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Dear Parents and Friends,
Welcome to our Term 2 Week 10 newsletter. We have had a wonderful term two filled with lots of learning experiences and many fun events for the students and their families. A highlight was certainly our World Parents Day Picnic and sharing of our Mathematics journey here at St Michaels. As mentioned previously, Mathematics and Religion are our key focus areas for 2023.
Next term will again be very exciting for our students with major highlights being:
- Year 6 Mass with Bishop Brian and other schools from our Diocese
- NAIDOC activities
- Mary MacKillop Feast Day
- Our Gymnastics program which will run each week on a Thursday for all students K-6
- Book Week -visit from a travelling performance group called G’Day Asia (including a Chinese Dragon), Book Week Pyjama Day and shared stories
- Book Fair
- Wakakirri performance in Wollongong
- G Day concert and morning tea for our Grandparents and Great People
I have included a calendar of events in this newsletter to cover most of the activities that you will need to be aware of.
REFLECTION
This year, the 2023 National NAIDOC Week theme is For Our Elders. It is very timely for all peoples to stop and think about the role our elders play in our lives. All our elders, such as our grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and mentors are very important in the lives of our families and especially our children.
Across every generation, our elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families. Our elders help support us and encourage us and are there for us when we need them. They are also there in times of celebration and this is so very special to them. They pave the way for us to take the paths we can take today.
In religious writings, we hear very little about the role of St Joachim and St Anne, who were Mary’s parents, however we do know that their strength and support for Mary, Joseph and Jesus, certainly would have made an amazing difference in their lives.
Later next month, we will acknowledge St Joachim and St Anne’s Feast Day. They are the patron saints of grandparents. Along with our NAIDOC activities and our GDay events, Term 3 will be a time to highlight the importance of our elders and the love and care they give to their families and the community we live in.
Let us reflect upon the elders in our lives as we pray,
Dear Lord
Please bless our elders with long life, happiness and health.
May they remain constant in your love
and be living signs of your presence to those they love and hold dear.
We ask this through Christ our Lord
Amen
SEMESTER ONE REPORTS
As mentioned on Friday, Semester 1 Academic Reports are now available in COMPASS. To access reports click on your child's photo in the COMPASS app and click on the report tab. When you look in COMPASS news feed you will see a link like below, that will take you to an instructional video, to show you how to access the reports.
Click here to see instructional video
In the instructional video, it shows the Semester 2 2022 report being clicked on. As of last Friday, you can click on the Semester 1 2023 report as the most current report for your child.
From 2023 all reports are only available digitally through the COMPASS app and parent portal. If you have any questions in regards to your child’s report, please do not hesitate to contact our school office.
KINDERGARTEN 2024
Over the past term, Mrs Bourke-Nash and I were blessed to meet with our Kindergarten 2024 Cohort students and their parents. It was a wonderful experience meeting these families and especially hearing how well respected our school is, within our local community. Again this year, we had many applications and we have tried our absolute best to accommodate the families. We have now sent out the offers of enrolments to prospective students, so if you are one of the 20 sibling families, please check your mail or else contact our office if you haven’t received the letter this week.
PIZZA DAY
A big thank you to our Parents and Friends for the wonderful Pizza Day that was held last Friday. The children really enjoyed them.
ATHLETICS PRESENTATION
Congratulations to our students who received special awards and ribbons on Friday, for their sportsmanship and skills at our Athletics Carnival. Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend our special assembly.
ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS
Jnr. Champion Boy: Tobias and Axel
Jnr. Runner Up Boy: Will S
Jnr. Champion Girl: Lucy H
Jnr. Runner Up Girl: Lucinda
11 Year Champion Boy: Owen
11 Year Runner Up Boy: Mason
11 Year Champion Girl: Willow
11 Year Runner Up Girl: Charlotte
Snr. Champion Boy: Darcy
Snr. Runner Up Boy: Reeve
Snr. Champion Girl: Arabella
Snr. Runner Up Girl: Annabelle
HOUSE POINTS
1ST- GIBRALTAR- 179
2ND- ALEXANDRA- 176
3RD- OXLEY- 143
4TH- JELLORE- 128
EXPLANATION OF HOUSE COLOURS
Alexandra (Green) – named after Lake Alexandra
Oxley (Red) – named after the explorer John Oxley
Jellore (Yellow) – named after Mount Jellore
Gibraltar (Blue) – named after Mount Gibraltar
END OF TERM
This week is the last week of Term 2. School holidays commence on Monday 3rd July and finish on Monday 17th July. Monday 17th July is our Staff Development Day and all students will return to school on Tuesday 18th July, wearing the school uniform that they normally wear on a Tuesday.
I wish all families a wonderful Term 2 holiday. May you have many opportunities to share wonderful moments together.
Thank you for the wonderful support you continue to give our school community. We are all very blessed.
Take care and God Bless,
Katrina West
Principal
Dates to Remember
18 - 28th July St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal
18th July NAIDOC Week Liturgy
26th July Year 6 Mass with Bishop Brian
8th August Mary MacKillop Feast Day
Save the Date! Combined School Mass
5th November K, Year 1 and Year 2 Combined Parish Mass @ 5 pm
3rd December End of the Year combined SMM and STA Mass
St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal
Each year during winter, the St Vincent de Paul Society works tirelessly to collect donations that help people who are struggling in our local community with food, clothes and blankets.
At St Michael’s we help support our local St Vincent de Paul Society by holding a non-perishable food drive. Next term from Week 1 through to the end of Week 2 (18 - 28 July) we will be collecting canned and non-perishable food items to donate.
