Welcome to week 2

The students here at St Michael’s have continued to have a fantastic start to their learning and it has been a very calm start to the term. It has been very refreshing to see the work ethic that all students are displaying and how they are setting themselves up for a successful term of learning and fun.

I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge and opportunity of leading the school community during Term 4 and I thank the community for the mountain of support that I have received.

Lost Property

Since the beginning of the Term, we have had an increasing amount of lost property.

As it is heating up the number of hats and jumpers that consistently being left on the playground is growing. It is critical that names are written on all items, more than once, in order for teachers to be able to find the rightful owners of lost items. The lost property box is located just inside the schools sliding doors and parents are welcome to help students look through during drop off and pick up times if they need.

Leadership Days

A huge thank you to our Year 6 teachers, Ms Younger, Ms Hallahan and Miss

Kapantais for their organisation of a fantastic 3 days for our Year 5/6 students on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. They have been spoiled with bubble soccer, nerd wars, lego masters, indoors sports, movies, obstacle courses, slip n slides and a mountain of special food and drink.

Although we were unable to get to camp this year as intended, the students have been very lucky to have a fun filled three days. I am sure they will sleep very well tonight. Our wonderful teachers have worked hard to ensure that these days have been a success and I am sure that the students and families are very grateful for their work.

Kind regards,

Damien Webb - Principal (Acting)

Religious Education Curriculum

5/6 are unpacking the big idea –Justice creates harmony in our world. During the last week, the students were asked to categorise a variety of ‘leaders’ both positive and negative within the community and on a global scale. They also began to explore social teachings about charity, morals, justice and integrity and discussed what it meant to them. They compared their knowledge of these to the dictionary definition and related them to real-world examples. The students then reorganised the photos according to the words explored previously and settled on a new grouping.

Throughout the term the students will recommence reorganising the photos of the leaders as they move through the inquiry learning cycle. 5/6 can’t wait to resume their exploration and deepen their understandings to see the impact that some individuals or groups have had on the world they are living in. 

Religious Life of St Michael’s School Community

Grandparents’ Day Whole School Prayer Time

Thank you to 3/4 for your beautiful WSPT last Thursday. It was a lovely opportunity to reflect on our Grandparents and special older people in our lives. We thoroughly enjoyed the story on ‘How to babysit a Grandma and a Grandpa’. We hope that many of the Grandparents have received and enjoyed their special letters.

Catholic Mission

October is Mission Month in the Catholic Church and as such we turn our thoughts to the missionary work being done here in Australia as well as overseas, helping those in poverty. Catholic Mission works in countries all around the world helping with food, education, health services and evangelisation. Learn more about their wonderful work here: https://www.catholicmission.org.au/

WSPT & Socktober

Thank you to everyone who participated in last Friday’s Socktober celebrations. Who knew we had so many crazy socks out there? Congratulations, as a community we raised $118.00 for Catholic Mission. Special thanks to 1/2 for your informative and moving liturgy. It certainly provoked thoughtful and empathetic conversations.

 

Confirmation

How are you going with working through the Confirmation preparation book? Week 4 in the book Our Family Prepares explores the Gift of the Holy Spirit. It presents us with several of the beautiful images we have for the Holy Spirit, wind, fire, breath and a dove. Which image is the one you connect best with? Please send all Letters of Affirmation back into school so they will be available for your child to read on their Confirmation Retreat Day next week on Thursday 29^th October.

Parent / Child Formation Evening

Our Parent/Child Formation Evening for Confirmation will be on next week, on Thursday 29^th October from 6:00pm. It will be held via Zoom. The link for this is: https://cgcatholic.zoom.us/j/94273514916

Please remember all candidates and a parent/sponsor must be present for this special part of the preparation for Confirmation. Resources to support you for this session will be sent home on Thursday 29^th October.

Bridgette McCann (Acting REC)

Book Week Dress Up Day Tomorrow!

We are looking forward to a day of fun and fabulous costumes tomorrow. Please also remember to bring a gold coin donation to take part in the Great Book Swap which will also take place tomorrow. All donations will go to supporting the work of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/ On behalf of the ILF we thank you for your support!

Valanga Khoza Workshops

On Friday all students will participate in a workshop lead by Valanga Khoza. Due to the current restrictions the workshops will be delivered via a Zoom. Valanga was born in South Africa and uses storytelling, music and dance to share his culture with others. 

