A GRATITUDE PRAYER
There are so many things to be grateful for this year. We have had wonderful new students start at our school, commencing with Kindergarten and then all our other new students across the grades. We have had new staff members join our fantastic staff, to work with our students, supporting their needs and providing guidance in their learning endeavours. We have strengthened our community through the kindness and support our parents, staff and students have given to each other.  These are but a few of the many things we can be grateful for. 

This Grateful Prayer is one I use to guide my own reflections….. It is simple yet very meaningful. I thought I would share it with you.  

Let us take a pause in our day and take this moment to think about all the things we are truly grateful for.

 With gratitude I remember….. 

the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.

With gratitude I remember…….

 the care and labour of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.

I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.

Just as we are grateful for our blessings, 

so we can be grateful for the blessings of others.

Amen

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION
Thank you to all those who helped prepare our students for the Sacrament of Confirmation, especially Fr Sean, the children’s families, sponsors and our supportive teachers. I especially would like to thank Mrs Mitchell and Miss Abotomey for the wonderful Confirmation Liturgy and for co-supporting the staff of St Thomas Aquinas in preparing the students. 

Congratulations to our Year 6 Confirmation Candidates.

WELCOME TO OUR KINDERGARTEN CLASS OF 2021
Next week, we welcome our Kindergarten students for 2021, to our school for Playgroup. The children will be coming to four play sessions over Week 6 and Week 7. I’d like to thank Mrs Bourke-Nash, Mr Tuckwell and Mrs Berrell, for helping get the playgroups organised. Parents involved in these sessions are only able to drop off and pick up their child at the school gate due to COVID 19 restrictions. I am so grateful for their assistance with this. I am very mindful that this is not how we would normally welcome you, however we are thinking of you all and wishing you a wonderful welcome to our school community. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further assistance.  

END OF TERM PLANNING
It is amazing that we are coming close to the end of term! Before we do so, we have many events planned for the students. Can you please have a look at the following dates and keep note of anything that may pertain to your child/children. 

• YEAR 6 END OF YEAR MASS - 8th December. The Year 6 students will celebrate Mass at St Michael’s Church with Fr Sean and their class teachers, Miss Abotomey and I. Unfortunately due to St Michael’s Church having a Covid 19 restriction of 30 people maximum, the rest of the school will be unable to attend. Mr Tuckwell will video the Mass and share it with the parents of Year 6 and the children from K-5 to watch in their classrooms, when the video has been put together - similar to our Online Assemblies. I sincerely thank Mr Tuckwell for enabling our wider community to be able to share this experience with the Year 6 students. 
• END OF YEAR AWARDS KINDER TO YEAR 5- Online Assembly Friday 11 December
• P&F RAFFLE- This is the P&F’s Major Fundraiser for this year, as they have been unable to do some of the activities they had planned due to COVID 19 restrictions (hopefully next year !)

The Raffle is $2.00 a ticket- a bundle of 10 tickets will be given to each student. The P&F are asking for families or businesses to donate a prize. Please bring in donated goods up until the 4th of December.  The raffle tickets will be given out this week (Week 5) and need to be returned to school by Friday 11th December. The raffle will be drawn on Tuesday 15th December.

• TRANSITION TO NEW CLASSES- Monday 14th December at 2pm
• ONLINE CHRISTMAS CONCERT- The students will be watching the online Christmas Concert at school on Tuesday 15th December and we will release it to the school community during that day. 

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS
Following new advice from NSW Health regarding COVID-19 protocols in schools, our COVID-safe practices have been updated.

This update is intended to provide you with a summary of the major changes. The complete list of directives in place at all Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong schools is available at www.dow.catholic.edu.au/covid19.

Major changes to our COVID-19 protocols:

• Whole-school assemblies and liturgies may be held from 12 November, with students remaining seated within their cohort. Parents and carers are unfortunately still not permitted to attend.
• Masses may now be held for students, subject to the following conditions: 
• The Mass will not exceed 60 minutes
• Attendance will be limited to students and staff only
• All Diocese of Wollongong parish directors will be adhered to.

Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic in his recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis reminds us that “our lives are interwoven with and sustained by ordinary people valiantly shaping the decisive events of our shared history”. With this in mind, we can all play a part in keeping our students and school community safe. You can help by:

• Keeping your child home when they are unwell, even with very mild symptoms.
• Informing the school immediately if your child is self-isolating or undergoing testing, and informing us of the result as soon as possible.
• Following sickness with flu-like symptoms, ensuring your child is free of symptoms AND can present a negative COVID-19 test, which must be sighted by the school, before they return to school.

As we near the end of a very difficult year, we join with Pope Francis in inviting you to renewed hope, for “hope speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human heart, independently of our circumstances… it can look beyond personal convenience… and can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile”.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We will continue to provide you with timely updates regarding future changes to our COVID-safe practices.

Sincerely,

Peter Hill
Director of Schools
Diocese of Wollongong

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Take care and God Bless
Katrina West

CONFIRMATION
On Sunday the 1^st of November and Thursday the 5^th of November,  students across our Parishes of St Michael’s, Mittagong  and St Thomas Aquinas, Bowral received the Sacrament of Confirmation. A very big congratulations to all of these students and their families.

CRAZY HAIR DAY
On Friday the 6^th November, our school hosted a CRAZY HAIR DAY to raise money for Catholic Missions. Students and staff from across the school, came with CRAZY styles.

A big congratulations to the following students who were awarded the CRAZY HAIRDO AWARD:

Kinder: Atticus and Poppy
Year 1: Clementine and Eli
Year 2: Aspen and Dylan
Year 3: Layla and Reeve
Year 4: Sophie and Corin
Year 5: Lilly and Sam
Year 6: Darcy and Matilda

We raised $160.20  which will be very much appreciated by Catholic Missions.

ALL SAINTS DAY AND ALL SOULS DAY

On Sunday 1^st of November, we celebrated All Saints Day. On this day we celebrate the Communion of Saints and all of the marvellous deeds they accomplished in God’s name. On Monday 2^nd November it was All Souls Day, a day of reflection and prayers for loved ones no longer with us. On Monday,  an online liturgy was viewed by each class. Thank you to all the students and teachers for your participation.

REMEMBERANCE DAY

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 11^th of November, we remember all those who lay down their lives to serve our country. We will be marking this day with a reflective online liturgy shared with the school to commemorate our service men and women.

YEAR 5 FETE
On Thursday 19^th November (next week) Year 5 will hold their annual Year 5 Fete. The money raised from the Fete will go towards different charities to help those in need. So, don’t forget to bring in your coins for a worthy cause. It will be wonderful afternoon with a variety of activities, games and things to do.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT
We are getting ready for that wonderful time of the year “Christmas”.  Due to Covid19 restrictions, we are unable to have a Christmas concert in the traditional way. So, this year our Christmas concert is going virtual and will be online for families to watch.  Each class will be doing different items within the Christmas story.

As in previous years, students will need a few items of clothing for their performance.  Please see the list below of items of clothing each class will need to bring to school each Tuesday or leave at school between rehearsals and filming.  Some classes will be provided with costume items from the school’s costumes; robes and animal costumes.  Students will need to bring the following items to wear during Drama on Tuesdays.

Please bring to school:

Kindy –White shirt/dresses 

Year 1 - Angel costumes provided by the school. Please bring sandals or thongs

Year 2 - Please bring red/green/white/gold clothes and sandals or thongs

Year 3 - Robes from the school's costume box. Please bring sandals or thongs

Year 4 - Please bring red/white clothes and sandals or thongs

Year 5 - Robes from the school's costumes. Please bring sandals or thongs

Year 6 – Please bring white t-shirt and black pants, also sandals or thongs

Students are not to wear these items to school, however, they will change in to them before Drama and back into their school uniforms after Drama. A reminder to please have all items of clothing, both school uniforms and Christmas Concert Costumes, LABELLED.

NAIDOC

NAIDOC week 2020 official celebrations start this week, 8^th - 15^th November. Earlier this year, Wingecarribee Shire Council invited students to complete activities supplied by the council. Year 6 and Year 5 students were lucky to be supplied with weaving, knitting and boomerang activity supplies. The NAIDOC Art Exhibition is on at Bowral Memorial Hall, 16-24 Bendooley Street, Bowral. This is a free Art exhibition and it will be great to see all the craft from our students and other people in the local community. 

