Special wishes to those children who will celebrate their birthdays in this week: Andy X, 1B.

Congratulations to the following students who achieved a Harmony Award this week.

Well done!!   

Our students in 2 Red have been learning how to write expanded sentences that contain a who, what, how and where detail. These students work samples show great personal growth. Thanks Year 2 and Mrs Russell for sharing your wonderful writing with us!

First Eucharist

The next step in the students’ preparation is the Eucharist Retreat Day, taking place next Thursday, 12 June at St Michael’s School. All Year 4 students from St Michael’s and St Monica’s, along with other Eucharist candidates, will come together for a day of learning, reflection, and spiritual growth.Through Scripture, activities, and discussion, students will deepen their understanding of the Eucharist and its significance in our lives.

Recess and lunch will be provided for all Year 4 students and Eucharist candidates. Students are invited to wear warm, comfortable clothing of their choice.

That evening, at 6:00pm, there will be a Prayer Night for Eucharist candidates and their families in St Michael’s Church. All candidates are required to attend with at least one parent.

We look forward to sharing this special retreat experience with all Year 4 students and those preparing to celebrate their First Eucharist.

Key Dates to Remember:

• Thursday, 12 June – Eucharist Retreat Day & Parent/Child Prayer Night
  
  
• Saturday and Sunday, 21/22 June – Celebration of the Sacrament of First Eucharist

St Michael’s Book Fair

We are excited to be holding our annual book fair from Thursday 26 June to Tuesday 1 July. The fair will be open each day both before and after school. We would greatly appreciate your support as a significant percentage of all sales goes towards purchasing new books for our school library. We will again partner with Lamont Books for this year’s fair. Keep your eye out for further details!

Boorowa Touch Football and Netball Carnival

The time has come to again nominate our teams for the 2025 Boorowa Touch Football and Netball Carnival to be held on Friday 24 October. Students from Years 3-6 are eligible to participate in ONE of the sports/teams. Information and consent will be send out via Compass shortly. Please note that Boorowa is 1.5hrs from Canberra and families are required to organise their own transport to and from the event. We look forward to entering as many teams as possible and thank you for being willing to commit to the event so far ahead of time.

Belconnen Region Athletics

The team to represent St Michael's at the Belconnen Region Athletics Championships will be announced in the coming weeks. The championships will be held on 19 August at the AIS.  

Child Safety – How we can keep children safe but not scared!

Have you recently had a conversation with your child/ren about child safety and stranger danger?

There are some wonderful resources on the web including the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and Child Abuse Prevention and Education Australia.

There is also some useful information from the Child Abuse Prevention and Education Australia. The following points are adapted from their webpage.

Having a conversation with your children around strangers or people they do not know

Strangers are people who aren’t part of our safety network and that they aren’t our friends. We don’t know them, haven’t met them before with our parents than they aren’t our friends. We don’t go with them because they aren’t our friends.

Scenario or role play with questions like –

WHAT COULD KIDS DO IF?

• Someone they don’t know or isn’t their safety person asks them to go with them in their car. The answer might be yelling NO, runaway and find their safe adult/parent. Get them to act it out.
• Reinforce that they are never in trouble if they say ‘NO’ to an adult or someone older that they don’t know or if they ever feel unsafe.  
• Safe adults won’t make them feel unsafe or hurt them and won’t ask them to do something like leave their school, playground and won’t offer free things or give you something without talking to your parents first.

Please reach out if you need support or have any questions.

Child Safe advocate

Bridgette McCann

Bridgette.mccann@cg.catholic.edu.au

Hello, my name is Connor Howland and for the past year and a half I have been lucky enough to teach every child at St Michael’s. This year, I am joining in on the Push-up Challenge which will see me complete 3,214 push-ups between the 4^th & 26^th of June. Below is a link to my fundraising page if you feel inclined to support the incredible Headspace Canberra through a small donation.

I would also simply love you to chat to your kids about the event and its importance while encouraging them to join Mr. Howland in a couple of push-ups to support their physical and mental health.

https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/fundraiser/connorhowland

Sacrament of Eucharist

If you have issues or questions please contact the Parish at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or speak to the school’s Religious Education Coordinator.

We are pleased to announce that St Michael's Primary, Kaleen has recently introduced the BPoint Enterprise Solution to manage direct debit arrangements for the payment of school fees.

What is BPoint and What Do You Need to Do?

BPoint is a secure Commonwealth Bank payment processing platform designed to facilitate online payments, while ensuring the highest security standards. This system safeguards your financial information using industry-leading security measures.

Our new direct debit platform will allow you to pay school fees using either a bank account or a credit card (excluding AMEX). Please note that payments made via credit card will incur a 0.5% surcharge.

Establishing Direct Debits.

Families will receive an email outlining estimated weekly, fortnightly, and monthly repayment options to ensure all fees are paid by the end of the year. These amounts will also include any outstanding 2024 balances.

What next?

You will receive an email that will provide a start date for direct debits and options for selecting your preferred payment frequency. Once a payment frequency is selected, you will be directed to enter your bank/credit card details. Once the information is entered, you will receive an email from no-reply@bpoint.com.au . The email will contain two links,

1. The first link requires confirmation of the direct debit arrangement. Please note that the link will expire within 7 days.
2. The second link provides a copy of the eDDRSA for your records.

 While using the direct debit payment option is not compulsory, many families find it helpful in staying up to date with their financial obligations.

For any questions or further assistance, please contact us.