Principal’s Blog
22/02/2012
Dear Parents & Friends,
As you can see from our photo spread “a picture does tell a thousand words”.
In only one week our community celebrated Learning in a Catholic community in so many ways.
Our children’s learning experiences were enriched through specialist support in Research, Dance, String playing (cello) and Physical Education.
Slowly but surely our teaching team is working through the Mathematics Assessment Interview.
As described last week this interview is a tremendous moment providing teachers with exacting insights into what children are thinking when they attempt to solve a problem.
The real “high yield” gain is when teaching teams analyse the results and plan for future learning experiences.
At St Michael’s we strive to support Growth for all children. In 2012 we all will need to put Mathematical thinking and language into focus.
This is our BIG year, our community spirit is alive and well already. Our P & F have met and will be presenting some exciting activities to support our common growth.
I invite you to mark the calendar for:
ST MICHAEL’S DINNER / DANCE
Celebrating our 50 years on
Friday, 14th September 2012
Watch this space for more details.
Our second goal in 2012 is to “Grow our Spiritual Life”, allow ourselves to take time in celebrating our loving relationship with God.
One of the many writings we will refer to is Father Kevin O’Shea. As we begin Lent, I thought you might like to take some quiet space and read Fr Kevin’s thoughts on what “Lent” is all about
Reflection
What is it all about? It’s about realizing the implications of His resurrection for you. It’s about realizing the freedom God has planted in you. It’s about realizing that God loves you outright, whether you are a good or bad boy or good or bad girl by the book. And God, each Lent, doesn’t even look at the book. I think I could say that God puts the book away every Ash Wednesday and tells everyone not to dare read it for the whole time of Lent and beyond. You don’t need a book. You need God. And you’ve already got God! Or better, God’s got you. In a given love that lasts. You’ve got a God who raises everyone from the dead….
I like to imagine the holy women who went in darkness to the empty tomb of Jesus, as on their way to an Ash Wednesday ceremony. In a way, they thought they were. They thought Jesus had become ‘just and ashes’. And in no time, when they got there, they got the biggest shock in religious history. He was there, he was alive, he was saying to them, get rid of all that silly anointing stuff, come with me and live, and all we need is one marvelous celebration. When you receive the Eucharist on Ash Wednesday, you don’t get ashes from a dead Christ. You get the living body of the risen Jesus.
Regards John Laffan
PRINCIPAL
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 8:57 AM 
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08/02/2012
Dear Parents & Friends,
Welcome back one and all to our 2012 year of formation i.e. Spiritual Growth and a deeper understanding of best practice in the teaching and learning of Mathematics.
In ensuring success in these two areas the creation of goals helps ensure a clear direction and focus.
My Goals in Teaching & Learning states,
“To ensure the success of our 2012 Implementation Plan (Mathematics & Formation) through my active participation in planning with Core Team Leaders, in critical monitoring of all targets and milestones and in tracking of Growth Points.”
What will my role look like… “active participation” - already we have set definite dates for assessment of all children using the M.A.I. testing tool.
Secondly, we have begun training new teaching staff in the skills to administer this testing tool.
On our first Staff Development Day: 9th March we will be inviting children to attend school so that we can accomplish our Goal of assessing all children throughout Terms 1 & 2.
“Monitoring of all targets and milestones in tracking Growth Points”.
This means we will analyse and plan with the results from our testing. Using the data with teams of teachers interpreting results and collaboratively planning. This is the key to our Growth.
Within this planning the need to give and receive ongoing Feedback will add to this Cycle of Learning.
Finally, in this year of Formation we all will continue to strengthen our relationship with our GOD who constantly invites us to a loving, life giving relationship.
My Goal:
“To continue to build a strong community based on our Motto of “Love One Another”. A community united by faith, purpose and belief.”
To achieve all we can for our children we must accept our collective responsibility.
Regards
John Laffan
PRINCIPAL
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 10:38 AM Comments (0) Permalink
14/12/2011
On behalf of all my colleagues at St Michael’s I wish you a happy, holy and peace filled Christmas.
This is a time of great Joy and Celebration. As a community we acknowledge the gifts and blessings we have through the lives of our children. In 2011 we have seen them all grow and develop new skills and understandings.
During this time it is important for all of us to reflect on our relationship with God. This is a time to be aware of God’s constant love for us and in Christ’s invitation to follow him, to “Love God” to “Love One Another”.
Once again I wish to acknowledge my colleagues, the staff of St Michael’s are unique in their talents and united in their Goal to ensure that all our children are Engaged, Empowered and are Reflective.