CBCA Winning Books

The winning books in this year's CBCA Book Week Awards have been announced! More information about the winning and honours books can be found at https://cbca.org.au/winners-2020.  Later this term we will have Meerkat Productions visit us to perform a show based on the book Three by Stephen Michael King. This book is on the honours list for this year. 

Sporting Schools Grant

We have been successful with our Term 4 Sporting Schools grant. The grant will be used to purchase new cricket equipment and cricket teaching resources. The equipment is due to arrive in the coming days. The students will be able to use it for their sports lessons and during recess and lunch breaks. 

Congratulations

Congratulations to Josh (5/6F) who set a new 200m club record at his athletics club over the weekend. Josh ran the 200m in a time of 25.77 seconds. The previous record had been held for 28 years. Amazing achievement, Josh!

Fun and Fitness Week - Winning Countries

Gold:    Bahamas

Silver:   Tanzania

Bronze:  Japan

Congratulations to all our students on a fantastic effort during our Fun and Fitness Week at the end of last term.  All students who represented the Bahamas will receive an iceblock next Friday as a congratulations for their great team work and for coming first.

Sacramental Program – Confirmation Liturgy 2020

The Sacrament of Confirmation is to be celebrated on:
Tuesday 10 November in St Michael’s Church at 6pm
Wednesday 11 November in St Monica’s Church at 6pm
Thursday 12 November in St Monica’s Church – 2 liturgies at 5.30pm and 7pm.

Please arrive at the church/liturgy that you have booked for, at least 15 minutes prior to commencement of the sacrament.

Purchasing a stole for Confirmation
Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory. If you wish to purchase a stole, please make the payment of $20 through the Qkr! App and send an email to sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au Arrangements will then be made for delivery/pickup.
Parish stoles are available for loan on the night.

Parent/Child Formation Night
The parent/child formation night is compulsory and will be held on 29 October 2020 via zoom at https://cgcatholic.zoom.us/j/94273514916

Home Booklets
Families should now be working through the home booklets with their children in readiness for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The home booklets should be completed ready for the parent/child Formation night on 29 October 2020 and the booklets are then, to be returned to the school no later than Monday 2 November with the ‘Parent’s Discernment of Readiness’ (the last page of the booklet) completed and signed ready for Fr Loi to also sign. The booklets will then be returned to the candidates on the night of the Sacrament liturgy along with their certificates. 

For further information please contact the Sacramental Program coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au

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

Cameron 3/4F, Lilly 5/6F, Zoe 3/4F, Annika 1/2W and Eden 1/2B

We hope you have a great day!!

Congratulations to the following students who achieved a Harmony Award in Week 2.  Awards will be presented at Friday morning's assembly (weather permitting).

Well done!!   

Book Fair

Last chance to order!!

Our Book Fair is up and running and ends this Sunday 25 October, 2020.  Simply click on this link and you will be directed to our school’s fair page.

In class students will complete their wish lists which they will take home. It is just a wish list, not an order form. The site can then be accessed and browsed from home with all orders then entered online. Instruction sheets are available from the library for anyone who needs them.

You can choose from all the books on the site with your purchases being delivered to your front door. Postage is $6.50, but orders over $40 qualify for free delivery.

As well as books, there are a variety of craft and activity kits (usually on display at the Fair).

Our Library will receive commission for our sales which we will take in the form of new books for our Library so don’t forget to nominate our school when you buy.

This is a wonderful opportunity for students to own new books and for our Library to put more books on the shelves for our school to enjoy.

On behalf of our students, we thank you for your support.  It is much appreciated.

School photos will be taken on Friday 6 November (Week 4).  New envelopes have been sent home today to those families that haven't already sent in an envelope.  All payments are now processed online and envelopes do not need to come back to the school.

Sibling envelopes are available from the Front Office and need to be returned to the school before photo day.

If your child has not ordered their photo's before photo day they will still have their photo taken and you will be able to order direct from MSP at an additional cost.

Any queries, please see Lisa in the Front Office.

Bread Tags for Wheelchairs 

3/4FR have been busy collecting breadtags. We have been creating art from these single use plastics which is a great way to work on developing spatial reasoning and mindfulness. When we finish with the breadtags we will send them to #Thebreadtagproject where the tags are recycled locally, raising funds to buy wheelchairs for disadvantaged people in South Africa. So instead of throwing out these breadtags please send them into Miss Frogley or any member of 3/4FR  - We appreciate your help with this.