Tēnā koutou katoa St Michael’s Catholic School Community,
Mā mua ka kite a muri Those who lead give sight to those who follow Mā muri ka ora a mua Those who follow give life to those who lead ‘Whiria te tangata’ Weave the people together
On Tuesday 8 August we celebrated the Feast of ‘St Mary of the Cross’ - better known as St Mary MacKillop. Thank you to all those families who joined us at Mass. Our school’s charism is based on Mary MacKillop, whose vision and values embraced all whom she met.
SMCS Values
Attitude of Gratitude
Make Room For All
Listen to God’s Call
Do Your Bit
We ask God to help us to be like St Mary MacKillop in our lives today.
Bible-a-thon
A big thank you to Jo Hazel for organising and coordinating the school’s first Bible-at-thon challenge! It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the Bible, and to further their relationship with the Parish. Congratulations to this year’s winners:
Himeth Fernando, Josiah Loming, Emily Lunjevich, Francis Wong, Angela Angland (group category), Joshua and Albert Waalkens (group category).
The NED Show
Today the school hosted The NED Show.
NED's Mindset Mission focuses on positive behaviour using story-telling, illusion, yo-yo tricks, and humour.
On Saturday July 8th, Lauren Brown celebrated her wedding to Alex Carleton. Congratulations Lauren and Alex!
SMCS Cross Country - Friday 25th August at Monte Cecilia Park - Help needed
This year our School Cross Country is being held at Monte Cecilia Park in Hillsborough. We would really appreciate and need parent help to make this event successful. Please email John Hazelj.hazel@smcs.school.nz or Jo Petriej.petrie@smcs.school.nz if you are able to help out.
ICAS Year 4-6
A reminder of the upcoming ICAS test dates for those Year 4-6 students that have registered:
ICAS English – Wednesday 16 August (Week 5)
ICAS Science – Wednesday 23 August (Week 6)
ICAS Mathematics – Wednesday 30 August (Week 7)
If your child/ren bring their own device, they will need these for the test. We appreciate your help in ensuring they are charged up and ready!
Cans for Christmas
Once again this year we are participating in Cans for Christmas; a Catholic Schools fundraiser to collect cans of food for St Vincent de Paul to distribute to families in need. There will be a box in the office for you to begin dropping cans off at school. The last day for collection is Friday 8 September. Please see flyer in Community Notices.
Sustainability - Already composting?
The school is asking anyone who already composts at home and will not be using their small beige bin provided by the council, to consider donating them to the school. These bins are ideal for us to use in the classrooms for our school compost collection and will greatly help the children who are responsible for looking after them. Please bring them to Mrs Spora (Room 9) or Mrs Capon (Room 8). Thank you so much!
SMCS Policies – all our policies are on SchoolDocs , please follow the next four steps.
Start typing the school name and then select from the dropdown list.
Enter the community username and password: Username: smcs Password: mackillop
This term we are reviewing Inclusive Education, Māori Educational Success and Learning Support - Learning Support Coordination, Identify Learning Support, Gifted Learners.
Please click on the current review and then click on and read the policies. Next you click on under review and complete the survey. Your feedback would be appreciated.
13/08/23 - St Michael’s Parish AGM at 11am to 12:30pm
14/08/23 - Museum Trip for the Senior School
16/08/23 - ICAS English 9am to 11am
18/08/23 - Michael Mangan Concert
22/08/23 - Winter Field Day for some Senior Students
23/08/23 - Museum Trip for the Junior School 23/08/23 - ICAS Science 9am to 11am
24/08/23 - Daffodil Day - Yellow Mufti
25/08/23 - SMCS Cross Country at Monte Cecilia Park (Rain Day 28/08/23)
27/08/23 - SMCS and Parish Mass at 10am
30/08/23 - ICAS Mathematics 9am to 11am
31/08/23 - Photolife - Class and portrait photos 01/09/23 - Photolife - Sports Photos
05/09/23 - Catholic Cross Country (Rain Day 07/09/23)
06/09/23 - Remuera Speech Finals
08/09/23 - SMCS Disco - 5pm to 7pm
11/09/23 to 15/09/23 - Cultural Week
18/09/23 - Board of Trustees Meeting at 7pm
OTHER NOTICES
Need Help? A registered Social Worker is available, on a part-time basis, to provide free consultations to families seeking guidance with accessing specialist support, or who may be struggling with more complex challenges. Please contact Annie on 021 240 6454 or email anniesummerfield@yahoo.com to make an appointment. All consultations are conducted in strictest confidence.
Excerpt from ‘The Catholic Education of School-Age Children’ (NZ Bishops, 2014)
“While there is much anecdotal and observational information about post-school young Catholics in New Zealand, there has been until recently no formal research into their faith and their Catholicity.” (Page 8, 30)
Religious Education Term 3 Overview
Weeks 1 -6 – Sacrament Strand
Week 7-10 – God Strand
Week 8 - Caritas Social Justice Week
Across the school, during the Sacrament Strand, children learn about the different roles of the Sacraments in our lives and how they help us to grow closer in our relationship with God. In the God Strand, we learn about Who God is, how He is present in the world and our loves and the love and care he has for us.
Rosary Group Meet Every Friday at 1:15pm to 1:30pm at the Reflective Area (Church if raining)
St Michael’s Parish Website – Mass times - Sunday 8am, 10am & 5pm; Monday - Friday 7am & 12noon; Saturday 8am.
