Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Sunday saw us celebrating and acknowledging the Father’s and Father figures in our lives. I sincerely hope that your day was surrounded by love, kindness and compassion. Fathers and Father figures play such an important role in our lives, they teach us how to love, how to care and how to be the best that we can be. Here is a Father’s day prayer that I share with all the important people in our lives that play this role for us.

God our Father,

We give thanks and praise for fathers young and old.

We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation;

May they find courage and perseverance to balance work,

family and faith in joy and sacrifice.

We pray for fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering;

May they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow.

We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor

and guide us with fatherly love and advice.

We remember fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers

who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory

and nourish us with their love.

Amen

************

Please take note of some important updates regarding the return to school and the rescheduling of Book Week celebrations in the School News.

Mrs Belinda Hughes - Principal

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is held each year on the 1st September.

This day marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, which is an annual event that encourages prayer and action for our common home which runs from 1st September through to 4th October.

On this day each class participated in liturgy via zoom. As apart of this liturgy 1 student from each class received the St Francis of Assisi Award - For love of and appreciation for all of God’s creation. 

Congratulations to these students: 

Ripples: Spirituality for Parents 

Ripples is a PODCAST developed for staff and parents on-going spiritual formation. It seeks to offer a space where people can draw on the wisdom of a series of guest speakers and can experience some treasured stillness through meditation. Practices like these create a ripple effect. They have the potential to impact the way we respond to family, friends, colleagues, to creation and to God. Come and enjoy some Inspired Voices and Treasured Stillness. 

Ripples: https://ripples.dow.catholic.edu.au/

Have your say on Sacraments of Initiation (From Bishop Brian Mascord) 

In October 2020 I asked Sr Monica Barlow, a Sister of St Joseph to work towards developing a discussion paper in the lead up to the eventual development of Sacraments of Initiation policy for the Diocese. 

Sr Monica began working on this project by consulting with priests and parishes around the present practice of administering the Sacraments of Initiation and options for the future that promote outreach, parish renewal and evangelisation. 

As a next step, she hopes to consult with parents via a Survey to collect what they believe to be important for their children in presenting them for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. 

I would encourage you, as a parent, to take part in this consultation as your responses are key to the development of this policy. I thank you for considering being part of this important research. You can access the Survey by simply clicking here: https://dow.sh/SacramentsSurvey

Socktober 

This Socktober we are encouraging students to learn what life is like for children from Thailand, specifically those from slum areas in Bangkok, the bustling capital. Thailand  exhibits staggering wealth inequality - around 7% of the Thai population of 69,480,520 people live under the poverty line. 

Thailand is also a major centre for human trafficking, particularly of children and vulnerable people. Sexual exploitation constitutes the majority of cases of trafficking, and it is now the primary form of modern slavery in Thailand. The children most at risk are those living in poverty in city slum areas, especially if there is nowhere safe to stay during the day when their parents are working. 

The Good Shepherd Sisters have been supporting communities in need in Thailand for over 55 years. The Sisters have a mission to build partnerships that promote the dignity and human rights of all, especially women and children. The Sisters run many services, including a kindergarten, which offers two life‑changing services for both local women and their children: firstly, the Sisters provide a loving education in a safe place, catering for essential needs; and secondly, this allows the parents to freely work and earn a living for their families without fear for their children’s safety. 

“If the children have a chance to study or prepare well to go to school, it will be very good … for them. We try to support them, and not only for education. Mind and body have to go together for the children to develop. I believe that if we really and truly help them with love, they will grow nicely and will have a good future.”

In Religious Education for the first 3 weeks of Term 4, students will be learning about Thailand, the work of Catholic Mission in Thailand as well as engaging in class liturgies to prayer for the Good Shepherd Sisters who have been supporting communities in need in Thailand for over 55 years.

