Dear St Michael’s College Community,

Year 7 Retreat

It was with great excitement that our Year 7 students were able to attend their Retreat this week at the Christian Community Centre. This is an important opportunity for students to learn and live the values of Community, Challenge, Choice and Communication through various activities led by College Leaders and Year 10 Peer Support Leaders.

Reflecting on their first 10 weeks of secondary schooling, students used their artistic talents to illustrate their feelings, and the ways they have changed from those first weeks of school until now. They were then encouraged to consider the challenges that come to them in different forms and involved themselves in the challenging activity to construct a tower using newspaper and masking tape. They talked about how they overcame the challenges they faced and who they turned to for help, acknowledging that we often turn to others for guidance and support when we are challenged and quite often it is our friends, family and teachers who help us during those times.

An obstacle course activity prompted conversation about how important it is to ‘listen’ in daily life. Whether it be to parents, siblings, friends, teachers, coaches, etc. the importance of listening and having open communication with each other is important. By listening when spoken to and by having open and respectful communications, we can show kindness and fairness in every situation.

“Everyone enjoyed themselves and had fun”. – Caitlin

“I loved all the activities and I learnt a lot, but my favourite was ‘community’.  All the leaders were very nice and generous to take time out of their own time to come and teach us. It was overall just a very fun day”. – Zaria

Measurement of Wellbeing at St Michael’s

Mrs Carfora, Year 7-9 Wellbeing Initiatives Leader, reminded us this week that in these times of ongoing uncertainty and a range of pressures for our students, as a community we are grateful for the opportunity to understand the nature of the way in which our students are engaging with their education, and for insight into how we can better support them on their journey.

The recent Pulse Checkin Survey (from Reception to Year 12) is one tool that we use to review our work in this regard. We are currently working with the survey results to determine any additional supports that we can offer to our students. In addition, next week students will participate in the Wellbeing and Engagement Data Collection, which will highlight a range of potential areas for proactive attention towards stronger wellbeing and engagement across Years 4 to 12.

As we mentioned in a recent letter to parents/caregivers about the surveys that seek to illustrate a picture of our collective and individual wellbeing, we are grateful for the partnership of families in having meaningful conversations with their children about how they are travelling, and navigating this space with us in partnership.

COVID-19 Update

We trust families have received and read the recent email communications in relation the Pupil Free Days on Thursday 14 April and Monday 2 May and the cessation of individual classroom contact notifications. Copies can be found on SEQTA and the College website.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support of the College.

Kind regards,

Damian Patton
Acting Principal