And for all leaders - political, educational, business, sporting and the list goes on:

"Lord, bless our leaders with wisdom and courage to lead us with justice and peace."   

The last 2 weeks have also seen amazing things happen here at St Kevin's.

Taronga Zoo

Years 3 and 4 had an amazing time at Taronga Zoo with a sleepover as part of the total experience. Sleep was somewhat light on however with between 3 – 6 hours being the amount of time spent by teachers and students alike in this particular activity! The behind-the-scenes adventures and the up-close animal encounters more than made up for the lack of sleep, to say nothing of the ice cream afternoon tea as we waited and waited for our bus on the Friday afternoon (the M1 had been closed all day due to a traffic incident). The students were exceptionally well behaved and a credit to their parents, displaying good manners, patience and great listening to the Taronga Educational experts, sharing knowledge and information about various animals at the zoo.

Here are some reflections:

When we were with Mrs Jennings, Jannat touched some fake poo – it was made from stone or something. It was in the tiger enclosure. We all laughed. We also got to see some snapping turtles and a Murray darling python and a shingle back lizard. I loved the Capybara – they are so cute and they look like a big dog /hippo combination. Funny fact – tiger poo is called “Cat skat”. By Sadie

It was a fun experience, and we got to sleep there. We got to touch animals like lizards and snakes. The best part was sleeping there because I’d never slept over at anybody’s house before and especially not at a zoo. The food was good and when we got ice cream for dessert, we could dip it in sprinkles if we wanted to. Fact I learnt – shingle back lizards have a tail that looks like its head and the predator will get confused.  My favourite animals were the lions because they came up close to the glass during the day and at nighttime, we saw them sleeping. By Harry.

It was a very surprising and funny experience. I didn’t know we would see a Sumatran tiger and it was really cool. We got to stay up late till about 11 and then sleep over. It was really funny sleeping with our friends on a mat on the floor. My favourite animals were the gorillas. They were hitting their chest and shooing the turkeys away. Funny fact – seal poo changes colour depending on what they eat. When they ate crab and lobster it was red. When they ate calamari and squid it was purple. By Charlie.

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day was celebrated in our school hall despite the challenges of wet weather and being adjacent to a building site. Thank you to all the staff who contributed in many and various ways to ensure that you were acknowledged and thanked for everything you do for your own beautiful children and for us here at school too. Thank you also to the small band of parents who organised the Mother’s Day stall and raffle. Again, it was all about ensuring that your children were given the opportunity to say, “I love you Mum”, or “Thank you Mum”.

Aerobics

And finally, our Aerobics Team! Thank you to Miss Greenwood for all the work and support given to these students. You definitely went above and beyond to provide a new and exciting experience for our students.

First of all, we had to get ready at home – costumes, hair, shoes. We got there around 4pm and did 30 minutes of warmups. We did really well. We were in the top 4 and now we’re all going to Sydney. We had to practice lots at school during lunchtime and before school on Thursdays. By Ella

On our team we had Olivia F, Adeline, me, Ella , Essie and Xanthe. Our team was called The Blue Flames. There was also a Year 1 and 2 team called Glitter. Their team was Lucy, Aurelie, Evelyn, Xavier, Teddy, Millie and Olive. We had to dance to music doing lots of kicks and strong movements. Our judge said we needed to improve our facial expressions and to spread out more. So, when we go to Sydney we have to remember these things. By Violet.

So there was a competition and we were on a lower stage. When we were backstage we were in a different room. Some of us were scared and we had to wait 1 hour for our turn. We had to do an aerobics dance. We had to practice our kicks and routines. Our push-ups were slow and hard. We had to all be in time. We had to look directly at the front and have a cheesy smile. We are going to Sydney and if we are good enough the finals are on the Central Coast. By Aurelie

We wore some costumes that were really beautiful. They were blue and yellow and gold. Our hair had to be in a bun using a doughnut bun. The dance was very fast, and we had to kick our butts when we ran on! We didn’t win this time, but we are going to Sydney for another competition. Everyone was cheering us on. By Teddy.

Our village is definitely an amazing place to work and live. Thank you everyone for all that you do each and every day.

Congratulations!

P&F moving to new Diocesan FACE Model

After many years of an active and supportive P&F here at St Kevin’s, we must unfortunately fold this group and comply with the new Diocesan guidelines. It has been a privilege to work with such amazing parents over the years, all of whom had one single goal – to make St Kevin’s the best school possible. Everything they did, through fundraising, social events,  organising and manning the uniform shop, running the school canteen and providing much needed resources for the school, they did for the benefit of the students. The parents that have been involved over the years with St Kevin’s P&F are truly remarkable in their love of their children, their support of the school and their belief in Catholic Education. I thank them on behalf of all teachers and staff, the student body and the wider parent community, for their never-ending energy, hours and hours of unpaid volunteering , their gifts of friendship and unwavering support of the school.

Parent and carer groups established within schools offer an opportunity for families, school staff and Clergy to gather, explore, discuss, imagine, implement, support, encourage and journey together as we work in community for the benefit of all children and young people enrolled in our schools.

In 2025, school communities can choose to operate a Parents and Friends Association (P&F Association), Parent Engagement Group (PEG) or Family and Community Engagement Forum (FACE Forum). Documents outlining the requirements for each of these forums are provided in the links below.

From 2026, FACE Forums will be the only approved Family Engagement Forum model in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

If you have any questions about the Diocese’s of Maitland-Newcastle’s family engagement forums, please contact the CSO’s Professional Officer- Family Engagement, Lizzie Watkin. Lizzie.watkin@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Handbook for FACE model:

FACE Guideline Handbook

Hot off the press!!!!Look out for this bus!!!

Mary-Anne Jennings

Principal