WELCOME TO TERM 2 WEEK 8 NEWSLETTER
Last Sunday was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, meaning the “Body of Christ” in Latin. The feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ provides an opportunity for the Church to focus on Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist, which Pope Francis said satisfies the deepest desires of our hearts.

“The Lord, offering himself to us in the simplicity of bread, also invites us not to waste our lives in chasing the myriad illusions that we think we cannot do without, yet that leave us empty within,” Pope Francis said this weekend.

“The Eucharist satisfies our hunger for material things and kindles our desire to serve. It raises us from our comfortable and lazy lifestyle and reminds us that we are not only mouths to be fed, but also his hands, to be used to help feed others.”

“We would like to go back and change the past, but we cannot,” he said. “God, however, can heal these wounds by placing within our memory a greater love: his own love.”

“It is especially urgent now to take care of those who hunger for food and for dignity, of those without work and those who struggle to carry on. And this we must do in a real way, as real as the Bread that Jesus gives us,” he said.

“This is the strength of the Eucharist, which transforms us into bringers of God, bringers of joy, not negativity,” Pope Francis said.

A message from the Gospel this week is that in the Eucharist, Jesus draws close to us: let us not turn away from those around us.

Thank you for being a community who cares for one another.

CEO - ADVICE FOR SCHOOLS REGARDING THE NEED FOR MEDICAL CLEARANCE FOR STUDENTS RETURNING TO SCHOOL
We have been advised from the Catholic Education Office, that if any student does not attend school because they are unwell, they are required to provide medical clearance before returning. This includes:

1. When a student issent home from school unwell they are required to provide medical clearance before returning to the school site;
2. When a student proactively stays home because of illness(i.e. they are recorded as 'sick', 'cold', 'runny nose', 'sniffles'),  they are required to provide medical clearance before returning to school.  

This is a directive from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong and is the current procedure in all Diocesan schools, after seeking advice from the NSW Health Department. We thank you for your understanding.

Yesterday we shared with you the important update regarding changes to school activities now and in Term 3. We are committed to reintroducing these activities safely and in line with health authority guidelines. You will receive further communication related to the activities as they are reintroduced. The following activities are allowed from Monday 15 June 2020:

• School assemblies and liturgies (not Eucharistic celebrations), limited to 15 minutes. Unfortunately at this stage we are not able to host external visitors, including parents, at assemblies.
• School photos (students only, there will be no group staff photos). Our school photos have been booked for Term 4.
• Choirs and performing arts. This will be within the school only at this point, with no inter-school activities.
• Day field trips to outdoor locations with no physical distancing requirements. We are currently booking excursions for each of our classes. We will let you know the dates and locations for these excursions as soon as possible.
• Incursions/external adult providers at the school to support delivery of curriculum. (All external visitors to the school must maintain physical distancing and hygiene requirements and complete a declaration form, which will be provided by the school). We are currently confirming our Gymnastrix Program to commence in Term 3. The children will be very excited that they can participate in this great program.

The CEDoW COVID-19 website aims to provide clear and accurate messaging for our school communities about all Diocesan procedures regarding CEDoW COVID-19 measures. A link to the COVID-19 Information Centre has been placed on our school website home page. It is also available on the CEDoW website. You can access the site from this link.

https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/general-news/covid-19-information-centre

NAIDOC WEEK
At St Michael’s we are going to commence our recognition of NAIDOC Week, in Week 9. Some classes have linked with the Wingecarribee Shire Council to support their art activities for NAIDOC week. Our whole school will be participating in an art activity involving painting throughout next week, so I am suggesting that if your child does not have an art shirt at school at the moment, can they bring one in by next Monday. An old business shirt or adult size t-shirt make great art shirts, as they cover most of the uniform. We will be using washable paint; however, it would be great if their uniforms remained clean.

Each child will need 2 disposable plastic or styrofoam cups for the artwork. Thank you for your support of our NAIDOC week activity.

SCHOOL DRIVE SUBSIDY
We are aware that some of our families live in more remote areas and would like to inform you of a benefit that you may qualify for. The NSW Government provides a payment called “The School Drive Subsidy” to families of school aged children who live in an area that is not serviced by public transport.   The subsidy exists to reimburse parents for driving an eligible student all or part of the way to school.

According to information found on the Transport NSW website: https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/#/schoolDriveSubsidy   students from K-6 will be eligible if the distance from their home address to either school (or the nearest public transport pick up point) is at least 2.3 km walking distance (or 1.6 km straight line distance).

Most of our families will live in suburban areas where public transport does service a point less than 2.3 km walking distance from the home address, and therefore not qualify for the subsidy, however some of our families living in more remote locations may wish to investigate the conditions further.

The subsidy is only intended to partly offset the cost of using a private vehicle to drive the eligible student and is not intended to cover all costs. Once a distance has been determined through the application process, currently the rate of payment per trip is $0.69 per kilometre for travel by car. Students in Yr 7-12 can also be covered by the subsidy, however the walking / travelling distance to be eligible is slightly further than a primary school aged student.

Further details and an application form can be sourced on the above mentioned website.

FAMILY PHOTOS
If you haven’t already done so, can you please send in a family photo for our FAMILIES IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY wall. We would like to create a photo wall in our school foyer, recognising all our great families that make up our school community of St Michael’s Mittagong.

Thank you for your continued support of our school community.

May you have a wonderful week.

Best wishes and God Bless,
Mrs Katrina West
Principal