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| Important Dates & Reminders | |
| 22 August | Winter Woolies Day |
| 24 August | Book Week Parade & Dress Up Day |
| 22 - 25 August | Scholastic Book Fair |
| 31 August | Confirmation Retreat Day & Parent/Child Formation Meeting |
| 1 September | Father's Day Liturgy |
| 5 September | Confirmation @ St Michael's |
| 22 September | St Michael's Feast Day |
Dear Parents and carers,
I hope you are enjoying the early signs of a Spring soon to be with us, including the striking gold and green colours of our wattle.
Green and gold will be the theme as we cheer for our wonderful Matilda’s tonight!
Staff illness
A relief teacher shortage continues to impact on our ability to cover teacher absences. I often step in to teach a class together with Bridgette McCann on any given day as we are unable to source relief teaching staff. There are days when several staff are absent and while we can cover some classes, we need to split other classes across the school. Teachers have ‘day-away’ learning prepared for students and they are included and supervised by other class teachers. If your child says “my class was split today” this would be the reason. We certainly do our best to ensure that this is a rare occurrence, however we are impacted by staff illness during this time of year.
Absent Notes
Thank you to all our families who are assisting us to update Compass to ensure historical absences are updated. Thank you also to Maria and Lynda in the front office who have been supporting families to update information, please call us if you have any questions or concerns as we are here to help.
Principal Siloam
Today I am at Galong with a group of Principals and Father Emil Milat for ‘Siloam’ a brief period of prayer, scripture reflection and professional collaboration. The term Siloam comes from the healing pool where Jesus sends a man born blind to wash his eyes, (John 9: 2-12)
In miraculous events, Jesus reveals his divinity and the power of God’s love. We are asked not merely to understand the event as a healing miracle, but a sign to remind us about our own sight. Are we open to the love of Jesus in our lives, being able to see others with not only open eyes but open hearts? Jesus refers to our spiritual blindness when he refers to ‘those who do not see’ and asks us to follow his example and to believe.
Thank you for your continued support, and best wishes to those in our community who are currently unwell.
Many blessings,
Judy Egan
Registrations can be done at Eventbrite For those unable to travel to Canberra to attend in-person, there is a live streaming registration option.
Congratulations to the following students who achieved a Harmony Award this week.
Well done!!
| KD | Alexander K |
| 1/2K | Benjamin A |
| 1/2T | Vivaan T |
| 3/4B | Milos Z |
| 3/4O | Kitsab N |
| 5/6H | Nina K |
| 5/6M | Ryan P |
| 5/6S | Oscar W |
Parish Sacramental Program 2023
Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on:
Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 6pm in St Michael’s Church, Kaleen;
Wednesday 6 September 2023 at 6pm in St Monica’s Church, Evatt; and
Thursday 7 September 2023at 6pm in St Monica’s Church, Evatt.
Home Booklets – Parents should now be working through the home booklet with their child in preparation for the Sacrament. The booklets will need to be completed ready for retreat day and the child/parent formation night on 31 August 2023.
Home booklets will then to be handed back to the school for collection so that they can be signed with the parish stamp and then be available with certificates at the liturgy celebration.
Child/Parent Formation evening – will be held in St Monica’s Church at 6pm on Thursday 31 August 2023 – please bring your completed home booklet to the evening.
‘Trybooking’ for the Sacrament of Confirmation – Fr Mick would like to cap the bookings to a maximum of 20 candidates for each liturgy celebration.
Please note: When you make your booking, please only book 1 place in the name of the candidate celebrating the Sacrament – all families will be allocated a pew in the church (if you have additional guests they will be able to overflow across the aisle).
The ‘trybooking’ is open and will close on Friday 18 August 2023.
The links will be available on the Parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
If you are having trouble booking a spot, please contact the sacramental program coordinator at sue.coll@bigpond.com or through the trybooking email.
Stoles for Confirmation
Purchased stoles have now been delivered to the schools. If you purchased a stole and you have not yet received it, please send me an email at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au
Alternatively, if you did not order a stole and would still like to purchase one, please email Sue at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au
Note: It is not compulsory to order a stole, you can borrow one on the night.
Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated in term 1, 2024.
For further Information – please contact the Sacramental Program Coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or check the parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
Whole School Focus: Wisdom
Our Harmony Awards for weeks 5 and 6 will celebrate students who display our school value of wisdom. Wisdom is knowing right from wrong and using this right judgment to help create a life which glorifies God. Wisdom is also a gift of the Holy Spirit, which helps us to live a Christian life. At St Michael’s we have our 4 B’s which help us to make wise choices: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be a Learner. These rules help keep everyone happy, safe and live in harmony . We look forward to celebrating students who display our school value of wisdom.
The Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is a teaching of the Catholic Church, which states that after the Holy Mother of Jesus died, she was resurrected, glorified, and her soul was taken to heaven. The Assumption signals the end of Mary's life on Earth and her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. The Assumption is the fourth Glorious Mystery in the Rosary. When we pray the Rosary, we remember that Mary is always with us. The Feast of the Assumption is a Holy Day of obligation celebrated on the 15th of August every year.
Prayer for the Assumption of Mary
Father in heaven,
all creation rightly gives you praise,
for all life and all holiness come from you.
In the plan of your wisdom
she who bore the Christ in her womb
was raised body and soul in glory to be with him in heaven.
May we follow her example in reflecting your holiness
and join in her hymn of endless love and praise.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Winter Woolies Day 22nd August
Next Tuesday, we will be having our Winter Woolies Day in support of the Vinnies Winter Appeal. The day will begin with mass at St Michael’s at 9:30am. Parents are most welcome to join us. During the day staff of Saint Vincent dePaul will run workshops to help educate students on social justice. One of the ways we are asking families to support the day is by donations. On the day there will be tubs in front of the school to place donations which will be much appreciated by the team at Vinnies and be distributed to those experiencing homelessness in our local community. Students can wear their own Winter woolies.
If you would like more information about the Saint Vincent dePaul Society and how they support the community, please see website link below:
Schools Newsletter (vinnies.org.au)
Key Dates RE for Term 3
|
22 August |
Winter Woolies Day |
|
31 August |
Confirmation Retreat and Parent/Child Formation Evening |
|
1 September |
Father’s Day Liturgy |
|
5 September |
Sacrament of Confirmation (St Michael’s) |
|
22 September |
St Michael’s Feast Day Celebration |
For all Religious Education enquiries please email Erika Tokich at:
erika.tokich@cg.catholic.edu.au
We have entered 3/4 netball, 5/6 netball, 3/4 touch football and 5/6 touch football teams! Thank you all those who have volunteered to assist as coaches, managers and umpires. We are still looking to fill a few of these rolls. If you are able to assist, please get in touch.
If you would still like your child to participate please return the permission note via Compass.
Please note that on some occasions we are unable to enter teams due to not having a sufficient number of players. It is a requirement of the organisers that each team is able to provide a coach, umpire/referee and manager. We are dependent on parent volunteers for these roles and your time is very much appreciated.
Parents need to arrange their own transport/car pooling to and from Boorowa. It is 1.5-2hr drive from Canberra.
Belconnen Region Athletics Carnival - Congratulations
