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Dear Parents and Friends,
We come to the end of a very busy and fun filled term 2. I wish everyone a restful 2 weeks of no making lunches or washing uniforms and look forward to hearing all about holiday adventures when you return.
In this newsletter I have asked Year 5/6 to provide us with recounts of their Great Aussie Bushcamp excursion. By all accounts they had a lot of fun, displaying great teamwork and showing the wider community just what a fabulous group of students we have here at St Kevin’s. The students had a fantastic opportunity of experiencing life without needing devices to entertain them and created some very precious and amusing life long memories.
They have returned more independent and mature in their approach to getting along with others and working as a team. They have developed skills in being resilient and persistent and organised- all of which are lifelong skills that will see them achieve great things in the future. Well done 5/6.
Mary-Anne Jennings
Great Aussie Bush Camp
When we arrived at Aussie bush camp at 11:00. We unpacked and then we had to wait a while until we could do our first activity. So, in that time our instructors introduced themselves to our class the two instructors' names were Paige and Flamingo Man. After that we did our first activity Mud World it was freezing in the Mud. Then after Mud world we had Afternoon tea after we had the Giant Swing everyone loved it so much because it gave us a breeze when we went down. after that activity we changed into our warm clothes to go to County fair, County Fair was when we had our own shops to make money, when County fair was over, we went back to the campfire, Suddenly it started to rain and sadly we couldn't have marshmallows so we played games in the Fencing area until we had showers and got ready for bed and then it was lights out.
On the second day we woke up and had breakfast and then the first activity was the duel flying fox it was fun when you jumped off and flew down. When Braethan and Patrick went to go catch Mrs Stretton they both failed to catch her, and she bounced over the lake. Next, thing we got changed and went to raft building and we got soaked and it was FREEZING! But Patrick, Charlie and Rebecca won the competition in raft building for cleaning up. High Ropes was really challenging because it was difficult for some people. High Ropes was incredibly fun because at the end it was like the Flying Fox, we did not get to finish it all because we had no time. Fencing was fun because you got to poke your friends with a big round ended sword and it was not a slashing game you could only circle motion or poke with the sword and it was a real test of your sword skills and it was a fun.We had dinner that was Mac n cheese then we had team challenge night which was the worst thing we have ever done then after that we had cookies and milk then went to bed.
Patrick, Cristiano, Zavier, Tyler, Breathan, Will
Bush Camp Adventure
Ya! Today is the day we are going to the great Aussie bush camp! The bus trip was exceptionally long, but when we arrived, we knew it was worth it. We got greeted by our amazing camp instructors. Then after all the boring things, we were sent to eat our amazing hamburgers and cordial. After lunch we rushed off to one of our favorite activities the Lost Island of Mud (Mud World). It was a very muddy cold obstacle course. It was hard but after we worked together, we realized that we could finish together. We then had fresh, clean, warm showers then we went to have morning tea our morning tea was Snow Cones we gobbled that down then we went to our next activity it was most of our favorites, The giant swing we got harnessed up and pulled each other up one by one and then we pulled a rope and then we were dropped and started to swing over massive heights. Then we headed off to dinner it was amazing because it was spaghetti bolognaise. Then we headed over to the county fair we got an amount of fake money and went to each other stalls like jumping castle bakery there was even an arcade. Then we had some more warm showers and headed off to the campfire, sang songs, and ate marshmallows, then we dozed off to an amazing sleep.
We woke up at 7:15 and got ready for a momentous day. We headed off to brekky and ate lots of different food like toast, beans, spaghetti, eggs, and pancakes. Then we headed down to the dual flying fox that we lined up and got ready to fly over lake Ivan, everyone had tons of fun including the teachers, Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Stretton had tons of fun. At the bottom Patrick and Braethan didn’t catch Mrs. Stretton and she was stranded above the lake. We started to head to morning tea where we had even more snow cones. Then we headed off to raft building it was boys vs girls, the girls had a great raft but the boys on the other hand were not doing so good. but at the end it was still a remarkably close exciting race. Then whilst shivering we headed off to lunch and we were served a bowl of spaghetti it was unbelievably delicious. But then we headed over towards high ropes which was like treetops we had lots of fun on the giant elevated course (with harnesses do not worry). And then if you could not guess we had more snow cones with amazing granola bars and then we headed over to fencing do not worry it was not too dangerous, but it was incredibly fun we learned a couple new fencing words. Salut meaning bow, advance meaning moving to the towards the middle, on guard meaning touch swords to make a cross with the swords and Allez meaning fight! Then we finished that, and we headed of towards the dinner HQ which was mac and cheese with chicken it was unbelievably delicious we then went to have showers and then we went to bed.
