Filter Content
Dear Parents,
This is our last newsletter for Term 1 and school will conclude next Thursday 6 April 2022. We have a number of great events prior to breaking up next Thursday.
- Tonight between 5-7pm, the school is having its first social event for 2023 - the Family BBQ Disco. This will occur on the back playground, hosted by the school’s Parents and Friends group. I encourage all families to join us. There is a BBQ available as well as drinks and other goodies. A parent or carer must remain with their child at the Disco. BRING YOUR CASH AS THERE IS NO EFTPOS MACHINE.
- On Wednesday morning from 9.15-10.40am, students in Kindergarten to Year 2 will have their own small cross country carnival on the back oval. Families are welcome to attend.
- On Thursday morning all grades in the school will participate in the Holy Week liturgy in the hall. Each grade will perform an important Holy Week event. This period of Easter is the most important religious time of the year. The liturgy will occur from 9.30-10.30am. Families are welcome to join us.
- An Easter Hat parade will occur for the students in Kindergarten to Year 2 on Thursday afternoon from 2-3pm. Families of these students are welcome to attend.
Catholics around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend. Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week and is an occasion to recognize Jesus as King of the Jews. But it is also the beginning of one of the saddest true stories of all time.
Following Jesus’ triumphant arrival into Jerusalem, he gathered the Apostles together on the evening of Holy Thursday and shared the “Last Supper” with them. At this stage, Jesus was aware that he was soon to be ridiculed, taunted and hung on a cross to die. At this “Last Supper” Jesus actually led the apostles in the first mass where he used the symbols of bread and wine to signify his own body and blood. Every mass that occurs around the world has a Priest present to lead the gathered people to remember the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.
On Good Friday, we have a clear reminder that God loved us so much that he allowed his son Jesus to die on the cross so that we all could be saved. On Easter Sunday the Catholic Church celebrates the risen Jesus. Amidst the arrival of Easter eggs and chocolate, we celebrate the commencement of our new lives. For our first Pope, St Peter and the apostles, Easter Sunday was the beginning of their journey in establishing a church of followers, to be known centuries later as the Roman Catholic church.
Please feel welcome to attend any of these important celebrations in the Church during Holy week and Easter. The school hall will continue to be the mass setting for all Easter liturgies. A schedule of the liturgies is in the newsletter.
The first day for students in Term 2 is Wednesday 26 April 2023. It is a normal day and we look forward to seeing all students. All staff will attend a spirituality day on Monday 24 April and Tuesday 25 April is the ANZAC Public Holiday. On Friday 28 April 2023 our school will celebrate ANZAC day with a service in the front playground. All families are invited to attend. Thank you to our Defence School Mentor, Mrs Natalie Hayes, who is also one of our parents, for organising this important service. The school ANZAC service will commence at 9.15am.
PRIME DRINKS AND BOTTLES ALERT
MORNING DROP OFF
Our school gates open and supervision is provided from 8:15am each morning. If students arrive prior to 8:15am, they are to quietly sit on the steps of the Parish Centre, beside the school gate. Students are not to move around or play ball games as it presents a dangerous situation with cars entering the parking area.
We ask that parents/carers please remind your children to sit patiently until the gates are open. Thank you for your assistance in keeping the children safe.
EARLY LEAVERS- MAJOR DISRUPTION
In recent weeks, the school office has been inundated with parents collecting students before 3pm. The formal school day concludes at 3pm and parents are requested to make medical or other appointments after this time. Collecting students early disrupts teachers and student learning. It also prevents our office staff from finishing their work at an appropriate time each day.
Students are not permitted to be collected early without a legitimate reason. For example, when assembly finishes in the hall on a Friday afternoon, parents will not be permitted to collect their children early, as has become the case in recent weeks.
We also ask you to contact the school office before 2:15pm if a specific change of plans needs to be conveyed to students, for example, a student needs to catch the bus instead of being picked up. Phone calls to the office with last minute instructions after 2:15pm puts enormous stress on the office staff and teachers to ensure the student receives the updated change of plans. Thank you for your assistance with this.
