Tēnā koutou katoa St Michael’s Catholic School Community, 

We come to the end of our school year and I am so proud of all the achievements and events we have had this year: School/Parish Masses; Year 6 Camp;  Swimming Carnival; Character Parade and book week; Cross Country and Athletics; Dance Curriculum and Grandparents Day; The Matariki Breakfast; Cultural Week; Year 5 Gardening group (thanks to Lucy Carter and Jim Rae); and to finish the year with our Christmas Concert. 

What a beautiful Thanksgiving Mass we had last week. It was wonderful to acknowledge and farewell all our graduates and the families who will be leaving us tomorrow. I made a mistake with the Houghton Family, they have been at our school for 12 years not 10 years as announced. 

A big “congratulations” to all of the children who were recognised at yesterday’s Academic Prize Giving! It was wonderful to celebrate these achievements with so many of you, particularly at such a busy time of year.

 

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Brianna Caruana for 2024! Many of you will be familiar with ‘Miss C’ who we were lucky enough to have as a student teacher at our school and most recently as a reliever. We look forward to supporting her transition to St Michael’s in the New Year.

Room 1 - Isla MacDiarmid / Christine King (Term 1) - Years 1/2

Shari Tighe-Umbers (T2-4) 

Room 2 - Catherine Westwood / Christine King (Mid Term 2 onwards) - Year 0/1

Room 3 - Charlotte Bagnall - Year 1

Room 4 - John Hazel - Year 3

Room 5 - Lauren Carleton / Sarah Burrows - Years 2/3

Room 6 - Brigette Lowans - Year 1/2 (release Teacher Christine King)

Room 7 - Chelsea Nawisielski - Years 4/5 (release Teacher Georgina van Schaijik)

Room 8 - Rebekah Capon / Kate Howard - Years 5/6

Room 9 - Emma Cotterell - Years 5/6

Room 10 - Philippa Barling / Brianna Caruana - Year 4

 

Friday 15 December: Last day of Term 4 - End of Year Mass at 11am. School closes at 12.30pm. Please ensure your child is picked up promptly. 

Thursday 01 February 2024:  Term 1 begins 

 

“The key components of the Catholic character of a school include the people who facilitate the encounter with Christ and accompany the young disciple on the resulting journey (Catholic educators); the catechetical response to the young disciple’s need for knowledge (the Religious Education programme); formation which leads to growth in Catholic virtues and values, and – where appropriate – the living of the particular charism of the school, usually derived from the founding Religious Order; and the lived common good approach and witness of the wider faith community within which the school is situated, usually a parish or parishes.” (Page 10, 46)

Mass times - Sunday 8am, 10am & 5pm; Monday - Friday 7am & 12noon; Saturday 8am.

Christmas Mass Timetable - Sunday 24th at 5pm - Family Mass; Monday 25th at 8am, 10am & 5pm

Adoration: Monday - Friday 7.30am-8.30am

Rosary: Monday – Friday 8.30am & 12.30pm; Saturday 8.30am

15/12/23 - End of Year Mass at 11am 

 

 

Meri Kirihimete

Manaaki ki te Atua,

Please view photos below from the 2023 EOY Christmas Concert.

Last Friday we had a very successful end of year gardening + cooking session with the Year 5s. Jim dug up the bed of Desiree potatoes with the children, then we took these down to the kitchen to carefully scrub off the dirt. A guest chef prepared some beautiful dressings using herbs from the garden and then BBQed the potatoes. We enjoyed these along with steamed courgettes and broccoli fresh out of the garden. It was all delicious! Lots of enthusiastic, engaged children and a great way to demonstrate the full cycle of planting to harvesting to enjoying the produce. View photos below.

Enrolments for St Michael's Catholic Parish sacramental programme will open on Monday 20th November 2023.

Before you enrol, please review the dates of commitment and the FAQ sheet (on St Michael's Parish website).

All sessions must be attended to receive the sacraments. We encourage that you attend the information evening on the Tuesday 12th March 2024 as the programme has significantly changed from 2023 onwards.

Any questions, please email these to stmichaelsbecomingchurch@gmail.com 

This full-time role is to provide credit control and administration support to the Operations Manager for the collection of Attendance Dues for schools in the Auckland Diocese.  Hours are flexible to incorporate some evening and Saturday morning work.

 

Key Tasks include: Collection of compulsory school Attendance Dues; contact with school parents via outbound phone calls; follow up of unpaid accounts and Debtor ledger management.

 

To view the full advert and to apply, please visit our website www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz under Diocesan Services and Staff Vacancies.

As the year draws to an end, we want to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone who helped us fundraise and build a stronger community in 2023: 

-       Sarah Benson, Emma Houghton and Kate Porteous for all your hard work and dedication to the PTA during your time at St Michael’s – you will be missed! 

-       Charlotte Riley, Angela Hibberd, Shenali Fernando, Lauren Kendrick, Fiona Lamont, Shally Chong, Emily Lee, Monique Booth, Kate Porteous, Emma Brannam, Cristina Alvarado and Leah Zazulak-Baker for your stellar job as class reps, we appreciate you! 

-       Venus Yu-Itoh, Lucy McGillivray, Monique Booth, Sarah Benson, Lindy Peacocke, Sylvie Doclot, Kathya Smith, Lucy Okach, Karina Kumarga and Michelle Casim for taking up one of our crucial roles and doing a wonderful job! 

-       All the parent volunteers who throughout the year put their hand up to help in various activities such as pizza Fridays, school disco, sport events, etc – thank you! 

We are extremely humble and grateful to have served you as PTA co-chairs and we hope everyone has a great time with their families and friends this summer. 

Lastly, as the students get assigned to their classes, please consider the wonderful job of a class rep. 

As a class rep, your job is to be the liaison between teacher and parents, by keeping everyone informed and organising social events as possible.This is a very important position and one that is highly appreciated by parents and teachers. 

Interested in becoming a class rep in 2024? Send us an email ptasmcs@gmail.com and we will get in touch with you in January.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, 

Gio and Sam 

This week is our last touch rugby game for 2023. The season rolls over to 2024 (dates below). 

Thurs 25th Jan 2024 - Thurs 29th Feb 2024 (for Thursday players)

Friday 26th Jan - Friday 1st Mar 2024 (for Friday players)

Please pay your overdue touch fees immediately if you haven't done so already! I look forward to witnessing more awesome play on the field then.

If you are changing schools, all the very best and please hold on to your SMCS PE gear as you will need them for next year.

Thank you to all our Coaches, Managers and supporters for all your great work and running of your teams this year. Well done also to all of our team players for their great sportsmanship and representation of our school. 

Wishing you all a Holy, Blessed Christmas and happy safe holidays. 

As we finish off a hugely successful season of Flippaball and Mini Polo at SMCS this Term, we are already looking ahead to our teams for 2024.

If your child is a confident swimmer and is keen to play in our Year 3/4, or our Year 5/6 teams next year please let us know. In Flippaball the players can touch the bottom of the pool at all times, in Mini Polo they need to be able to swim continuously for each 5 minute quarter.

The games are played through the Sea Wolf Waterpolo Club (based at St Cuthberts College in Epsom). Games & training are on a Sunday afternoon - 30 min training provided by the Sea Wolf Club, followed by ~30 min games (4 quarters)

Please express your interest by emailing your child's name, Year level at school, and contact phone # to: Ree George (ree.george77@gmail.com), JR Ambrosio (jrambrosio2gmail.com), or Denise Valerio (dfpvalerio@yahoo.com).

Thanks in advance. Have a restful & relaxing summer! 
Ree, JR and Denise