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Dear Parents and Carers,
On Friday 5th February, our Year 6 students participated in a liturgy in the school hall. All students received their leadership badge, and specific students received badges for school captain, prefect or colour captain. Thank you Father Leo for leading the liturgy. The year has commenced very well for this group of Year 6 students and I know their leadership skills will continue to flourish as the year goes on. Parents of these students should be very proud of the fine young people who have accepted the privilege of being a leader at St Michael’s school. We are going to have a great year! Our Year 6 leaders for 2021 are:
School Captains: Marshal Avery and Bonni Bolam
Prefects: Alex Sivonen, Imogen Wynn, Henry Fairs, Kilarni Aldridge, Mylan Brunton, Zali Delaney, Cody Chater and Rebekah Allmark.
Colour House Captains: Purcell House - Matthew Wisniewski and Taya Sanchez, Polding House - Brodee Green and Izzy Watters, Ruth House - Henrik Schaefer and Anna Duncan, Michael House - Kobi Warbrook and Ella Douglas.
Our Parents and Friends group met on Tuesday evening at 6pm last week. It was also the Annual General Meeting. Congratulations to the following office bearers for 2021.
President: Sophie Pavlis
Vice President: Rachelle Moore
Treasurer: Kylie Plant
Secretary: Carina Beattie
While still just a small group of people, some excellent ideas were raised which we will share with you soon. It was also a Zoom meeting for parents who chose this option. A number of fundraising events were discussed as well as practical issues such as the carpark concerns and an upcoming ‘Working Bee’. I encourage all parents to Zoom in for the next meeting which will be on Tuesday 9 March, 2021.
Last Friday our first assemblies were held. Congratulations to the students who received awards and acknowledgement for a great start to the new school year. Assemblies will occur on Fridays in Week 5, 7 and 9. Unfortunately parents are unable to attend these masses due to Covid19.
Shrove Tuesday was celebrated by all students earlier this week. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the Roman Catholic Church. Shrove Tuesday is a reminder that Christians are entering a season of penance and was originally a solemn day.
Yesterday we celebrated Ash Wednesday. Students in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 had a small liturgy in their classes and received the ashes on their forehead from their teacher. Year 3-6 attended a mass in the school hall and received the ashes as part of the celebration. It was wonderful coming together for a mass led by Father Leo. For many of our students, this was the first mass for 12 months due to Covid19. The behaviour of the students and their reverence during mass was exceptional. During the next 6 weeks, the students will learn about Lent and the Easter Holy Week. I have included a Youtube clip about Ash Wednesday and Lent.
https://saintannparish.org/the-meaning-of-ash-wednesday/
For the remainder of the term, each grade will be on a roster to attend mass in St Michael's Church at 9.30am. Unfortunately it will be only for the students and teachers due to Covid19. Year 6 will attend mass this Friday 19 February 2021 and Year 5 will attend on Friday 26 February 2021.
By the end of next week, all families will receive through Compass an overview of the year from their child’s teacher. Any requests for parent teacher meetings can be made through the school office.
Yours in Faith and Virtue,
Mr Christopher Paton
Lent
Yesterday we were marked with ash, as we begin our journey through Lent and prepare for the wonder of Easter. The ashes remind us that even though we don’t always live God’s way, if we ask God to forgive us, we receive forgiveness and love.
As a Catholic school during Lent we try to do good for others and we give to the poor. It’s called almsgiving. This term we will be fundraising for Caritas Australia, who through Project Compassion, support those less fortunate in other parts of the world. This year monies raised will support the many families in a Bangladeshi refugee camp. We hope you will be able to assist us. More details next newsletter.
Also during Lent we can pray and go to mass on Sunday. St Michael’s Parish masses are currently being held in the hall. You no longer need to register for mass. It would be lovely to see you there.
Finally this Lent we can try and follow Saint Oscar Romero motto:
“Aspire not to have more but to be more”
Grade Masses commence tomorrow at 9.30am in the church. Just a reminder that the masses are only for the students and their teachers. At tomorrow's mass our Year 6 Mini Vinnies badges and our Year 6 Aboriginal badges will be blessed by Fr Leo. The badges will be given out at next week's assembly. Thank you to the many Year 6 students who have chosen to be part of our Mini Vinnies team for 2021 where they will use their talents and gifts to serve within our community.
Have a great two weeks.
Martine Mathieson - Religious Education Coordinator
Welcome back to another year at St. Michael’s. I’m looking forward to encouraging and seeing our students participate and perform across a variety of sports this year.
We already have students competing in events outside of school and have had some fabulous results come through.
On the 6th and 7th of February, five St Michael’s students travelled to Wagga for the Little Athletics State Qualifiers, of which they were only allowed to choose 4 events to compete in. Only the 1st and 2nd place getters can qualify for State, this made for tough and competitive events.
