Autumn Fete 

I would like to thank everyone who attended, donated or helped on Saturday for our Autumn Fete. As discussed last year, this Fete was the first for recent years as being at this time of year, during the day and as a bi-annual event. I am pleased to let the school community know that this fete was a successful event.

We raised $11 000, which did not include a raffle which has been traditionally done for the fete (we held a raffle last year at the movie night instead), and did not include the plant store, which was a stall organised and run by Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, which means they keep the money raised on that stall as a donation for the Parish.

When compared with recent fetes held and take out the raffle takings and plant stall takings, we raised approximately $1000 more than the fete in 2016 and $3000 more than the fete in 2017. This is a huge effort and has ensured our trial of a day-time fete, at this time of year, was a complete success. 

Feedback from many people attending was the positive, calm and friendly vibe of the fete. Obviously our fete is about raising funds for our school, but just as important is the community building aspect of the event. Bringing our school community together, their friends, their family and those unknown to us in the community. We are a school that 'live in harmony' and Saturday was a perfect example of that. 

I would like to say a big thank you to the fete committee of Anna Lutz, Lisa Monro, Damien Webb, Caterina Puren, Serae Love, Claire Carton, Fiona Scherl, Fiona Scadden, Fiona Morris, Chantel Pollock, Gabriel Walsh, Jeanette Ryan, Diana Di Franco, Natalie Ryall, Michelle Dalziel, Emma Bickley, Esther Coghlan and Lea Gocentas. Thank you for time given to organise behind the scene and on the day coordinating and running various stalls. Thank you also to the stall coordinators, many named above as well as Andrew Daly, Shane Love, Jeremy Lane, YMCA, our Year 6 Leaders, and St Michael's staff.

Whilst it takes a team approach to pull off any successful event, it also takes a leader who can oversee, coordinate, motivate and make the tough decisions at times. A massive thank you to Anna Lutz, who has dedicated many many hours towards the fete. It was a difficult fete to coordinate as it was the first time for a while that it was at this time of year and during the day. Anna did an amazing job of working with myself and the school executive, the fete team, stall coordinators and the many organisations and businesses to ensure we had a successful fete. 

Thank you to everyone. As mentioned at the start of last year, the decision was made in 2017 to move the school fete to a bi-annual event. This is a decision that current leadership supports also. Although, a great event, it involves an enourmous amount of preparation and planning and for a small school, is something that is difficult to run each and every year. By moving bi-annually, we hope we can capture more parental and family volunteer support and help for the fete.

Harmony Day

Tomorrow we celebrate Harmony Day. This is such an important day, especially this year in light of recent events in New Zealand. Harmony Day is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. Harmony Week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united in a common love and compassion for all. 

At St Michael's we are a school who 'Live in Harmony' everyday. Tomorrow, Harmony Day, is a day for us to celebrate this and enjoy and have fun with each other reflecting on all the wonderful cultures we have in Australia. 

It is a Uniform Free Day where we are encouraging all students to come to school dressed in colours inspired from a country of the world. 

Students will participate in various activities and experiences from these countries including Origami, Yoga, Auslan, Balloon Tennis, Bocce, Unklungs, Spheros and Tangrams. 

Enjoy the week ahead.

Be Kind.

Pat Ellis

Principal

Project Compassion

Are those money boxes filling up? How have you chosen to raise funds for those in need? An enterprising student has been hitting up all the relatives at social events – “I love you Nan, can I have money for Project Compassion please?”. All for a good cause. 

Check out this week’s story on Peter from the Solomon Islands. There are also prayer resources on the Caritas website if you wish to include these in your family’s prayer times. https://lent.caritas.org.au/page/week-3

Whole School Prayer Time

3/4AK are excitedly preparing for the Whole School Prayer Time this Friday, 22 March. Families are all invited to share as we reflect together on Harmony Day and what it means at St Michael’s. Whole School Prayer Times start at 2:20pm this year, in the St Michael’s Church.

First Communion- Save the dates

It is that time of year where students in Year 4 can take the next step on their Sacramental Journey by preparing to receive First Communion. There will be a Parent Information Night on Thursday 2^nd May in St Michael’s Church. This information session is for all members of our Parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It will begin at 6:00pm and should be concluded within the hour. Children preparing to receive their First Holy Communion will need to be at a commitment Mass on either Saturday 4^th May or Sunday 5^th May. Their commitment may be made at any of the four Parish Masses over that weekend.

Mini Vinnies Easter Raffle

Mini Vinnies and our Year 6 Harmony Leaders, will be selling raffle tickets in our Easter Raffle. All money raised will go towards our partner school Jariah Education Centre in Kenya. Tickets will be 50 cents each or 3 for $1. Tickets will be on sale in Weeks 9 & 10. The raffle will be drawn at Friday morning assembly in Week 10.

