Mission and Religious Education

Mission and Religious Education

Beginning of Year Mass

Some photos from our Beginning of the School Year Mass celebrated last Friday 14 February. 

St Michael’s students set up a special prayer focus symbolic of our school life at St Michael’s.

The Bible – The Bible reminds us of how to act in all of life’s situations by following God’s word and examples.

A Candle - A candle reminds us of our school motto “Let Your Light Shine”, which encourages us to be an example to others, a light shining in the darkness, a guide along life’s path. 

Our School Flag – Our school flag reminds us that we are called together as one family under the banner of St Michael’s.

Our School Houses of Penola & MacKillop – Our School Houses of Penola & MacKillop remind us that we have fun together and work together in teams to support one another.

School books – Our school books remind us that we will learn many new and interesting things that allow us passage through understanding to the fullness of life. 

Music & Sports equipment – Our Music and Sports equipment remind us to enjoy all aspects of school and to live life to the fullest. 

Our students read with great confidence and reverence.

Father Curran blessed the School and Sport Captain badges and he and Mrs Underwood presented the new captains with their badges before they completed their induction by reading together the following St Michael’s School and Sports Captains pledge.

Lord, we offer ourselves to you as leaders of St Michael's School in 2025.

Lord, help us to show love and loyalty to you, Fr Curran, our teachers, other staff members and our fellow students. May the Spirit of God open our eyes to the needs of others, open our hands to give freely in service and open our hearts to all.

Help us to use our gifts to be of service and to give good example to others through humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance and love.

AMEN.

Stage 3 Class Mass

Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6) will be celebrating their Class Mass at the 9.30am Mass on Friday 28 February. Everyone is welcome.

Lent

Lent is the Church season when we prepare to celebrate Easter. It is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving (giving to the poor). The season of Lent lasts for six weeks and begins on Ash Wednesday and finishes on Holy Thursday at sundown.  The day before the start of Lent is called Shrove or Pancake Tuesday. On this day people traditionally made pancakes to help use up their fats and sugars before commencing their Lenten Fast on Ash Wednesday. Busted Halo has a clip Lent in 3 Minutes that is helpful in understanding Lent.

Ash Wednesday Mass

Wednesday 5 March is Ash Wednesday and we will be attending Mass with the parish. At this Mass all in attendance are invited to be signed with a cross of ashes on their foreheads. When the children receive the ashes the words “Remember friend that Jesus loves you” are spoken to remind us on the first day of Lent that Jesus loves us and throughout Lent we try to grow closer in our relationship with God. 

Project Compassion

On Ash Wednesday the eldest child in each family will take home a Project Compassion Box. Project Compassion is the main fundraising event for Caritas Australia during the Season of Lent and calls us all to unite against poverty. At school all students will learn about the work of Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion and our C2S Committee will discuss and organise fundraising at next week’s meeting Monday 24 February. We encourage all families to give generously to this social justice fundraiser by contributing money to the Project Compassion Boxes or directly online. Project Compassion Boxes can be returned to school at the end of term or taken to the Church at the end of Lent. All money raised goes directly to Caritas Australia to help the poor in Australia and overseas.

Twilight Retreat

Parents, carers and parishioners are invited to join with St Michael’s school staff in attending a Twilight Prayer Retreat on Tuesday 11 March 3.30pm - 5.00pm. This retreat is facilitated by the CSO Spirituality Team and is a time for adults to gather together in prayer. This year’s theme is ‘Pilgrimage’ to reflect the Jubilee year.

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.

Week 3 Meeting - Monday 10 February

Father Curran joined us for our Week 3 meeting. Students  raised the possibility of getting a bore, things we need to buy this year for our Laudato Si’ work and we reviewed and updated our Laudato Si’ Action Plan.

Week 4 Meeting - Monday 17 February

At our Week 4 meeting we reviewed our Environmental Legends and Little Doves roles and identified that we need to introduce a new role to inform, encourage and assist students to participate in St Michael’s Return and Earn program.

Committee members are thinking about fundraising ideas for Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion to discuss at next week’s meeting.

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 Fortnight’s Legends of the Light Shine Focus

Today we introduced our new Legends of the Light Shine focus for Weeks 5 and 6. Our new focus is Stewardship and links in well with our Clean Up St Michael’s Day on Friday 28 February. We encourage everyone to look after God’s gift of the Earth, Our Common Home and to look after one another, especially the poor, as stewards of God’s creation.

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