Results were as follows:
Taj Goddard (Yr. 5): 1st Javelin, 1st in Discus, 2nd in 800m and 4th in Shot Put.
Matthew Wisniewski (Yr. 6): 5th in 100m, 6th in 1500m and 6th in 200m.
Adam Wisniewski (Yr. 3): 5th in 60m hurdles, 5th in 400m and 10th in 100m.
Cody Chater (Yr. 6): 8th in Discus and 8th in Shot put.
Nash Norton (Yr. 6): 7th in 1500 and 10th in 400m.
Congratulations to all the boys for their great sportsmanship and efforts on the day. We wish the best of luck to Taj Goddard who will compete at the State Little Athletics competition in Discus, Javelin and the 800m.
Late last year, the 19th -21st December Miley Winchester (Yr. 5), attended Berry Riding Club Interschools Equestrian Championships. It was a massive three days and over 220 riders. Miley and her champion pony Hallelujah Monte Carlo Gold had an outstanding weekend, taking home numerous blue ribbons. Here is a brief summary of Miley’s outstanding achievements;
- Overall Sporting Champion Primary School.
- Overall Hunter Jumping (Cross Country) Champion Primary School.
- Overall Reserve Champion Show Jumping Primary School.
- Overall Year 4 Champion.
Congratulations to Miley and it looks like we could have a future Olympian in Equestrian.
Being February, registrations for winter sports have already opened and in some cases, grading has been done or will be completed.
I have been contacted from some sporting clubs who still have room for players to join:
AFL – The Shoalhaven Giants are currently offering free registrations for 100 players for the 2021 season. If you are interested in taking this up for your child, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/shoalhavengiants/ for further information.
Rugby – The Shoalhaven Rugby Club are extremely keen for children in the U6, U7, U8 and U9 to register with them. If you are interested in taking up this opportunity for your child, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/weareshoals/ and for further information.
They are also looking to put together a St. Michael’s team together for future Diocesan Gala days and potential matches against some of the local schools. In order to do this, they would like to run some skills and drills after school on the back oval. If your child is keen to do this, you can email Mr. Allmark at Allmarka01@dow.catholic.edu.au.
Don’t forget to redeem your Active Kids Sport Voucher where you can claim two $100 vouchers that can be used towards your child’s sport each year.
The school calendar is very quickly filling up with events for the students to participate in and where students will be trialling for representative honours in a variety of sports:
Diocesan Swim Carnival 2nd March
Football, League and Netball trials 5th March
Paul Kelly Cup 5th March
Yr 3 and 4 AFL Gala Day 17th March
School Cross Country 19th March
If you have any questions about sports or any events coming up please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Mr. Allmark
Sports Co-Ordinator
St John's upcoming Open Night on Wednesday 24 February 2021.
School banking is back! School Banking Day is on Friday.
For each weekly deposit made at school, students will receive a virtual Dollarmites token. Once they collect ten tokens, they can redeem them for a school banking reward.
If your child has previously participated in School Banking, or has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account, they can start banking straight away by bringing their Dollarmites deposit wallet to school on school banking day.
If your child has lost their deposit wallet, please contact your School Banking Co-Ordinator or visit any Commonwealth Bank branch for a replacement.
Our School Banking Program is made possible because of volunteers. Thank you to those volunteers for donating their time to run school banking for our students.
If you would like to know more about school banking, please ask for a 2021 School Banking Program Parent Guide from the school office or visit www.commbank.com.au/schoolbanking
School Banking Rewards
The rewards available during 2021 are:
- Terry Denton's Activity Book
- Mini Soccer Ball (size 2)
- Treetop Handball
- Tomato Seed Kit
- Emoji Wallet
- Snakes and Ladders Game
- Scented Stackable Highlighters
- Icicle Slapband Ruler
- Snowy Origami Set
- Water Skimming Bounce Ball
- Polar Pencils and Pencil Toppers
- Scratch Art Cards
For every deposit made at school, students will receive a virtual Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for a school banking reward item.
How to redeem your tokens for a reward
To redeem your reward item from school banking:
- Complete a reward redemption slip by writing in your details and ticking the item you would like to redeem.
- Place the slip in your yellow Dollarmites wallet.
- Hand it in with your school banking deposit on school banking day.
Thank you for supporting the school banking program and remember school banking day is every Friday.
Some of our students will be appearing in the upcoming musical Moana Jr.
Please see the attached flyer for further information.
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Week 4 |
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Friday 19.02.2021 |
Year 6 Mass - 9:30am (students only) |
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Week 5 |
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Friday 26.02.2021 |
Year 5 Mass - 9:30am (students only) |
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Week 6 |
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Friday 05.03.2021 |
Year 4 Mass - 9:30am (students only) |