I wish Mr Siciliano, Mrs Hillard, Mrs Gaid and Miss Rafidi every success in their new schools and thank them for all they have given to our community.
I invite you to take the time to read the following extract from Lectio Divina.
“A new beginning, with
a new relationship
with Jesus”
Getting to know Jesus in a new way, at a deeper level is just like getting to know anyone. We begin by spending more time with a person. We pay attention to them. We get to know their story more completely. Eventually, we become more and more curious and more and more fascinated by how the person acts, what motives that person and how he or she thinks. Of course, the key here is not only to learn more about Jesus, but to come to really know him, to experience a relationship. It is easy to imagine that Jesus knows me. It is more difficult to imagine that I am in a relationship with Jesus, and we know each other and there is something special about this relationship.
For example, some of us will get to know Jesus and become really fascinated by his mother and father and that will shape our sense of who he is and our relationship with him. Some of us will come to love the way he chooses and interacts with his disciples. Many of us will learn a great deal about Jesus from how he tells stories and reveals things about God and about the Kingdom of God. Still others of us will become engaged by how Jesus interacts with, and heals sinners and sick people. Perhaps we will identify with this or that story which will characterize our particular relationship with him.
Regards
John Laffan
PRINCIPAL
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 9:25 AM Comments (0) Permalink
01/12/2011
Dear Parents & Friends,
Congratulations and Thank you to our new Parents & Friends Representatives:
President: Jenny Warn
Assistant President: Maree Regan
Secretary: Natasha Scanlon
Assistant Secretary: Rebecca Walker
Treasurer: Marisa Khan
Assistant Treasurer: Annie Pinto
In 2012 we will be working on a number of key school initiatives including:-
1. Improving our Mathematical knowledge and understanding as a whole community.
2. Developing Parent Learning Forums in conjunction with Teacher & Student learning days.
3. Understanding more about Open & Flexible Learning Spaces. In 2012 we will be reviewing
new plans and designs for building in 2013.
4. Creating opportunity for parents to spend time in Faith Formation. I would like to invite Fr
Robert and Mrs Easton to share their faith through “Reflection” days.
5. Continuing our work on 2011 initiatives in our newly opened:
- Catholic Early Learning Centre (CELC)
- Catholic Out of School Hours Care (COSHC)
- St Michael’s Uniform Shop
As you can see our new team has much to plan, but all this great work will only succeed when we truly believe that we all have a responsibility in making our school grow “GOOD to GREAT”.
ADVENT:
Recently I met with some fine parents who measured our response to Easter and Christmas by the nature of our Easter Parade and Christmas Concert. Yes, these can be considered special events but the teaching and giving witness to the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus is a daily event at St Michael’s. The sharing of our Faith and celebrating the “Love God has for all of us”, is experienced each day in our Religious Education lessons, through our school prayer assemblies and within all our teaching. Easter, Advent and Christmas are part of the rich programmes our children experience through the Sacraments, Gospel Reflection and in the sharing of Life Experiences.
I hope you can take some time out to read the first in a series of short articles in understanding and reflecting on the season of Advent.
The Origins of Advent: The first signs of what we now call “Advent” appeared in the latter part of the 300’s in the Christian communities of Spain and Gaul (present-day France and parts of Germany). It was in some places a two to three-week preparation for the rites of Christian initiation celebrated in these regions at the feast of Epiphany. This preparation seems to have involved not only those who were going to be baptized but also in various ways the whole community.
Christ, The Unconquered Light Of The World: But why Epiphany and not the Easter Vigil as the most auspicious time for conferring the sacraments of Initiation?
The simplest and shortest answer to this is to point to the theme of Light and the belief that Baptism means to be enlightened by Christ. And in the northern hemisphere, the Christmas/Epiphany season depends upon the event of the winter solstice, when the sun begins its “ascent”, the days begin to get longer, and the darkness is “conquered” by the Light of Christ. According to the old calendars this winter solstice was calculated as taking place on 25 December, and not, as our modern calendar determines, 21 December. So from the early 300’s in Europe, Christmas was made to coincide with the solstice because it meant that Christ the Light had come into our world and would continue to conquer the darkness of sin, year after year - the Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour.
Gradually, as time went on, the custom of group Baptism at Epiphany waned. But the theme of baptism and conversion of heart, mind, and action remained embedded in the character of this special time. In time, Advent took on the character familiar to us, as preparation for the feast of the Lord’s Coming in the flesh. Its length varied from six weeks to four weeks depending on regional customs, until it reached its present fixed form of four weeks.