Each class will be allocated items but are not limited to these items. This is a wonderful way to help support our local community and the St Vincent de Paul Society is grateful for your support.
Feast Day of St Paul
On Wednesday 21st June, four representatives from Year 6 attended a special celebration at St Paul’s International College to celebrate St Paul’s Feast Day. St Paul’s International College kindly provided transport to and from their school. The day started with a beautiful Mass followed by a sausage sizzle, a traditional Dragon dance and a battle of strength in tug of war. It was a wonderful celebration. Thank you to our Year 6 representative for your participation and the St Paul’s International College community for inviting us.
Parish News!
Catholic Women’s League Bowral
The next meeting of the Catholic Women’s League Bowral Branch will be held on Monday 19th June commencing at 10.30 am in the Parish Hall, Bundaroo Street Bowral. Louise McRobbie will be speaking about her visit to Medjugorje at this meeting.
All ladies of the Parish are welcome.
Contact the Parish Office for further details.
Weekend Masses
Saturday Vigil 5:00 pm
Sunday - 8:00 am
Sunday - 9:30 am
Sunday - 5:00 pm
Weekday Masses
Tuesday - 8:00 am
Wednesday - 8.00 am
Thursday - 8.00 am
Friday - 8:00 am
Reconciliation- Please contact the Parish office for times
WEEK 1
Mon 17th July- STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY
Tues 18 July STUDENTS RETURN
Tuesday 18th July - Year 4 Practice RLA
Tues 18 July - NAIDOC liturgy and activities
Wed 19 July - Gymnastics extra session to make up for Soccer Gala day later in Term
Thur 20 July- Gymnastics
Fri 21 P&F Meeting
WEEK 2
Mon 24/Tues 25 July- Review Meetings
Wed 26 July - Year 6 Mass with Bishop Brian at STA
Thur 27 July- Gymnastics
WEEK 3
Mon 31st July- RLA Test Day Year 4
Wed 2nd Aug - Year 6 Fundraiser - Crazy Hair Day
Thur 3 Aug- Gymnastics
Fri 4 Aug - West Region Athletics
Fri 4 August- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Day
WEEK 4
Mon 7 Aug- NED’s Mindset Mission Performance- K-6
Tue 8 Aug - Mary MacKillop Feast Day
Wed 9th Aug - Bowral High Year 6 Taster Day 1
Thur 10 August- Gymnastics
Sat 12 August- P&F Trivia Night
WEEK 5
Thur 17 August- Gymnastics
WEEK 6 BOOK WEEK
Mon 21 Aug- G Day Asia Performance
Tue 22 Aug- Book Week Pyjama Day
Thu 24 Aug- Soccer Gala Day at Tahmoor
Thur 24 Aug - No Gymnastics today (due to Soccer Gala)
WEEK 7 BOOK FAIR AND G DAY
Tues 29 Aug Father’s Day Stall
Wed 30 August - WAKAKIRRI day
Thur 31 Aug- Gymnastics
Fri 1 Sept - G-Day
WEEK 8
Thur 7 Sept- Gymnastics
WEEK 9
Mon 11 Sep CDF Public Speaking Competition Yr 5 / 6
Tues 12 September - SPLICED Workshop for participating students at Mittagong (STA and SMM)
Wed 13 Sep- Catholic Mission Launch
Wed 13th Sep - Bowral High Year 6 Taster Day 2
Thur 14 Sept- Gymnastics
Fri 15 Sept- P&F Movie night
WEEK 10
Thur 21 Sept- Gymnastics
Fri 22 Sept - St Michael’s Feast Day Mass @ 9:30 parish welcome
Fri 22 Sept- Term 3 Concludes
Here is a Maths Puzzle recently completed by Year 6 covering the concepts of perimeter and area. It's a tricky one but three students independently solved this in about the same amount of time. We will share the solution in the next newsletter, and also place the solution on the Yr 6 window to have a look at if you're walking past :-)
You have 30 m of fencing and want to construct a quadrilateral enclosure with the largest possible area. What will the dimensions of your enclosure be?
Last Friday, we had a very successful planning meeting for the P&F Trivia Night. If you haven't yet booked your tickets for the evening, can you do so as soon as it is possible for you, as we are in the process of organising tables etc.
We have had some kind offers of sponsorship. If you are able to sponsor/donate from a business or a personal sponsorship/donation, we would be very grateful.
Ideas for sponsorship or donations can be:
* gift cards
* vouchers for a service- eg gardening, beauty, percentage off business products etc
* vouchers for a product
* items that we can raffle
* Items that we can use as prizes for the games on the night
* donations such as chocolates, bottles of wine, fruit baskets, hampers etc
As it is coming up to the end of the financial year, some businesses are happy to donate as a tax deduction. If you can ask at your place of work, they might be able to support us. All businesses can place advertising in the Trivia Room at night.
One of the games we are going to have involves winning a bottle of alcohol. Many of us have been gifted at some time, bottles of alcohol that you may not drink. If you have a bottle at home that you don't need, that could be a good donation that we could raffle or give as a prize. Similar things could be brand new items that you have been gifted that you don't need. They could be donated as prizes. All these things really help.
Donations can be brought to the school office and they will be passed on to an organiser. The link to the event is https://www.TryBooking.com/CIJXD
Thank you for all your support,
The P&F Trivia Night Team.
Bowral Blacks Junior Rugby Club has asked if we could pass this information on to our parents about upcoming junior rugby events.
