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| THIS WEEK | |
| 11 August | K-2 Zoo Excursion |
| 12 August | Sacrament of Confirmation Retreat Day |
| 12 August | Sacrament of Confirmation Parent & Child Formation Night |
| 13 August | WSPT - Feast of the Assumption led by 3/4A @ 8.50am in the Church |
| NEXT WEEK | |
| 17 August | Tennis K-2 |
| 19 August | Tennis 3-6 |
| 20 August | 3/4Y Class Assembly @ 2.20pm |
| 20 August | Belconnen Region Athletics |
| COMING UP | |
| 23 August | Book Week - Virtual Author |
| 24 August | ILF Great Book Swap |
| 25 August | Book Week Dress Up Parade |
| 7 September | Sacrament of Confirmation |
Please remember that copies of notes sent home are available on our website. https://www.stmichaelsps.act.edu.au/notes
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you and your families have enjoyed the amazing feats of our Olympians over the past weeks. It’s powerful for our children to see the joy and reward that comes from years of training. It’s also a good opportunity to chat with your child about setting goals and working towards achieving them.
In Semester One students developed learning goals and at the end of last term parents/carers received a Semester One report around their academic grades in subject areas. This was followed by an opportunity for parents to meet with the teacher and discuss their child's strengths and challenges for the coming terms.
There have been ongoing discussions at a system level about Reporting including the use of individual student comments. Regardless of the type of report we are mandated to use, I would like to trial earlier interviews in Term 4, followed by the system report.
I have certainly passed on any feedback around reports and have also raised concerns around the inability of the report to address student effort. The official document is one aspect of the report, however the genuine conversation around your child’s strengths and challenges remains crucial to the process. I will continue to keep you informed around any changes to Semester 2 Reporting and the interview process. As always please make a time to meet with your teacher if you have any concerns or issues, we value your feedback and are committed to maintaining strong partnerships for all.
Trivia Night
Thank you to our amazing Community Council for the work that has gone into organising the Trivia Night. It has been decided to postpone the event until Term 4 when the weather is kinder and hopefully, we can all feel more confident being out and about and getting together.
Confirmation Retreat Day
Congratulations to the students preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation as they head over to SFX this Thursday. Thank you to our school and parish teams and to Father Loi for the wonderful leadership.
Peace and Hope
I know many of you may be feeling worried and concerned for your family members in NSW and VIC. I hope you are OK and that the delicate first spring blossoms emerging around us will brighten your day.
Thank you for all you do to continue to support our wonderful St Michael’s community,
Many Blessings
Judy Egan
COMPASS Update
PLEASE! PLEASE! Do Not sign your child in late or sign them out early on the Compass Parent Portal ie. on your phone or other device. You need to come in and sign them on the Kiosk at the Front Office. By signing them in late or out early through the Parent Portal you are causing inconsistencies in the system. You are only required to put in whole day absences through the Portal.
It is important that parents submit whole day absences through the Parent Portal at your ealiest convenience to keep our records up to date.
There is a pay option on COMPASS which we have been advised by CE is set up and ready to use. However, it should only be used for events that require payment as there are certain charges to you on some payments ie School Fees. We would still encourage you to use QKR as a preferred payment option where possible.
Thank you for working with us as we implement the new systems.
Religious Education Curriculum
Students in Year 1/2 are learning about some ways in which believers past and present honour Mary, Mother of Jesus, including by praying the Hail Mary. They are looking at the significance of prayer in Jesus’ life and in the lives of believers. Year 1/2 students are practising a variety of personal and communal prayer experiences, including Grace and the Hail Mary and meditative prayer practices, especially closing eyes, praying with beads and music. This link provides some support resources for you at home to practise these as a family. Praying the Rosary is a special time for families, a practice that is sadly falling away in our modern world.
https://cathfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/4.rosary_4_kids.pdf
Religious Life of St Michael’s School Community
St Mary MacKillop of the Cross Feast
Thank you to 5/6K and Miss Kapantais for your beautiful Whole School Prayer Time last Friday. It was a wonderful way to reflect on the life of St Mary MacKillop of the Cross.
Feast of the Assumption Whole School Prayer Time
3/4A are preparing to lead the whole school in prayer on Friday 13th August. The Whole School Prayer Time will be in the St Michael’s Church at the beginning of the school day, before morning assembly. The focus of our prayer that day will be the Feast of the Assumption which will occur on the following Sunday. All families are warmly invited to join us in the St Michael’s Church at the beginning of the school day.
Global School Partners: Jarriah Education Centre Update
We look forward to welcoming Mr Simon Carroll back to our school this Friday, 13th August, to share updates on our friends at Jarriah Education Centre in Kenya. Mr Carroll will speak to students in 3-6 from 12:30 in C Block and students in K-2 in B Block from around 1:00.
Confirmation Retreat
All students in Year 6 will participate in a retreat at St Francis Xavier College tomorrow, Thursday 12th August. They will be joined by Year 6 St Monica’s students as we come together as a parish community. Students will be exploring some key concepts around the Holy Spirit and the Scripture account of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples at Pentecost. Reminder that a pizza lunch will be provided but students need to bring their own morning tea and a drink bottle.
Sacramental Program 2021
Sacrament of Confirmation for eligible Year 6 students – will be celebrated on:
- 7 September in St Michael’s Church at 6pm
- 8 September in St Monica’s Church at 6pm
- 9 September in St Monica’s Church at 6pm
Registrations – are now closed and no further registrations will be accepted.
Retreat Day - is on this Thursday 12 August (this is a change to the advertised date in the timeline) and it will be held at St Francis Xavier College in Florey.
