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Dear Parents,
We gathered in the school hall last Thursday night with the new Kindergarten parents for 2020. We used a similar seating arrangement that has been utilised for Sacramental meetings this year. Parents gathered in table groups and the meeting was very interactive. The ‘Transition to School Through Playgroup’ sessions each Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning have enabled parents to become more familiar with each other. Last Thursday night was a great opportunity to have all questions about Kindergarten 2020 answered.
The school celebrated our annual Mission Mass last Friday in the school hall mass setting. During this mass we all learnt about the plight of the people of Rwanda. The students viewed two short videos of life in Rwanda and the extraordinary efforts of Sister Stan to build facilities for young people to live and be educated. Thank you to Mrs Mathieson, Mrs Royston, staff and students who assisted with this mass. Mission fundraising and awareness is such an important part of our Catholic heritage and truly reflects the story of the Good Samaritan.
On Sunday 27 October 2019, the school and parish gathered together to celebrate the regular “Mass with A Difference” which occurs a few times a year. The mass commenced at 6pm on the God’s Grass area opposite the Year 4 and Year 2 classrooms. Father Leo led the liturgy and was supported by Deacon Peter Presdee. This is one of my favourite events and we all experienced a beautiful and lively mass.
On Tuesday after school at 3.30pm, numerous Year 3-6 students and parents gathered in the school hall to participate in a maths afternoon. Parents were exposed to the challenging maths pedagogy that the students have been engaging in during 2019. The challenging maths concept works on the principle that it is ok to not know the answer to a problem straight away and that there is a benefit in working through a process to solve a challenging task. Students were able to work alongside their parents to solve some of the challenging tasks. The students receive regular opportunities to engage in challenging maths tasks in the classroom as a component of the mathematics program they are taught. Thank you to all staff who assisted with the afternoon. Today the students in Kindergarten to Year 2 will have the same opportunity to gather with their parents and staff at 3.30pm to engage in challenging maths tasks. Congratulations to Mrs Berryman for this initiative!
After much careful planning, the Year 5 Leadership Camp commenced at ‘Waterslea’ today. Both days have been very carefully planned and will provide crucial leadership and faith opportunities for the Year 5 students. I will be joining the camp this afternoon and look forward to hearing about their journey today. The Year 5 teachers have worked very hard this year to develop a leadership passport to assist with the selection of student leaders for 2020 as well as developing leadership capacity in all students. Please keep these students and staff in your prayers.
Tomorrow students in Years 4 and 6 will attend the ‘All Saints day’ mass in the church at 11:30am. At this mass we will remember all Saints who are in heaven. While there are many consecrated Saints such as our own Saint Michael the Archangel, in many ways all Catholics who have died and are in heaven can be considered Saints in their own way. Pope John Paul II encouraged all of us to be Saints and tomorrow we remember all who died and are in heaven.
We now have just over one week until the School Fair on Sunday 10 November 2019. We are still requiring parental assistance with a number of stalls. It is hoped that all students will attend the school fair, bring along carloads of family, extended family, friends and neighbours. This is our major fundraiser for the year. The tickets in the raffle are selling well. There are only 600 tickets available and the prizes are exceptional. The $4000 travel voucher for first prize will be highly sought after. Please get involved in the excitement! Early next week I will audition students for the annual ‘St Michael’s has talent’. This is always an exciting event at the School Fair. On Thursday 7 November 2019, POWER FM will be at our school to present their breakfast show and provide breakfast for the students. The live broadcast will allow information about our School fair to be shared across the Shoalhaven! We will share more details with you early next week. We are looking forward to the participation of all families in our School Fair!
Yours in Faith and Virtue,
Mr Christopher Paton
Here are some important dates to remember:
Friday 1 November- All Saints Day
All Saints Day is when we honour all the saints of the church those who have entered heaven. Year 6 and Year 4 will attend the parish mass at 11.30am.
Sunday 3 November- Kindergarten Parish Mass
Please join us at 9.30am mass, which will be led by the students and families from Kindergarten. After mass a morning tea will be held in the Parish Centre, all welcome.
Wednesday 6th November
Reflection Evening - First Holy Communion for parents and children.
Mrs Martine Mathieson
Last Thursday and Friday we had our basketball students from Years 3 to 6 participating in the Shoalhaven Schools Basketball Challenge at the new Shoalhaven Basketball Stadium. On Thursday, St. Michael’s sent a boys and a girls team from Years 3 and 4 to compete on the day. The following day, 2 boys and one girls team were sent to participate in the day.
