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- Important Dates & Events
- Principal's Page - Judy Egan
- RE News: Meaghan Younger
- Parish News
- Sports News: Erin Hardwicke
- Library News - Erin Hardwicke
- Harmony Awards
- Happy Birthday
- Extra Curricular Activities
- Entertainment Book 2020/21
- St Joseph's ELC - Enrolment Information
- Merici - Enrolment Information
- St Francis Xavier College - Enrolment Information
- Daramalan - Enrolment Information
- John Paul College - Enrolment Information
- School Sport ACT Trials
| THIS WEEK | |
| 11 - 21 May | NAPLAN Testing |
| NEXT WEEK | |
| 20 May | Eucharist Retreat Day (Year 4) |
| 20 May | Sacrament of Eucharist Parent/Child Formation Night |
| COMING UP | |
| 28 May | Indigenous Performance |
| 8 June | Sacrament of Eucharist |
| 11 June | Athletics Carnival |
| 18 June | Winter Woolies Day & Vinnies Stay Out |
- Unexplained absence notes
- NCCD letter
Please remember that copies of notes sent home are available on our website. https://www.stmichaelsps.act.edu.au/notes
Dear Parents\Carers
We had a wonderful Cross Country event last Friday with perfect weather. Thank you to Erin Hardwicke for her organisation and all our parent helpers who came along and assisted and encouraged our students.
Good news! While due to Covid restrictions we are unable to welcome parents into classrooms, we will shortly begin our normal assemblies in the hall. We will publish a timetable with assembly dates/times shortly.
Today I spoke with the children about our 4Bs. Be safe, Be respectful, Be responsible
and Be a learner. These 4 practices are central to our Wellbeing and Pastoral Care. They are the basis for any conversations around positive behaviour choices. I am really encouraged with the support from everyone in our community around upholding these important values.
Many Blessings
Judy Egan
COMPASS PARENT PORTAL
Thank you for your patience in supporting us in the roll out of new systems and procedures with the Compass Parent Portal. Catholic Education has installed a Compass Kiosk and we are legally obliged to ensure student attendance is recorded accurately, including the obligation for parents to sign in and out students either late or leaving for appointments. As with any new procedures there may be some teething problems so please contact us if you have any issues or concerns.
Religious Education Curriculum
Godly Play
To help children understand Scripture better we often use a variation of ‘Godly Play’ to tell Scripture stories. This involves using figures and basic props to retell Scripture. We pause at key points through the Scripture to consider who is speaking, how they might be feeling, who isn’t heard and where we would see ourselves if we could be present in the story. Children are then encouraged to use the figures at a later time to retell the story for themselves. This method of bringing Scripture to life could be done in the home very simply as well. Peg or plain wooden figures can be used to represent key characters in each piece of Scripture. You may wish to use this strategy for understanding Scripture with weekly Sundays’ readings.
Some more elaborate retellings have been recorded and may be helpful if you are looking for a way to help your children understand the Bible stories better. https://www.pinterest.com.au/ccombsbaker/godly-play-videos/
Religious Life of St Michael’s School Community
First Eucharist
Thank you to the parents who have enrolled your children in this final program for 2021. If you have not done so yet please note time is running out. Please contact Sue Collins at the parish office ASAP if you have not yet enrolled. We will keep the candidates in our prayers in the coming weeks.
Next Thursday, 20th May will be the Retreat Day for all of Year 4. Students will have a day of prayer, reflection and engaging activities exploring key Scripture, Mass parts and what it means to live as Eucharistic people. More information specific to Year 4 students will come home this week.
On Thursday 20th May it is also the Parent/Child preparation evening. This will again be held via zoom from 6pm. The link for this will be sent in next week’s newsletter. All families need to engage in this special event.
Mothers’ Day
Thank you to Miss Kapantais and 5/6K for your beautiful prayers for Mums last Friday. The display at the top of C Block is fabulous as well.
Mary, Help of Christians Feast
On Monday 25th of May it is the Feast of Our Mother Mary, Help of Christians. It is a very special day in the Australian Catholic Church calendar. Mary, Help of Christians is Australia’s first patron saint and remains such even after St Mary MacKillop of the Cross was canonised and added as Australia’s first Australian born patron saint. Children at school will take part in a special prayer service prepared by 3/4L. Traditionally in May we focus on praying the Rosary each day.
Sacramental Program 2021 – First Eucharist for students in Y4 from 2021
The Sacrament of First Eucharist will be celebrated in Term 2 of 2021 on the following dates:
- Tuesday 8 June at 6pm in St Michael’s Church
- Wednesday 9 June at 6pm in St Monica’s Church
- Thursday 10 June at 5.30pm in St Monica’s Church
- Thursday 10 June at 7pm in St Monica’s Church
Please keep the candidates for First Eucharist in your prayers.
