Dear Parents and Caregivers

Well done to everyone on a full week of learning. The energy around the school lifted with more students returning and there was a great display of patience and resilience managing the changes and challenging weather this week. The overall attendance has continued to rise and from the survey results, we will have around 75% attendance rate next week. We are fortunate in Western Australia to be on a positive path to recovery. At St Michael’s, we continue to prioritise student safety with additional cleaning of high contact areas and practising good hygiene to stop the spread. If you have not completed the survey, please notify the class teacher if your child/ren will be attending.

 This rise in student attendance will have an impact on how teachers are operating. In Week 3, the support provided for students at home will differ from class to class. In the early years where classes have large attendances, teachers will be creating less videos and will contact those students learning from home. Teachers will also be preparing for Week 4 and beyond. CEWA will be holding their review on Monday 11 May and we will share information that comes from that review with the school community.

Starting Monday, the canteen will be open with a limited menu for online orders. Last week, we opened the online uniform shop. Both the canteen and the uniform shop are accessible through www.quickcliq.com.au. Information about ordering through the new uniform shop is available on the Connected app.

At the end of last term, there was some miscommunication regarding the Parents and Friend’s Levy. It was mentioned in the newsletter that this levy had been waived for the year as a way to ease pressure on families. This was incorrect and the P & F levy will remain. The P & F use the money from the levy to support students and the community with learning resources and friend-raising. This year the P & F have contributed towards reading books, the Mathletics program and installation of a new garden. And hopefully soon, we will be able to look at events such as a kids’ disco and eventually a parent social function. If families are facing financial hardship, please contact me directly and we can discuss options available to you.

On the original calendar planned at the start of the year, Tuesday 2 June was a pupil free day connected to the WA Day long weekend. With the current restrictions in place we have moved the pupil free day to Friday 4 September, creating a long weekend for Father’s Day. This pupil free day is Catholic Day in recognition the time that teachers put in over ad above school hours.

T today would have been our Mother’s Day breakfast and Mass to celebrate the wonderful mothers in our community and recognise the love and care they provide to their children. This has been a fantastic morning seeing the children involved in activities such as reading books, painting mum’s nails and giving massages. We could not do those activities this morning, but please watch our video celebrating the wonderful mothers at St Michael’s.  https://youtu.be/_1ogusofeqk

With the clearer weather, pick-up will return to 3pm for P-6 classes.

Have an enjoyable weekend with your families. We look forward to seeing more students returning to school next week.

Warm regards,

Ryan Powles
Acting Principal

principal@stmichaelsbass.wa.edu.au.