Mass For the Loss of a Child - Saturday 02 September at 5pm (scroll down for further details)
School Masses - Every Thursday at 9:15am (except on Feast Days)
Tuesday 15/08/23 - Feast of the Assumption - this is a Holy Day of obligation. All families welcome
24/08/23 - Rooms 6 and 10
Sunday 27/08/23 at 10am - School and Parish Mass - It is compulsory for all students to attend this Mass. Students wear their school uniform and meet in the Parish Centre (under the Church) at 9:40am
07/09/23 - Rooms 4 and 5
14/09/23 - Rooms 1 and 9
21/09/23 - Feast of St Michael - All families welcome
Feast of St Mary MacKillop (08 August)
Manaaki ki te Atua,
Ann McKeown
Principal Tumuaki
Catholic Diocese of Auckland
Vacancy -Pastoral Services Group Administrator & Communications Officer
The Catholic Diocese of Auckland is seeking a methodical, cheerful, dedicated, and highly efficient person for the role of PSG Administrator & Communications Officer to provide administration and operational support to the Leader Pastoral Services Group and providing communications support for the Diocese. This is a part-time role of 25 hours per week with flexibility of hours between 9am and3pm.
Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, along with proficient IT competency in Word, Excel, Free Source Design e.g. Canva and knowledge of websites (WordPress), social media, Facebook. Can work under own initiative be creative and have a can-do approach to work and is efficient, accurate and organised.
The Religious Education Committee invites you to gather on the 4th Friday of each month in our Church to pray for the needs of parish, diocese and country.
For our first Holy Hour we will pray for:
The parish as we prepare for the 90th Anniversary of St Michael’s
Vocations to priestly ministry, religious life and the permanent diaconate in our diocese
That we may embrace Gospel values in our country
Please join us on Friday 25th August in the church at 7.00pm
Special Mass for Loss
Spiritual and psychological healing is necessary after the loss of a child and the Catholic Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist help to facilitate healing and to fully know God’s love and mercy.
A Mass will be offered for those who have experienced loss of a child. Please see attached Flyer.
PTA News
Carnival disco
School disco organization has started and tickets are on sale via MyKindo.
We also need parent support to make this event happen! As parents are required to stay with the children, why not help us for 30 min? The more helpers we get, the lighter the work for everyone!
If you or your business are in a position to donate anything for the event, please reach out to us on ptasmcs@gmail.com or 027 893 1888 (Gio).
Donations can include soft drinks and water, chocolates and confectionery, toys, soft toys and books (used but in good condition are accepted), raffle items, etc.
If you also want to bake something for our sweet stall, please let us know on ptasmcs@gmail.com.
Second-hand uniform shop
The 2nd hand uniform shop will open on Friday 18 August from 2:30 PM to 3:15 PM and will be running a PE SALE!
All PE t-shirts and shorts are $5.
Preferred payment methods are via myKindo or bank transfer to the PTA bank account 12-3075-0199134-00.
To make the uniform shop a success we rely on parents volunteering a bit of their time to help us run the shop, so if you have any spare time at school pick up, pop by, say ‘Hi’ and please lend us a hand to keep raising funds for our children.
Uniform donations are always welcome and those can be dropped off by Genevieve at the school Reception. Looking forward to meeting you or seeing you again.
Pizza Fridays
Thank you to Rooms 3 and 8 for helping with Pizza this week. We really appreciate your help.
2023 Yummy Sticker Collection
Keep the yummy sticker sheets coming! We have until the end of term to collect as many yummy stickers as we can so the school can benefit from sports equipment to use at play times.
So, print your collection sheet or collect one from the school office (shelf beside the window) and help us.
Sheets can be put in the PTA box outside the Mrs McKeown's office – remember, they don’t need to be full!
The Baradene Art Show is on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 August 2023, open 10-4pm. Come along to see some of New Zealand’s best contemporary artists. Head to https://www.baradeneartshow.co.nz/ to see the great selection of art available to purchase. This is a free event.
Heart of Connections (Psychology & Wellness Services)
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN TECHNIQUES TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD IN REDUCING THEIR ANXIETY?
Cool Little Kids is an early intervention program for the parents of children aged 3 to 6 years who show signs of excessive shyness or anxiety that may signal future development of an anxiety disorder.
Cool Kids is a program for children aged 7 to 12 years who are struggling with high levels of anxiety, and their parents.
Bayside Baseball would like to welcome you to Join our "Have a Go Day"!
Attention all young athletes and aspiring baseball stars! We're excited to invite you to our upcoming "Have a Go Day" at Bayside Baseball. It's a FREE event designed to introduce kids from 8 years old and up, to the cool world of baseball!
No experience is needed, and all equipment will be provided.
4 Dates to choose from: 20th August, 27th August, 10th September, or 17th September
Playing baseball offers incredible benefits, such as:
1. Physical Fitness: Baseball promotes active play, improving coordination, strength, and agility.
2. Teamwork: Kids learn the value of collaboration, communication, and supporting their teammates.
3. Confidence Boost: Baseball builds self-esteem through skill development and positive experiences.
4. Sportsmanship: Your child will learn important values like fair play, respect, and good sportsmanship.
No experience is needed, and all equipment will be provided. Just bring your enthusiasm and a smile! Don't miss this opportunity for your child to have fun, make new friends, and discover the joy of baseball. We can't wait to see your child having fun on the diamond!