Registration for the Sacrament of First Eucharist
Registration must be made via the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Qkr! App. Registrations opened on 30 March 2021 and will close by 16 May 2021.
No further registration will be accepted after the closing date.
Commitment Masses
Students and parents must attend one of the weekend Masses at either St Monica’s Church (6pm Saturday or 10am Sunday) or St Michael’s Church (8am or 5.30pm Sunday) on one of the dates listed below to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 May
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May 2021
There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.
Booking a Mass time for the Sacrament
Once you have decided on the date and church you wish your child to celebrate the Sacrament, bookings can be made through ‘Trybooking’ on the parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
Bookings will be open from 10 May 2021 to 21 May 2021.
COVID Restrictions - due to current Covid restrictions we can only have 200 people in the church for each celebration.
This means the number of people attending is restricted to 8 to 10 per family only. (This may include parents, siblings or other family members or friends).
Booking will close once 200 bookings are made for the service.
Purchasing a stole for First Eucharist
Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory. If you wish to purchase a stole, please make a payment of $20 through the Qkr! App and send an email to sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au and arrangements will be made for delivery/pickup.
For further information please contact the Sacramental Program coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au
Cross Country
Thank you to all the families that have returned their permission notes. Could all notes please be returned by Monday 24th May. If your child is not attending the carnival, we would greatly appreciate you returning the note indicating they are not attending.
Athletics Carnival - Friday 11th June
Our carnival is fast approaching and we are still looking for volunteers to assist on the day. If you can spare some time, could you please contact Erin Hardwicke or Lisa Monro, any help is greatly appreciated.
National Walk Safely to School Day – Friday, 14 May 2021
We encourage our students and families to take part in National Walk Safely to School Day next Friday. You might like to walk, ride, scoot or even consider taking public transport. Fantastic resources to promote discussion about road safety, health, public transport and the environment are available from https:www.walk.com.au/WSTSD.
Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au
National Simultaneous Storytime 2021
Congratulations to the following students who achieved a Harmony Award in Week 4. Awards will be presented at Friday morning's assembly (weather permitting).
Well done!!
| KF | Zoe M |
| 1/2B | Evie C |
| 1/2H | Lydia W |
| 3/4A | Miriam K |
| 3/4L | Hamish S |
| 3/4Y | Isabella P |
| 5/6F | Stella B |
| 5/6K | Charlize A |
Special wishes to those children who celebrate their birthday this week:
Jackson 5/6K, Matthew 5/6K, Liam 3/4Y, Stella 5/6F, Kobe 5/6K, Madeleine KF & Valentina 1/2H
We hope you have a great day!!
DANCECORE - Dance classes are on Wednesday's at recess in the
school hall, forms are available at the Front Office.
Contact Cassie 0417 442 750
CHESS - Chess classes are held in C Block on Tuesday’s at recess, forms are available at the Front Office. Contact Sydney Academy of Chess 9745 1170
GUITAR - Guitar lessons with Sam on Thursday's, please contact 
Sam on 0408 196 855
PIANO - Piano Lessons with Mary-Liz on Mondays & Tuesdays, please contact Mary-Liz on 0413 425 753
SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB - Scholastic Book club is back and runs twice a Term. If you have any queries, contact Mrs Monro or Mrs Hardwicke.
The Entertainment Book is back, bigger and better, prices starting from $69.99. Please click on the link below to order your digital copy of the new book.
Please see the School Sport ACT webpage https://schoolsportact.org.au/ or Facebook page for the most up to date information.
SCHOOL SPORT ACT TRIALS – Please keep an eye on the School Sport ACT website https://schoolsportact.org.au/ for upcoming ACT trials. The process for registering can be found below. If you need any assistance registering your child please feel free to ask for assistance.
How to register your child with School Sport ACT
School Sport ACT now collects all registration information online – this is to prevent the movement to and fro of a paper note and have all information readily available to officials prior to the trial. As this process incurs a fee for data storage, system maintenance and admin, a small $5 fee payment via credit card will be required.
- Go to the School Sport ACT website – https://schoolsportact.org.au/
- Click Register (top right corner of homepage) for an Account – enter parent details and password
- A confirmation email will be sent to your chosen email that will contain a link that you must click on to verify the email account.
- Click Log In (top right hand corner of home page) enter password then click on top tab My Profile
- You will see a ‘dashboard’ of your information, click green box to Add Student – enter student and medical details and save.
- Go to the Sports Tab – choose your specific sport, click on Trial Information box then click on the Register to Trial link.
- Select your child’s name from the dropdown box and then enter the optional fields for Playing History, Preferred Position (if applicable) and Representative Experience. If you are already in the system, ensure your child’s school is up to date in your profile – have they moved onto High School?
Please contact me via email if you have any questions, feedback or are able to offer your assistance at any of our sporting events throughout the year.
Looking forward to another big year of sporting participation,
Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au