We now have had 2 weeks of having all the children back on site. This has been a fabulous transition back to school, the students have seamlessly settled back into school routine and are enjoying seeing their teachers and their friends.

Thank you to our parents who helped welcome back our students with balloons and bunting, it was a lovely way to enter the school.

Despite a smooth transition back to school, this week has provided a small hurdle. I would like to sincerely thank the school community for keeping the school informed with relevant COVID-19 information. This has been very helpful in allowing us to work closely with the MInistry of Health and CEO to determine the best course of action in order to keep all families, staff and students safe.

Through this challenging waiting game I again truly thank you for the patience, understanding and support you have shown the school. We fully acknowledge how difficult this has been and the added stress and anxiety this may have presented for some families. Continue to follow the health advice and provide the school with a copy of any results that come through. Most importantly please be safe, walk gently and take care.

God Bless

Mrs Belinda Hughes - Principal

Year 6 Activate Fire 

Tuesday23rd November 2021

As part of the Year 6 Religion Curriculum our Year 6 students will be involved in an Immersive Spiritual Experience based on the Year 6 unit Confirmation: Celebrating the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

This will held on Tuesday November 23. The day will be facilitated by their teachers Emma Riolo and Madeline Negus.

Students are required to wear their sports uniform and bring their recess, lunch and water bottle on this day. 

Year 6 Graduation 2021 

Monday December 6th

6:30pm Start 

This year, taking into consideration Public Health Orders and in consultation with Fr Ken, the decision has been made to hold the Year 6 Graduation outdoors on our top playground. 

Having the graduation outside will allow both parents and siblings to attend. 

The Graduation Liturgy will be facilitated by Father Ken beginning at 6:30pm (adjusted start time from previously advertised) around the outdoor prayer space. Following this there will be some further celebrations as well as some light refreshments for those attending. 

In the event of inclement weather including rain or strong winds parents will be notified via compass by 12:00pm and the graduation will take place in the hall. Due to indoor PHO restrictions, if this is the case students and ONE parent will be able to attend the graduation.

These plans have been made with the best intentions to be able to have families involved in the celebrations.

Grandparent’s Day 

We usually have a special celebration for our grandparents and great people each year, however this year due to covid we are unable to do this. 

Instead, we thought that we would bring the beautiful children of St Michael’s into your hearts and homes this year. Each class has created a special video to acknowledge and bless all the beautiful grandparents and great people in our lives. These will be sent out on Friday November 19th via compass.  

What children need most are what grandparents and greatpeople can provide in abundance. They provide unconditional love, patience, humour, kindness, comfort and lessons in life. 

Christian Meditation 

Attention: Parents of Students in Year 2 

The Sacraments of First Penance and First Communion are celebrated in our Parish towards the end of the Year 2 as by then most students are at least seven years old.  Enrolments were due to close on 14 September.  However, with the lockdown – continuing for our churches until at least the end of October – it has been resolved that the preparation for and celebration of these Sacraments will now take place early in 2022 – health regulations permitting.

However, if you have not enrolled your daughter or son for these Sacraments, please enrol now so that you will be able to be kept informed of when the preparation and celebrations will take place.

To enrol, download the enrolment form from the Parish website by clicking here

REMEMBRANCE DAY

On Thursday 11th November our school will be participating in a zoom Remembrance service from 10:15am -10:45am. Students from Years K to 6 will be involved in the service. 

Parent Spirituality 

PODCAST LINKS:

LINK TO PODBEAN: https://ripples.dow.catholic.edu.au

APPLE PODCAST LINK: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ripples/id1511337808 

Andrew Chinn: Christmas Concert  

Thursday 2nd December, 2021. 

On Thursday the 2nd of December, Andrew Chinn will be running face to face or virtual Christmas workshops for our students during the day, which will culminate in a Christmas Celebration which aligns with Public Health Orders. More details in terms of timing will come in following correspondence.  Since 2001, Andrew has regularly toured schools and parishes around Australia, New Zealand and in more recent times, North America. His concerts and workshops are celebrations of faith and fun through singing, actions and a bit of comedy as well. Children are very much encouraged to be active participants, rather than spectators. This event will be dependent on Covid restrictions at the time.

