Dear Parents, 

We will conclude Term 3 tomorrow with our St Michael’s Feast Day Mass. This will commence at 11.30am in the school hall. This mass will also launch our new Vision and Mission statement. All families are invited to attend the mass. As our patron saint, we see St Michael the Archangel as our protector. St Michael is also the patron saint of police officers, paramedics and the military. Our school has many parents in these different occupations. We hope you can join us for the mass. 

As we complete our third term, we say goodbye to a couple of staff members. Mrs Toni Hodges begins the next phase of her teaching career at St John’s Nowra in Term 4. Mrs Hodges has been teaching Year 2R this year and will be very missed by the students and staff. We have been fortunate to employ Mrs Christine Hart to teach 2R in Term 4. Mrs Hart is a very experienced teacher and will ensure student learning will remain robust in 2R. We also say farewell to Mrs Mel Green who has been working every Tuesday in the Benedictine Centre. We wish Mrs Green the very best as she prepares for the birth of her next child. Mrs Cathy Palmer will teach each Tuesday in the Benedictine Centre until the end of the year. 

A big thank you is extended to our Parents and Friends group who co-ordinated the ‘Cookie dough’ fundraiser today. It was very well supported and I look forward to tasting some of the cookies. Thank you especially to Kristy Davis and her team who distributed the cookie dough yesterday afternoon. The next big Parents and Friends fundraiser and community will be the ‘School Fair’ on Sunday 10 November, 2019. 

Yesterday the new school crossing supervisor commenced at our school. The North St school crossing will now be supervised every morning from 8.00-9.00am and 2.30-3.30pm each afternoon. This new initiative is much welcomed by parents, teaching staff and children.  An application has been submitted for an additional new school crossing supervisor to be employed at the Osborne Street crossing. 

Tuesday night I attended St John’s Nowra Year 12 Graduation mass and ‘Awards’ night. The mass was led by Father Pat Faherty and was just perfect. I was so proud of our former St Michael’s students who have grown into fine young men and women. Congratulations to Mrs Hogan and her St John’s team for such a great night. 

During the last two terms, the school has been exploring new ways to assist students make better behaviour choices. Guided by the Catholic Education Office Wollongong, the school reviewed elements of the SPB4L policy and has made a few changes. The school has replaced the previous ‘attention’ system with a greater emphasis on involving parents in the process of assisting the student reflect on their behaviour choices. This is our new procedure:

As you can see, parents will be contacted on the same day when possible if a ‘major’ behaviour incident occurs involving your child. There will be a greater involvement of ‘Middle Leader’ staff who supervise your child’s grade. The Middle Leader who will contact you is:

Table:

Dog and Puppy Alert. Just a reminder to parents to not bring dogs or puppies on to the parish and school property. We do have some students who are allergic to dogs and can experience an ‘Anaphylactic reaction’. I love dogs as much as anyone, but student safety is my biggest concern. Thank you for your assistance. 

As we conclude our third term, may I wish all families a safe and happy holiday. School will return on Monday 14th October, 2019. 

Yours in Faith and Virtue,

Mr Christopher Paton

Berry Riding Club 12th Annual Inter-school Equestrian Championships

Saturday 5th to Monday 7th October 2019 (long weekend during school holidays)

Dressage, Hacking, Show Jumping, Sporting Inter-school Challenge & Hunter

Venue: Worrigee Equestrian Common 

Good luck to Jordyn KB, Brooke 5W, Miley 3B and Aysha 6W who are representing St Michael's School this year.

(Previous equestrian winners pictured below)

2019 School Fair

The 2019 St Michael’s School Fair will be here before we know it!!! Please save the date for Sunday the 10th of November, from 10:30am-2:30pm. Tell your friends, family, colleagues. Help us spread the word by sharing our social media posts and popping aside the date in your diary now, you won’t want to miss it!
If you have any unwanted books, plants, pots or succulents at home, we would love for you to keep them aside. Students should have received their plates by now to fill with goodies and return to school to sell at the School Fair. Our basket stall at the fair is extremely popular each year.

Power FM Breakfast

We are excited to announce that 94.9 Power FM will again be hosting their breakfast show at our school on Thursday the 7th of November, just in time for our School Fair! Stay tuned for more details.

Next Meeting

Last week, we published that the next P&F meeting will be 8th October, however, this date falls in school holidays. There will be NO P&F meeting on the 8th of October.

2019 Year Book
The production of our annual Year Book is well under way, if you have any exciting news, or extracurricular achievements of your child that you’d like to share, please email them through to yearbookstmichaels@gmail.com

CONTACT US:

Got any suggestions? Can you assist us? You can contact the P & F any time.

St Michael’s Parents & Friends Events 

P & F Mailbox is located in the school office 

Email us on stmichaelspnf@gmail.com

Parents and Friends Executive Committee contact numbers:

Congratulations to everyone that joined the ‘Tour the T’ Event  

More than 200 Navy personnel and Shoalhaven community members have taken to ‘treading the tarmac’ in HMAS Albatross’ 10th annual ‘Tour the T’.

A sunny spring day provided a rare opportunity for either an 8km run or 4km walk of the T-shaped airstrip at the Navy’s main aviation base to raise more than $1000 for the perpetual charitable fund, Keeping Watch.

Keeping Watch provides assistance to serving members of the Royal Australian Navy and their families who are in financial need.

For Albatross’ Leading Seaman Physical Training Instructor James Walker, the event organiser, it was a family affair with his four-month-old daughter Georgia Walker completing her first ‘Tour the T’ with mum, Petty Officer Maritime Logistics - Personnel Ashleigh Walker. 

“It is a great event for families and suitable for all ages and fitness levels, which creates a fun morning for everyone”, Petty Officer Walker said.

“From competitive athletes to occasional strollers - the event attracts a range of Defence and civilian participants”, she added.

Commanding Officer of HMAS Albatross, Captain Fiona Sneath said the uniqueness of the event was a great attraction.

“Tour the T presents something that is usually off limits and makes for an experience that is even more enjoyable with the understanding that it’s for a good cause."

“Physical activity is a large focus of HMAS Albatross in order to maintain our mental and physical resilience."

“Exercise is crucial to our wellbeing and ‘Tour the T’ is a great opportunity to get everyone out of the office to come together for a bit of a run”, Captain Sneath said.

Navy Canteens, Australian Military Bank and Shoalhaven Defence Families Association had a variety of food and drinks available for the spectators who mingled with many smiles on their faces after finishing ‘Tour the T’.

Please find attached the new PPT roster for Term 4.

There will be a new summer menu coming out in Term 4.

More information will be provided after the holidays.

Thanks

Meagan

With the weather warming up there is a significant amount of lost property.

Could you please check for any items that may belong to you.

There will be a service at St Michael's Church at 9:30am on Friday 26th September for Police Memorial Day.

All parents/carers are welcome to attend.

Lyrebird Preschool - Enrolling now for 2020, limited positions available. 

Please contact us on 4421 4604 or email admin@lyrebirdpreschool.com.au