National Simultaneous Story Time

Each year, the Australian Library and Information Association select a children’s book to be read simultaneously to children throughout Australian on a particular day. In Western Australia that time was 9.00am and this year the event was held on 22^nd May.

The book is usually by an Australian author and this year’s selection was an author and illustrator from Sydney  –  Matt Cosgrove.

Matt’s motivation to write is because he loves making children laugh.  This is certainly true of his story,  “ALPACAS  WITH  MARACAS”,  which was full of funny, entertaining, rhyming words.

It was a pleasure to be part of this special reading and I know the 22 children from Pre-Primary, Year 1 and Year 2, enjoyed it too.

There was one rhyming word that I didn’t know the meaning of  –  I’d never heard the word before, so I was lucky Mr Rob Coughlan was there to help me out.  He ably demonstrated what the word “sashay” meant and made us all laugh. 

Pauline Lochowicz  –  Reading Recovery Specialist.

Book Donations for Outdoor Library

We are currently working on creating an outdoor library for students to use at break times which will be located on the Year 1 verandah. We are seeking donations of second-hand children’s books so that students can have some options to read in addition to their current library book. If you have any second books that you are able to donate, please send them into the reception.

Reading Support

Calling all parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles.  Do you have time to listen and support some of our wonderful readers here at St Michael’s?  We have timeslots available for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays.  If you have time to help, it would be greatly appreciated.  Please contact Mrs Lesley Schnell through the front office.

Absence Calls / Notes / Emails

Please note, teachers do not get to sit down and check their emails first thing in the morning, so if you have emailed the teacher regarding your child’s absence, they may not receive the information until later in the day. Therefore, please do not be upset if you receive an SMS or phone call from the Office to clarify the absence.

For this reason, a phone call to the ABSENTEE LINE is a more efficient way of communicating an absence than an email. Please note also, a SIGNED NOTE also needs to be provided to the teacher on your child’s return to school. The Department of Education Services has confirmed that whilst an SMS or phone message is NOT a substitute for a signed note when reporting absences, an email meeting the following criteria can be accepted:

• the full name of the student
• the class / roll group of the student
• the reason for the absence
• the full name of the parent/guardian at the end of the message (the ‘from’ email address is not sufficient).