PARISH NEWS
Be assured that in the Parish, every precaution is being observed to ensure the safety of those who come to Mass: distancing is clearly marked in the Church and maintained during Mass; all of the liturgical restrictions are followed (Communion in the hand and no singing); the Church is cleaned after each Mass; registration of those who attend is carefully recorded; sanitising is practiced by all who enter the Church.  So, please, if you are well and able do not be hesitant about coming to Mass.

Go to the website www.ccsh.org.au and press the link “Register Here” for Mass.

Please remember that all Masses will be celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, because of the social distancing requirements.

Masses for the week ahead

• Saturday Vigil - 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday - 8:00 a.m. 
• Sunday - 9:30 a.m.
• Sunday - 5:00 p.m.

Weekday Masses

• Monday - 7.15 a.m. (The Hermitage, Mittagong)
• Tuesday - 8.00 a.m.
• Wednesday - 7.30 a.m.
• Thursday - 7.30 a.m.
• Friday - 8.00 a.m.

​Confession (Saturdays) 4:15 p.m.

​Please do not attend Mass if you have any coronavirus symptoms such as coughing, sore throat, shortness of breath, fever or fatigue. 

REMINDER:Christmas cards and Columban Calendars are available to purchase. Please place the money in the Poor Box.

Keep "Christ in Christmas"
Cards - packs of 8 @ $3.50 
Columban Calendars @ $9.00 each
Please put money in the Poor Box

PARISH FUNDRAISING
Tickets are still available to be purchased from the Parish website via https://www.raffletix.com.au/ccsh. Tickets are $10.00 per each and would make a great Christmas present, especially if they won. First prize is a HONDAJAZZ, valued at over $20,000 (supplied by Southern Highlands Motor Group).

THE HERMITAGE

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL
RING 4872-1911
(MONDAY - FRIDAY 8.30 A.M. - 4.00 P.M.)
843 OLD SOUTH ROAD, MITTAGONG

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.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY 2021

Click here to access the Calendar

The use of technology is an integral part of the learning and teaching at St Michael’s.  In preparation for the 2021 school year we have sent home an information which explains the model of iPad required, where you can purchase the iPad and how to set up your child’s iTunes account to all our current Year 4 families. Below you will find the lastest pricing from EduCom. 

If you have any questions related to iPads for Learning, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Tuckwell via the School Office.

THANKYOU  
Thank you to the P&F for their contribution of:-

• $2,200 towards the new 75" TV and stand to replace the interactive whiteboard in Year 1 which is no longer working;
• $1,000 towards library resources.

Thank you also to the Tasker family for the donation of a table tennis table and equipment.

FEE CREDITS 
All fee credits for the 2020 cancelled excursions and events have now been processed along with the fee adjustment for the Year 6 camp / '3 Days of Fun'.  You can check your fee balance at any time through the COMPASS Parent Portal.  

SCHOOL FEES
All school fees need to be finalised by Friday 4th December 2020. Payment of school fees are part of your enrolment obligation and receiving these are imperative for the running of the school.  If you are having trouble paying your school fees, please contact the school office to make an appointment to see Mrs West.

RETURNING TO SCHOOL FOLLOWING FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS
Students who have been sick with flu-like symptoms defined by NSW Health as:

• Fever
• Coughing
• Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing)
• Sore Throat
• Loss of smell or taste

are required to present a negative COVID test result before returning to school. 

Please provide the school with a copy of COVID test results, as we are required to add this information to our school COVID testing register which is updated on a daily basis. Please note that your child will need to be symptom free and have a negative COVID test result before returning to school. 

• Headache
• Muscle or joint pain
• Runny nose
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Vomitting or diarrhoea
• Loss of Appetite

Fun Day Lunch Pack
Earlier on in the year (back in March), we offered a Fun Day Lunch Pack.  However due to remote learning, the lunch day was unable to proceed.  We are now offering this lunch pack for students on the 2nd December 2020.  For those families who had ordered and paid for the lunch deal back in March, your order will be honoured.

Thank you to following organisations who have contributed to our raffle:-

• Mittagong RSL;
• Kmart;
• Beenie Balms by Tia

Raffle ticket booklets are being sent home today.  Tickets are $2.00 each.  Please return tickets and money (including unsold tickets) to the office by Friday 11th December.  The raffle will be drawn on Tuesday 15th December.