TERM 1 WEEK 9 NEWSLETTER

TERM 1 WEEK 9 NEWSLETTER

Dear families,

Welcome to Week 9. This term has gone so quickly and we have had some wonderful events that occurred during this past week and more to come before the end of term.

ST PATRICK’S -”GREEN DAY” MAUBARA ORPHANAGE FUNDRAISER
Last Wednesday, Year 2 hosted the “Green Day” Fundraiser for the Maubara Orphanage. It was exciting to see everyone dress in green and show the “St Patrick Spirit” of caring for others. The school raised $222.00 for the students at the orphanage which is truly wonderful. 

ST JOSEPH’S FEAST DAY MASS.
Last Thursday, our whole school celebrated our first Mass together for a long time, as we had covid restrictions previously for groups. It was a very memorable event for our school, as in this Mass, we recognised our school’s history of 131 years of Catholic Education and the important contribution of the Sisters of St Joseph in founding our school. 

We celebrated Mass with St Mary (Sisters of St Joseph) and Fr Sean. Sr Mary was full of admiration and praise for the respect and prayerful participation shown by all our students in Mass when she welcomed the students. It was also a time where our school could wish Fr Sean a very happy birthday for the following day. The children were given special treats to celebrate our special day. Thank you to Year 6 and Mrs Mitchell for organising this and to our Liturgy Group, Ms Abotomey and Mrs Mitchell for preparing for our Mass and singing so beautifully. 

HONOURING OUR SCHOOL FOUNDATION- 130 YEAR SCULPTURE 
Last year, we had intended on holding a fete to celebrate our 130 years (2021) of Catholic Education. Unfortunately covid restrictions placed the fete on hold. However, another idea we were wanting to do was have a sculpture made to place in our front office garden, to recognise the 130 years of Catholic Education at St Michael’s and in particular the tradition of the St Joseph Sisters in our school. The idea was a silhouette of three nuns standing, probably made out of copper or a similar metal that would take to being outside in the various weather conditions we have here in Mittagong.

At this point in time, we are seeking ideas from our parents and their families or friends, who may know something about either creating a silhouette sculpture or accessing material that the sculpture could be made out of. We will need to fundraise for this to be created. To gain an idea of what we are thinking about see the image below. If you can help in any way, please contact myself or the staff in the office.

Bishop’s Flood Relief Appeal 2022

A message from Bishop Brian Mascord

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ

My prayers and thoughts are with you all as this flood disaster continues. In recent days we have had towns in our diocese cut off; a number of our schools closed, non-operational or on alert; church buildings and agency offices affected by flooding and heavy rain; and clergy, staff, families, students and friends from our extended community experiencing another trauma. And while the rain is set to ease, authorities are warning it doesn’t mean the state’s flooding emergency is over.

In a heartfelt video message to his flock (see below), Greg Homeming OCD, Bishop of Lismore, said it had been “a very tragic few days”. To those who had “lost everything” in these floods, Bishop Greg said that everyone across the diocese was suffering with them. “This has all happened at a time when we were hoping that 2022 would be a year of hope, a good year,” he said.

As a diocese, I would like to provide practical support for the people of Lismore. I also want to provide pastoral and practical support for the people in our own diocese who have been, and will continue to be, impacted by these floods. I am inviting you to donate to my Flood Relief Appeal 2022 https://www.dow.org.au/giving/ so that, with your support, we can meet this goal.

Yours in Christ
Most Rev Brian G Mascord DD
BISHOP OF WOLLONGONG
9 March 2022

ST MICHAEL’S MITTAGONG RESPONSE TO THE FLOOD APPEAL- CROSS COUNTRY BBQ.

As a school community, we were thinking of ways that we could raise money to support Bishop’s Flood Appeal. I asked the parents who attended our latest P&F meeting, if they thought that the P&F would be able to help out with a BBQ fundraiser on the day of our Cross Country. They were very happy to help and thought this was a great idea.

We will be having our Cross Country across the road at Alexandra Square on FRIDAY 1ST OF APRIL (Next Week) 

Our idea in conjunction with volunteers from our parents, is to sell sausage sandwiches to the students, staff and parents who are attending the Cross Country. We will have this as our special lunch and all money raised will go to the FLOOD APPEAL.

Final details will be given very soon, however, if you are able to help with the BBQ, can you please contact our school via the GOOGLE DOC at the end of this message. 

