Dear Parents and Carers,

Tomorrow we celebrate Grandparents and Great People day at St Michael’s. This is a wonderful opportunity to show the people in our lives that have helped us to grow, learn and become the best that we can be how special they are to us.

Grandparents and great people in our lives are the ones that model the Catholic values and show us how to be the face of Christ in all that we do. As we grow and remember those special people in our lives there is always a memory or ritual or moment that warms the heart and lives on in our memory forever. These moments are the ones that form the fabric of how we then interact with our own families.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the special people who support, nurture and love our students. Your compassion and genuine concern is a blessing that the children are fortunate to have. 

As a school community we look forward to opening the classrooms and sharing the great learning that is happening. I also look forward to meeting you all and hearing all those amazing stories you have filled with love and wisdom.

Dear God,

Please bless our grandparents. Thank you for the life they gave my parents and for the life they give to me. For the ways they helped me and made me strong, I give thanks. For the ways they love me no matter what, I rejoice. For the ways they have paved the road that leads me here, I am grateful. 

Let them grow in wisdom and joy in life. Let them find peace and rest from their work. Let them be healed of every sickness and pain. And let them see with their own eyes the glory of your Son, Jesus, in the love of their children and grandchildren. Bless them always until they come to rest in you. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Book Week and Grandparents Day - Important Information 

The theme for Book Week 2019 is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’. Book Week will run from the 19th - 23rd of August 2019 and so this year St Michael's will be celebrating Book Week on Friday 23rd August in conjunction with Grandparents day. 

To celebrate this wonderful occasion we are inviting all students from Kinder to Year 6 to come dressed as their favourite book character or around the theme of 'Reading is my Secret Power’ for our school book week parade on Friday 23rd August.  

Timeline: 

• Book Week Parade: 9:45am

Come one and come all to see the wonderful students at St Michael’s parade around as their favourite character from a book. 

• Morning Tea: 10:30am in the school hall

Morning Tea will be provided for our lovely grandparents 

• Recess with the students: 11:00am

Grandparents can join their grandchild on the playground at recess time.  

• Open Classroom: 11:30-12:30am 

Grandparents are welcome to come to open classrooms to help the students engage in fun & exciting Literacy Activities around the Shortlisted Books for 2019. ALSO in this time go to the bookfair to purchase a book for our wonderful school. 

• Prayer and Blessing for grandparents:  The day will conclude with a prayer and blessing from 12:30- 1:00 pm. 

In the school library from 11:30am - 12:30pm there will be opportunities for families to buy a book to donate to our library. There will be cash only. 

Disco

Normal (mufti) clothes 

The school disco on Thursday 23rd of August. K-2 Disco: 5.30pm - 6.45pm and Yrs 3 to 6: Disco 7.00pm - 8.15pm. Tickets will be sold at the door at for $5 per person, which includes entry and a sausage sandwich.  Glow sticks will be available at the door. 

Morning Tea for Great People’s Day 

Great People’s Day (Grandparent’s Day) is approaching fast, so preparations are underway to make the day GREAT!!  To help prepare morning tea for these special people in our lives, we are asking that all families provide a small food contribution.  We are also seeking volunteers to assist with preparing and serving food on Friday 23rd August. If you are able to volunteer please let the school office know or email: info@smtdow.catholic.edu.au with your chosen timeslot.  The more the merrier!!

Below is a list of classes & food donations:

Kindergarten: mixed sandwiches + at least 1 volunteer to assist with preparation and serving 

Year 1: Fruit, Cheese & biscuits + at least 1 volunteer to assist with preparation and serving 

Year 2: Biscuits + at least 1 volunteer to assist with preparation

Year 3B and 3W: Cakes + at least 2 volunteers to assist with preparation 

Year 4: Slices + at least 1 volunteer to assist with preparation and serving 

Year 5: Mixed Sandwiches + at least 2 volunteers to assist with preparation and serving 

Year 6W and Year 6B: Fruit, Cheese & biscuits + at least 1 volunteer to assist with preparation and serving  

Staff: Drinks - fruit juices, soft drinks, tea and coffee. 

Please deliver food donations to the Hall on Friday morning at drop off time.

