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ADVENT WEEK 2
The readings of the Second Week of Advent have two things in common. They recognise the need for hope and peace in the world and the importance of St John the Baptist, in the life of Jesus.
The second candle of our Advent Wreath is the candle of John the Baptist who remembered Isaiah’s prophecy of PEACE. “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given and his name shall be called wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Let us remember that Jesus is our peace. His peace is deep within us, reaches out to friends and strangers and brings justice to our world.
An Advent Blessing
May love come alive within your heart
As Christmas time draws near
May hope fill each room you decorate
And bring joy to those you hold dear
May peace be before you at every meal
And faith ring through every song
For Christ is alive, the light of the world
May He bless you all season long.
HAPPY MISS “O” DAY
What a fantastic day we had last Friday! It was a true testament to a wonderful teacher Shan O’Brien, affectionately known as Miss O, who is retiring after 34 years teaching at St Michael’s Mittagong. Our special day was known as “O Day” and all things during the day related to the letter “O”. We all came to school wearing orange coloured clothes and we started the day with a special liturgy for Miss 0.
Following the Liturgy, Year 6 lead us in the “O” Games, providing lots of fun for the whole school.. but before we could begin... Miss O needed to start the games by hitting the “O” piñata. Lots of fun entailed.
We celebrated afternoon tea with donuts for all the students and staff and finished the day with a wonderful assembly that was attended by past and present students and parents.
On Monday 16th December, we will celebrate Miss O’s retirement at our Christmas Carols. All are welcome to attend.
What a special teacher and a great lady. Thank you to all who helped make “O” Day so special.
RETIREMENT OF OUR DIRECTOR MR PETER TURNER
Today, the staff of the Catholic Education Office along with the Principals of our Diocesan Schools, met at the Catholic Education Office to say thank you to our Director Mr Peter Turner and welcome to our Diocese, our new Director of Schools, Mr Peter Hill. Peter Hill has over 30 year’s experience working in Catholic Education and is currently Director Employee Services and a member of the Catholic Education Leadership Team in the Archdiocese of Brisbane, a position he has held since 2011. Prior to this appointment Peter was Executive Director of Schools for the Diocese of Bathurst. He has also held the role of Executive Director Mission Leadership with Mater Health Services and as a Principal in a Brisbane Catholic school.
Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to our wonderful Director of Schools, Mr Peter Turner. Peter is retiring at the end of January and will be very missed by all who have had the privilege to work with him. Our Diocesan formal farewell will occur this Thursday during the Farewell Mass for Peter. Student representatives from Year 5, along with some staff members and myself, will be attending this Mass in Wollongong, on our school community’s behalf. I take this opportunity to thank Peter for all of his guidance and the special connections he made with all who met him. We wish Peter a wonderful and fulfilling retirement.
APPOINTMENT OF THE DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS IN THE DIOCESE OF WOLLONGONG
YEAR 6 CAMP
We wish Year 6 a wonderful camp this week. Year 6 will be attending a three day camp in Berry with Miss O’Brien, Miss Moroney and Miss Brown. We thank our wonderful staff for guiding the students throughout their time at camp. We appreciate the time and support they are giving to our fantastic students.
SURF LIFESAVING DAY TODAY
Whilst I am writing this newsletter, our staff and students from Years 4, 5 and 6 are happily enjoying a day at the beach and learning very important surf lifesaving skills. Thank you to the organisers of the day, for the time and preparation they give to support our students with these very important skills.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Time is fast approaching to the end of the year and our St Michael’s Christmas Concert will soon be here. I take this opportunity to invite all families and friends of our school community, both past and present, to attend this wonderful evening. The P&F will be conducting a sausage sizzle from 5:30pm. It’s definitely a night not to be missed!
HELPER THANK YOU MORNING TEA
If you have not already done so, please return your RSVP to the school office for the helper thank you morning tea. We hope you are able to join us.
END OF YEAR REMINDERS:-
Wednesday 11th - Friday 13th December
Year 6 Camp
Monday 16th December
End of Year Awards (Kinder - Yr 5) 9.15am-10.15am
P&F Sausage Sizzle/Stall 5.30pm
Christmas Concert 6.30pm
Tuesday 17th December
End of Year Mass 9.30am
Year 6 awards to follow at end of Mass
Helpers Thank You Morning Tea 11am
Wednesday 18th December
Last day of school for students and staff.
Have a lovely week.
Mrs Katrina West
Acting Principal
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.
DECEMBER
| Wednesday 11th | Year 5 Leadership Day Year 6 Camp - Day 1 |
| Thursday 12th | Year 6 Camp - Day 2 |
| Friday 13th | Year 6 Camp - Day 3 |
| Monday 16th | Transition to new classes End of Year Awards (Kinder-Yr 5) P&F Sausage Sizzle dinner/Christmas Picnic 5.30pm Followed by Christmas Concert 6.30pm |
| Tuesday 17th | End of Year Mass 9.30am and Year 6 Awards Parent/helper Morning Tea 11am |
| Wednesday 18th | Last day of School for 2019 for teachers and students |
| Thursday 19th December | Closed |
| Friday 20th December | Closed |
JANUARY 2020
| Tuesday 28th | Staff return |
| Wednesday 29th | Years 1-6 commence Kindergarten Best Start Assessments commence |
| Thursday 30th | Kindergarten Best Start Assessments continue |
| Friday 31st | Kindergarten Best Start Assessments continue |
FEBRUARY
| Monday 3rd | Kindergarten Best Start Assessments continue Healthy Harold (Years 1-6) |
| Tuesday 4th | Kindergarten Best Start Assessments continue Healthy Harold (Year 1-6) |
| Wednesday 5th | Kindergarten Best Start Assessments continue Healthy Harold (Years 1-6) |
| Thursday 6th | Kindergarten commence full day |
| Wednesday 12th | Swimming Carnival (Years 2-6) |
The link below will take you straight to the parent calendar.
