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THE LORD’S PRAYER
In last Sunday’s Gospel reading, we learn how the prayer we know as the OUR FATHER or THE LORD’S PRAYER originated. Luke 11:1-13 writes…
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
From this story, we realise that Jesus’ disciples noticed that Jesus prayed a lot. He thanked God for food and for help—sometimes before he even got the help. He prayed all alone … and in the middle of a group. The disciples had watched Jesus pray and they wanted Jesus to teach them ‘how to pray’. Jesus gave them a model of a prayer, simple and yet all encompassing, through the words of what we now call the Our Father.
Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, is slightly shorter than the prayer we generally pray, which was written in Matthew’s Gospel; yet the essence is still there. From the very beginning of the prayer, Jesus invites his disciples into a deeply personal relationship with God, encouraging them to call upon God using the same name he uses – Abba or Father. He invites his disciples to call upon God, just as children call upon a loving parent, trusting that they belong to God and that God wants for them what is good and life giving.
Prayer can be challenging for many people. Like the disciples, some have a difficult time knowing how to pray or understanding what prayer is. The message of Luke’s Gospel reminds us, that prayer does not have to be scary or complicated. Prayer is our own meaningful way of talking with our Heavenly Father. The Lord’s Prayer is a positive helper, to remind us that God wants to hear from us. Prayer is about the relationship we have with God; and praying can help bring about a deeper, more honest, and more trusting relationship with God. That is the power of prayer. Prayer is our opportunity to connect to God in our own unique and special way.
ST MARY OF THE CROSS MACKILLOP FEAST DAY/NED’S MINDSET MISSION
On Thursday the 8th of August, our school will be celebrating St Mary of the Cross MacKillop’s Feast Day. Mary MacKillop established the Order of St Joseph’s Congregation and through this congregation, the Sisters of St Joseph, helped establish our school. Recognising their contribution to the charism of St Michael’s is an important part of our school vision and mission. It is a tradition at our school, that on this feast day, we celebrate a liturgy together; share a meal together- very tasty BBQ sausages on a roll, especially cooked by Mrs Petzer; and play fun games organised by our Year 6 class.
This year we have an extra special event booked- The Ned’s Mindset Mission. Just as Mary MacKillop said to us “Never see a need without doing something about it”, Ned’s Mindset Mission presentation, encourages the children to become positive role models both at school and at home through “Never giving up and encouraging others to do their best”.
Thank you to Mrs Mitchell, who will be organising the liturgy as part of her new role as Acting Religious Education Coordinator. It should be a very special day for our school community.
FR SEAN CULLEN’S 35th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD
This Sunday, Fr Sean celebrates his 35th Anniversary of his ordination as a priest. Our school community would like to wish Fr Sean every blessing on this special occasion. Thank you, Fr Sean, for all that you do for our school and parish community, here at St Michael’s Mittagong.
SCHOOL PHOTOS
Today was a special day ……. school photo day! I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for the excellent way the children presented themselves in their uniform. Visitors to our school, often remark that our students here at St Michaels, certainly take pride in their uniform. That is really lovely to be recognised. We saw lots of great smiles today, so I am sure the children’s photos will be ones to treasure. I would like to thank the office staff and Miss O’Brien for organising the day.
CALENDAR
A reminder to please regularly check the school calendar. This term is quite busy with school and P&F events.
The P&F will be holding a Father's Day Stall this term as well as the Walkathon fundraiser. Please note these dates in your calendar.
SOUP
From next week, the Year 6 social group will sell soup at afternoon tea, on Monday and Tuesday for 50c a cup. It would be appreciated if students have the correct money as it is difficult getting change.
CALCULATOR% APP FACTSHEET
Please see attached “APP Facts” sheet on Calculator%. Please take the time to read the fact sheet.
Thank you for your continued support of our school community here at St Michael’s Mittagong.
Have a lovely week.
Mrs Katrina West
Acting Principal.
Congratulations to the following students who were nominated for Student of the Week:
Kinder - Liam O'Connor
Year 1 – Alivia Davis
Year 2 – Xavier Gaffney
Year 3 – Ruby Bramble
Year 4 – Ava Morris
Year 5 – Jett Cornwell
Year 6 – Max Abela
The trophies were presented to Xavier and Ava
Keep up the good work!
This week St Michael’s will be moving to a new Financial Management system, TechnologyOne, as well as adding enhancements to our Compass Student Information System. This is an exciting transition for our school and will result in more efficient electronic financial management for our school office.
School fee management will also move to TechnologyOne. Please be aware that:
- Your school fee statement and receipts for payments will look different.
- The school fee statement you receive from the new financial system will have a ‘balance carried forward’ and any transactions that have occurred during the month, rather than a detailed list of any transactions completed during the year, due to the movement of the fees from the old financial system to TechnologyOne.
- All current BPay, Direct Debit and Centrepay arrangements will continue as normal and be electronically redirected to your new school fee account in TechnologyOne.
- After you receive your first statement from TechnologyOne, if you do pay via BPay, we ask that you update the BPay details as per the new reference numbers on your statement.