Thank you to those parents and students who attended our 'Check In Chats'. More sessions will continue tonight. 

We have received very positive feedback regarding these chats and providing an oppotunity for students to share areas they are focusing on. This is critical to overall success, students knowing that home and school work together to support them, challenge them and affirm them on their learning journey. 

Swimming Carnival

The results are in and the winning house for the swimming carnival is....

Green House - 293

Blue House - 230

Gold House - 203

Red House - 175

Catholic Schools' Soccer Carnival

Information regarding teams will come home with players tomorrow.  The draws will not be available until closer to the day.  'Catholic Schools Soccer Carnvial 2019' Facebook page and the St Claire of Assisi website will have the most up to date information regarding draws and results.

Cross Country Carnvial

This carnival will be held on Thursday 4th April, information notes came home yesterday.  If you are willing to assist on the day as a course marshall, please contact Erin Hardwicke.  

Congratulations

Dylan 3/4AK was a part of the Bandits Little League Minor Baseball team who won their grand-final on Saturday against the Indians.

The game was evenly contested until the fifth innings when the Bandits scored 7 runs.  The final score was 9 to 1.

Please support businesses that support our school.

The Appetizer

This weeks app is Hologo. This augmented reality app that allows users to feel like they are standing at the Colosseum or the International Space Station. A nice quick way to give your child a brief authentic experience of the world around them and fun for all ages.

School Photos for 2019 will be taken on Monday 8th April.  Envelopes have gone home and are due back to the Front Office before photo day to ensure a smooth running of the day.  If you would like sibling photos taken, envelopes are available at the Front Office.  If you are ordering three student packs the sibling photo is free.  If your child/ren will not be here on photo day and you would still like to have their individual photo taken, please see Lisa in the Front Office for more information.

Special wishes to those children who celebrate their birthday this week:

Elliarna & Mahlia KL, Olive 5/6F and Peyton 1/2M

We hope you have a great day!!

Congratulations to the following children who have achieved a Harmony Award in Week 7 and will receive their award this Friday at morning gathering.

Lenten Program

Each year during Lent, we have groups who meet throughout the parish to reflect on the Sunday Lenten Gospels. Sheets are available in the church foyers to enrol or if a Friday morning at 9:00 am suits you better, Sr Kate holds a group at her place, which you are more than welcome attend. Sessions last for about an hour over a cup of coffee. Everyone is welcome, so if you are able to join in, let Sr. Kate know on k.mcmahon3@bigpond.com (Home address will be supplied.) Groups begin on Friday 15th March.

All lunch orders need to be placed by MIDNIGHT 12am on Wednesday nights. 

If your child is missing something from their lunch order, it is important that they go to the canteen, let them know and it will be sorted out for them straight away. Your help with this is greatly appreciated. It is too late once they come home from school. 

The canteen still require assistance on Friday's from approximately 12.30-1.45 to help pack lunch orders, if you can assist in anyway, please contact Lisa in the Front Office.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Please feel free to contact Empire Catering on 0408200481 for any queries with lunch orders or any constructive feedback you have regarding menu items. As we outsource to Empire to cater for our canteen each week, we would appreciate you communicating directly with them regarding any issues, problems or concerns you may have regarding the canteen. 

Changes to School Sport ACT

From the commencement of this year there will no longer be Belconnen Region level trials for specific sports. To replace the regional level completion, many sports are holding gala days for schools to attend. We will enter teams in these gala days where there is student interest. The pathway for selection to an ACT sporting team is through trials offered in the same way as they have been previously. Please see the information below in relation to the process of registering your child for ACT trials on the School Sport ACT website.

SCHOOL SPORT ACT TRIALS 

Please keep an eye on the School Sport ACT website www.schoolsportact.asn.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.

1. Go to the School Sport ACT website – schoolsportact.asn.au
2. Click Register (top right corner of homepage) for an Account – enter parent details and password
3. 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.
4. Click Log In (top right hand corner of home page) enter password then click on top tab My Profile
5. You will see a ‘dashboard’ of your information, click green box to Add Student – enter student and medical details and save.
6. Go to the Sports Tab – choose your specific sport, click on Trial Information box then click on the Register to Trial link.
7. 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?
8. Make the $5 credit card payment then click to register.
9. An automated email will then be sent to your Principal/School Approver for their approval to trial (no need to take anything to school for the Principal to sign).
10. You will be able to see the process has been complete back in My Profile – once your Principal/School Approver has completed the approval process your child’s information will be collated onto a list for the Team Manager and Coach prior to trial.
11. Note the registration process closes two days before the first trial date to allow sufficient time for approval and sharing of collated information.

Looking forward to another big year of sporting participation,

Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au