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Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
I recently had the pleasure to listen to a group of grade five children who presented a speech to their teachers and peers about why they would be a suitable candidate to be school captain. All the speeches showed a lot of thought and preparation had gone into them and they were of a very high standard. Whilst only some children can be chosen to do this role there are other opportunities for student leadership at St Michael’s including House Captain, Environmental Team and Student Leadership committee and I encourage those who missed out a school captain role to consider nominating for one of these roles.
I am pleased to say that the following students have been chosen to be the 2024 school captains:
- Tommy Denyer
- Clementine Reid
- Olivia Uren
- Leila Howell
Congratulations to them and I look forward to working with them next year.
I would also like to congratulate this year’s school and house captains on their work this year. You have all been outstanding representatives of St Michael’s this year.
Lego Donations
Next year, we are introducing a new specialist subject, STEM. All grades will participate in STEM and we are on the hunt for lots of different materials to help stock our STEM classroom. In particular, we would love if you were able to donate any Lego (not duplo) that you no longer use at home. We thought that it might be a timely request, as many families are cleaning out items before Christmas hits. We thank you in anticipation!
Advent
This coming weekend is the Second Sunday of Advent, where we are given the person of St. John the Baptist to ponder. What a gift he is! Jesus Himself stated that “among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). What a compliment!
What is it that made John so great? We can point to two things in particular. The first has to do with his calling and the second has to do with his virtue.
First of all, John was great because he was the transition from the Old Testament Prophets to the New Testament. He was the bridge that prepared for the new life to come. His unique mission makes him truly great.
But John was great not only because of his unique calling, he was also great because of the virtue he had in his life. And it is this gift that is worth pondering for our own inspiration more than any other.
The particular virtue that John had was that of humility. He saw himself as nothing other than a “voice of one crying out in the desert.” And the Word he spoke was Jesus.
John acknowledged that he was not even worthy to stoop down and untie the sandal straps of Jesus (Mark 1:7). John was not in it for praise and honor; rather, his mission was to point everyone to the Savior of the world. He could have sought the honor and praise of many and he would have certainly received it. They may have even made him king. But John was more than willing to fulfill his mission and then submit himself to the cruel sword of his executioner. His humility was such that he was focused only on Jesus and desired only to point to Him. (https://mycatholic.life)
Lord, thank You for the gift of St. John the Baptist. May his witness of humility inspire me in my Christian walk. Help me, Lord, to always point others to You rather than to myself. Jesus, I trust in You.
Kind regards
Jodie
DATES TO REMEMBER:
- 8th December - End of year Mass
- 13th December - Graduation Mass
- 18th December - students last day
- 31st January - First day for students in Grades 1-6
- 1st February - First day for Foundation students
Jodie
Dear Parents,
On Friday the 8th of December, we have a Kindness Day. You might be thinking, what is kindness day? Kindness day is the day where we promote kindness. Students will be participating in kindness activities including:
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Reading a kindness book
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Kindness mindfulness colouring sheets
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Discussing what being kind is to them and collating the ideas as a class and then school
Around the school, there will be posters with buckets on them. If someone does something kind to a student, the kindness recipient will write the kindness givers name on the bucket filler poster.
We hope this day will be an annual thing at St Michael’s .
Thank you to Mrs Dortmans for organising Kindness Day and to all the people in the Kindness Day committee for all their contribution and ideas.
We hope this day will encourage students to be kind, not just today but throughout the rest of the year and all of their years to come throughout their life.
Written by Mia Francolino, Ariana Riseley and Phoebe Walker.
The season of Advent begins this week and continues through the four Sundays of Advent and ends at Christmas Eve with the coming of Christ into the world. The first week of Advent focuses on the return of the Lord and the following weeks focus more specifically on the anticipation of the birth of Jesus. Rather than simply commemorating an historical event, Advent is a time of preparing our hearts to ‘receive’ Jesus into the world each year. Advent is traditionally marked by the colour of violet – the same colour as used in Lent.
Stay awake! With these words, Jesus cautions his disciples to be constantly vigilant and to be alert to the return of the Lord. It is a very fitting way to begin the season of Advent. Perhaps the time of preparation this Advent is also a call to stay awake and stay alert in faith.
One of the great challenges to faith today is the complacency that has taken hold of many in our society. When life is comfortable, the perceived need for faith appears to diminish. Many young people in our society cannot see the value of religious belief or religious practice. In a world of instant communication and instant ‘satisfaction’, the reflective and slow work of faith can seem too much effort for some people. The gospel call to stay awake in preparation for the coming of the Lord is a call to continue the work of bringing about the Kingdom of God.
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 in the classroom on Thursday due to the student free day on Friday.
In Week 10 the School Wide Expectation focus is Learning :
I set high expectations of what I can achieve.
I work hard and always try my best.
I reflect on my own learning and how I can improve.
I can receive and act on feedback.
| Sebastien Crozier | Lakyn Lowe | Audrey Crow |
| Quinnie Tiong | Elijah Groves | Scarlett Lansdown |
| Hailee Collison | Joel Wilson | Amel Manhiem |
| Oscar Hill | Branson Flewin | Jaymes Johnstone |
| Boston Shaw | Sophie Uren | Nash Dean-Robson |
| Jacob Geary | Harrison Rathjen | Harrison Milliner |
| Saxon Clark-O'Connor | Ava Berkelmans | Imogen Rouget |
As you know each year we collect Christmas items for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers. On Friday 8th December we will be presenting the St Vinnies team with a collection of items to help make Christmas a little brighter for some of our local families.
We have been provided with a list of food items that are required by the team at St Vinnies, this might make things a little easier when you are thinking about what to send into school.
Donation ideas: Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, tinned ham, custard, mince pies, shortbread, tinned fruit, either sweet or savoury biscuits, potato chips, bags of lollies or soft drink.
The children are very excited about reaching the target of 1,000 items by Friday 8th December.
As Jesus says in this week's gospel “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” When they questioned Jesus about this, he replied “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” Matt 25: 35 - 40