As part of this change we will also have new features available in Compass. These will include:
- Visibility of your school fee account in the Parent Portal
- The ability to pay school fees and pay for events such as excursions via the Parent Portal
We will provide you with further information on these Compass enhancements when they become available.
Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school office. We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout the next few weeks as we move through this change.
Compass Excursion/Events
All excursions will now be known as events in the Compass Parent Portal. We will shortly move to no longer sending home hard copies of excursion notes for parent permission and payment.
Parents will receive an email notifying them that they have an event to attend to in Compass. You will then click on this link and following the instructions on the screen, to give your child consent to attend and if applicable, the ability to pay school fees and pay for events such as excursions via the Parent Portal (not covered in the excursion levy) and sports gala days online, using your credit/eftpos card.
If you child is not attending an event could you please email the school informing us the reason your child will not be participating. Please send the email to this address:
info@smmdow.catholic.edu.au
Should you have any queries or require assistance with your login details for the Compass Parent Portal please do not hesitate to contact the school office.
On Thursday the 8th of August we will celebrate the remarkable life of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – an Australian woman who devoted herself to caring for the poor and defending the rights of all peoples. We will celebrate this remarkable woman with a Liturgy followed by a sausage sizzle provided by the school and a games afternoon. ALL CHILDREN CAN WEAR MUFTI CLOTHING ON THIS DAY. Year 6 kindly ask for a gold coin donation in support of the Maubara Orphanage.
Rebecca Mitchell, Acting REC
NED is back!
Never Give Up (N) Encourage Others (E) Do Your Best (D)
As part of our Feast day celebrations, the NED show is a performance that promotes positive attitudes and encourages students to do their best every day, which is what we aim for through our Best Me I Can Be program. During the show the students will learn the messages through storytelling, magic, humour and the most important yo-yo tricks. For two weeks after the show, the students will be able to purchase a yo-yo, which is how the company funds the school visits, as they don’t charge. Students can bring their own yo yo school to practise their tricks. Please find attached an information and order sheet.
Listed below are some important school dates. The school calendar is updated regularly and can be accessed via the school website and Compass parent portal.
AUGUST
| Wednesday 7th | Year 6 Mass with Bishop (at Moss Vale) |
| Thursday 8th | Mary MacKillop Feast Day (Year 6 Maubara Orphanage Fundraiser) NED Yoyo show |
| Friday 9th | Western Region Diocesan Athletics |
| Friday 16th | SHIPs Athletics Carnival Kinder Excursion to Mt Annan Botanic Gardens |
| Monday 19th | ACTIVATEfire for Year 6 at STA |
| Tuesday 20th | Book Week Celebration children to wear mufti and a cape to school |
| Wednesday 28th | P&F Father's Day Stall |
| Thursday 29th August | Soccer Gala Day Book Fair |
| Friday 30th August | Book Fair G Day (Grandparents Day) |
SEPTEMBER
| Monday 9th | Staff Spirituality Day (Pupil free day) |
| Friday 20th | P&F Walkathon Fundraiser |
| Friday 27th | End of Term 3 |
Athletics Carnival Results
| Junior Girls Champion | Ruby Francis and Imogen Goodfellow |
| Junior Girls Runner Up | Morgan Goodfellow |
| Junior Boys Champion | Sam Francis |
| Junior Boys Runner Up | Brohdi Fleeton |
| 11 Years Girls Champion | Matilda McCarthy |
| 11 Year Girls Runner Up | Zoe Vasilakis |
| 11 Years Boy Champion | Mitchell King |
| 11 Years Boy Runner Up | Jett Cornwell and Karrwii Fair-Townsend |
| Senior Girls Champion | Abigail Frank |
| Senior Girls Runner Up | Charlise Ticchio |
| Senior Boys Champion | Max Abela |
| Senior Boys Runner Up | Zechariah Yap |
| Encouragement Awards | Andelayne Bramble and Jacob Smith |
House Champions
1st - Alexandra (Green) 205 points
2nd - Gibraltar (Blue) 146 points
3rd-Oxley (Red) 138 points
4th-Jellore (Yellow) 114 points
Staff Spirituality Day - Monday 9th September
This day is a pupil free day for students. Please ensure parents make appropriate arrangements for the supervision of your children on that day.
Please note for the short term, the canteen will be open 1 day per week, on a Thursday.
Library News – Celebrating Children’s Book Week
Each year across Australia, the CBCA brings children and books together celebrating CBCA Book Week. The theme for book week changes each year. This year’s theme is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’.
We will be celebrating Book Week on Tuesday 20th August 2019. We are asking the children to come to school wearing a cape, which your child can create and make at home or buy if you wish. Please do not go to any expense in costume dress up. Children are allowed to wear mufti clothes to school on that day. Activities are planned for the middle session of the day.
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
THURSDAY 29TH AUGUST AND
FRIDAY 30TH AUGUST 2019
Thanks
Mrs Sewell
Happy birthday to the following students who celebrate a birthday this week:
Lucy H, Brody D and Alex S
