Mission and Religious Education

Mission and Religious Education

Beginning of Year Mass

Friday 14 February we will celebrate our Beginning of the School Year Mass at 9.30am in St Michael’s Church. As a school family it is important to take the time at the beginning of each school year to gather and pray for God’s blessings and everyone is welcome to join us for this very special celebration. Our School Captains: Michael Maughan and Jack Kenafick and our Sports Captains: Jasper Lendon and Zandah Shorter will be officially inducted during the Mass and presented with their badges by Father Curran and Mrs Bronwyn Underwood. 

In many ways it is fitting that our Beginning of the School Year Mass is celebrated on St Valentine’s Day, as the love that God has for each of us and sharing this love with others and the whole of creation through our words and actions is at the heart of all we do as a Catholic School.

C2S (Called to Shine) Committee News

Our C2S Committee is a team of volunteer students in Years 2-6 who work with Assistant Principals Cathy Shepherd and myself for ecological justice in our world. The Committee meets at the start of lunch each Monday and gives an authentic student voice to addressing social and ecological issues in our school and world. The C2S Committee leads charitable works and ecological initiatives at St Michael’s.

Beginning of Year Meeting

This week on Monday 3 February our C2S Committee had our first meeting for the 2025 school year. At our meeting students volunteered to hold Committee Leadership positions on a rotational basis. 

Chairperson: Rotation of Stage 3 Committee Members - Jasper, Georgia, Alice

Secretaries: Rotation - Jasper, Georgia, Alice Coker, Sophie

Treasurers: Georgia, Alice Coombes, Hannah

Publicity Officers: Poppy, Summer, Lily, Arianah, Sophie, Evie, Qunesha

Activity Organisers: Maisy, Joe

We also discussed growing veggies this year and Clean Up St Michael’s Day.

Environmental Legends and Little Doves

Our Environmental Legends are a team of volunteer students in Years 3-6 who work with the Little Doves, a team of volunteer students in K-2 and myself to lead environmental and sustainability initiatives within our school. Our work in this area is in response to Pope Francis’ call to action in Laudato Si’ to Care for the Earth Our Common Home and to hear and respond to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor.

Clean Up St Michael’s Day

Clean Up St Michael’s Day is on Friday 28 February and is aligned with Clean Up Australia Day on Sunday 2 March. On this Friday we will take some time during our day to pick up rubbish and engage in other activities to clean up St Michael’s. We encourage any students who would like to wear gloves to bring a pair of gardening gloves that can be used again, as part of our focus on living sustainably.

Legends of the Light Shine

Our Legends of the Light Shine Program is a program that runs across our school, led by students in Stage 3. This program focuses on Christian living, recognising and promoting Christian virtues and positive attributes.

This Week’s Legends of the Light Shine Focus

This week our Legends of the Light Shine focus is: Manners. We encourage all at our school to have beautiful manners. To say “Please”, “Thank you” and “May I…?”.

Connecting With Our Parish

Weekend Mass Times

We encourage all of our families to celebrate Sunday Mass with our Parish.

Manilla Parish Mass Times

1st Sunday of the month - Sunday 8.30am

2nd, 3rd & 4th Sunday of the month - Saturday 5.30pm

Attunga Mass Times

2nd, 4th & 5th Sunday of the month - Sunday 12 noon

Jubilee Year - Pilgrims of Hope

Pope Francis has declared 2025 a Jubilee Year for our Church, themed “Pilgrims of Hope”, a  year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis. 

Living Well, Learning Well 

Living Well Learning Well is a student support framework for Catholic Schools in the Armidale Diocese. The framework is based on a universal and unconditional positive regard for children and young people and supports faith, learning, wellbeing and positive behaviour domains.

St Michael’s School Rules For Living

St Michael’s School Rules For Living encompass those in the Living Well Learning Well Framework.

Parents As Partners

St Michael’s works in partnership with the families in our school to achieve a high standard of education for the students in our care. Please be aware that the SchoolTV tab on our St Michael’s School Website provides parents and families with lots of wellbeing resources to support you with many of the challenging aspects of parenting.

“Let Your Light Shine” support others to let their light shine and remember “We Shine Brighter Together”

Jacquelene Cronin

Assistant Principal - Mission