Term 4, Week 5 2020
Earlier this term I was fortunate enough to spend time with our Year 5 and 3 students on their camping adventures. I am grateful that despite a number of COVID-19 restrictions and regulations, these opportunities were available to our students. The camp program at St. Michael’s provides our students the opportunity to develop a number of the core values of the College in different and challenging environments.
Responsibility
Students learnt the importance of taking responsibility for their belongings, from learning to pack their own bags ready for camp, to taking responsibility for their own crockery and cutlery after meals and keeping their cabins/rooms tidy. The students also learnt to be responsible for their behaviour choices on camp (talking after lights out, sharing a room with multiple students, not being organised for activities). Having seen what our students are capable of I would like to encourage our parents to expect their children to take greater responsibility - pack their own lunch, wash up after meals, put dirty clothes away, make their bed (based on camp i am sure some students had never made their own bed before) and complete chores to assist around the house. Students only develop responsibility by having the opportunity to do so - we need to provide opportunities at school and home for growth in this area.
Care and Compassion
I was pleased to see many examples of care and compassion from our students. Whether it was encouraging a peer during an activity or providing support when someone was sad because they were missing their parents - our St. Michael’s students did an amazing job. It was great to see the actions of our students matching their words. Parents can help to further develop this value by discussing different steps to take when you notice someone is having a hard time. Showing that you care - in actions and words - is an important life skill.
Respect
Respect is a major focus of the Year 5 Emu Gully camp. Showing respect for the facilities, for others and for themselves is a significant part of the camp program. In particular I took away the following this year - respect is not earned, respect is given. Respect is not something you receive, it is something you give. If you want respect then you give respect. Our students once again demonstrated their ability to respect each other and themselves throughout the camp and I would encourage parents to build on these skills - treat others the way you want to be treated, talk to others in the way you want to be spoken to, and most importantly respect yourself so that others respect you.
I am proud of each and every student as they represented St. Michael’s College. It was clear to see that our students have an understanding of the core values of St. Michael’s College and it was a privilege to watch them develop these skills on camp.
2020 has provided some challenges and highlighted the importance of being adaptable. The way we deliver our education program may change but our focus on developing students that can ‘try hard’ and ‘be nice’ remains. The College is proud of our traditional values and encourages all of our parents to continue to develop these ‘soft’ skills that are fundamental for future success.
Chris Allom - Principal
The College has recently appointed Mr Michael Hin as Finance Manager.
Michael has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), Bachelor of Economics and is a current Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) member.
With over 20 years’ experience in accounting, finance and leadership roles, Michael joins us after previously being employed at the Lakes College.
Prior to this, he has worked as Finance Manager and Finance Reporting Manager with TAFE Queensland working in both a corporate and regional arena.
He was also Asset Finance Coordinator with the Brisbane Regional Council, Group Accountant for the Stanwell Corporation Limited, Capital Accounting Manager, Senior Management Accountant and Senior Business Analysts with Ergon Energy and Branch Manager with the National Australia Bank.
Michael is passionate about St. Michael’s College and looks forward to working as a strategic Business Partner and contributing to the ongoing growth and success of the College.
The day dawned with an excitement from our Prep – Year 3 parents, as this was the first event they were able to attend – the Infant Athletic Carnival. It was Wednesday, 14th October just two weeks in from the September holidays and the parents arrived with their chairs and picnic baskets ready to support and watch their children enjoy the events.
The grounds look cared for and mowed and were ready with a variety of games spread out around the oval and undercover area for everyone in which to participate. There was running and relays, obstacle course, javelin, discus, bowling. The main focus was on fun, fun, fun!
The Carnival started with a March Past lead by the Year 6 sports captains and the infants divided up into boys who started with the field events and the girls headed over for their sprint and relays.
The weather was beautiful with a few clouds around and nobody thought that the day would end abruptly with a shower of rain. The children cheered and danced up and down in the rain, but the decision was made to call the carnival to an end ten minutes early for safety reasons.
Thanks to everyone who assisted in creating a fabulous day for everyone – grounds staff, teachers and admin team. A day in which memories were born.
Year 1 and 2 students have enjoyed learning many greeting words in Japanese, a greetings song and learning all about the Japanese flag last term. Our familiarisation unit continues this term and we are now learning eight colours in Japanese. Students can write the word, ‘Nihon’ (Japan) in Kanji. Fujisan (Mt Fuji), sakura (cherry blossom tree), torii gates and ‘Hinomaru’ (circle of the sun) are Japanese items that the students can recognise and their associated Japanese colour. Please ask your child about the ‘bowing’ deer in Japan too as they were amazed to see this video!
Year 5 and 6 students used an online program to practise their Hiragana vowels あ, い, う, え and お (a, i, u, e, o) in class and can be used at home as well. This included key understandings through games, puzzles, matching tasks and memory games. Learning Hiragana is a key component of the Australian curriculum - Japanese as the vowels are an essential part of understanding spoken and written Japanese. Learning Hiragana will also set Year 6 students up for success in high school. Please ask your child about the rhymes that we learn in class as they help us to remember the Hiragana characters. i.e. ‘a’ for ‘antenna up on a roof’ as ‘あ looks like an antenna with a loose wire!
The students thoroughly enjoyed their Term 3 unit on ‘Manga’ (Japanese Comics/Cartoons). Their final assessment task was to design a poster of their favourite Manga character labelled in Katakana. They also added 5 Japanese pictures in the background with the purpose of ‘telling a story with their Manga character.’ These pictures were written in Romaji and labelled in Hiragana. Students used their own Hiragana charts to write the Japanese labels. Amazing work and huge effort were shown in this task!
A message from Glenn Challen (Father of Kate Year 3B)
This is my 8th year riding in Great Cycle Challenge for Kids Cancer research. Your contributions are greatly appreciated, and I can guarantee that it’s made a difference to a kid’s life and every cent helps. As participants we get regular updates on the status of individual kids and we see how the funds are allocated.
Unfortunately as some of you may know, my plans of riding to Canberra last year were cut short when I was hit by a car during training. I am thankful to be alive and have made a good recovery. I won’t be riding to Canberra this year as it has been tough returning to the bike but I’m gaining confidence, strength and endurance with each ride and plan on returning to the long hauls soon.
This is still a very important cause, because cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in Australia - 3 children die of cancer every week. Kids should be living life, not fighting for it.
Donations can be made at https://greatcyclechallenge.com.au/Riders/GlennChallen