Yours in Faith and Virtue,
Mr Christopher Paton
Principal
|
Week 11 |
|
| Monday 3 April | St John's Year 7 2024 Enrolment Applications Due |
| Tuesday 4 April | |
| Wednesday 5 April | Infants Cross Country 9:15am on back oval |
| Thursday 6 April |
Whole School Holy Week Liturgy 9.30am Hall Easter Hat Parade 2pm School Oval/COLA |
| Thurday 6 April |
Final Day of Term One |
| Friday 7 April |
Good Friday Public Holiday |
Term 2 Week 1 |
|
| Monday 24 April | Staff Development Day- Pupil Free Day |
| Tuesday 25 April |
ANZAC DAY Public Holiday |
| Tuesday 25 April |
ANZAC DAY March (Nowra & Greenwell Point) |
| Wednesday 26 April | Students Return for Term Two (Summer uniform) |
| Thursday 27 April | |
| Friday 28 April |
ANZAC Day Ceremony & Morning Tea 9:30am |
DATES FOR THE DIARY
| Friday 21 April | Kindergarten 2024 Enrolment Applications Due |
| Sunday 30 April | St Michael's Working Bee 8:30am - 3pm |
| Tuesday 2 May | Wollongong Diocese Cross Country |
| Friday 5 May | St Michael's Family Weekly Morning Tea Commences (8:45am - 10:30am in School library) |
| Friday 9 June | St Michael's School Athletics Carnival |
The infants students have a number of events coming up and we invite you to join us at these events!
Week 11 will be a busy week with the following:
Monday-Wednesday - Creating Easter Hats
Please send in a hat and decorations for the students to put their Easter Hat together.
Wednesday 5 April - Infants Cross Country
9:15am - Gather for a little welcome and warm up
9:30am - Year 6 Leaders Run the course
(Timings are indicative. Grades will not start before the above time)
Thursday 6 April
9:30am - Holy Week Liturgy (all grades will play a special part. All parents K-6 are welcome to attend)
2:00pm - Easter Hat Parade (back COLA)
Kind regards,
SMN Infants Teachers
KINDERGARTEN 2024 ENROLMENTS- NOW OPEN
We wish to advise that we are now accepting enrolments for Kindergarten 2024. Enrolment packages may be downloaded by clicking here or collected from our school office.
Please share this information with friends and family considering enrolling students in 2024. Important dates for the diary include;
- Friday 21 April 2023: Kindergarten 2024 Application Forms and supporting documents due to be returned to St Michael's.
- Saturday 6 May 2023: Kindergarten 2024 Enrolment Interviews with the School Principal and Leadership team.
- From Term 2, Week 9: Enrolment advice letter and offer of place, if successful.
- Term 4: Kindergarten 2024 Orientation.(Date to be advised)
On Thursday 23 March, Morten Ellerington of Year 5 travelled to Wagga Wagga to participate in the Mackillop AFL Trials representing the Wollongong/Canberra Goulburn AFL team.
In very warm conditions, the Championships commenced Tuesday, with Morten playing 4 games amongst 108 talented players vying for selection in the 22 member MacKillop team. Morten displayed his skill, discipline, pace and ability the full forward and half forward positions. Well done Morten on your efforts.
Next term, on Friday 6 May, six of our talented athletes will travel to Canberra to represent the Wollongong Diocese in their chosen sport.
Cooper Green, Laykn Towns and Tyson Crowley will be playing Rugby League whilst Elise Campbell, Olivia Seymour-Munn and Brooklyn Horwood will represent in Netball.
Talented soccer player, Brayden Luxford has been keeping busy, often travelling to Sydney for representative training. Brayden will have the opportunity to showcase his skills on Friday 26 May as he heads to Goulburn representing the Wollongong Diocese Soccer team.
We wish these students the best of luck!
Upcoming Events;
Monday 8 May - AFL Gala Day (Yr 3 and 4)
Friday 9 June – Whole School Athletics Carnival
Friday 16 June – Paul Kelly Cup (Selected Yr 5 and 6 students)
Tuesday 20 June – South Coast Netball Gala Day (Selected students)
If you have any questions about sports or any events coming up, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Mr. Andrew Allmark
Sports Co-ordinator
Barbara McKenna
ANZAC DAY CEREMONY 2023
ANZAC DAY MARCH 2023
Our school will be participating in the following ANZAC Day Marches on Tuesday 25 April 2023;
- Greenwell Point, meeting Mr Anderson at 5:10am at Greenwell Point Memorial Hall.
- Nowra, meeting Mrs Hayes at 10:10am in Junction Street (between Berry & Osborne Street)
Click here for further details.
PROJECT COMPASSION
Martine Mathison
REC Coordinator
Information about the Sacrament of Confirmation and Year 7 enrolment at St John’s Nowra.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Thank you to the families who have enrolled in the Parish Confirmation program.
Considering the transition period of the Sacramental program to a parish-based model, enrolment for Confirmation will still be accepted until 16 April 2023. This will assist families with additional time. The confirmation forms will be available at the Parish office or at all masses in the churches up to 16 April 2023.
Year 7 Enrolment at St John’s Nowra
All students who are enrolling at St John's High school are presently requested by the school to have the Parish Priest's reference signed and submitted to St John’s school. These references for all students may be submitted to the Parish office for signing. They will then be sent directly to St John's High school by the Parish office. Parents will not need to collect them back. Parents of Catholic students are requested to make sure that they are registered with St Michael's Parish. If not registered, please come to the Parish office and fill in the registration forms.