Regards
John Laffan
PRINCIPAL
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 12:31 PM Comments (0) Permalink
16/11/2011
At this time of the year our attention turns to acknowledging and understanding Growth Points.
In our teaching and learning, the growth and development of all our children is our obvious goal. Measuring levels of growth and understanding why this growth has been achieved or where growth could be greater will in turn influence our 2012 Goals.
At St Michael’s we have experienced real growth in students ability to speak Mathematically and solve problems. However, we know that in English we need to continue developing children’s ability to gain meaning from a variety of texts.
Data also tells us what we need to do differently in our teaching. Our teaching teams constantly analyze student growth points. We believe that it is important to “place the child with the score”, in other words we recognize student needs and then rethink what we need to do in meeting those education needs.
In other ways Growth Points show vast improvement in our understanding of our Faith.
Finally, our data provides rich information about a vital aspect of our communities growth.
How much do we reflect our Motto “Love One Another”.
How well do we carry the Lantern of Nano Nagle?
Our work in bringing the message of Jesus Christ to our children and community can be reflected in our “Liturgical Celebrations” our Communal Gatherings and of course in our day to day growth as a community. Through the work of our teaching in sharing and giving witness to the children and imparting knowledge through “Sharing Our Story” we see significant growth in our children’s understanding that “God loves them” and that “Jesus constantly calls them to this loving relationship.
Nano Nagle our foundress, had a “passion for those made poor and for changing structures that kept them poor. Our aim is constantly to invite those who are experiencing financial difficulty to meet so that appropriate pathways can be found.
Our data tells us that we are a good school, one that constantly seeks to become great. Together we can make this growth happen.
Regards
John Laffan
PRINCIPAL
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 9:13 AM Comments (0) Permalink
02/11/2011
Throughout 2011 there has been a central theme in our newsletter editorials and that has been the “Welfare & Wellbeing” of our children.
We have addressed such issues as mental health, bullying, developing skills in Literacy and Numeracy and of course, understanding and following the messages from the Gospel.
Yesterday I had time to visit early stage 1 and stage 1 classrooms as well as attending the KS & KG assembly. During these moments I was struck by the simple fact that our children are thriving in our environment that is safe, welcoming and engaging.
In short our children’s growth is constantly supported by educators who “know their students” who want the very best for them academically, emotionally and socially.
When I reflect on the balance we are seeking as educators of children I am reminded of the quote by Gawande:
“What is troubling is not just being average but settling for it. Everyone knows that
averageness is, for most of us, our fate. And in certain matters—looks, money, tennis - we would do well to accept this.
But in your surgeon, your child’s paediatrician, your police department, your local school?
When the stakes are our lives and the lives of our children, we want no one to settle for average.”
And so at St Michael’s we seek to attain this balance of continually challenging ourselves and our students to be better than average.
But we do this, understanding the moments of a smiling child, an act of kindness, a moment in prayer all add to the building of our faithfilled learning community.
I look forward to seeing you at our P & F AGM this Wednesday at 7.15pm. This is an opportunity to share in our future as active members of our school community.
It should be clearly stated that your participation will support and ensure the ongoing growth of our school.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our outgoing P & F of 2011’s executive:-
Paul Scott—President Leeann Dever—Assistant President
Annie Murray—Secretary Joanne Obote—Vice Secretary
Josephine Khairy—Treasurer Marisa Khan—Assistant Treasurer
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 11:22 AM Comments (0) Permalink
19/10/2011
St Michael’s Uniform Shop
From this point on we are trading as the St Michael’s Uniform Shop. The shop is situated on the top floor of the K-2 Block.
We are currently purchasing all current stock from Lowes, Blacktown, which will make us sole supplier in 2012. ALL school uniforms will be available prior to Christmas.
The school crest/logo has not been changed and this will be featured on the boys summer/winter shirts and all previously crested garments.
Our school’s insignia will feature on our new uni-sex sports short, boys summer uniform short and girls winter tunic only.
The girls Summer dress will now have the school name embroidered on them and new socks with a stripe will be available.
Our shop will provide a higher quality uniform at competitive prices. All profits will purchase teaching/learning resources for our children.
School bags remain unchanged. We will advise you as soon as stock currently held by Lowes is in our possession and ready for sale. All Pre-loved school uniforms and discounted items will be available.
A detailed price list will be in our next communication.
Please note that transition into new uniforms will be as you require them.
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 10:30 AM Comments (0) Permalink
21/09/2011
Dear Parents & Friends,
When I look over the last ten weeks I am amazed at all we have been able to achieve in such a short period of time.
Our children have had the opportunity to participate and excel through a wide range of academic, cultural and sporting activities.
