What a cold and windy day it was yesterday. We pushed through and had a successful morning running the track events at Kaleen Ovals. All field events were completed at school with age groups called one at a time from their classrooms (so they could stay warm). Thank you to Erin Hardwicke for your leadership and the team who supported in the planning and coordination of this event. Thank you also to all the parent volunteers who were flexible with the last minute changes and ensured all students competed and received their special recess and lunch at school.

After the last few years of the carnival being held in June, we will look at moving the event into May. The reasoning behind running the event in June is mainly for two reasons. Firstly, we split the cost with Kaleen Primary for the line marking, so need to match up with their calendar and secondly, to not have too much of a gap between our carnival and the next level for those students who make it through.

Any other feedback you may have, we welcome. Please flick myself and Erin Hardwicke an email and we will take it on board when planning for 2020.

We will present ribbons on Tuesday morning at assembly (if weather isn't great, we will present in the block areas). On Tuesday, again weather permitting, we will look to run the relays, Kinder race and, if the students would like, the school sprint final (fastest 8 students across the school in 100m) approx 1pm.  

Disco Success!

Friday night was a huge success. Our best and biggest disco to date. We had over 125 students turn up, considering we have only 186 enrolled at present, that is a huge percentage of attendance. Thank you to everyone who supported this event. Everyone had a great time. 

Money raised will continue to go to upgrading and purchasing equipment and resources for students to use on the playground. 

As always, to ensure total transparency, the disco cost us $629.72 and we raised $1700.50 meaning we made $1070.78 profit. This is $385 more compared with last year. 

A huge thank you to Rachelle Clark for leading this event, which was the most attended and profitable disco in recent years. 

Sustainability Parent Action Team

Thank you to the parents who have volunteered their time to join the newly formed Sustainability Parent Action Group. Mr Webb will lead this team and the first meeting will occur tomorrow. If any other parents would like to join this group, please email damien.webb@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Vinnies

Coming up on Friday 14 June we will hold our second Vinnie's Stay Out, permission notes are due to the Front Office. If you can donate a pumpkin, that would be great. In line with being a 'Fresh Taste' school, we are looking to cook homemade pumpkin soup on the night. If you can donate or help, please see Lisa in the Front Office. 

Community Building & Fundraising Ideas

If anyone has further ideas for community building or fundraising events, please email me patrick.ellis@cg.catholic.edu.au We would love to hear your ideas!

Trivia Night

Don't forget to put your name down on a table for the upcoming trivia night. We are starting slow with tables, still plenty to fill. Don't be shy, pop your name down on a table and it will fill up. It will be a lot of fun!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aO1doImU1wc9zZrVx1L-92b8EjeVQfa1gqxL4kQ0RHI/edit?usp=sharing

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our teaching staff who are in the middle of writing semester one reports. This is a very busy time not only with reporting but other government requirements which take teachers away from their own family time at nights and weekends. Please be sure to say thanks to your child's teacher. We often only hear when things go wrong or something has happened, so it would be nice to shoot an email or see them in person to say thank you. I know it goes a long way and is very much appreciated. 

Ration Challenge

Don't forget, Mr Webb, Miss Frogley and myself are participating in the upcoming Ration Challenge during Refugee Week. If you could sponsor us, that would be much appreciated, even a small amount goes a long way to supporting those in need. Thank you so much to everyone who has already sponsored us. We have raised over $2000, with still a few weeks to go. You can sponsor us at https://my.rationchallenge.org.au/t/stmichaelsstaff

Enjoy the week ahead. 

Pat Ellis

Principal

Whole School Prayer Time

We look forward to 5/6FW’s Whole School Prayer Time

this Friday, 7 June. They will explore this term’s theme ‘Engage’ as we continue to unpack our year long focus on Growing with the Spirit.

First Communion

Our next preparation session is this Thursday, 6June, at St Monica’s School from 6:00pm. Parents and children will work together in this one hour session focusing on Eucharist as revealed through the story of the Feeding of the 5000. Participation in this evening is vital to preparation for First Communion.

If you have not already taken part in a commitment ritual at Mass please ensure you see Father Loi at this preparation evening. Thank you to those families who have already paid the $30 administrative fee for First Communion. If you have not done so yet could you please arrange to have this paid by 6th June.

Mini Vinnies 

On Friday 14June Mini Vinnies will be holding their ‘Winter Woolies’ day and hosting a ‘Stay Out’ again. Students are invited to come dressed in warm woollies for the day and bring donations of jumpers, scarves, gloves and blankets. The warm winter clothing will be donated to St Vincent de Paul Night Patrol for use with the homeless and poor in our city.

From 4:00pm Mini Vinnies will also host a ‘Stay Out’. Students are invited to come back to school between 4 – 8pm to share in some activities learning about homelessness and life for the poor in our community. We will have a visit from the Night Patrol van, make some food for them and have a small experience of what it is like to sleep outside. Dinner of hot pumpkin soup and a bread roll will be provided. Permission notes have gone home for the Stay Out and are available on the school website.

Sounds Write – Spelling Approach at St Michael’s

Sounds-Write is a quality first phonics programme. Its purpose is to provide classroom professionals with a comprehensive system with which to teach reading, spelling and writing. The training is high quality and all staff use consistent methods to teach phonics, reading and spelling effectively. Skills are taught explicitly and pupils demonstrate confidence and success from the outset.

Last fortnight, we had James Lyra an expert teacher on the phonics spelling program Sounds Write visit and model lessons for our teachers and students, to guide and enhance the implementation of this spelling approach at St Michael’s.

