Dear Parents and Friends of St Kevin’s

We made it!!!! We’re back to full time teaching and learning!! The children are settling back into the routine that is school, attending to their lessons and tasks in a timely manner. It was awesome to walk into the classrooms and watch students in Years 3 -6 all utilising what they have learnt during the COVID-19 lockdown in regards to working in TEAMS and Onenote, completing set tasks and forging ahead in their learning. The one skill they all do need to master is typing, but that will come with practise.

To you the amazing parent community, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all the support and positive feedback you have given us as teachers during these unprecedented times. Knowing that our parents were there supporting us through home learning time, acknowledging that everyone of us – parents and teachers, were equally anxious over the well being of our families and the education of our kids, was very comforting and reassuring. Thank you for the emails voicing your gratitude to the work of the teachers. Thank you for being so accommodating when we had restricted face to face class time. Thank you for keeping your children home when requested. Thank you for the chocolates that kept us going when we needed a sweet treat. Thank you for all the work you did with your children whilst at home. Thank you for just being there when you were needed. Thank you for keeping us and your children safe. It is not over yet, and we still have hurdles to jump over, but together we are doing it and life for our children continues in a positive vein.

I am currently reading books on “Learning for Tomorrow” by Michael McQueen and “The Future of Learning” by Mark Treadwell. I am starting to think that the future of learning may have arrived a little earlier than we were anticipating over the past 2 months, but in my view, St Kevin’s is in a good place to continue on this trajectory, ensuring our students are equipped to be lifelong learners adapting to whatever the future brings.

So, here’s to the future – a future that will be different, but different is good!

Have a great week.

Mary-Anne Jennings

Principal

Kindergarten 2021 Enrolments

We are starting to return to normal, with things such as Kindergarten 2021 enrolments being scheduled, all be it by ZOOM or Facetime, to begin on Thursday June 11. Letters were sent out to all current expressions of interest to nominate an interview time, so if you are yet to respond please RSVP soon to book in a suitable time. If you know of any families who may not yet begun to look at school for 2021, please spread the word as positions are filling up quickly.

Winter Uniform

All students are now expected to be in full winter uniform. Students are expected to wear a tie with the top button of their shirt done up, and shirts tucked in if they are wearing long pants or trousers. Girls who choose to wear the blue tunic may wear white socks or navy tights. Scarves and beanies are only permitted on very cold days and we ask that if at all possible, they be navy blue. Track suit jackets may be worn as an extra layer over the school jumper on cold, windy days also.

Sports uniforms are to be worn on Fridays.

Assemblies and Liturgies

Until further notice there will be no formal assemblies or liturgies.

Semester 1 Reports

These are currently being collated by teachers. Teachers are collecting data in the areas of literacy and numeracy and Religious Education so that they can inform parents as to where their child is and where they need to improve and grow in their learning. These reports will be issued early Term 3. Interviews are currently not permitted due to COVID-19 restrictions, but as soon as things change we will inform you of how you can meet with your child’s teacher.

Morning and Afternoon dismissal

Current procedures for morning and afternoon pickup will remain in place until we are advised by the NSW State Government and CSO that restrictions can be lifted. Your ongoing support of this procedure is greatly appreciated.

As we are all back to school full time, we will continue to have staggered dismissal times but will open up parent pick up. Parent pickup is where you as parent wait on the grass area outside the old convent and we will meet you at the gate with your child. Children will be dismissed as their parents/carers are identified. As parents and carers you are asked to observe social distancing guidelines and remain 1.5m from any other adult waiting for their child. 

Thank you to the parents who are following our guidelines, staying in the car lines and waiting till the car in front has moved on. If you are on a 3pm schedule it is very important that you don’t arrive prior to this time and wait in line as it prevents our little infants children having safe access to their parents cars.

8:30 -9am Kiss and drop via Andrew St gate. No parent or visitor access.

2:45pm K-2 students.

3pm families and students 3-6.

Seasons for Growth

We will be offering the Seasons for Growth programme in Terms 3 and 4 this year. It is a programme designed to assist children with the grief and change in family life due to death, separation, or divorce. There is a letter from Mr Taylor (who will be running the programme) and an expression of interest form, together with some further information attached to this newsletter. 

Learning for Tomorrow

Research is showing us that successful learning is dependent on a variety of capabilities and skills. One of these is organisation. Year 3 and 4 students were able to identify what things were helpful in ensuring home learning was successful. They are now working at ensuring the things they learnt around being organised are fine tuned and embedded into their daily routines to ensure success in learning for tomorrow.

During home learning I was so organised!............

1. I followed Mrs Norley’s work. (Zavier)
2. I got up at 7am and I did the same things like it was a school day. (Ella)
3. I did a lot of work in maths. (Mason)
4. I had my computer at full battery and my pencil sharp and my desk was ready. (Braith)
5. I always asked for help before raging at my computer and if I if I did get angry, I went for a walk. (Patrick)
6. I handed most of my assessments in on time and had a clean workspace. (Rebecca)
7. I had all my work done before 2pm. (Jordy)
8. I finished my work at 1pm because I organised my workplace. It was a quiet workplace and I had no distractions. (Harper)
9. Everything was done in time with my paperwork. (Tyler)
10. My laptop was always charged, and my workspace was neat, tidy and ready for me to work every day. (Ava)
11. I learnt how to upload assignments to TEAMS and I got everything I needed every day. (Hayley)
12. I sharpened my pencils, used my desk and fixed my working space. (Noah)
13. I had all of my schoolwork in the front of the TV room in a neat pile. (Cameron)
14. I followed my daily schedule and it helped me. (Logan)
15. I got my spot ready 1 day before and made it clean. (Teddy)
16. I always put the charger back on my computer when I was done. (Jamie)
17. I followed the schedule. (Reid)
18. I typed all my things that I had to do. I cleaned and organised my learning space. (Charlie)
19. I organised my workspace by laying out all of the things I needed every day. (Eva)
20. I had a clean working space every day. (Saxon)
21. I had all my work done by 2pm because I worked in a quiet, tidy space. (Damien)