Our children have demonstrated high levels of competency and confidence in participating in university exams, NAPLAN Assessments, Religious Education Assessments and of course ongoing class assessments.
Through high levels of teaching support, children have been given the opportunity of participating in Voice of Youth, Track & Field at representative level, Chess, Choral performance, Strings and of course our Creative Arts Expo.
All of these opportunities were made possible by the highly professional teaching and ancillary teams at St Michael’s.
It is important to recognize a vital component of our community, the office team. The amount and callibre of the work produced in our school’s office ensures our core business “Education” is maintained.
In respect to teaching and learning, I have been very impressed by the high standards of work being attained by our children. During this term we were able to conduct many exciting excursions including Canberra, Bathurst, Sydney, Taronga Zoo and of course Healthy Harold.
All of this amounts to a vibrant learning community, one that seeks to support the wholistic development of our children.
Finally, I wish to thank our Parents & Friends for their ongoing support.
Through the initiatives and hard work of Paul Scott, Leeann Dever, Annie Murray, Joanne
Obote, Josephine Khairy and Marisa Khan we have been able to set in motion the St Michael’s Uniform Shop. This shop will ensure top quality garments at competitive prices. Through our shop we can ensure consistency of garments with all profits supporting the resourcing of our school.
Last but not least, our Family Fun Day was a brilliant success. The sense of community and fun was everywhere and once again the hard work and passion of our Parent leaders is to be congratulated.
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 2:21 PM Comments (0) Permalink
07/09/2011
When we live under the banner and motto of “Love One Another” it could be easy to let its great message wash over us rather than allowing it to be a wellspring for ongoing growth.
Recently a friend of mine (a Marist Brother), Brother Bill Tarrant reminded me,
“God never changes his mind about you
God is simply in love with you.
What God does again and again
is change your mind about him.”
God is there whenever we are open to him…
God comes disguised as others…
For us at St Michael’s—who are the others?
Are we, as a community, continually open to his presence?
At St Michael’s the constant building of relationships through liturgical celebrations, and in working towards our children’s ongoing wholistic development is paramount.
Last week’s Father’s Day Liturgy was testimony to this goal, with over 100 families celebrating the life of Fatherhood.
I encourage you to accept our offer to be an active member of our community. I sincerely invite your participation in this weeks P & F meeting and of course our Family Fun Day.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY:
Friday, 16th September 2011
Pupil Free Day
Teachers will be undertaking Professional Learning “Understanding By Design” on this day.
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ST MICHAEL’S FAMILY FUN DAY:
Sunday, 18th September 2011
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ST MICHAEL’S FEAST DAY and
OPENING AND BLESSING OF THE
FATHER KEVIN DADSWELL
LEARNING CENTRE:
Friday, 23rd September 2011—10.00am
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 10:29 AM Comments (0) Permalink
24/08/2011
OPEN SPACE LEARNING
There is no mistaking a movement when you see one, schools across the Parramatta Diocese and the country are busy refurbishing buildings, dismantling walls and traditional age-based class groupings and moving en masse into large open learning spaces.
Open space learning—the pros: (An excerpt from IEU Magazine)
There is no denying that we are living in a rapidly changing world and as a consequence schools are faced with some real challenges.
For a long period of time school design remained unchanged, based on the factory model, but now we see a trend where schools are conceptualising their approach to teaching and learning and their physical spaces.
The contemporary school is being characterised by a variety of open learning spaces, flexible furniture, ICT and a number of rich resources.
Open learning spaces have built-in flexibility in design and they aren’t restricted by walls.
Today, particularly with the introduction of ICT (“Information & Computer Technology”), schools are looking at using more open and flexible spaces.
Schools can use spaces to empower their students to want to learn anywhere and anytime.
Students take more responsibility for their learning and movement.
Schools are endeavouring to cater for students’ different learning styles. In doing this there is a real attempt to personalise learning. Students and teachers work together.
As you know we have built a brilliant Open Learning Space. This space is used on a daily basis for a variety of Teaching and Learning activities.
As a community our response to the changing dimension and pedagogy of open learning is to embrace what we see as good practice. As a community we will need to continue monitoring and measuring student success through their learning in open learning environments.
In 2012 we will be able to apply for a Commonwealth Block Grant. This will see dramatic changes in our learning spaces in keeping with Educational changes.
As a result, now is the time for us to plan and prepare by looking at different ways we can use the OPEN LEARNING CENTRE.
John Laffan
PRINCIPAL
Posted by Lynne Campbell at 9:59 AM Comments (0) Permalink