Miss Emma Groves - Religious Education Coordinator

Semester 2 Reports 2021

Due to the disruption caused by COVID-19, adjustments to curriculum have been made throughout Terms 3 and 4. Focus for Semester 2 has been on student wellbeing and learning, and priority has been given to Religious Education, English and Mathematics. As a result of this extended period of Remote Learning and the lack of opportunities for teachers to provide reliable assessment tasks to determine student learning attainment and/or growth, student reporting in Semester 2, 2021 will look a little different to the one you received earlier this year. 

This Report provides information about your child’s participation in learning during this time of extended Remote Learning. I would like to extend my thanks to you, the parents and carers, for your ongoing support and commitment to your child’s learning through these unique times.

Assembly

Assemblies this term will continue to be on odd weeks making our next assembly Friday, 19 November. Due to COVID restrictions the assemblies will still be over zoom. Each class will zoom in and our school leaders will lead us through proceedings. Parents will be invited to join us for our zoom assemblies, a link will be sent out via compass on Friday morning. 

We look forward to coming together as a community in a virtual way to celebrate the wonderful learning in our school. 

Annual School Report Parent Survey

Each year the school is required to put together an Annual School Report. A part of the process is to report on student, staff and parent input on the school. If you could please take 5 minutes to complete the attached survey by the end of next week that would be greatly appreciated. It should take no longer than 5 minutes.

https://forms.gle/BAQa6j31yg9CXPRz7

Staffing News

Congratulations to Miss Emma Groves who has been seconded to Ss Peter and Paul Kiama as REC for 2022. We wish Miss Groves all the best for her time at Kiama and look forward to welcoming her back in 2023.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Miss Emma Groves who recently got engaged to her partner Anthony, we wish them all the best as they begin the planning. Congratulations is also in order for Mrs Amie Dutaillis who is expecting her second child in 2022 with husband Shaun. 

Learning Labs - University of Wollongong

Just a reminder that applications are now open! The University of Wollongong invites your students to LITTLE and EARLY LEARNING LABS, an academic and creative arts enrichment holiday program. We are targeting students from Year 1 to 6 who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners.

Dates: Little Learning Labs (Years 1 and 2): 10th – 12th January 2022

Early Learning Labs (Years 3 to 6): 17th – 21st January 2022

Venue: University of Wollongong (Wollongong campus only)

Applications close: Wednesday, 17th November 2021

 LITTLE AND EARLY LEARNING LABS program brochure

APPLICATION PROCESS

• Parents/Guardians visit our website and read the full list of workshops available by scrolling to the “Workshop Descriptions” section.
• Students apply for workshops that are within their current year (ie. Year 4 students in 2021 will apply for the Early Learning Labs- Year 3 & 4). In exceptional circumstances, we are willing to review applicants who would like to try a more challenging workshop.
• Parents/Guardians fill out the online application form.
• This is an academic and creative arts enrichment program designed for students who are motivated and passionate learners and performing excellently in their area of interest. First-time applicants are required to demonstrate their suitability for the program. One piece of supporting documentation is required (see 'Supporting Documentation' section on website).
• Learning Labs is registered as COVID-Safe and follows the guidelines set out by the NSW Government here.

For further information about workshops and the application process please visit our website, or contact the Learning Labs team via email at learning-labs@uow.edu.au.

Book Week Reminder

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.

Toys brought to school

A reminder under current COVID-19 restrictions children are not permitted to bring toys or objects to school. If they are bringing in something for news it comes out of their bag for news and is returned straight after news. Thank you for your cooperation.

Canteen News

The canteen will be reopening for lunch online orders only, on a Friday, from 19th November.

Each year Stage 3 students from Catholic schools across the Diocese of Wollongong are invited to take part in the annual Christmas Story Art Competition.  This initiative was designed to celebrate and explore student’s creative and artistic ability in illustrating the Christmas Story.  This year Year 5 and Year 6 have created some amazing Artworks.   Please see below just a sample of their outstanding work.

Mrs Laura Aguilera - Creative Arts Teacher

Principal Awards:

• Felix N
• Chloe K
• Elijah M
• Sebastian C
• Libby S
• Harper P
• Craig A
• Sophia L
• Kaden B
• Oliver F
• Emily D
• Eddie H

Gold Award

• Sebastian C
• Olivia L
• Sophia L