A BIG THANK YOU to Amy James for arranging the donation of bread and Mittagong Antiques - Lewis Family, for donating sausages. If anyone else can donate towards the day, please contact our school office. We will need donations of serviettes and sauce bottles if anyone can help with either of those items. 

An order form for the sausage sandwiches will go out to all families on Monday- please keep an eye out for the COMPASS message. 

SWEET TREATS AT THE CROSS CARNIVAL
We will still hold the traditional sweet stall during the Cross Country, where students can purchase a cake, slice or lolly bag. If you are able to help with contributions to this stall, can you fill in the GOOGLE doc at the end of this message.

Proceeds of this stall will go to the P&F to help support fundraising initiatives for the school. Further detail on ways the P&F are going to support our school this year, can be seen in the P&F Meeting Minutes within this newsletter.

LENTEN CROSS-FIT- A SPIRITUAL BOOT-CAMP

Thank you for the feedback I received on the Diocesan Lenten Cross-Fit prayer program. It is lovely to hear that people are taking time out to spend in reflection. 

“Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” 

Pope Francis 2021

This week, we have the next two instalments of the program. 

Please click on the links below.

P&F EASTER RAFFLE

Thank you for the wonderful response to egg donations for the P&F Easter raffle.  Raffle tickets have been sent home.

All donations either eggs or baskets/wrapping can be sent in to the office over the next week.

The P& F are going to have a Easter Egg wrapping morning on >>>>>>>>>>>>

If you are available to help wrap the prizes, please fill in the form below. The more the merrier, especially our new parents. This is a great social opportunity to meet other parents in our school and have some fun along the way.

PARENT/TEACHER MEETINGS 
Next week we will be holding our Parent/teacher meetings for Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, and Year. Year 5 Parent/teacher meetings  will be held in Term 2 Week 1 as Mrs Anderson is currently on leave. 

These meetings are a great opportunity for you to discuss with your child’s class teacher anything that they may need to know about your child. For some children who are receiving extra support through specialised programs, the teachers will go through the personal plans for those programs with you. I am looking forward to seeing you all throughout the week.  

SCHOOL ENROLMENTS- ESPECIALLY KINDERGARTEN 2023
A reminder to those families who are intending on applying for Kindergarten 2023, that application forms need to be handed into the school office as soon as possible. If you know of a family who is wanting to apply, please let them know to contact our school office for an application form or go to our school website to download the application.

Thank you for your continued support of our school. It has been a great start to the year. 

I hope to see you at the Cross Country next Friday 1st April. 

Have a wonderful week,
God bless,
Katrina West
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.

• 5^TH April     Holy Week Liturgy
• 15^th April   Good Friday
• 16^th April   Easter Saturday
• 17^th April   Easter Sunday

St Joseph’s Day  Mass
Thank you to Father Sean, Ms Abotomey, the Liturgy group, our staff, and students for a beautiful Mass to celebrate St Joseph’s Day. We are very appreciative that the sisters of St Joseph founded our wonderful school 131 years ago. 

St Patrick’s Day Fundraiser
A big thank you to Year 2 for organising a fantastic fundraiser. Everyone looked wonderful dressed all in green. Year 2 raised $222.00. The money raised will help support the Maubara Orphanage in East Timor.

Confirmation

This weekend will be the last weekend to enrol for the Sacrament of Confirmation. If there are any children who are in Year 6 or older who would wish to be confirmed, please attend any of the weekend Masses to fill in a registration form.

 

Corpus Christi Parish Mittagong-Bowral News

Palm Sunday
Father Sean has asked that you please bring your own palms (whatever kind you like) for blessing on Palm Sunday (10^th April).

Mass Times 

Weekend Masses

• Saturday Vigil - 5:00pm
• Sunday - 8:00am 
• Sunday - 9:30am
• Sunday - 5:00pm

Weekday Masses

• Tuesday - 8:00am
• Wednesday - 8.00am
• Thursday - 8.00am
• Friday - 8:00am​

Reconciliation​​
Wednesday 23 March 2022 at 6.00 p.m.

Please remember that all Masses are being held at St Thomas Aquinas Church, Bowral.

This year the Cross Country Carnival will be held Friday 1 April 2022 at Alexandra Square (park across the road from the school).  All students will walk to the venue from School.  

