Term 3 Week 3 2020

To the St. Michael’s College Community,  

2020 has certainly impacted the lives and livelihoods of many in our community. Through the current challenges and potential challenges to come, the College remains committed to supporting our community. We are here to help, where we can.

Unfortunately, restrictions have seen changes to many aspects of life at the College, and in light of recent events, it seems unlikely these restrictions will be lifted in the very near future.  Despite these adjustments to what we are able to do, the reasons ‘why’ the College exists remain consistent. 

Fundamentally, the College aims to inspire quality learning, nurture individuals and instil Christian values within a safe school community. We promote our values on a daily basis and the primary overarching purpose of the College is learning for all and that through mutual respect and caring everyone is able to strive in dignity towards achieving their full potential.

Despite many aspects of ‘normal’ life at the College being different, our foundations remain. In the face of this pandemic we have strived to keep some normality within the College.  Mrs Wellwood and I have been visiting the classrooms and presenting students with their certificates that they would normally receive on Assembly.

Our Library borrowing has continued with the help of our virtual library for the upper school and mobile library for the infant school.  Makerspace challenges that would have normally taken place in the library at lunch time, now take place on the verandas during break time.

Band rehearsals are continuing in smaller groups, whilst Musical rehearsals take place in preparation for the ‘filming’ of this year’s Yr Five and Six 2020 Musical – Alice in Wonderland Jr.

We have successfully executed a high volume of parent/teacher interviews with social distancing, cleaning and sanitising paramount.

We are continuing to ensure that the health, safety and wellbeing of the students, staff and wider community remains our priority.  Our drop off and pick up procedures will remain the same, Infant and Upper Assemblies will remain on hold for the time being.

We continuing to invest additional hours into cleaning which occurs throughout the school day in classrooms, staff rooms, offices and across playground equipment.  Hand sanitisers are available at every classroom and we will continue to encourage good hygiene. 

We do ask if your child is unwell that you keep them at home, we will ask you to collect your children from school if they are showing signs of illness.

Thank you to the parents and caregivers for their continued support as we work collectively to ensure a safe and caring learning environment. Thank you to the staff for their steadfast commitment to the students at the College. And thank you to the students for their ability to adapt and to learn during unusual times.

Let's hope the wider community continues to follow health recommendations and think more about ‘we’(others) and less about ‘me’ (themselves).

Chris Allom - Principal

Terry Young MP, visited the College recently to inspect the results of the funding grants we received. Our captains showed Terry the upgrades to the Tennis Court and IT Lab.

Earlier this year students from across the College participated in the Interrelate ‘National Say No to Bullying’ poster competition. The competition was open to all primary schools across Australia and coincided with the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. The aim of the competition was to raise awareness of bullying and to assist schools and organisations to identify and address bullying behaviours in their communities.

Over 5000 students participated in the competition nationally and we are proud to announce that one of our Year 6 students, Maya, was successful in making it through as one of the 41 finalists!

A very big congratulations goes to Maya for the effort she put into completing a thoughtful and eye-catching ‘Say No to Bullying’ poster.

On Friday, 24^th June, Year 6 students participated in a workshop presented by “Big Bang” Science Education. This was a fun, hands on look at different types of energy and how we use it in our everyday lives.

During the workshop we investigated what makes an electrical circuit work (or not work) and how to create different types of circuits for different purposes, incorporating the use of components like switches and light bulbs. Students also learnt about some of the different ways of generating electricity, with a focus on renewable energy sources.

This was a great experience for the students to problem solve, work cooperatively in groups while learning more about electricity and types of energy.

Welcome back everybody! We’ve definitely hit Term 3 running… or should we say swimming, as we’ve ventured into life under the sea! We are also very fortunate to have two new sea creatures join our Year 2 cohort. Welcome Evan & Jackson! There are lots of “did you know?” being heard in our classrooms as we research and share our prior and newfound knowledge about a variety of marine animals. Lots of hands-on activities have enhanced our curiosity and learning as we put to use our many skills such as, observing, recording, reading, discussing, labelling, weighing, measuring, comparing and problem solving.

It is heart-warming to see everyone return to school with so much enthusiasm to learn and interact with their peers. We are all looking forward to a wonderful Term 3 but of course if things do go a little pear shape due to covid-19, we will take on Dory’s advice & “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming” 😉  Have a great term everyone! 

Here is some information regarding how St. Michael’s College supports students with a disability through the NCCD process - The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability      

What is the NCCD?

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, Australian students with disability must be able to access and participate in education on the same basis as their peers. To ensure this, students with disability may receive adjustments to access education, based on the professional judgement of teachers, in consultation with the student and/or their parents, guardians or carers.

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) gives Australian schools, parents, guardians and carers, education authorities and the community information about the number of students with disability in schools and the adjustments they receive. The Australian Education Regulation 2013 requires all schools to report the data collected for the NCCD to the Australian Government on an annual basis.

The NCCD collects data about school students with disability who are receiving adjustments across Australia in a consistent, reliable and systematic way. It enables schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students with disability and how they can be best supported at school.

I have attached an NCCD Factsheet to assist parents develop a clearer understanding of this process.

Any student with an identified or imputed disability will have an Educational Adjustment Plan which will be reviewed yearly in consultation with the class teacher, the Head of Learning Support and the parent.

If you have any questions regarding NCCD please don’t hesitate to make contact.