The teachers felt affirmed that they were doing a great job in implementing this approach across K-4. Our students enjoyed activities to support the learning of blending and segmenting sounds in words. Our older students were challenged to spell some more complex words with multiple syllables.

Please have a look at the link below to watch a video clip on Sounds Write and find out about this approach that we have begun using. We are pleased to see that our data shows improvement in spelling words, transferring that knowledge to reading and writing with the attainment of new skills.

Have a look at this link:   https://www.sounds-write.co.uk/page-96-video.aspx

The app of the week is Tiny Tap. Children can create their own interactive game by using a range of colourful features. Easy to use, this is a great way for students to learn about design and problem solving. Alternately they can also access lots of great games that have already been created by teachers.

Making multiple prints using Collagraph plates.

This week we will make multiple prints using the Collagraph plates that we have constructed.

We will also look at a famous woodblock print, ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai.

It was published sometime between 1829 and 1833 in Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

BOSTIK AND SMART SCHOOLS COMPETITION

Year 3/4 will be entering as a group​, a competition to create a fun and imaginative craft project using a range of Bostik products and materials.

A photo of the completed single project will submitted to the Promoter.

First prize is $5000 to the school. Second prize is a Bostik product pack valued at $1000 and the people’s choice winner is $3000.

Visitors to the website may vote for the best entry during the Promotional Period.

If you do not wish for your child to be part of this group entry please email Mrs McKeough, as parental consent is required.

Competition Website: https://bostiksmartschools.com.au/

Athletics Carnival

The weather may not have been on our side yesterday but the athletics carnival was held in good spirits and the students showed terrific encouragement of each other through their events. After completing the track events over at Kaleen North Playing Fields, we returned to school for recess and to complete our field events. 

A very big thank you to all the wonderful parents who braved the weather and gave their time to assist us. Carnivals like this could not happen without your support and on behalf of the students we thank you. 

On Tuesday next week we will complete our carnival by running the 5 & 6 year old race, relays and the 'Fastest 8' race sprint. We will begin after recess, weather permitting around 1pm. 

The team for the Belconnen Region Squad will be announced next week. The Belconnen Region Carnival will be held on Monday 19th August at the AIS.

Ribbon Presentation

Presentation of ribbons from our carnival will be next Tuesday, 11th June at morning assembly. Please feel free to join us.  

Hats off in June and July End of May spells Hats Off Day for Canberra schools. Toward the end of May we witness daily UV levels in the ACT drop and stay low (under 3) which signals the start of the Hats Off period.​ In line with our SunSmart policy, students can wear a hat or beanie if they wish but it is not compulsory. 

​

Thank you to those families that have responded to their child/ren participating in the Seasons for Growth program.  At this stage we will begin the program next term, if you would like your child to participate please contact Jo Krippner at jo.krippner@cg.catholic.edu.au.  The group will be a combination of children in Years 1 to Years 3.  

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At St Michael’s we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation,

divorce or related circumstances, young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore offering an education program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks.

Seasons for Growth runs for eight weeks and each weekly session is 40-50 minutes. The program concludes with a “Celebration” session.

St Michael’s is pleased to be able to offer this important program and we are confident it will be a valuable learning experience for those who request to be involved.

Belconnen Youth Ministry

Junior - Inviting all students in year 3-7 to join us for an afternoon of faith, friendship and fun at South Belconnen Parish's Youth Group and Youth Mass. Join us in Marian Hall just outside of St Matthew's Church, Page on Saturday 15th June at 4:45pm for Youth Group (yr 3-7) then come to celebrate the Youth Mass (all ages) at 6pm. Contact Youth Minister Sarah for more information at Sarah.Larkin@cg.org.au

Senior - Agape is a youth group for students in year 7-12 who are interested in learning more about their faith with friends. Join us at St John's Parish, Kippax on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month following the 6pm Mass from 7-9pm. Contact Youth Minister Eoin for more information at Eoin.Garton@cg.org.au

Young Adults - Young adults aged between 18-30 are invited to casually meet up for dinner on Saturday the 15th June. Join us for the 6pm Youth Mass at St Matthew's Church, Page then move with us to get dinner as a group in the Belconnen city. Contact Youth Minister Sarah Larkin for more information at Sarah.Larkin@cg.org.au

Congratulations to the following children who have achieved a Harmony Award in Week 6 and will receive their award this Friday at morning gathering (weather permitting).

Playgroup is held on Wednesdays in Weeks 2 to 9 from 9am til 10.30am in the School Hall. It is for children ages 0-5 and their parents/carers.  Please contact Kylie Arena or Lisa Monro on 62414022 for any enquires. 

Lunch Orders are to be placed by MIDNIGHT on Wednesday nights. 

The canteen still require assistance on Fridays 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 0408 200 481 for queries with lunch orders or any constructive feedback you have regarding menu items.  

Reminder that school banking is processed on a Thursday morning, please leave your books at the Front Office for processing. 

Information packs are available at the Front Office for anyone wishing to open a new account or claim your rewards.

Thank you to Fiona, Connie & Cheri for assisting with the banking this year.  

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

Toma 5/6B

We hope you have a great day!!

The Woolies Earn and Learn program is back running from 1 May till 25 June.  For every $10 spent at a Woolworths store you will be given a sticker, the stickers can then be placed on a sticker sheet (available from the Front Office), or placed in the boxes on display in the Front Office or at the Woolworths store in Belconnen Mall.  The stickers will then be redeemed for resources from Modern Teaching Aids.  Start collecting today to enable us to receive some great resources.

The 2019/20 Entertainment Book is now available to purchase.  Books can be purchased at the Front Office for $60 or digital copies can be ordered through the following link.  Please see Lisa in the Front Office for more information.