Father Joseph Pothenparampil
Nowra Parish Priest
EASTER RAFFLE
Thank you to those children and families for your Easter egg donations.
The raffle link is live and we are well and truly underway with raising funds for new sports equipment. The P&F are looking at possibly replacing the soccer goals and looking at some other sporting equipment that can be used during recess and lunch.
Please find the raffle link below to share with your friends and families.
https://rafflelink.com.au/smneasterraffle2023
FAMILY BBQ & DISCO
P&F Family friendly BBQ and disco is on at 5pm tonight.
Please bring along the whole family as well as some chairs and a picnic rug and enjoy the music along with your children out the back under the Cola. P&F will be selling sausage sizzles, drinks and snacks. Our DJ for the evening will be Stella Studioz.
P&F would like to advise that due to circumstances out of our control, we won't be having EFTPOS Facilities at the Disco on Friday night.
It will be a CASH ONLY event for all P&F items that they will be selling. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
This is not a drop off event - parents will be required to stay.
LOLLY JAR GUESSING COMPETITION
Thank you to all the children who had a guess in our lolly jar competition. The winner will be announced at the school disco.
WORKING BEE
The P&F are seeking families to assist sorting out the storage space under the Parish Centre. Looking for trailers and donations of tip vouchers.
Sunday 30th April
8:30am - 3:00pm, come along anytime.
BBQ at 12:30pm.
GRANT FUNDING APPLICATION
With the support of the school, the P&F have recently applied for a Grant through Veolia. This grant application was for the upgrades to God’s Grass and the placement of Astroturf. Over the years, the drought and then constant rain has meant the grass has not been able to survive in that space. We acknowledge this needs to change. P&F have committed $30000 to the cost of this project, with the Grant hoping to fund the balance. We will find out at the end of April if we are successful Grant recipients, so please watch this space.
We are able to donate this amount of money from the generosity of parents and students throughout the fundraisers we undertook last year, in particular the Colour Run.
P&F will continue to raise funds for a variety of projects throughout the year. At each fundraiser we will announce what the funds raised will be going towards.
We appreciate your ongoing support.
UNIFORMS
We have received some feedback recently from various parents, students and staff regarding the school uniform. P&F and Mr Paton have been speaking to Lowe’s to consider options. We will be receiving samples over the next couple of weeks and at our next P&F meeting we will be discussing this. If you would like to contribute to this discussion, please attend the next meeting, either in person or via zoom. If you are not able to attend but would like to contribute, please contact the P&F via our email (stmichaelspnf@gmail.com).
PARENT INPUT
We value parent input. We will be sending out a parent survey at the beginning of Term 2. Please keep your eye out for this. We are keen to understand the needs of the school from a parent perspective.
DIOCESAN CROSS COUNTRY
P&F will be running the canteen at the Diocesan Cross Country at Willandra on Tuesday 2 May. If you are able to assist us at this event please let us know via email (stmichaelspnf@gmail.com).
P&F CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Friday 31 March - Family BBQ & Disco - 5pm-7pm on the back oval.
Monday 3 April - Easter Raffle drawn.
Sunday 30 April - P&F storage room Working Bee - Parent helpers required.
Tuesday 2 May - Diocesan Cross Country - Parent Helpers required
Monday 8 - Friday 12 May - Mother's Day Stall (more information to come later)
Tuesday 9 May - P&F General meeting - held in the library and via zoom.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Thank you.
GRANT FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS
Local community groups are encouraged to apply for funding with a new round of the ClubGRANTS program now open.
ClubGRANTS Category 1 is currently accepting applications until 24 April 2023 and is proudly hosted by the Shoalhaven Local Committee.
The Shoalhaven Local Committee is made up of representatives from Shoalhaven City Council, Department of Communities and Justice, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Shoalhaven Neighbourhood Services, and registered local licensed clubs.
ClubGRANTS Category 1 supports: welfare and social services, community development, employment assistance activities, health services, and projects aimed at improving the living standards of low income and disadvantaged people. The Committee will also consider other local identified needs within the Shoalhaven.
Local community groups that have previously benefited from ClubGRANTS funding include:
- Supported Accommodation & Homelessness Services Shoalhaven Illawarra (SAHSSI)
- Milton Ulladulla Men’s Shed
- Culburra Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade
- Nowra Youth Centre
- Shoalhaven Education Fund
ClubGRANTS are open now and will close on 24 April 2023.
Applications can be lodged online via the Clubs NSW website.
For more information visit Council’s Community Grants page or speak to your registered local licensed club.