Great People Day Roster - Date: Friday 23rd August

The Sacraments of First Penance and Communion 

CHANGE OF DATE:

First Penance and First Communion

The Sacraments of First Penance and Communion are celebrated when a child is in Year 2 or seven years old (or older).  First Communion is given to children who have reached the age of reason, which is accepted as seven years old, that is, when a child is in Year 2 [Canons 913, 914].  Prior to receiving First Communion, children are to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance [Reconciliation]. In order to prepare for these Sacraments, there is a preparation program consisting of the following: 

Enrolments close on Tuesday, 10 September 2019

Enrolment Forms for 2019 may be downloaded from the Parish website

Parent Meeting is on Tuesday, 8 October at 7:30pm  [not 15 October]

Penance:  Classes 1 and 2 are on Tuesdays, 22 and 29 October, 3:45pm to 5pm  Sacrament of Penance is on Wednesday, 30 October at 7:00pm Eucharist:  Classes 3 and 4 are on Tuesdays, 12 and 19 November, 3:45pm to 5pm First Communion is celebrated at either of the weekend Masses on 30 November or 1 December or 7/8 December or on any later weekend.

THANK YOU! MARY MACKILLOP WHOLE SCHOOL MASS

Last Friday, August 10th our school community joined together to celebrate and remember St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Thank you to Fr Ken for leading us in celebrating the Mass and the families who were able to attend. We appreciate your generosity with our non-perishable items - we had baskets full of items for St Vincent de Paul. 

Pupil Free Day and Staff Spirituality Day - Monday September 23

Monday, September 23 will be a Pupil Free Day for students as staff will be involved in their annual Spirituality Day. The Staff Spiritual Formation Retreat Day will focus on the theme: Sustaining Our Purpose - Self-care & Staff Well-being. This day will include an integration of spiritual and psychological practices that support us in sustaining our purpose.  “You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story & hustle for your worthiness." - Brene Brown

Religious Literacy Assessment 

Well done to our Year 4 students who sat The Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA) on Tuesday, August 20. This assessment project provides a sustained and systemic Diocesan approach to the documentation and reporting of students’ learning in the key learning area of Religious Education (RE) across the diocese and in particular, aspects of religious literacy. It is a means of celebrating and sharing the good news about students' learning in Religious Education and enables the story to be told on a continuing basis.

Upcoming Events in Term 3

St Francis of Assisi Liturgy- Hosted by Kindergarten 

Wednesday,  September 25 @ 2:30pm 

Miss Emma Groves – Religious Education Coordinator

Term 3 School Assembly dates

Assemblies at St Michael’s are an opportunity for our community  to come together to acknowledge and celebrate the great learning and events that happen in our school. The school assembly allows all students at St Michael’s to be recognised for their efforts. This term we have added an additional component to our assembly which allows one class per fortnight to share some of the brilliant learning that has been happening in their classrooms. 

Week 6- Friday 30 August (Year 4B sharing their learning)

Week 8- Friday 13 September (Year 3 sharing their learning)

Week 10- Friday 27 September (Year 4W sharing their learning).

A huge thankyou to all of the classes that have engaged in the work sharing component of our assembly. It has been wonderful to showcase just some of the wonderful learning that has been occuring in these classrooms.

Professional Learning- Writing 

This week during our Staff Development Day we engaged in the first step of our journey in refining the way in which we teach writing at St Michael’s. The day was facilitated by Cassie Miranda from the Catholic Education Office. Cassie engaged us with the ‘7 steps to writing success’ resource which will be used to support our ongoing professional learning. Throughout the remainder of the year we have planned ongoing collaborative planning sessions to support the implementation and refinement of this professional learning. We look forward to sharing some of our successes and new learnings throughout the journey. 

Supporting your children with reading at home

This term we have developed a new strategy to support our school goal of collaboratively engaging and working with parents to support student learning. This strategy involves providing parents with a digital resource that will assist them to support their children at home. Each term there will be a focus for the digital resource. This term our focus is on providing parents with some simple and easy tips to support their children’s reading at home. 

