Please remember Father Sean in your prayers today, 4th August, Feast of St John Vianney, as it is the 36-year Anniversary of his Ordination.

REMEMBERING ST MARY OF THE CROSS MACKILLOP

This week our school is focusing on our Patron Saint of Australia- St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Mary, along with Fr Julian Tenison, founded the order of sisters known as the Sisters of St Joseph. This order of nuns, are very special to St Michael’s Mittagong, as they started our school here on our present site, in 1891. Mary MacKillop visited the area and would have been to our school site at some stage, as she was known to have visited the original convent across the road from our school in Arthur Street.

In leading the Sisters, Mary was very conscious of the need for them to be aware of God’s presence and power working within them. She encouraged them to “take time to nurture this love and enable it to overflow into compassion, forgiveness, courage and resilience.” Mary often reminded her Sisters about being united with their God so closely that they could become their best selves.

The exemplary manner in which Mary lived among the people captured the values at the heart of her ministry: Respect, hospitality, perseverance, generosity and forgiveness. Gospel values were at the heart of Mary’s Spirituality.

At school, we encourage the children to follow the words of Mary MacKillop by “never seeing a need without doing something about it”- something they do very well indeed.

On Friday we will be having a special day to celebrate St Mary of the Cross MacKillop’s Feast day. Mrs Mitchell has highlighted the events in her RE news section. A reminder that the children are asked to come to school on Friday, dressed in “olden day” clothes. Year Six are very excited to prepare some “olden day” activities for the children. Thank you to Mrs Mitchell, Mr Tuckwell and Year 6 for organising this special day.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Isabella Martinovic and Emily Putland for their great achievements in sport.

Isabelle recently obtained her first black belt in karate. Isabelle has been consistently training in karate since she was 4 years old and is now one of the youngest in Australia to achieve this title in her style.  What a wonderful achievement!

Congratulations to Emily Putland for her selection in the Under 11s National Oztag team.  Emily will also compete for the Wolverines rep side in Coffs Harbour this October.

BOOK WEEK
Due to COVID 19 restrictions, the Children’s Book Council of Australia are postponing the official announcement of Book Week winners until later this year. We have decided though, to still hold our Book Week activities for the students in Week 7 this term. The staff and I are at present planning the activities for Book Week, however, I wanted to let you know in advance, that we will have a special day during Week 7, where the children can dress up according to the theme of Book Week 2020.

The theme this year is “CURIOUS CREATURES WILD MINDS”. This is not meant to be anything over the top- just items they may have a home that they can add to their dress up. Some ideas or books that the children might get inspiration from are:

Curious Creatures:–
Monsters; The Gruffalo; Unicorns; Dragons; Pokemon; Dinosaurs; Bilbo Baggins – The Hobbit; Under the sea characters; The Cat in the Hat; The BFG; Matilda; Alice in Wonderland; any animal or creature; imaginary or mythological animals.

Wild Minds:–
Dora the Explorer; Go, Diego, Go; Where the Wild Things Are book; Harry Potter and friends; scientists, explorers and adventurers- Just to name a few!!

The aim is for the children to find things at home, that they can create their character costume out of. I am sure the children will have a lot of fun thinking of some great ideas. Please do not go to any great expense or stress about the costume- it is just a fun way to celebrate books and the children’s love of reading. Unfortunately, due to COVID 19 restrictions, we are unable to have any parents onsite to see the children dressed up, however we will take lots of photos and share them via our school seesaw pages. Thank you for your support of this activity.

Have a wonderful week everyone,
Take care and God Bless
Katrina West

Our weekly newsletter will now be replaced with a fortnightly newsletter.  The newsletter will be sent out fortnightly on odd weeks via Schoolzine as well as a Compass notification and is best viewed online.

Our newsletter is the best way to stay up to date with what’s happening around the school.  

Important information will continue to be communicated regularly as required via FaceBook and Compass.

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.

Wednesday 2nd - Friday 4th	Book Fair
Friday 18th	Kinder - Maubara Fundraiser
Friday 25th	Last day of Term 3

Premiers' Reading Challenge:

Counting down - just over three (3) weeks left to complete the challenge.  The PRC finishes  on Friday, 28th August, so it is important to ensure that any books read are registered.

CURRENT CEO DIRECTIVES REGARDING STUDENTS PRESENTING WITH FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS

Common coronavirus symptoms		Expanded coronavirus symptoms
Fever  Coughing  Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing)  Sore throat  Loss of smell or taste		Headache                             Muscle or joint pain              Runny nose                            Fatigue            Nausea Vomiting or diarrhoea  Loss of appetite
If your child has any of the common coronavirus symptom(s) listed above		If your child has any of the expanded coronavirus symptom(s) listed above
NSW Health recommends that you have your child tested for COVID-19, even if the symptoms are mild. Your child must not return to school until they are no longer showing any symptoms of illness. You DO need to obtain a medical certificate or negative COVID-19 test before your child returns to school.		You are encouraged to call a GP to discuss your child’s symptoms. They will advise whether a COVID-19 test is recommended. Your child must not return to school until they are no longer showing any symptoms of illness. You DO NOT need to obtain a medical certificate or negative COVID-19 test before your child returns to school (unless they are also displaying common coronavirus symptoms – see left)

REMINDER CEO/ST MICHAEL'S COVID 19 PROTOCOLS

• No sports carnivals, gala days or excursions until further notice
• Assemblies to be "online" 
• Visitors for non essential services are not permitted on school grounds this includes parents/carers unless specifically approved by the Principal
• Maintain 1.5m social distancing adult to adult
• Encourage increased physical space between students where possible.
• Good hygiene practised and enforced throughout the school, including washing hands regularly and thoroughly; and sneezing into elbow or tissue (disposing of the tissue straight away and then washing hands).
• Please do not congregate in the doorway to the office or the gate accesses to our school
• No parents/carers are permitted past the office area
• No parents/carers are permitted into the classrooms or library or school grounds
• Parents and carers are not to attend school gatherings at this stage.

ABSENCE REASONS IN COMPASS
Thank you to all those parents who are entering their child's absence in Compass. However, during this time of Covid 19, it is imperative that a narrative is written in the comments section. e.g. runny nose, Covid test.  

P&F Meeting
As adult gatherings are still not possible on the school site due to current COVID19 restrictions, the P&F would like to hold their next "virtual" meeting via Zoom.  The meeting will be held on Friday 14th August at 1.00pm.   All parents and carers welcome.  We are hoping that by holding the meeting via Zoom it will allow more people to connect and ‘attend’ the meeting.

Please telephone the school or email info@smmdow.catholic.edu.au for the zoom meeting details.

Thank you for your continued support of the St Michael's P&F Association.

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate a birthday this week:

Brody D, Arpit K, Eli W and Micah Y