TERM 1 WEEK 9 NEWSLETTER

TERM 1 WEEK 9 NEWSLETTER

Dear families,

Welcome to Week 9. This term has gone so quickly and we have had some wonderful events that occurred during this past week and more to come before the end of term.

ST PATRICK’S -”GREEN DAY” MAUBARA ORPHANAGE FUNDRAISER
Last Wednesday, Year 2 hosted the “Green Day” Fundraiser for the Maubara Orphanage. It was exciting to see everyone dress in green and show the “St Patrick Spirit” of caring for others. The school raised $222.00 for the students at the orphanage which is truly wonderful. 

ST JOSEPH’S FEAST DAY MASS.
Last Thursday, our whole school celebrated our first Mass together for a long time, as we had covid restrictions previously for groups. It was a very memorable event for our school, as in this Mass, we recognised our school’s history of 131 years of Catholic Education and the important contribution of the Sisters of St Joseph in founding our school. 

We celebrated Mass with St Mary (Sisters of St Joseph) and Fr Sean. Sr Mary was full of admiration and praise for the respect and prayerful participation shown by all our students in Mass when she welcomed the students. It was also a time where our school could wish Fr Sean a very happy birthday for the following day. The children were given special treats to celebrate our special day. Thank you to Year 6 and Mrs Mitchell for organising this and to our Liturgy Group, Ms Abotomey and Mrs Mitchell for preparing for our Mass and singing so beautifully. 

HONOURING OUR SCHOOL FOUNDATION- 130 YEAR SCULPTURE 
Last year, we had intended on holding a fete to celebrate our 130 years (2021) of Catholic Education. Unfortunately covid restrictions placed the fete on hold. However, another idea we were wanting to do was have a sculpture made to place in our front office garden, to recognise the 130 years of Catholic Education at St Michael’s and in particular the tradition of the St Joseph Sisters in our school. The idea was a silhouette of three nuns standing, probably made out of copper or a similar metal that would take to being outside in the various weather conditions we have here in Mittagong.

At this point in time, we are seeking ideas from our parents and their families or friends, who may know something about either creating a silhouette sculpture or accessing material that the sculpture could be made out of. We will need to fundraise for this to be created. To gain an idea of what we are thinking about see the image below. If you can help in any way, please contact myself or the staff in the office.

Bishop’s Flood Relief Appeal 2022

A message from Bishop Brian Mascord

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ

My prayers and thoughts are with you all as this flood disaster continues. In recent days we have had towns in our diocese cut off; a number of our schools closed, non-operational or on alert; church buildings and agency offices affected by flooding and heavy rain; and clergy, staff, families, students and friends from our extended community experiencing another trauma. And while the rain is set to ease, authorities are warning it doesn’t mean the state’s flooding emergency is over.

In a heartfelt video message to his flock (see below), Greg Homeming OCD, Bishop of Lismore, said it had been “a very tragic few days”. To those who had “lost everything” in these floods, Bishop Greg said that everyone across the diocese was suffering with them. “This has all happened at a time when we were hoping that 2022 would be a year of hope, a good year,” he said.

As a diocese, I would like to provide practical support for the people of Lismore. I also want to provide pastoral and practical support for the people in our own diocese who have been, and will continue to be, impacted by these floods. I am inviting you to donate to my Flood Relief Appeal 2022 https://www.dow.org.au/giving/ so that, with your support, we can meet this goal.

Yours in Christ
Most Rev Brian G Mascord DD
BISHOP OF WOLLONGONG
9 March 2022

ST MICHAEL’S MITTAGONG RESPONSE TO THE FLOOD APPEAL- CROSS COUNTRY BBQ.

As a school community, we were thinking of ways that we could raise money to support Bishop’s Flood Appeal. I asked the parents who attended our latest P&F meeting, if they thought that the P&F would be able to help out with a BBQ fundraiser on the day of our Cross Country. They were very happy to help and thought this was a great idea.

We will be having our Cross Country across the road at Alexandra Square on FRIDAY 1ST OF APRIL (Next Week) 

Our idea in conjunction with volunteers from our parents, is to sell sausage sandwiches to the students, staff and parents who are attending the Cross Country. We will have this as our special lunch and all money raised will go to the FLOOD APPEAL.

Final details will be given very soon, however, if you are able to help with the BBQ, can you please contact our school via the GOOGLE DOC at the end of this message. 

A BIG THANK YOU to Amy James for arranging the donation of bread and Mittagong Antiques - Lewis Family, for donating sausages. If anyone else can donate towards the day, please contact our school office. We will need donations of serviettes and sauce bottles if anyone can help with either of those items. 

An order form for the sausage sandwiches will go out to all families on Monday- please keep an eye out for the COMPASS message. 

SWEET TREATS AT THE CROSS CARNIVAL
We will still hold the traditional sweet stall during the Cross Country, where students can purchase a cake, slice or lolly bag. If you are able to help with contributions to this stall, can you fill in the GOOGLE doc at the end of this message.

Proceeds of this stall will go to the P&F to help support fundraising initiatives for the school. Further detail on ways the P&F are going to support our school this year, can be seen in the P&F Meeting Minutes within this newsletter.

LENTEN CROSS-FIT- A SPIRITUAL BOOT-CAMP

Thank you for the feedback I received on the Diocesan Lenten Cross-Fit prayer program. It is lovely to hear that people are taking time out to spend in reflection. 

“Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” 

Pope Francis 2021

This week, we have the next two instalments of the program. 

Please click on the links below.

P&F EASTER RAFFLE

Thank you for the wonderful response to egg donations for the P&F Easter raffle.  Raffle tickets have been sent home.

All donations either eggs or baskets/wrapping can be sent in to the office over the next week.

The P& F are going to have a Easter Egg wrapping morning on >>>>>>>>>>>>

If you are available to help wrap the prizes, please fill in the form below. The more the merrier, especially our new parents. This is a great social opportunity to meet other parents in our school and have some fun along the way.

PARENT/TEACHER MEETINGS 
Next week we will be holding our Parent/teacher meetings for Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, and Year. Year 5 Parent/teacher meetings  will be held in Term 2 Week 1 as Mrs Anderson is currently on leave. 

These meetings are a great opportunity for you to discuss with your child’s class teacher anything that they may need to know about your child. For some children who are receiving extra support through specialised programs, the teachers will go through the personal plans for those programs with you. I am looking forward to seeing you all throughout the week.  

SCHOOL ENROLMENTS- ESPECIALLY KINDERGARTEN 2023
A reminder to those families who are intending on applying for Kindergarten 2023, that application forms need to be handed into the school office as soon as possible. If you know of a family who is wanting to apply, please let them know to contact our school office for an application form or go to our school website to download the application.

Thank you for your continued support of our school. It has been a great start to the year. 

I hope to see you at the Cross Country next Friday 1st April. 

Have a wonderful week,
God bless,
Katrina West
Principal