The P&F will be holding a sweet stall on the day.

The P&F will also be holding a sausage sizzle on the day for students, staff and parents with all monies raised from the sausage sizzle to be donated to the Bishop's Flood Appeal.  

Did you know that Rebel Mittagong has a Community Givebacks program? This week St Michael’s received 15 brand new AFL footballs to use in Sport lessons, and recently we also purchased a new basketball backboard and ring to replace the damaged one that needs removing. These quality items were purchased using funds raised by parents and families who have shopped at Rebel Mittagong with an active membership linked to St Michael’s. We receive 5% of every purchase, which has enabled us to order some wonderful sporting equipment over the past few years that we otherwise would not have been able to afford.  Please consider signing up for this program next time you shop at Rebel. And a big thank you to Mrs King for ordering, collecting and delivering these items to our school!

2022 Premier's Reading Challenge
The Premier's Reading Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.  All students in Years 3 - 6 will be registered to take part. 

You can search our Library catalogue to see all the available books by clicking on the link below. 

For the time being, one of our covid safety measures is that our “bubblers” cannot be accessed by the children. Instead we have installed ‘easy to use’ taps in locations where children can fill their water bottle. Although we have disposable plastic cups to provide children who forget to bring their drink bottle on any particular day, some children seem to be forgetting on a regular basis. It would be appreciated if all children could bring a drink bottle each day.

What is the P&F?
The P&F is the formal body for the engagement of parents in the life of the school. The P&F exists to:

• formally recognise the role that parents/carers play in the education of their children;
• provide a collaborative, accessible forum for parents to meet formally and regularly with school staff to discuss matters pertaining to the education of students;
• provide a parental perspective to assist the Principal in decision making;
• allow parents to be informed and educated about the faith-life and educational goals of the school;
• promote appropriate social contact among Parents & Friends;
• foster effective partnerships between parents, students, staff, Parish and Diocese; and
• to raise funds to provide resources to enrich the learning environment of the school.

St Michael's Parents and Friends Association (P&F) plays a vital part in supporting the school community. It is a forum for parents to contribute suggestions and ideas that assist the principal's role of building a welcoming and supportive community.

Rather than specific roles, the P&F is organised through a number of small working groups, each one managed by a Coordinator, who is supported by class representatives. The coordinators meet with the Principal and/or Assistant Principal as needed otherwise business arising will be agreed upon via email or P&F meeting.

Involvement in the P&F
These events would not happen without the help of volunteers. Every family at the school is automatically a part of the P&F and is invited to attend meetings, events and help where possible. The level of involvement in the P&F is up to the individual and can range from being a committee member, class coordinator, attending meetings or helping out when there is an event on.

Every P&F fundraiser is run entirely by volunteers - from the big jobs of organising events, right down to baking cupcakes or cooking a sausage sizzle for an hour. No amount of support is too great or small.

GET INVOLVED IN 2022
Many hands make light work, and we thank the many parents who have kindly offered their time to help out in any way.

This year we say farewell to Donna Walsh who has stepped down from her position as social media manager.    

Our first P&F meeting was held on the 11th March 2022.  A copy of the meeting minutes are below.

P&F roles for 2022:-
President: Melissa Bartolo  
Treasurer: Linda Francis / Yasmine Gospel / Amy James 
Social Media/Parents and Friends Facebook page:- Yasmine Gospel / Emma Neggo

Class Coordinators for 2022
Kinder:  Amy James / Tessa Steele
Year 1:  Helen Saunders
Year 2: Katrina Bartone
Year 3: Melissa Bartolo / Tessa Steele
Year 4: Theresa Catania
Year 5: Vanessa Tasker
Year 6:  Linda Francis

If you are interested, please send an email to the P&F c/- info@smmdow.catholic.edu.au stating which role you wish to be considered for nomination.

Further information regarding the Catholic Education Office P&F can be found here DOW Link for-parents- pandf

St Michael's P&F Facebook
We are on facebook - click the link below.

Thank you for the easter donations for our Easter Raffle.  We are still accepting easter donations for our raffle prizes.  The more donations the more prizes to be raffled.  All families should have received a book of 10 raffle tickets to sell.  Money and unsold raffle tickets are to be returned by the 4th April.  The raffle will be drawn on the 7th April 2022.  Thank you for your support.