principal over the past 12 months. Her contributions have been greatly appreciated, and we wish her all the very best in her next chapter.

In stepping into this role, I’m guided by a strong set of goals: to continue fostering a supportive and welcoming school environment, to strengthen our partnerships with families, and to maintain a strong focus on academic excellence and the wellbeing of every child. I believe that when we work together, collaboratively, we create the best possible conditions for our learners to thrive.

We also warmly welcome Elisabeth Ryan to our school community as our new Foundation teacher. Elisabeth, who brings with her a wealth of experience and enthusiasm, will be joining us in Week 4, and we are excited to have her on board.

I hope to see all the mothers, grandmothers, and other special adults at our upcoming Mother's Day Breakfast. Everyone in our school community is warmly invited to attend the Mother's Day Mass as we come together to celebrate the important role of these special people in our lives.

Warm regards,
Mrs Marsha Ardern
Principal

Student Pick-up Arrangements

Please phone the school if your child/ren are not going to be on the bus or have changed pick up arrangements. This is a part of our daily process and our commitment to Child Safety at St Michael's.

Please update ongoing changes when they begin or conclude e.g. sport training or guides. 

School Advisory Council and Parent Representative Group 

We are looking for new members!

If you would like to take the opportunity to nominate for our School Advisory Council or join our PRG we would certainly appreciate new members. They are both great ways to connect with other families and support your child/ren's education and make our school even better. 

If you have any questions about the council or PRG please contact the school. 

2025 Pupil Free Days

Term 3: 13  August CESL Staff Spirituality Day

Term 4: 20 October Dan Petro Behaviour Analyst Professional Learning, 28 November 2026 Planning day and  17 - 19 December Staff Professional Learning Day and Magnify Sandhurst Days

STUDENT ILLNESS & ABSENCES

A reminder that if your child has gastroenteritis or fever please notify the school and record on your child's absence notification. This will help keep our school safe and our students healthy.

Gastroenteritis exclusion from school - 48 hours from last symptom of vomiting and/or diarrhoea.  

Creating Calm and Focused Classrooms Through Consistent Behaviour Expectations

This term, our school is placing a strong focus on improving classroom behaviour to ensure every student has the opportunity to learn in a calm, safe, and focused environment. While some behaviours—like calling out in class or not following instructions—might seem minor on their own, when they occur frequently, they can significantly disrupt learning for others and contribute to increased stress for both students and staff.As part of our Magnify initiative, our teachers have been undertaking training in Classroom Mastery. This training is equipping staff with clear routines, strategies, and expectations that promote effective learning environments. Your child may have already mentioned some of the changes at home. These include:

• Calm and orderly lining up before entering classrooms
• "Cue to Learn" strategies that signal when to stop, look, and listen
• Exit routines that help students leave class in a calm and respectful way

In the coming weeks, we will also introduce five core school rules. These are designed to support—not replace—our existing school matrix of expectations. Their purpose is to provide clarity and consistency for students so they know exactly what is expected of them throughout the school day. The overall aim of these changes is to reduce distractions in the classroom, allowing for more learning time and helping us build a stronger, more supportive school community. As part of this process, we have reviewed our current Behaviour Flowchart to ensure it aligns with these changes. One key insight has been that everyday behaviours, such as persistent calling out or low-level disruption, are often being repeated without escalation. This is often because it feels too severe to move a student to Level 4 consequences for what seems like a minor action. However, research and our own observations show that repeated low-level behaviours are a major contributor to classroom disruption and increased stress. For this reason, we will be consistently following our Behaviour Flowchart moving forward. If a student continues to repeat Level 1 and 2 behaviours, they will be moved to Level 3. Continued behaviours at Level 3 will result in Level 4 consequences, which may include internal or home suspension. We ask that you discuss this with your child so they understand that clear and consistent boundaries are being reinforced to support a positive learning environment for everyone. Below, you’ll find:

• Our Behaviour Expectation Matrix
• The updated Behaviour Flowchart
• Guidelines used by staff to determine behaviour levels

Families will continue to be kept informed as the rules are taught and reinforced in classrooms. Thank you for your ongoing support in making our school a calm, respectful, and focused place to learn.

St. Michael’s Primary School is committed to child safety and the inclusion of all children.

Grade 1 - Ms Kaycee Frew

A Strong and Confident Start to Term Two

Term Two is well underway, and our students have settled back into routines with great enthusiasm and focus.

It has been a pleasure to see them transition so smoothly, showing a strong sense of independence and readiness to learn. In mathematics, our current unit is focused on partitioning, an important concept that helps students understand how numbers can be broken down into parts. This foundational skill supports future learning in addition, subtraction, and place value. While the unit is designed to use physical counters to model number breakdowns, our inventive

Year One students have taken a wonderfully intuitive approach. Instead of using the provided counters, many have chosen to represent numbers using their fingers or by drawing counters in their books. This has shown not only a deepening understanding of the concept but also growing confidence in their problem-solving skills.

Their engagement during lessons has been outstanding, with students eagerly participating in discussions, demonstrating their thinking, and even helping peers explore different strategies.

It’s clear that they’re not just coasting, they’re thriving! We’re proud of the positive, focused energy in the classroom and look forward to building on this momentum as the term continues.

Grade 2 - Mrs Bianca Kennedy

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 2!

We’ve had a fantastic start to the term and are excited to share some of the wonderful learning and activities happening in our classroom.

Welcome to Our New Students!
We’re thrilled to welcome two new students to our Year 2 class – both named Jordan! The class has been very welcoming, and it’s lovely to see new friendships forming already.

Literacy
This term, we’ve been focusing on the comprehension strategy of prediction. We’ve been learning how to use clues from the text and our own experiences to make thoughtful guesses about what might happen next. This helps us understand what we’re reading and keeps us engaged in the story.
In grammar, we’ve been exploring nouns and pronouns – identifying people, places, and things and learning how pronouns can take their place in a sentence.

We’d also like to remind families that it’s very important for students to be reading their home readers as often as possible. Regular reading helps build fluency and comprehension skills. Please ensure readers are returned each Monday so new books can be sent home.

Mathematics
In maths, we’ve been working hard on our number bonds and using them to support our understanding of subtraction. The students are developing confidence with mental strategies and applying their knowledge to solve everyday problems.

Religion
We have begun our unit on Pentecost, exploring the story of the Holy Spirit and its meaning for us today. Students are learning about the symbols of Pentecost and how the Holy Spirit guides us to be people of kindness, courage, and community.

STEM Collaboration with Year 6
An exciting project we’ve started this term is building our very own wooden dinosaurs! With the help of our Year 6 buddies, students are using teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving skills to bring their prehistoric creatures to life. It’s been a highlight of the term so far!

Thank you for your ongoing support. We look forward to a fun and productive term ahead! 

Bianca Kennedy 

Mental Health in Schools

Mental Health Skate Board program

The Year Six students commenced the five-week Mental Health Skateboard program this week and Tallangatta Skate Park.  Al from 'Drop In and Take Off' spoke to the students about the importance of physical activity for our mental health before he took them through the basic skills of learning to skateboard. Our students were actively engaged and are looking forward to the next session on Tuesday. 

Joe Quinn

Mental Health Wellbeing Leader

What's On

Auskick and Net Set Go