Dear Parents and Caregivers

After many twists and turns, this term has come to an end and what better way to finish than a fun day for the students. The students will be rotating through three classes to complete several NAIDOC activities. You can see pictures of the activities and some of the way’s students dressed to celebrate NAIDOC Week in the AP section. The students have danced away any spare energy they had at the disco ran by Footsteps Dance Company. A big thank you to the Parents and Friends for supporting this initiative and the creative group of parents who decorated the hall to make it a special occasion for the students. They have done an amazing job!

This week, we celebrated our first Mass since the COVID disruption. The NAIDOC Mass had a strong theme of coming together as one – as a school, as a parish and as a country.

Traditionally, a single class organises the Mass. For this mass, the Year 5 class organised readers, the Year 6 class prepared the presentation and with no Mrs Panizza, Mrs Saunders sorted the hymns. Thank you to all those involved. This Mass was the first time that students were able to come together with Father Son, listen to the Word of the Lord and receive Eucharist. It was a beautiful Mass and Father Son was happy to have the children back in the church. The readings during the Mass recognised the importance of indigenous heritage in our culture as we continue to work towards reconciliation and coming together as a country.

Today we farewell Mrs Jane Cullen who has been teaching in the Year 3 class for the first semester. Mrs Cullen filled in for Mrs Saunders while she was on long service leave and working as a full-time Assistant Principal. This is Mrs Cullen’s second stint at St Michael’s over the last 3 years, teaching the Year 5 class with me during 2018. We appreciate the way Mrs Cullen was able to step into the role and work with Mrs Thompson to support the Year 3 class and be a valued member of the staff. We wish Mrs Cullen all the best for the future.

This week we also farewell the Jarvis family who have been a part of the St Michael’s community since 2006. Audrey, who is currently in year 5, and her three older brothers, Xavier, Austin and Alexander, have all attended St Michael’s for their primary education. In my time at St Michael’s I have known Alexander and Audrey and admired their keen musical interests. Those who attended the end of year concert last year were treated to Alexander’s performance as the Big Bad Wolf and Audrey is a talented violinist, who had the opportunity to play in the Helsinki Children’s String Orchestra but was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 this year. We thank the Jarvis family for the contributions to the school community and wish them all the best for the future.

This is my final newsletter for the term. Dr Galos will be returning next term and taking back the big seat. Thank you to the parent community for your support during the term. Sitting here now with everyone back at school, student discos and hot dog lunches, it feels like a long time ago when we were working on a week-to-week basis. I am glad we can plan and look forward to future events in Term 3 (A calendar can be found on the website and Connected App).

Thank you to the Board and P & F for their support and especially the COVID Sub-committee, which provided a sounding board and allowed the leadership team to be agile and prompt in decision making. I can not sing the praises of our staff enough. Their flexibility and grit during COVID were exemplary and their love of the students was evident. Lastly, the biggest thank you goes to Mrs Saunders who shouldered much of the leg work during the term and was great support for me and the staff.

Have a good break from school everyone, whether it be getting out of Perth or enjoying quality time at home. I am looking forward to packing my camera bag and camping gear to spend some time under the stars. Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all next term.  

Ryan Powles
Acting Principal

principal@stmichaelsbass.wa.edu.au.