Dear Parents and Caregivers

Thank you to everyone who took part in our walkathon and to the P & F for co-ordinating, in particular, Kirsty Fagan, Lorraine Burton, Lara Trusso, Lucinda Ryan, Joan Canares Wright and all those parents who helped supervise on the walk. Thank you to our students and families who gained sponsorship from generous family and friends. We hope to announce the total raised next week.

Fees Now Overdue

A reminder that school fees were due this week. If your account is in arrears, please contact reception to arrange final payment asap (unless you have already contacted me regarding your fees).

CCI Student Insurance

Many parents may not be aware that the student insurance fee on your annual school fees means that all enrolled students are insured through the school with Catholic Church Insurances (CCI) Student Care. This policy provides worldwide accidental injury cover, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Student Care provides benefits for a range of (non-Medicare) medical services, such as dental and physiotherapy, resulting from personal accident injuries. If your child has been involved in an accident, you can lodge a claim here:

https://www.ccinsurance.org.au/Client-Centre/Claims/Pages/Make-a-claim.aspx

Enrichment Program

This year we have been investigating ways that we can enhance our enrichment program (co-ordinated by Mr Rob Coughlan). We have commenced this process by looking into a more data driven approach to selecting the students who will participate in the program. As a result, this week the Years 2 – 5 teachers have been testing all students using the AGAT test, an Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) General Ability Test to assist us with identifying students who may benefit from the 2020 program. To assist us to further enhance and reimagine our enrichment program, as well as ensuring we are catering for these students in classrooms, the staff participated in a professional development session this week with an external consultant, Mrs Donna Deed, who is an expert in this area.

Save the Dates – AGM, Walk to School Day & Fr Son’s Book Launch

A reminder to please save the date for our school board and P & F AGM – 6pm in the hall on Monday 18th November.

Jac Wilson and the P & F are currently trying to organise a crosswalk attendant for Guildford Rd at the underpass. To achieve this, we need to choose a date to record the number of students crossing the road at this point. Jac will be recording student numbers walking to and from school on Monday 18th November. Given that we need to reach a certain minimum number of students crossing the road, we are encouraging families to walk to school on 18th November and cross Guildford Rd at the underpass if this is route they would normally use to get to and from school. More detailed information can be found in the P & F section of this newsletter.

Also, congratulations to Father Son who has recently published a book about his life story, “Son of Vietnam: a family’s quest for freedom.” All parents are invited to his book launch after the 9am Mass on Sunday 1st December.

Minister for Education’s Ban on Mobile Phones in WA State Schools

You may have heard that WA Education Minister, Sue Ellery, this week announced that a ban on mobile phones will be implemented for all State schools. Given that CEWA operates under a core value of subsidiarity, the Executive Director of CEWA, Dr Debra Sayce, has acknowledged that CEWA school Principals and staff are best placed to determine what measures are needed to ensure safe and responsible access to devices at school, and have effective mobile phone policies in place appropriate for their individual schools. St. Michael’s remains committed to ensuring that we have policies in place that ensure our school is an environment where students can learn, connect, engage and feel safe. With all of this in mind, our mobile phone policy will remain unchanged. Students are asked to continue to hand their mobile phones in to reception when they arrive at school and collect them at the end of the day on their way home.

Volunteers Morning Tea

If you have volunteered at school in any capacity this year, you are welcome to attend our volunteer’s morning tea on Friday 15th November at 9.30am. Please RSVP via the form on the connected app.

Have a terrific weekend!

Dr Siobhan Galos
Principal