Dear Parents and Caregivers

Welcome back to the 2019 school year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed some family time over the holidays. The staff and I are excited to begin another wonderful year with you and your precious children. I have pondered on several occasions this week about how we have started the year with such a beautiful energy around the school. Thank you to the students and parents for returning with such vibrant enthusiasm and happy smiles and to the staff for facilitating such a smooth start to the year!

New families and staff

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new families and staff who are joining our St. Michael’s family. We are thrilled to have you all as part of our community and I hope that you will create some wonderful memories during your time with us!

In terms of staff, we are excited to welcome our new Assistant Principal and Year 3 teacher Mrs Jemima Saunders! Welcome also to Mrs Jennifer Doven, our Year 1 teacher and Miss Julia Hodson who will be teaching in Year 5 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. A warm welcome back to Mrs Helen Shanahan who returns as our art teacher after a year’s sabbatical!

Assistant Principal Roles

As Ryan, Jemima and I commence as a new leadership team, we have realigned the assistant principal roles. Jemima will be line managing Kindy to Year 3 and will co-ordinate curriculum across the school including digital technologies. Ryan will line manage Years 4 – 6 and will co-ordinate Religious Education and administration (such as timetables, rosters, policies etc). Should you have queries or concerns regarding your child, your first port of call should be their teacher, however, should you have further concerns after consulting with the teacher, please feel free to make an appointment to speak with the appropriate assistant principal.

Principal’s Vision and Code of Conduct

When I commenced the school in Term 3, 2018, I shared with you my vision for St. Michael’s and the values that I hold dear. The start of a new year is a timely opportunity to remind us all of the type of community we are building.

My vision for our school is a place where:

• Christ is at the centre of all we do;
• Every child can flourish;
• Enthusiasm for learning is fostered for staff, students and parents;
• Students are supported to discover and their gifts and talents and what makes them special;
• Everyone feels welcomed, included, accepted, safe and loved;
• Students are provided with a wide range of quality experiences to help them develop physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually and academically;
• Students can feel engaged in learning;
• Staff and parents can work collaboratively and in partnership with each other to achieve the best outcomes for students; and
• Open and respectful communication and a positive culture exist.

I invite all our community members to actively and positively engage with us in the education of your most precious gift/s, your child/ren, through the variety of opportunities that are available for parent involvement. We value your presence and your ideas!

To help ensure that all community members positively contribute to our school, we have in place a code of conduct which was implemented in 2017. The school code of conduct can be found on our website: https://www.stmichaelsbass.wa.edu.au/pdf/policies/policies_codeofconduct.pdf . Both staff and parents are required to adhere to this code at all times to ensure both the safety of students and that all members of our community are treated with respect and dignity. This document also outlines the importance of confidentiality, which is a timely reminder that, whilst we encourage and appreciate parent assistance in classrooms, we ask that volunteers maintain confidentially at all times to ensure student wellbeing. Please take some time to familiarise yourself with this document.

Parent Information Evening – Monday 11 February

Our 2019 Parent Information Evening is being held this coming Monday night. This will commence with a short session in the hall at 6pm. We then have two classroom sessions to allow parents to get to multiple classrooms. The first session commences at 6.15pm and the second session at 7pm. We encourage each family to have at least one parent in attendance so that you can hear about how your child’s class will run this year. If you are unable to attend, please touch base with your child’s teacher in the near future so that they can keep you in the loop about important routines etc. A reminder that this is not a forum to engage individually with teachers about your child. Should you wish to do this, you are most welcome to make an appointment to see your child’s teacher at a later date.

Beginning of Year Mass and P & F Welcome Event

To celebrate the start of a new school year, the Year 5 class will lead us in a liturgy on Wednesday 13 February at 9am in the church. We would love to see you all there.

Thank you to our amazing Parents and Friends (P & F) association for welcoming our new families with a magnificent morning tea this morning.  I encourage all families, particularly those who are new, to come along to our P & F welcome event on the evening of Friday 22 February. This year, the P & F are trialing a change from the usual Scitech event and instead have booked out the Bassendean outdoor movies for the evening. We will enjoy some time to picnic and socialise prior to the screening of a family movie. Keep an eye out for more information to follow!