Candidates from St Michael's and St Monica's schools will be bused to and from SFX for the day.
Candidates should bring their own morning tea and water bottle. Pizza will be provided for lunch.
Child/Parent Formation night – is on this Thursday 12 August at 6pm in St Monica’s Church.
Trybooking – are now open for you to book your family for the service you have chosen. The links to book the service are listed on the parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
Saint’s Name and Sponsor – If you have not indicated this information on your registration form – could you please send an email to sc.belconnennorthg@cg.org.au with the information as soon as possible.
Further Information – please contact the Sacramental Program Coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or check the parish website for updates at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
Boorowa Touch & Netball Carnival
We have been advised by the coordinators that this year's carnival is planned to go ahead. Thank you to all those students who have returned notes, more information will come home shortly regarding teams. If there are any parents who are willing to referee/umpire, we are still looking for volunteers for these roles.
The Return of Hats
As we are now in August, hats are required when students are playing outside during break times. UV levels are now such that the Cancer Council recommends students need to wear a hat or play in the shade. New hats can be purchased from the Front Office. We thank you for your support.
Tennis Clinics
We are very excited to have confirmed that tennis clinics for all classes will commence next week and run until the end of this term. K-2 classes will have their lessons on Tuesday’s and 3-6 classes on Thursday's. Students are welcome to bring their own tennis racquet if they wish.
Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au
Congratulations
Congratulations to all the students who took on, and successfully completed, the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge. I have submitted our school results today and will let the students know when the awards will be presented.
Book Week Celebrations
We have lots of exciting events planned to celebrate the CBCA Book Week Awards this year. Book Week runs from the 21-27 August and this year’s theme is ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’. Below are the details for the events we have planned and we encourage students to come dressed as their favourite book character for our dress up day on Wednesday 25th August (Week 7).
Book Week Events 2021
Monday 23 August – Leigh Hobbs author presentation
Leigh will work with our K-2 students and then with our 3-6 students to share his talents as the creator of the characters and stories featuring Old Tom, Horrible Harriet, Fiona the Pig, Mr Chicken and Mr Badger. Leigh will be giving the students some insights and tips for being both an author and illustrator. More information on Leigh Hobbs can be found on his website https://www.leighhobbs.com.au/
Tuesday 24 August – Great Book Swap
We will hold our Great Book Swap to raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation on Tuesday. Each student will visit the book swap with their class where they have the opportunity to select a book that they would like to take home. Please remember your gold coin donation. All money raised will be used to purchase new books for children in remote indigenous communities.
Wednesday 25 August –Dress Up Day
Students can come to school dressed as their favourite character from a book or as something inspired by this year’s theme ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’.
Board Games
If there are any families who are willing to donate board games they are no longer playing, we would gratefully accept any donations to be used during recess and lunch in the library. Board games can be left at the Front Office or given to Mrs Hardwick in the library.
Congratulations to the following students who achieved a Harmony Award in Week 5. Awards will be presented at Friday morning's assembly (weather permitting).
Well done!!
| KF | Emma M |
| 1/2B | Prisha N |
| 1/2H | Xanthia B |
| 3/4A | Bentley H |
| 3/4L | Joshua P |
| 3/4Y | Parth S |
| 5/6F | Tom P |
| 5/6K | Eamon C |
Special wishes to those children who celebrate their birthday this week:
Mitchell 5/6F, Jack 1/2B, Ashton KF and Lucy 1/2B
We hope you have a great day!!
DANCECORE - Dance classes are on Wednesdays at recess in the
school hall, enrolments are now online.Contact Cassie 0417 442 750
CHESS - Chess classes are held in C Block on Tuesdays at recess, forms are available at the Front Office. Contact Sydney Academy of Chess 9745 1170
GUITAR - Guitar lessons with Sam on Thursdays, please contact 
Sam on 0408 196 855
PIANO - Piano Lessons with Mary-Liz on Mondays & Tuesdays, please contact Mary-Liz on 0413 425 753
SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB - Scholastic Book club is back and runs twice a Term. If you have any queries, contact Mrs Monro or Mrs Hardwicke.
Please see the School Sport ACT webpage https://schoolsportact.org.au/ or Facebook page for the most up to date information.
SCHOOL SPORT ACT TRIALS – Please keep an eye on the School Sport ACT website https://schoolsportact.org.au/ for upcoming ACT trials. The process for registering can be found below. If you need any assistance registering your child please feel free to ask for assistance.
How to register your child with School Sport ACT
School Sport ACT now collects all registration information online – this is to prevent the movement to and fro of a paper note and have all information readily available to officials prior to the trial. As this process incurs a fee for data storage, system maintenance and admin, a small $5 fee payment via credit card will be required.
- Go to the School Sport ACT website – https://schoolsportact.org.au/
- Click Register (top right corner of homepage) for an Account – enter parent details and password
- A confirmation email will be sent to your chosen email that will contain a link that you must click on to verify the email account.
- Click Log In (top right hand corner of home page) enter password then click on top tab My Profile
- You will see a ‘dashboard’ of your information, click green box to Add Student – enter student and medical details and save.
- Go to the Sports Tab – choose your specific sport, click on Trial Information box then click on the Register to Trial link.
- Select your child’s name from the dropdown box and then enter the optional fields for Playing History, Preferred Position (if applicable) and Representative Experience. If you are already in the system, ensure your child’s school is up to date in your profile – have they moved onto High School?
Please contact me via email if you have any questions, feedback or are able to offer your assistance at any of our sporting events throughout the year.
Looking forward to another big year of sporting participation,
Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au