Miss Emma Groves - Religious Education Co ordinator

Remote Learning News

Unfortunately there are a growing number of Wollongong Diocesan schools that are being impacted with Covid cases. Schools have been reminded to continue to operate with a skeleton staff for supervision. To assist in the organisation of staff and the management of the number of staff onsite, from Term 4 parents will be asked to fill in a survey developed by the CEO that will indicate if your child/ren requires supervision. The form will be communicated via compass, by being aware of the number of students of essential workers who require supervision we are able to roster the minimum number of staff required onsite. This is for the health and safety of students, families and staff. I thank you for your understanding and cooperation, it is much appreciated.

Return to School ‘Road Map’

The return to school plan has been presented by the NSW government and confirmed by Catholic Schools NSW. The dates for when each grade is to return has been published in the latest co-signed letter that went out to parents. The return to school process is welcomed and we look forward to seeing the children back onsite, however we are also very aware that it may cause some nervousness for some students and for you as parents. 

To assist in the transition to return to school we will be holding Parent information sessions for each grade prior to the return to school date. This will be an opportunity to fully unpack the logistics of what returning to school will look like, the restrictions that will be in place for parents and families and what will a school day look like coming back. They will be held in the afternoon so that Kerrie Paul our school counsellor is able to join us to support families in managing the range of emotions and responses that children may have after being away from school for what will be an extended period of time. Please see the dates and times for the online zoom parent sessions below. We look forward to seeing you at these sessions.

RU  OK? Day

Today is RU OK? Day. A reminder to ask others are they truly ok, to reach out to someone else and have a conversation. Everyday should be RU Ok day? An opportunity to reach out and connect with others. In order to be able to do this we need to be able to say that we are ok too, listen to the voice that says good things about yourself.

CEDoW R U OK? Day Flash Dance

Students, staff, and families have connected virtually across CEDoW to create a joyful and vibrant Flash Dance with the intention of creating a virtual connection, a sense of belonging, and a spark of fun! You may even see a few cameo appearances from the staff at St Michael’s! Please take the time to listen to our Director of Schools, Peter Hill’s message on RU OK? And enjoy the diocesan flash dance!

R U OK? Day 2021 – CEDoW Director's Message and 'Walk Each Other Home' RUOK Flash Dance

Whole School Assemblies - Term 4

In term 4 we will reintroduce whole school assemblies as the Friday check in for students (these will be held in the odd weeks). These will occur at 9am, go no longer than 15 minutes and we will present Principal, Gold and St Michael's Blue Medallion awards. Teachers will continue to hold their Friday check in / attendance procedures and present superstar awards on the even weeks. Fridays will continue to be screen free during remote learning in Term 4.

Book Week Celebrations

As previously shared we were hoping that we would be able to celebrate Book Week once we were back onsite in Term 4. All students are asked to come dressed as their favourite book character on Friday 19 November. We are pleased that the students will be able to celebrate and acknowledge this day together with their class mates. 

The theme for Book Week 2021 is ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other Worlds’. St Michael's will be celebrating Book Week on Friday 19th November. 

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 '’Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other Worlds”.  

Some ideas.. 

Old worlds.. gangsters, flappers, hippies, Ancient Egypt, rock and roll, dinosaurs, victorian, biblical, gladiators 

New worlds.. space, futuristic, Aliens, astronauts  

Other worlds.. Witches, dragons, mermaids, monsters, dragons, unicorns, fairies

*No props to be brought in during our book week celebration. 

6B Class Sharing - Newsletter Week 9 

Geography

Over the past 4 weeks, 6B has been investigating Australian bushfires that have happened over the last 20 years. Students had the opportunity to dig deep into one particular bushfire and conduct interviews as experts to share their knowledge. They have also created mind maps and posters to share with the community about ways that we can prevent and minimise bushfires from happening. They have done an excellent job being independently motivated and have produced such creative pieces!

Here are some examples that 6B would love to share with you! 

Miss Negus - Year 6 Blue Teacher 

Principal Awards:

• Alistair F
• Jasper H
• Owen A
• Eliana T
• Noah H
• Daisy B
• Kyran P
• Taylen W
• Everett W
• Victoria F
• Maya D
• Daruis H

Gold Award

• Maya D