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Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
I hope that the holidays provided the opportunity for all families to take a break from the routines that accompany the school term. Whilst the appearance of the sun was fleeting over the holidays, it was a reminder that we are about to head into some warmer days and need to once again support our children to be sun smart. Our school policy is that all children wear school hats from the start of term 4 and so I ask that you please make sure that all children have their hats at school this week and that all hats are clearly named.
This term is certainly going to be a busy one. The Grade Six students are entering into their transition to Secondary School, Foundation and One and Two students will undertake their swimming programs, the grade Five children have their Coolamatong Camp, and Eucharist for the grade 4 children. There are also whole school activities such as the Walkathon/Diversity Dash and Art Show. We will also welcome the 2024 Foundation students who will be embarking on their Transition program beginning in November.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
- 13th October: Andrew Chinn incursion
- 16th - 26th October: 1/2 Swimming
- 25th October:First Eucharist Parent Meeting
- 27th October:Walkathon/Diversity Dash
- 30th October - 2nd November: Foundation Swimming Program (Week One)
- 1st - 3rd November: Grade 5 Camp
- 6th November: School Closure Day
- 7th November: Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday
- 10th November: School Art Show
- 13th - 16th November: Foundation Swimming Program (Week Two)
- 20th November: Foundation 2024 Transition
- 22nd November: Foundation 2024 Information Meeting
FIRST AID PROTOCOLS FOR NOTIFYING INCIDENTS
At times you may have received a phone call from a staff member indicating that your child has injured themselves at school. From Term 4, phone calls will only be used in urgent and serious cases. Instead, parents will now be informed that their child has visited first aid and received treatment via an email sent to your PAM account.
Kind regards
Jodie
Each week students from each class are awarded Student of the Week certificates. These children are nominated for the example they have been within the school based on the School Wide Expectation focus for that week. The weekly focus will be from Wednesday until Tuesday the following week. Awards will be presented to students at assembly on Friday.
In Week 1 the School Wide Expectation focus is Honesty :
I always tell the truth.
I am honest when reflecting on my personal performance.
I take responsibility for my actions.
The award winners for Week 1 are:
| Ameleia Manio | Janina De Souza-Daw | Lisamaria Thomas |
| Maia Conway | Isabella Ketchion | Kumen Konyi |
| Joshua Lia | Oliver Sutherland | Flynn Waite |
| Imogen Hunter | Jaxon Flowers | Isabel Lavery |
| Christopher Di Sisto | Pearl Beckingham | Lincoln Geary |
| Kyah Pham | Riley O'Mara | Torah Chapman |
| Huntah Martin | Jordan Marcou | Amahlie Smith |
This week’s gospel passage is one of many within Matthew’s gospel that show Jesus at odds with the religious authorities of his day. The picture of the religious leaders that comes through Matthew’s gospel is one of hypocrisy. Jesus is frequently portrayed as criticising the leaders for holding too strongly to the letter of the law and ignoring the spirit of the law and the call to compassion. This week’s passage has Jesus seeking the opinion of the chief priests and elders on a hypothetical situation (a common style of debating a point of law in the Jewish tradition). He describes two sons, each asked by their father to go and work in the family vineyard. The first says ‘No’ but later does his father’s bidding. The second says ‘Yes’ but doesn’t follow through on his commitment.'
Jesus is criticising the religious leaders of his time who, with their words, said ‘Yes’ to God but by their actions said ‘No’. In many ways, it is easy to say ‘Yes’ and not really mean it. Some people do it all the time in their lives. They say ‘Yes’ when they have no intention at all of following through on their commitment. It’s easy to say ‘Yes’ and not mean it when it comes to faith as well. It’s pretty easy to turn up at Church on a Sunday and be seen to be doing the ‘right’ thing. But if our faith doesn’t change the way we live, then maybe we’re really saying ‘No’ to God.
Each year at St Michaels we support several different organisations as part of our Mission Outreach; including Caritas, St Vincent de Paul and Catholic Mission. As a Catholic Community we are inspired by the life of Jesus to reach out to those in this world that are marginalised or less fortunate than we are. Our mission focus for the rest of this year is on the work of Catholic Mission in Timor-Leste.
This year Catholic Mission are supporting the work of the Salesian Sisters in Timor-Leste with 2 important projects: the Don Bosco Children’s Home and the Maria Auxiliadora Medical Clinic. These are two very important services that the Salesian Sisters have established to support the people in the community.
At St Michaels we are focusing our fundraising efforts on the Children's home. The staff at the Don Bosco Children’s Home under the guidance of the Salesian Sisters not only provide a home for many children but give them access to education. Every $20 that we raise at St Michaels will provide the students with books and equipment to aid their learning.
We began our fundraising campaign last term, raising $600 on our casual clothes day. The first of this term's efforts will start this week with a Colouring Competition and a ‘Guess the lollies in the jar’. The students from the Mission Team will come around to the classrooms over the next few days to speak with the children. Entry in both of these competitions will be 50c
If you would like to learn more about the work that Catholic Mission are doing please check out the website Socktober: for mission month
On Friday 13th October, Australian religious songwriter and singer, Andrew Chinn, will be visiting our school to share his songs with our children. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands”, “Rainbow”, “An African Blessing” and “Rise Up!” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. During the day Andrew will work with the children in their learning levels and in the afternoon we will have a whole school performance. The performance will take place in the school hall, at 1:55pm instead of assembly.
The shop will be open every 4th Thursday of the month. The next day it will be open will be on Thursday 26th October from 3:00pm to 3:30pm. The stall is located in the large meeting room at the school, so those wishing to purchase items will need to enter through the main office. Donations and swaps welcome.
