Dear Parents and Caregivers

Dr Galos has been unwell this week so I will be writing the Principal section on her behalf. The start of the term has passed us by, and we are at the half-way mark of Term 1. The second half of the term see us continue our learning journey, along with a number of events celebrating different aspects of our community. Teachers will soon be sending out information for the Parent/Teacher Meetings that will take place towards the end of the term. These are opportunities to discuss student progress and set academic, social and personal goals for remainder of the year.

P & F Welcome Evening

The P & F have confirmed the date for the welcome event. There will be a movie night held at St Michael’s on Friday 20th March. Gates will open at 6pm for families to set up their chairs and rugs in preparation for the movie start at 7pm. This is a great opportunity to welcome our new families and catch up with everyone. Thank you to the P & F for their continued efforts in building the school community.

For anyone interested in joining the next meeting, it will be held on Monday 16th March at 7:15pm in the staffroom.

Critical and Creative Thinking PD

On Friday 28th February, the staff worked with Charles Neave from Education Changemakers to discover the importance of critical and creative thinking in education and how these thinking skills will benefit students in the future. Charles taught us how the two thinking skills are related and can be used when looking at real world problems and creating solutions. Teachers were able to investigate where the thinking skills can be found in the curriculum, and plan ways to incorporate what they had learnt into their current teaching plans.

Mass Changes

A statement from Bishop Sproxton has been sent to all parishes within the Archdiocese about changes to Mass. These changes have been put in place to lower the transmission of COVID-19. These temporary changes that will affect our school Masses include:

• Holy Water being removed from stoups in all Churches and Chapels
• The Sign of Peace being omitted at all Masses
• Communicants to receive the Sacred Host in the hand, not on the tongue.

A full list of the directives can be found at the entrance to the parish admin building and in this week’s parish bulletin.

At school, we continue to educate the students about good hygiene habits such as washing hands and coughing into elbows. For more information about the importance of good hand hygiene and teaching children how to wash their hands please visit https://healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Facts-about-hand-hygiene

For further information regarding COVID-19 and the impact on our school, please visit the Department of Education site. https://www.education.wa.edu.au/coronavirus-school-update

The school is bound by the policies and procedures set out by the Department of Education and they will provide the most up to date information.

Dr Siobhan Galos
Principal
principal@stmichaelsbass.wa.edu.au.