Unsung Hero - Leadership Award

I am pleased to announce that Damien has been shortlisted for the EducationHQ Unsung Hero Leadership Award. Damien goes above and beyond, particularly with leading Sustainability at St Michael's. There were hundreds of nominations, so for Damien to be one of 5 shortlisted is a massive achievement. In order for Damien to get across the line and take out the award, he needs your vote. Please click the link below to vote. Share with others and spread the word. The link is also on our Facebook site. Good luck Damien!

https://educationhq.com/unsung-heroes/unsung-heroes-leader-vote/

Bushfire Appeal

Tomorrow we will show our support for the amazing men and women who have and are currently battling fires all across our country. Students can wear uniform free (if they have yellow or orange that would be great). We have been praying for all those affected by the recent bushfires and to demonstrate our support for them, we are asking students to bring in a gold coin to donate to the Vinnie's Bushfire Appeal. 

Community Council 2020

After our recent nomination process for Community Council, Fr Loi and myself were pleased to receive two nominations for parents to join the 2020 Community Council. Both of these nominations were accepted unanimously by our current council. 

Esther Coghlan will continue on the Community Council in 2020. This will be Esther's second term on Council. Currently, Esther holds the Chair position on council. Esther has three children at St Michael's. Eamon currently in Year 4, Stella in Year 3 and Ned in Kindergarten. Esther is an educator herself and is always keen to see us focus on improving the learning opportunities of the children at St Michael's. Esther believes in building up a community atmosphere where everyone supports each other and is passionate about the development of our Culture of Sustainability. We thank Esther for continuing to stay on council. 

Evan Thomas is joining the Community Council in 2020. Evan has four children, two are currently at St Michael's, twins Sierra and Coco in Year 2. Evan's son, Ryder will be joining us in Kindergarten next year and his eldest daughter will be in Year 7 at JPC in 2020. Evan is extremely passionate about his children's education and he is looking forward to playing an active role in the St Michael's community in the coming years. We welcome Evan to the St Michael's Community Council.  

After several years on council, Fiona Sherl will be stepping down at the end of the year. Fiona has been a driving force on council over the last few years. She has been a strong advocate for ensuring we organise and promote community raising events and often takes a lead with coordinating these. Fiona has supported the teachers at St Michael's, ensuring that our Sustainability and Technology resources and equipment meet the needs of our students. Thank you Fiona for all the work you have done over the years. Very much appreciated!

BYOipad Parent Info Sessions

After a recent expression of interest, we will move ahead with running our BYOipad Parent Information Sessions on Thursday 28 November. These will be particularly focused on parents of students currently in Year 4 and 5. 

We will hold two sessions, one at 3.15pm and one at 5pm. These will be in the school library. 

For any further information please contact Jessica Figura or Maria Papasidero at school. 

Fees

Fee Reminder notices have been sent out. Please ensure that your 2019 school fees are paid up to date before the end of the year.

Also, if you are currently paying school fees by Direct Debit, please see Lisa in the Front Office to increase your debit  to ensure you cover the total amount before the end of 2020. 

Awards

Congratulations to our Year 6 Sustainability Leadership Team and Mr Webb on their recent nomination for the Actsmart Schools Sustainability Awards. We didn't take home the win but we are extremely proud of all the work that goes into creating a Culture of Sustainability at St Michael's.

Congratulations also to Mischa 5/6B who today is receiving a Fred Hollows Humanity Award Certificate. Mischa is a strong believer in making a difference which she does in many of her volunteering and charitable endeavours to make our world a better place. 

A reminder for our Year 6 Graduation Liturgy and Dinner. Our Graduation Liturgy starts at 5.30pm in the Church. This a lovely tradition of farewelling our Year 6 students as a community in Prayer. Following the Liturgy, we will make our way down to the school for a celebration dinner. At the dinner, Graduation certificates will be presented along with the Year 6 photostory. 

Enjoy the week ahead. 

Kind regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal

Advent Whole School Prayer Time

This weekend the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King and the conclusion of the 2019 Liturgical Year. In preparation for Advent 1/2F will lead the whole school in a special Advent Prayer on Monday 25^th November, directly after morning assembly. All families are warmly invited to join the whole school in our prayer preparations for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. In the coming weeks the following classes will lead these special Advent Prayer Times after morning assembly:

Sewing magic needed

Our old rainbow Mass book cover is becoming very worn and holey rather than holy. I am looking for somebody to sew us a new one as despite my mother’s best efforts I am not a gifted seamstress. If you are, or know of a sewer looking for a special little project could you please contact me? It would be lovely to have a new Mass book cover for the new 2020 school year.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers

Perhaps your family preparation this Advent could include donating some special Christmas food/drink for our Giving Tree? All gifts of non-perishable food can be sent in to your child’s class for storage until our Giving Mass on Tuesday 10^th December. Our local St Vincent de Paul people have asked for food items as a priority please rather than toys and gifts. Thank you in advance for your generous support of our local families in need of a little extra at Christmas.  

K-2 Swimming Program 

Our K-2 Swimming program is fast approaching.  All classes in K-2 will start their two week program on Monday 2nd December (Week 8).  Swimming lessons will be at Gungahlin Leisure Centre between 12.30 and 1pm.  The students will leave school at approximately 12pm and return just prior to lunch.  A note with reminders will be coming home tomorrow.

Triathlon Clinic

Yesterday students in Years 3-6 took part in a free taster clinic offered by ACT Triathlon. For those parents who might be interested in having their children experience Triathlons, we are currently in the Triathlon season.

ACT Trials Information

Please check the School Sport ACT website https://www.schoolsportact.asn.au/ for information about current and upcoming trials.  The process for registration can be found in the School Sport section below.

End of Year Borrowing & Returns

This will be the last week of borrowing from our library for 2019.  We ask that all library books be returned by Friday of Week 8 as this will greatly assist us with stocktaking during Weeks 9 & 10.  If you have misplaced any books, please contact erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au so they can be deleted from student accounts.

The app of the week is called Flow Free.  This is a puzzle game, aimed at matching and connecting colours with the pipe to create a flow. Cover the board to solve each of the puzzles but they must not overlap. There are over 2500 free levels available with new puzzles being added daily. Great for any age group.

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).

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

Charlize 3/4AK, Sophie 3/4AK, Oliver 1/2W, Phillip 5/6B, Noah 3/4YM & Frazer 3/4AK

We hope you have a great day!!

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

The canteen still require assistance on Fridays for Term 4 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.  

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

POSITION VACANT

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, North Belconnen

The parish is seeking a Parish Sacramental Program Coordinator, 5 hours per week, to commence duties for the school year of 2020. 

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