Each team played 4 games with every member working up a sweat running up and down the court trying their hardest to get the ball and work it towards the basket. All teams played exceptionally well and we had some outstanding results from both days.
Year 3 and 4 Boys had a mixed day winning and losing 2 games. The whole team were all eager to play and shoot hoops. All the games were extremely close as the teams were even in their ability in each team. With a first up win and a second round loss the boys became a bit disheartened. Mrs Olijnyk gave a pep talk to the team after this loss about teamwork and sharing the work load. The boys took the message on board and played well after their first loss, winning their next game and just losing their last. Unfortunately, they just missed out on the finals. These boys will be back bigger and better next year due to their experiences this year. Some standout performances on the day were Declan Field who made sure he included all his team mates by passing the ball around in order to get a hoop, Noah Jamieson was fantastic dribbling down the court and scoring and Henrik Schaefer made lots of fast breaks down the court.
Year 3 and 4 Girls had a brilliant day dominating the courts and not dropping a game all day. The girls played with great sportsmanship and competitiveness. The girls went through to the grand final match and won 10 to 4 against Terara Public School. Stand out performances on the day were Anna Duncan, who with her height advantage, pulled down lots of rebounds. She was supported well by Leah Griffis who was great at making fast breaks and getting back in defence. A special mention must go to Ayla Clerget who despite not playing basketball was an absolute machine sinking some impressive hoops, especially in the grand final match. Well done to these girls who were crowned the Champion Stage 2 girls team on the day.
Year 5 and 6 Girls were an unstoppable force throughout the day. They played some strong offence and even stronger defence with no team scoring more than 4 points against them. They continued this form into the semi-finals and eventually the grand final. The girls again put on another dominate display running away and winning the game 14 – 2. Stand out performances were Indiana Hayburn who controlled the tempo of the games, Josie Schaefer who made great fast breaks up the court and Bridie Petre who was great pulling down rebounds and driving towards the hoop.
Year 5 and 6 Boys, Team 2 – This group of boys played their heart out in every match. They came up against some strong teams and held their own in every game. Their stand out game was their second game. The other team controlled the ball and scoring for most of the game. Coming down to the last 4 minutes the boys decided to play their best basketball. They were strong in defence and got a lot of balls from putting pressure on the ball carriers. The boys were 2 points down with 40 seconds to play until Xavier Smith hit a nice jump shot. The boys held on for a very gutsy win. They made it to the preliminary final but the opposition team were just too good. Stand out performances were Beau Lynch who controlled the tempo of the game and showed great leadership skill on court by involving the whole team in their quest to win, Kyri Pavlis who became a rock in defence and turned defence into offence and Declan Power who showed his versatility by playing hard both offensively and defensively.
Lastly, the Year 5 and 6 Boys, Team 1 – These boys were another team who were really hard to stop once they got going. Despite not having much time together as a team they gelled extremely quickly and became a well-oiled machine. Their display of skill, sportsmanship and comradery were on full display and they were an absolute joy to watch. They went through the whole day undefeated and like the two girl’s teams, were crowned champions after taking out their grand final match 15 – 9. Standout performances from the team were Tom Duncan with his impressive rebounding and fast breaks, Harry Frew who was putting on a shooting masterclass and in the process, drained two 3 pointers, and Tahj Webb who in the grand final nullified the opposition's best player giving him no space to run or shoot.
Well done to our three Shoalhaven Schools Basketball Champions and the other teams who took part in the day. The student’s behaviour, attitude and display of sportsmanship on both days was exceptional. I cannot fault them on anything over the course of the two days. All the students who participated were outstanding representatives of St. Michael’s School. Thank you to Mrs Olijnyk for her support of the grade 3 and 4 students and all the parents and carers who transported the students to and from the venue and stayed to support and coach the students.
The St. Michael’s Twilight Swimming Carnival will be held on Wednesday 27th November at Nowra Pool. Notes have already gone home to students in Years 2 to 5. Please note that in order to participate in the carnival students must be able to swim 50 metres easily and unaided and make a commitment to representing St. Michael’s at the Diocesan level next year.
