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Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
We hope all the Dads, Grandfathers and those assuming these responsibilities had a lovely day on Sunday. I know the children were very excited with their purchases and things they had made at school.
CHILD SAFETY WEEK
Child Safety Week runs from September 3rd to September 10th. This week allows us to celebrate and reflect on the importance of every child’s right to feel safe, secure and heard. This year we have begun a student group of child safety champions with representatives from grades 1-6. We thank them for putting up the posters around the school to celebrate this week.
TAIZÉ UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS
FISHING KITS
The Victorian Government is investing $1.5 million from the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fund to provide up to 95,000 Little Angler Kits to primary school aged children in Victoria.
The free kits provide a wonderful school holiday activity for children with their families and help ease the cost of living, providing a fun activity close to home.
Grade 5 students at all Victorian schools, including ours, will be offered the opportunity to receive a FREE Little Angler Kit. Grade 5 students have been selected based on the Victorian Curriculum focus, movement and motor development, and safety considerations.
The program is entirely voluntary. Schools were provided with the option to opt out of the program. Our school has opted to stay in the program so that parents can decide whether they want their child(ren) to receive a free fishing kit.
Parents of Grade 5 students can advise the school if they do not wish their child(ren) to participate for any reason whatsoever. We support parents in making decisions that align with their family values and beliefs. Please contact the school if you DO NOT want your child to receive the kit.
The roll out of kits will occur through the second half of 2023 (16 October - 4 December) so that all participating children will have a kit in time for the summer school holidays.
The kits include a rod, reel with line, tackle tray, some tackle and information on how to use them to catch a fish. Please note that the tackle tray includes fishing hooks. The tackle tray will be wrapped in cardboard and placed inside a pocket inside the fishing kit bag, which will be sealed with a cable tie to discourage students from opening their kits until they are with a parent or carer.
Kits will be handed out to students to take home with them as soon as the school receives them. Teachers will tell students not to open the kits until they are safely at home with a parent or carer, however parents can contact the school and request to collect their kit from the school themselves if they prefer.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority will create a Little Angler hub on their website, which will be live when the kits start being distributed. It will have useful information, instructional videos and online resources about where and how to fish linking to existing resources from Fishcare and new resources to be produced just for the Little Angler Kits program.
This initiative aims to grow recreational fishing participation in Victoria by actively encouraging primary school aged children to learn how to fish, as well as learning more about marine life and the natural environment.
Kind regards
Jodie
- Thursday 7th September - Italian Week Dress up day and parade
- Friday 8th September - School closure day
- Monday 11th September - Fairytale day (Foundation only)
- Monday 11th September - Year 3 Camp to Allambee
- Thursday 14th September - Footy Colours day
- End of term -Thursday 14th September at 3:20 pm.
FAMILY GROUP NEWS: St Michael’s Family Groups are part of the world wide Passionist Family Group Movement which was begun in Sydney by the late Fr Peter McGrath. In 1987, St Michael’s Family Groups were launched by the Passionist Fathers after being approached by Fr Cagney. Since then they have been coordinated by Jenny and Peter Dal Pra, assisted by Marie and Neil Limbom.
We have been blessed with wonderful leaders of our now nine groups and over the years many strong friendships have been made in these groups following their many functions. We have been there to support each other in our good times and many fun times and also in some not so good times.
We are thrilled to announce that this week Sue and Peter Rickwood took over as coordinators of the St Michael’s Family Groups, assisted by our group leaders. We are sure that the groups are in very capable hands and there will be many exciting times ahead under our new leadership.
If you would like to join a family group, please ask at the parish office or see Sue and Peter, they will be glad to hear from you. We are thankful that Peter and Sue have agreed to take on the role of leadership of our Family Group Ministry. Thank you all.
FIRST COMMUNION: Enrolments are now open for children wishing to prepare for the Sacrament of First Communion. Any child in Grade 4 or above who has been baptised and has celebrated their first reconciliation is able to enrol. First Communion will be celebrated at parish masses on the weekend of November 25/26. A parent information night will be held in the St Michael’s Church on Wednesday October 25 at 6pm. Please contact Jen at sacraments@smpt.org.au for more information or to receive an enrolment form. Enrolments are due Saturday September 16th.
