Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Yours in Faith and Virtue,

Christopher Paton

Principal

Unfortunately, due to the continuous poor weather and numerous ground closures, we have been unable to secure an appropriate athletics ground and date for a Term Two Athletics Carnival. Nominations for the Diocesan Carnival are due early in Term 3 and we cannot risk holding a carnival so close to the nomination date as it will leave us in a precarious position if this carnival is cancelled due to poor weather.
We are still committed to offering a pathway to the Diocesan Carnival for those talented athletes who wish to represent the school at a Diocesan Level. In speaking with CEDoW, this year, we are asking for talented athletes to fill out the nomination form, expressing their desire to be nominated for the Carnival via the Google Form link below by Wednesday 15 June. Please only complete the form if your child wishes to compete at the Diocesan Carnival in Term 3, Week 4 (Tuesday 9th August). https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzi57orxz7flz9l_2o56sK-S7jX2XJwpjByyYXs636adRsFg/viewform

On Tuesday, four St Michael’s students braved an early morning start and travelled to Eastern Creek to compete in the MacKillop Cross Country trials. They were up against students from other dioceses around New South Wales. The students had to run either 2 or 3 km. The pace of all races was fast, and all the students put in a phenomenal effort. We had some extremely pleasing results from the carnival;
- Finn Goddard from Year 2 ran in the 8/9’s boys’. At diocesan level Finn came in 6 th. At MacKillop, he stepped things up and finished 3rd. He ran a fast race, running 4min 02 sec kilometres. What made it more impressive is that Finn was against boys who were a year older than him.

- Ella Walsh, from Year 4, ran another extremely impressive race. She finished 14th out of 56, which is a remarkable effort. She led the Wollongong team across the line being the 1st Wollongong student to finish the race.

- Taj Goddard, from Year 6, made his 3rd appearance at these trials. He was up against 51 other boys and again Taj finished in the top 20, placing 16th . It was unfortunate that he wasn’t able to take the family bragging rights home after watching his brother Finn run such a strong race.
- Milla Cooper, from Year 6, was a ball of nerves before her race but had the full support of her family behind her on the day. Her race was the last one of the day and Milla put her nerves to good use during her race. She completed her race in just over 14 minutes finishing 20th out of 57 runners. Finn’s efforts have led him to move onto the next stage of representation at the NSWPSSA State Championships which will be held at Eastern Creek on the 22nd of July. We wish him the best of luck at this event and also congratulate the other three runners on their achievements.

Last week, Matilda Martin from Year 6 competed in the NSWPSSA hockey championship in Tamworth. Matilda thoroughly enjoyed her experience in playing for the MacKillop team even though early in the year she had given hockey away. Before going away Matilda and the team were given some games tactics which they had to practice. The tactics must have been superb as Matilda and her team won all 5 of their pool games without conceding a single goal. They repeated this feat in the semi. They progressed to the Grand Final which was played in heavy rain. It was a hard fought game, but they came away winners, again without conceding a goal, winning 2 – 0. Matilda's experience at this championship was positive from start to finish and her hockey improved tenfold, even with a sprained finger.

Last Tuesday, we had 50 students competing in the AFL Paul Kelly Cup at the Showground. These students were split into four teams. They were up against other schools in the local area. All the teams played extremely well and with good spirit. At the end of the day there were commended on their competitiveness and sportsmanship on the day. The girls team made it to the grand final but lost on the siren by 1 as they looked to score to win the game. One of the Year 6 boys teams progressed to next level after beating all teams they played. These boys will play in Ulladulla, on a date to be confirmed, in the South Coast finals. If you have any questions about sports or any upcoming events, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

Mr. Allmark 

Sports Co-ordinator