Principal's Message
Term 2 Week 2
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope everyone had a lovely Easter holiday with their family and friends.
Uniforms
Thank you for the wonderful way the students have come prepared for school in their winter uniforms. I appreciate the patience shown by parents who are waiting for components of the winter uniform. We will let you know as soon as possible, when Whytes have the ties and winter dresses in.
Cars
I need to raise an area of concern and I hope you embrace this coming information in a space of care for our children. Over several weeks of last term, there were times when parents and staff have seen parents double parking to pick up their children or allowing children to enter the car on the road side of the vehicle. This is extremely dangerous in a school zone. As a community, we all would be so upset if one of our students were injured as they were getting into a car. I ask that if you cannot find a parking space near an exit gate when you first arrive at school, can you please either park further down the road or drive around the block again. All students need to enter and exit all cars on the pathway side of the car and not out onto the road. I have spoken to the students about this.
Apparently at the end of last term, a car came around the corner of Alice Street and nearly collected a child getting into a car that was parked too close to the corner. The child was entering the car on the road side of the car and without a parent assisting them. This is just one example of things that have been happening and it could have resulted in a child getting hurt.
Also, please be careful parking outside the school office. Parents have been booked in the past, parking too close to the corner of Alfred and Alice Street. A reminder that the gate on Alfred Street is only for bus children to exit in the afternoon. It is not opened in the morning and is not a car pick up gate. This is for the safety of our students around buses.
Thank you for your understanding with these matters.
200 Years Young
The Australian Catholic Bishops released a pastoral letter for school leaders, staff, students and families to mark the 200th anniversary of Catholic education in Australia. The letter, 200 Years Young, details the development and expansion of Catholic schools over the past two centuries, and recognises the contribution of religious, clergy and lay people to the foundation of Catholic education. It also acknowledges the distinctive role Catholic schools play in educating and forming young people of faith and service in their communities.
For those who would like to read details about the history of our Catholic Schools in Australia, you can click onto this link to the pastoral letter:
130 Years Young- St Michael’s School Fete
Our school at St Michael’s Mittagong is also celebrating a milestone year of education. We are 130 Years Young! To celebrate, we are planning a few events throughout the year. Our major celebration though, will be the St Michael’s School 130 Years Anniversary Fete. Our wonderful Parents and Friends Association is leading this initiative. We plan to celebrate the Fete in Term 4. At this week's P&F meeting, we will be seeking ideas for the fete. If you wish to run a particular stall, can you please let us know.
Lismore Diocese Flood Appeal- Mufti-Day
The floods in March around the Lismore area have devastated many people. Bishop Homeming (Bishop of Lismore) and Bishop Brian (Bishop of Wollongong) have asked all schools in the Wollongong Diocese if they could help fundraise to support people affected by the floods in the Diocese of Lismore.
Our school will be holding a Mufti-Day next Tuesday 4th May to raise money for the Flood Appeal. Our students can wear mufti clothes on the day and bring in a monetary donation. Any amount including a gold coin, is gratefully appreciated.
Parents and Friends Meeting- This Friday 30th April
Our second Parents and Friends meeting for this year, will be held in the school Library this Friday commencing at 9am. Please come along to meet others in the P&F and share your ideas for our fundraising and social events. If you have a toddler, they are welcome to sit in the library with you. We want all families to feel very welcome to attend.
Mothers Day Stall- Friday 7th May
Next Friday, 7th May, our P&F will be holding the Mother’s Day Stall. Students are invited to purchase presents for their mothers or significant mother figure. It is suggested that the students bring a plastic bag with their name on it to store the item they purchase.
Expression of Interest- P&F President
We are currently looking for a person to take on the role of the P&F President. Our P&F have a great team of coordinators who will support you in this role, along with other members of the P&F. If you are interested in this position please contact Katrina West. During the P&F meeting, this position will be open to be filled.
Currently the P&F Coordinators are:
President: position vacant
Treasurer: Yasmine Gospel / Linda Francis
Secretary: Melissa Bartolo
P&F Class Coordinators
Kinder: Helen Saunders / Melissa Bartolo/Chantelle Richards
Year 1: Katrina Bartone / Jess Schembri
Year 2: Krystle Kearney / Melissa Bartolo/Chantelle Richards
Year 3: Beth McIntyre
Year 4: Liz Martinovic / Vanessa Tasker
Year 5: Linda Francis / Vanessa Tasker
Year 6: Liz Martinovic / Linda Francis
Parish Trivia Night
This Friday 30 April is the Parish Trivia night. Tickets are still available from the parish office. Come along and enjoy a great night out.
DON’T FORGET THIS IS THE NIGHT THE RAFFLE WILL BE DRAWN
First prize a Hyundai Venue valued at $24,000
Tickets on sale via Parish Webpage https://www.ccsh.org.au
or from the Parish Office, the School Office or on the night.
St Michael’s Cross Country Carnival Presentation
On Monday, our school held the presentation for our Cross Country Carnival. Congratulations to all our students who participated on the day. We were very proud of the wonderful sportsmanship displayed throughout the event.
The House results for the carnival were:
1st: Gibraltar House (Blue) 165 points
2nd: Oxley House (Red) 131 points
3rd: Jellore House (Yellow) 109 points
4th: Alexandra House (Green) 97 points
Diocesan Cross Country
Congratulations to all our students who participated in the Diocesan Cross Country in Nowra yesterday. We are very pleased to hear that they tried their best, had fun participating and were excellent representatives of our school. Thank you to the parents and Mr Sherry, for supporting the students on the day.
Year 5 and Year 6 Canberra Excursion
This Friday, our students from Stage 3, Mr Tuckwell, Mrs Williamson, Mrs Campbell and Mrs Townsend will be travelling to Canberra to visit Parliament House, the Electoral Education Centre, the War Memorial and the Australian Mint.
Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $30.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.
We hope they have a fantastic day learning about our Australian history and Government. Thank you to our parents and staff for supporting the students.
The National Theatre for Children Mind Masters
On Wednesday 5th May, all students K-6 will be participating in the Mind Masters program, produced by the National Theatre For Children. This is a livestream incursion, supporting positive mental health and wellness.
An outline of the program follows:
“The Mind Masters” is a 3 stage multi-platform intervention, which will utilise different modes of communication and teaching over an 18 month period. It is curriculum aligned, and provided at no cost to the school.
The 3-visit program will kick-off with a Livestream event on May 5th, followed by an in-school performance in Term 4, and the first semester of 2022. This will also be accompanied by hands-on classroom breakout kits and team building games, and additional classroom resources.
We believe that this is an essential program given the current health crisis and how your students will engage with the world in the future. Our central theme for “The Mind Masters” is “Healthy Kids Make Better Learners”, and that this program will assist your teachers in their classroom teaching.”
This program supports our current Social Emotional Learning program called- Be the Best Me I Can Be and is part of our school review and improvement plan (SRI) on pastoral care and wellbeing.
Welcome
This term we welcome the Solomon family (Mia Year 5 and Will in Year 3) to St Michael's.
Have a wonderful week everyone.
God bless
Mrs Katrina West
Principal