Term 1 Week 2 2020

From The Principal

To the St. Michael’s College Community,

What a great start to the year! I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our families, those returning and those joining us for the first time. Please make welcome to our community our new Prep families for whom the first few weeks are both exciting and emotional. We would also like to welcome those new students and families who have joined the St. Michael’s Community from other schools.

Thank you for choosing to allow St. Michael’s to be a part of your child’s life. Thank you for choosing to partner with us to help build solid foundations for your child’s future.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a proud member of the St. Michael’s College parent community. We joined as a family prior to me becoming Principal and I am proud to wear both hats. Last year my eldest graduated from year 6 to embark on his High School journey. Please click here to see my very emotional speech at the Senior Awards evening as I talked about my experiences as a Parent at St. Michael’s.

I would encourage every parent to be actively involved in their child’s education and to work with the College to help achieve the best possible outcomes.

We hope you were able to attend your parent information sessions or can attend those still to come. Communication is key to a meaningful partnership between us and you. Introduce yourself to your child’s classroom teacher and understand that there may be a few teething issues as teachers establish their expectations and routines within a new class. A strong partnership between the College and home is vital to the ongoing success for every child.

GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING

Morning arrival at the College

Students should not be arriving at the College earlier than 8:00am unless they are participating in a College based activity.

All students are to assemble between the administration building and library between 8:00am and 8:15am. At 8:15am students can move to the area near their classroom and at 8:30am students are to be in their classrooms begin preparations for the day.

Prep and Year 1 Parents/Caregivers are encouraged to wait in the shade or on the undercover walkway until the dismissal bell at 2:55pm and then move up to the P/1 Undercover Area.

No students are allowed on the playgrounds in the mornings or afternoons - even if their parents are supervising.

Information from the College

The College uses a variety of methods to share important messages with our community. Our aim is for parents to be aware and informed; however, this cannot occur unless parents actively access the information provided. Below is a list of the different communication methods utilised by the College -

Email - email is our primary method of communicating with families. Please ensure your email address is updated.
Parent Lounge - Parent Lounge is a Parent portal where Parents can - Access the College calendar View and edit their own address/phone contact/ email details View their child’s medical details Access their child’s academic reports View their fee statements and make payments View excursion notes for their child and confirm permission.
Facebook - the College Facebook page is another place of information about what is happening at the College. Regular reminders are posted advising the community of what is coming up at the College. We also post photos of students and activities that occur at the College.
App - the College App will be a source of reminders of events occuring at the College. The calendar section of the app is an excellent way to keep up to date with events and activities.
SMS - text messages are sent directly to parent phone numbers to confirm unexplained absences and in certain situations when required. Please ensure mobile phone contact details are kept current and up to date
Website - the College Website is a source of information, news and policy documents. The College tries very hard to provide our community with as much information as is possible - please make sure you are accessing this information so you are aware of what is happening around the College.

Uniform requirements

Wearing of the College uniform is an essential condition of enrolment at St. Michael’s College. Our community has an expectation that all parents will support the College to ensure very high standards of presentation for our students such as -

Students’ hair must be clean, worn neatly and combed off the face with only basic maroon hair ties/bands for all year levels.
Uniforms must be purchased from our Uniform Shop and bear the St. Michael’s College logo.
Shoes must be plain black and align with the College’s Uniform Policy

For further information regarding the College Uniform please refer to the Uniform Policy.

Refurbishment work

Funding allocated to the College through the Block Grant Authority will be utilised for refurbishment work on A block (the ICT building). Work will begin in February and depending on weather the refurbishment work will be completed in 3-4 months time. Click here for the plan.

Families with a long association with the College will know that A Block was the very first building constructed on the current College grounds. This means this building housed the original classrooms (some of our current parents were students in this classroom) and housed Sister V’s original office as Principal of the College. I know the new Technology Hub will be a tremendous asset to the College and a wonderful repurposing of the historically significant piece of the St. Michael’s College story.

Thank you for your continued commitment to the education of your children, we look forward to a great Term 1.

Chris Allom - Principal