WELCOME TO TERM 4
Welcome back to all our students, staff and community members. I hope you have had a wonderful holiday, sharing many great moments with your family and friends. We welcome back Miss Campbell, who was on Long Service Leave for Term 3 as well as Mrs Toohey, Mrs Bourke-Nash and Mr Nash, who were also on Long Service Leave at the end of the term.

As mentioned last term, Mrs Petzer will remain at St Thomas Aquinas until the end of the year, whilst their Principal, Mrs Lane is on sick leave. I thank all of the community for their continued understanding and support of these changes and we keep Mrs Lane our prayers, so that she may continue to improve. Fr Sean will be away for a short time over the next two weeks. He is travelling with some of our parishioners to the Holy Lands on Pilgrimage. We will also keep Fr Sean and his travelling group, in our prayers, that they have a blessed experience on pilgrimage. 

DIOCESAN CHRISTMAS ART COMPETITION
We are very proud to announce that Mannat Kaur and Max Gardiner from Year 6 have been selected to represent our school in the annual Diocesan Christmas Story Art Competition and Exhibition. The top 25 artworks from Year 6 and the top 25 artworks from Year 5, were chosen from all the artworks entered into the competition, to be a part of the exhibition at the Wollongong Art Gallery. Those chosen were “Works that were judged to best respond to the criteria and were Exemplary of Stage 3 reflective writing and artistic skills” said Mr John Charadia- CEO Education Officer - Gifted Education, Creativity and Critical Thinking.

Mannat and Max’s artwork is now on display at the Wollongong Art Gallery until the 23^rd October. Tomorrow, Mannat, Max, their parents and I, will attend the Opening of the Art Competition and Exhibition, where further winners will be announced. Mannat and Max, we are very proud of your narrative writing and your fantastic talents in art.

Mannat and Max’s artwork and Christmas Story Narrative can be seen below. I thought I would share this week as our RE reflection, the beautiful words of Mannat and Max and their reflective interpretations of the meaning behind the New Testament of the Annunciation story, from Luke 1: 26-36 and The Flight to Egypt, from Matthew 2 13-15.

Mannat Kaur
St Michael’s Mittagong 
Year 6

‘The Choice of Eternity’ 
‘The Choice of Eternity’, is a reflection of the beautiful ‘Annunciation’ story, from Luke 1: 26-36, painted with soft watercolour paints. My artwork portrays Mary and ‘Gabriel’, at the moment of Mary’s momentous decision. 

Behind Mary, the colours are muted, to indicate the confusion and pressures she must have felt while making her significant decision. They also display Mary’s humble birth and ordinary life, which she lived with great faith in God. 

In contrast, Gabriel is painted in soft cheerful colours. The colours show love, and vivaciousness when appealing to Mary. The hair is bright and lively, bringing joy to Mary, displaying the happiness of the ‘Good News’. 

I want the viewers to visualise and recognise that in life there are many highs and lows, but it’s always up to us to see the light in them, just like Mary did. 

Personally, my artwork is a representation of my connection with God, just as I sense my heaviness fading away as He listens to my prayers.

Max Gardiner
St Michael’s School, Mittagong
Grade 6

THE GREAT ESCAPE 
The passage I have chosen is ‘The Flight to Egypt’ Matthew 2 13-15, for its dramatic qualities. Instead of having Joseph, Mary and Jesus far into their journey, I decided to illustrate the moment they escaped. This ‘freeze frame’ moment shows the tension of the scene, with Joseph at the centre. Joseph is protecting Mary and Jesus as he leads the way, scanning the path for danger.

The expression on Joseph’s face may seem angry at first glance, but there’s more depth to it than ‘angry’. Joseph is stressed, confused, scared and under immense pressure. He has to protect his family from danger, he has to ensure that Jesus stays alive. Jesus’ life depends on Mary and Joseph escaping from Herod. The danger is very clearly present in the red windows of town buildings as they flee to Egypt. Red symbolises danger and the urgency of the situation.

This is my interpretation of the story and the moment Joseph, Mary and Jesus were in great danger. Through their actions, Mary and Joseph demonstrated great love for Jesus, and trust and faith in God.

This is what I wanted to portray in my artwork.

THE EXTRAORDINARY MISSIONARY MONTH - OCTOBER 2019
Last term I mentioned that Pope Francis has announced the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019. During this month, we are called to recognise the work of missionary organisations such as Catholic Mission.

Each year, Catholic Mission holds appeals to raise funds and awareness for their work with children, communities and Church leaders. Each year there is a focus country for the appeal. In 2019, students across Australia, are invited to take part and learn how the Church in Ghana is taking a lead, in providing life-saving care to children with a disability and fostering their personal development for a brighter future. Students are then given a chance to do something extraordinary for mission, learn about Ghana and the work of the Church there, and contribute through their fundraising and prayers. At this week’s Assembly on Friday, we will commence with a liturgy for Catholic Mission. Parents and friends are invited to attend this liturgy and hear about the work of Catholic Mission. The students from our Year 6 Mission Team, will then discuss with our school, the Crazy Socks fundraiser they have planned for Friday Week 2. On this day, the students will be able to wear crazy socks for a gold coin donation to support Catholic Mission. More details will be presented by the Year 6 Mission Team.

Due to the Liturgy taking place in our assembly, the commencement time for assembly this Friday will be 2:15pm.

SUMMER UNIFORM
The students will be wearing their summer uniform commencing this week. As mentioned previously, we do have a new girls summer uniform that is now available at Mimosa. It is a two-year timeframe for the uniform to be fully introduced. A reminder that we still have some of the original girl’s summer uniforms available in our office for $15.00. These could be handy as a second uniform.

Below is a photo of some Year 3 girls wearing the new uniform- they said they “love it!”

ASSEMBLY THIS FRIDAY
A reminder that the Assembly this Friday will commence at 2:15pm.

Mrs Katrina West
Acting Principal