Congratulations to the following students who were nominated for Student of the Week
Kinder - Leah Bartolo
Year 1 – Isaac Majarich
Year 2 – Allie Gould
Year 3 – Isabel Gould
Year 4 – Morgan Goodfellow
Year 5 – Matilda McCarthy
Year 6 – Jacinta Taylor
The trophies were presented to Isaac and Jacinta.
Keep up the good work.
Term 4
-
- Christmas Concert/Play, Monday 16th December
- End of Year Mass Tuesday 17th of December 2019 at 9:30 am, St Michael’s Church, Mittagong
PARISH NEWS
Friday the 20th December, 6pm at St Thomas Aquinas Church at Bowral the Second Rite of Reconciliation will be available for all who wish attend.
SEASON OF ADVENT
Advent comes from the Latin word meaning "coming." Jesus is coming, and Advent is a season of preparation for his arrival. Advent is a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period of preparation, much like Lent. Prayer, penance and fasting are appropriate during this season.
Advent is not as strict as Lent, and there are no rules for fasting, but it is meant to be a period of self-preparation. The purple colour associated with Advent is also the colour of penance. During this time, we should receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The colour of the Third Sunday of Advent is rose. This colour symbolizes joy and represents the happiness we will experience when Jesus comes again. The Third Sunday is a day of anticipatory celebration. It is formerly called "Gaudete" Sunday; Gaudete means "rejoice" in Latin.
THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone who participated in the celebration of Miss O on Friday. We celebrated the many achievements of Miss O over the past 34 years at St Michael’s. It was wonderful to see the support that everyone gave the day. The money that was raised will go to the Leukemia Foundation. This is a worthy cause and is close to Miss O’s heart, especially as one of our previous students has been fighting Leukemia over the past years.
Any past students and/or families have another chance to say goodbye to Miss O, at Monday's Christmas Concert.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Next Monday is the St Michael’s School Christmas concert. We will be starting the concert with a wonderful Nativity Play “The Shiniest Star”. Rehearsal have been well under way and costumes have now been finalised. Please see below a list for each class of the costumes that will be needed. If your child has a focal role the costumes have been provided by the school.
If students could wear preferably SANDALS (if they already have a pair). If you do not own sandal thongs or slides will be fine.
Class Costumes
Kindergarten STARS: All White – This could be pants, shorts t-shirt or a dress. Also, GOLD tinsel (this will be provided by the school).
Year 1 BIBLICAL CLOTHES: Pants/shorts – grey or brown with a large “DAD” style shirt with a belt or tie around the waist and a large tea towel/pillow case or scrap piece of material and a piece of robe/stocking or ribbon to secure it to their head. Sandals.
Year 2 BIBLICAL CLOTHES: Pants/shorts – grey or brown with a large “DAD” style shirt with a belt or tie around the waist and a large tea towel/pillow case or scrap piece of material and a piece of robe/stocking or ribbon to secure it to their head. Sandals
See example in the photo below
Year 3: Farm yard animal coloured clothes. Covered Shoes. If any students have a farm animal mask or hat at home they will be able to wear this as well. We have a limited number of masks available already.
Year 4: All costumes are provided by the school. Sandals.
Year 5: Black pants/leggings/shorts or Black Jeans. White T-SHIRT (no print on it). Also, a pair of sunglasses. Sandals.
Year 6: Pants/shorts – grey or brown with a “DAD” shirt with a belt or tie around the waist and a large tea towel/pillow case or scrap piece of material and a piece of robe/stocking or ribbon to secure it to their head. Sandals.
Rebecca Mitchell, Acting REC
Final Reminder - School Fees
All school fees need to be finalised by end of Term 4. Outstanding school fee balances are now listed under the billing tab in the Compass Parent Portal. You need to access the full website of Compass as the Compass App does not contain this information.
School Reports available in Compass
As mentioned previously school reports will be uploaded into Compass on Friday 13th December. Please ensure you have your Compass Login and look under the reports tab.
CANTEEN IS OPEN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY OF THIS WEEK.
This is the last week of the school canteen for this year.
Bring your whole family, your Grandparents, a picnic rug and a chair, & bring your small change – all for a fabulous night to celebrate Christmas with our School community, and best of all the entertainment is provided by the students.
Got any suggestions? Can you assist us? You can contact the P & F any time.
Email: mittagongsmmpandf@gmail.com
Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate a birthday this week:
Zoe L, Ollie S, Jane Y, Esther Y and Imogen M