In the link below you will have access to a short clip developed by Katie Kelly on posing literal and inferential questions to your children when reading a text. A big thankyou to Katie and for Audrey Foran in Year 2 for allowing us to put together this short clip. This clip is targeted for Year 2 parents, however could be applied in all grades. We hope you find this helpful. 

SPB4L update 

In the next fortnight we will be focusing on revising our expectations when using the canteen area. We have witnessed a very positive response from students utilising this wonderful resource. Due to the number of students using this space we will as a school develop consistent expectations when lining up and moving from this area. 

Mr James Bryce - Assistant Principal

Parent Survey / Communication Audit Follow Up

The leadership team are continuing to work through the recommendations from the parent survey. I am pleased that we have already been able to implement multiple actions from the survey. 

This week I am excited to share that in each newsletter we will have a parent support with learning and well being section. A recurring theme from the survey was the sharing of learning and how can you support this at home. We have held multiple workshops specifically for parents, we understand that these are sometimes difficult to attend. For the remainder of the year there will be a video demonstrating some strategies you can use at home to help your children in different areas of learning. Please see James Bryce’s section in the newsletter for more detail. We would be happy to hear any feedback and we hope you are able to learn something from them.

Staffing News

I am pleased to share that Mrs Katie Kelly will be returning to St Michael’s full time next year. Katie will be teaching Kindergarten in 2020. Last week Katie and I attended a professional learning day on the Transition to School Program that we are introducing this year to assist our wonderful new students transition into Kindergarten.

Mrs Carmel Gralton is taking LSL from Week 6 to the end of term 3. Mrs Katie Kelly will be teaching Year 2.

Compass Parent Portal

Last Friday and this week we have held multiple parent support sessions for Compass. Please note that from Monday 26 August skoolbag will no longer be used. Thank you to Jim Gallagher and Anthony Rooskie for their support in introducing the parent portal.

Father’s Day Stall

The Father's Day Stall will be on Friday 30th August where the children will be able to purchase gifts for $5. Year One parents are coordinating the stall and are requesting families to please donate presents for the stall over the next 2 weeks. Thank you. 

Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser

A huge thank you to the Year 4 parents who gave of their time on Saturday at the Bunnings BBQ. Your time is greatly appreciated.

SUMMER UNIFORM CHANGE OVER:

Our official uniform changeover date for students to wear full summer uniform is Monday 14 October - Week 1 Term 4. 

School Veggie Garden

A big thank you goes out to Jeremy Smith who has offered to give some of his time to help set up our school veggie garden.

To begin the process, Jeremy came and worked with Year 5 and Year 6 students last Wednesday. The students were involved with Stage 1 of the planting process where they planted seeds into egg cartons which they used as planter trays.  Over the next couple of weeks students will be responsible to water and take care of their seeds. They will then be transferred to the garden beds outside.

Stage 2 of the planting process will take place next Wednesday when Jeremy will return to work with upper primary students on preparing the garden beds outside.

Thank you also to Liz Magarey who assisted Jeremy last Wednesday with planting the seeds with our students.

Here are some photos below from last week. I look forward to sharing many more along our journey.

Mrs Katie Kelly (WEN - Wollongong Environmental Network Contact)

PREMIER READING CHALLENGE 2019

Student Reading Records need to be completed by AUGUST 30! Please record all books online before this date, and try not to leave it to the last minute to avoid delays due to heavy website traffic. 

If you have any problem, please do not hesitate to contact me or the school before the due date.

We have 106 students doing PRC this year.

CONGRATULATIONS to the following students successfully finished the PRC 2019:   Daisy B. (4); Molly H (4); Jeong Eum L. (4); Audrey M (4); Matilda R. (4); Charlotte M. (6) and Holly W. (6). WELL DONE !

Mrs Medina Library - Staff and PRC Co-ordinator

South Coast Athletics Carnival

Awards

Principal's Awards:

• Lila Harrison
• Lodi Nettle
• Kalani Paxton
• Oliver Forte
• Baden Balding
• Asha Briard

GOLD Awards:

• Lodi Nettle
• Asha Briard

St Michael's Blue

• Asha Briard

Mufti Day

The P&F are organising a mufti day on Friday 13 September, it will be a gold coin donation. All monies raised will be put towards supporting the school with resources.