After School Clubs – Robotics

The P & F have been looking into some after school club options and the first of these to get underway is Bricks4Kidz which is a robotics club incorporating lego. This will run after school in the library on Mondays commencing 18 February. For more information and to enroll your child go to: https://www.bricks4kidz.com.au/perth-gosnells/program-events/after-school-programs-lego-bricks.

Please note that these after school programs run separately to the school program and students will not be supervised by school staff during this time. The club commences at 3.30pm however St. Michael’s students who enroll in Bricks4Kidz can head directly to the library after school where they can engage with the robotics under the supervision of the Bricks4Kidz staff.

James St Closure Next Friday 15 February

We have been notified by the Town of Bassendean that due to the upcoming WonderRealm Festival, next Friday 15 February from 8am, Old Perth Rd will be closed from Wilson St to Hamilton St and James St will be closed from Old Perth Rd down to the BIC. This will mean that parents will need to use Hamilton St to drop off and pick up students on this date. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Wishing you all a fabulous year and may God watch over you and bless you as the year unfolds.

Dr Siobhan Galos
Principal

 

Lord,

Bless our clocks and watches,
You who kindly direct us to observe the passing of minutes and hours.

May they make us aware of the miracle of each second of life we experience.
May these, our ticking servants,
Help us not to miss that which is important,
While you keep us from machine-like routine.
May we ever be free from being clock watchers and instead become time lovers.

Bless our calendars,
These ordered lists of days, weeks and months,
Of holidays, holy days, fasts and feasts –
All our special days of remembering.
May these servants, our calendars,
Once reserved for the royal few,
For Magi and priests,
Now grace our homes and our lives.
May they remind us of birthdays and other gift-days,
As they teach us the secret that all life
Is meant for celebration and contemplation.

 

Bless, Lord, this New Year,
Each of its 365 days and nights.
Bless us with full moons and new moons.
Bless us with happy seasons and a long life.
Grant to us, Lord, the new year’s gift;
A gift of love.

Amen.

2019 Staff List

Mrs Siobhan Galos	Principal
Mrs Jemima Saunders	Assistant Principal/ Year 3 Teacher
Mr Ryan Powles	Assistant Principal/ Year 5 Teacher
Ms Delerine Murray	Administrative  Officer
Mrs Robyn Imbrosciano / Mrs Louell Renzullo	Administration Assistant
Mrs Neala Welch	Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs Nicola Gallagher	Education Assistant  –  Kindergarten
Mrs Joanne Richards	Education Assistant  –  Kindergarten
Miss Nat Pin	Pre-primary Teacher
Ms Christine Venosi	Education Assistant  –  Pre-primary
Mrs Jennifer Doven	Year 1 Teacher
Mrs Rosemary Mumme	Education Assistant    –  Year 1 & 2
Ms Laura Marzo	Year 2 Teacher
Mrs Marina Thompson	SJC Co-ordinator/Year 3 Teacher
Mr David Caddy	Year 4 Teacher
Ms Julia Hodson	Year 5 Teacher
Miss Katherine Riolo	Year 6 Teacher
Mrs Lisa Grazia	Education Assistant  –  SWD
Miss Lisa Wilson	Education Assistant  -SWD / Year 1 & 2 EA
Mrs Lola Stewart	SWD EA
Mrs Lesley Schnell	Education Assistant  –  Years 3-6
Ms Pauline Lochowicz	Reading Recovery Teacher
Mr Rob Coughlan	HASS Teacher
Miss Natalie Brescacin	PE Teacher
Mrs Doreen Panizza	Music Teacher
Mrs Helen Shanahan	Art Teacher
Mrs Maria Famiano	LOTE Teacher (Italian)
Mrs Lisa Mueller	Social Worker
Mrs Linda Ford	Canteen Co-ordinator
Mrs Vicki Stenning	Library Technician
Mrs Tania Falappi	Uniform Shop Co-ordinator