In the week beginning September the 4th, the school will celebrate an Italian cultural week. A number of things will happen during this week..
Firstly, there will be a school incursion on Monday the 4th of September. This will be held in the school hall. We have an Italian magician coming to perform 2 shows during the day for the children.
On Thursday the 7th of September at about 9am, we will have a school parade. Parents, family and friends are warmly welcomed to attend. The children are invited to dress up in the Italian colours (green, white and red) or as an Italian character.
Some simple ideas are as follows:
- a pizza chef - just need a pizza box and an apron
- a gondolier driver - a stripey top and black pants
- gelato (ice cream) - a colourful wig with brown clothing
- a Carnevale participant- a mask (can be made or Spotlight has some)
- a soccer player - soccer top and soccer ball
- a painter like Michelangelo - school art smock or old shirt and a paintbrush
- any clothing with the Italian colours (red, white green) - some children wear green sports tops on sports day and all children have a red polo shirt.
- An Italian flag
On this day, the children will also be able to taste some gelati. If your child is not able to have gelati because of health issues, please contact Carla Scholtes on the email address below to arrange an alternative. We usually also have available gluten and dairy free sorbet, such as Gelativo from Woolies but please let her know if your child will need this.The gelati will be served in cups, not cones. (cscholtes@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au).
Footy Day
Hot Dog Day
Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
On Thursday 14th September the school will hold a Hot Dog day for Footy Day which will be organised by our Parents and Friends Committee.
Hot dogs will be available for $1. No other items will be supplied with the lunch order. Students are able to purchase more than one hot dog if required. Gluten free and vegetarian hotdogs will be available.
Orders are to be made and paid for on CDFpay(stmtraralgon.cdfpay.
We are looking for parent helpers to assist with the preparation and serving of the hot dogs. If you are able to help, and have a current Working With Children's Check, please click on the link below by Monday 11th September at 10pm.You will receive a text message or email to confirm that your assistance is required.
Footy Hot dog day Parent Helper
Kind regards,
St Michael's Parents and Friends Committee
The Second Hand uniform shop
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.
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 9 the School Wide Expectation focus is Respect :
I treat my peers, teachers and learning environment with respect.
I show appreciation for the efforts of others.
I speak kindly to others.
I show justice and fairness to all.
I listen carefully to others.
The award winners for Week 9 are:
| Kit Wilson | Virginia Sanchez | Chelsea Pace |
| Quinnie Tiong | Peyton Rode | Lahna Murphy |
| Tomike Ayeni | Kyan Hopman | Leah Kalapurackal |
| Elise McKenna | Isabella Constantinou | Amelie Harper |
| Jacob Constantinou | Eli Brady | Candice Bramwell |
| Maggie Heller | Rose Calabro | |
| Toby Sutherland | Harlan Moore |
Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge
The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 8 September 2023.
There are 4 days left to complete the challenge! Could students participating please complete their entries by the 5th of September to allow time for verification.
Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.
All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.
To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge
Deborah Gilmour in the school library is able to help with any enquires.
In our own times, when the threat posed by climate change is becoming increasingly obvious, this Gospel passage asks us to look and act with openness to our sharing in God’s plan. There is no mandate here for doing nothing and letting catastrophe happen. Ours is not a religion of sanctified fatalism or pious denialism. Ours is a faith which demands that we face reality, however scary it sometimes seems. We are people of hope.
After all, Jesus doesn’t drift towards disaster. Rather, Jesus steps knowingly on the path towards salvation. His is a determined journey, aiming at redeeming the world. He has already told the disciples that good shall come of this. Peter’s protestation comes from an understandable but misplaced attachment to the secure ways of the present. Peter, fearful of a change that is already underway, reflexively wants to deny it.
Like Peter before us, Jesus calls every one of us to follow him. We can do that by renouncing our selfishness and, like Peter eventually did, getting over our denialist habits.