I will be coming around to see students in Years 4 and 5 to see if any students are eligible to trial for a Wollongong Diocesan team for 2020 for the following sports AFL, rugby league, touch, netball, hockey, football and rugby union. Students are required to be experienced players and extremely talented at their chosen sport. If they are successful during these trials, they will go on to represent the Diocese of Wollongong at MacKillop Level Trials and might advance to represent at a State Level. Nomination forms will be going to students who meet the criteria for their chosen sport and will need to be returned to me. Students who have nominated for a sport will be informed if they have been successful or unsuccessful to attend the trials when the trial date is near. If you have any questions, please see me.
Regards,
Mr. Allmark
Sports Co-ordinator
Thank you to the families who attended our first maths afternoon on Tuesday 29th October.
Today we will hold our second maths afternoon for K-2. It will be in the school hall from 3.30-4.30 (approx).
A short explanation of Challenging Tasks 15 - 20 mins will be presented for both parents and students. Following that there will be an opportunity for everyone to complete some Challenging tasks. Please come along and challenge yourselves with some fun maths.
Coffee and tea will be provided from 3pm for parents.
Great news for our upcoming School Fair on Sunday November 10th!!
The Naval Aviation Prospects Scheme (NAPS) is attending the St. Michael's Primary School Fair where children and parents will be able to experience flying with flight simulators! This will be an amazing experience. Hope to see everyone there.
Thank you.
Mrs Renee Wenban
We would like to thank our St Michael's Community assisting in collecting 19,000 plastic bottle tops. These bottle tops are eventually recycled and transformed into prosthetic arms for children. We have completed our collection and ask you not to send anymore bottle caps to 5R after Friday. If you wish to continue collecting bottle tops you can deposit them at various shops around town.
2019 School Fair
Our 2019 School Fair is just around the corner!!! SAVE THE DATE FOR SUNDAY THE 10TH NOVEMBER, from 10:30am-2:30pm.
Do you or your family have a business or would like to donate a prize for our the chocolate wheel? Prizes can be vouchers for restaurants, movies or experiences. If you have a business and would like to contribute a product, please contact Lucy Duncan or message the P&F Facebook page. The P&F commitee members also have a table outside the school office every morning and afternoon until the fair where you can drop off donations.
Tell your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. please help us spread the word by sharing our social media posts and sharing our Monster Raffle! You can purchase your Monster Raffle tickets either by filling out the form that went home last week, purchasing one from the P&F table that has been set up before & after school, or online at the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/BFUMO
If you have any unwanted plants, succulents, pots or books, please keep them aside for our plant and book stall. Every school day from now until the Fair, the P&F will have a table set up before and after school where you can ask questions, drop off your donations and basket stall items. You can also have a guess at how many lollies are in our lolly jar for $1 per guess. Please remember to hand in your helper notes to your classroom teacher.
Please remember to send a hamper item in to school, the grade hampers are located in each “R” classroom. The themes this year are:
Kinder: Christmas
Year 1: Pamper (soaps, bath bombs, please no makeup)
Year 2: Craft
Year 3: Games
Year 4: Outdoor (BBQ, garden & outdoor games)
Year 5: Toys/games
Year 6: Gourmet Food Items (please check items are in date).
Please keep the basket stall items coming in, we’ve uploaded a few examples on our P&F Facebook page if you’re stuck for ideas. Thank you so much to everyone that has brought one in so far, they are fantastic!
Power FM Breakfast
We are super 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! Those children that are wanting to have breakfast at school will need to bring a bowl and spoon. Stay tuned for more details!
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
Parents and Friends Executive Committee contact numbers:
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President: |
Phil Duncan |
0428232360 |
Treasurer: |
Michelle Lane |
0422639554 |
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Vice President: |
Sophie Pavlis |
0439018374 |
Secretary |
Natalie Kidd |
0407935739 |
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Publicity officer: |
Kristy Davis |
0411641856 |
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Term 4 Week 3 |
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Thursday 31.10.19 |
Family Maths Afternoon Years K-2 3:30pm-4:30pm |
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Friday 1.11.19 |
All Saints Day - Year 4 and Year 6 Mass - 11:30am Year 1 Excursion - Currarong Assembly Years K-2 2pm-2:45pm |
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Sunday 3.11.19 |
Kindergarten Mass 9:30-10:30 |
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Week 4 |
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Wednesday 6.11.19 |
Reflection Evening - First Holy Communion - Parents/Child 6pm |
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Thursday 7.11.19 |
Power FM Visit |
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Friday 8.11.19 |
Primary Assembly 1:45pm-2:45pm |