We woke at 6:15am. Then we headed to Rock Climbing. It was massive! inverted forwards and everything else, it was crazy! Although some people in our class made it exceedingly high (great job). We had morning tea which if you could not guess we had even more snow cones then we headed to archery, which was extremely dangerous but incredibly fun and SAFE we learned how to shoot arrows and then shot them down the shooting range. We all did good. Then we went to have our last lunch at camp it was... HOTDOGS and cans of drinks. We were so excited for our treat. But then we sadly said our goodbyes and hopped on the Knight's bus then hit the highway and went back to school we would love to go back to the Great Aussie Bush camp because it was amazing!
Hamish, Thomas, Owen, Hudson, Jono.
Bush Camp Fun
on Wednesday, we had arrived at school and had been waiting for the bus, the bus had come, and it was a Jets bus, after a 1-hour trip, we had arrived at camp, then we got to see our cabins, they were very good, they had your group names! After that we had lunch, and we had hamburgers! We got to choose what to put on, you could put cheese, veggies, literally anything, after lunch we went to mud world, which is pretty much an obstacle course in the muddy water, after that we had afternoon tea, which was snow cones and some granola bar, after that we had done the giant swing, it was insane! You got to see people ragdoll, funny huh? For dinner we had spaghetti Bolognese, it tastes okay, but it could be better, after that we had county fair, we got to run our own store and buy some stuff like a milkshake, ok then we got to spin the fortune wheel and we got some lucky stuff and un-lucky stuff.
On Thursday, we had breakfast, and it was pancakes and any hot food (for example eggs, bake beans, and some tined pasta, we finished breakfast, then went to the campfire for some marshmallows, after that we went to duel flying fox, The (arcade) group got to go first, it was Damien, Saxon, Patrick, Tyler and Braethen, so I did it second, I got on the left side sadly, and kind of got a rash, do not go on the left side, after everyone had gone, we went back to camp site, then went to snow cones and some granola bars, after that we went to raft building, it was fun, it was boys vs girls, boys kind of lost, but these three people won, Charlie, Patrick and Rebecca, water was freezing, sad. Ok after that, we went to have lunch, after lunch we went to high ropes, (mini treetops) it was fun as! We got to do some fun stuff on high ropes. then we had afternoon tea, same as morning tea, we had snow cones and granola bars. after that we did fencing, fun as! We got to wear the uniform for fencing, and use the real swords, we had some good fights. After that we had dinner, we had mac & cheese for dinner, then we went to camp site and waited for challenge night. at challenge night we did all sorts of challenges, like throw the ping pong, after that we had cookies and chocolate milk, and then went to sleep.
The last day, Friday, we woke up and packed asap, then went to the campfire and went to breakfast, after that, we went to rock climbing, and the people who got furthest were Rebecca and Patrick, after that we went to morning tea, and then got to do some footy, and soccer, and then we went to archery, some people hit the target, most people didn’t because it was extremely hard, some people did get close, about 5 hit it, and around 8-9 were close to hitting it, after that we had lunch, and we got some hot dogs, the bread was kind of yummy though, we also got some soft drink, after that we waited at the campsite for the bus to come, when the bus arrived, the bus was the knights bus, yup, we got some VIP busses to camp and from camp, when we got on the bus, we sat, and we chanted the songs we sang when we were walking in camp (it was I wanna be a bush camp ranger ,ETC.) then we finally had arrived at school to see our parents at the gate, and eventually gave them big hugs and saw some of our younger year friends.
Damien, Charlie, Saxon, Teddy, Jordy
Camp story
On Wednesday the sixteenth, year 5/6 went to camp. We arrived at camp got unpacked and had lunch. After lunch we got ready for our first activity, Mud World. In the first challenge we had to climb down some tyres into some freezing mud, we then climbed under a tunnel while getting sprayed. It was extremely fun and everybody loved it. After having a shower, we ate snow cones! Our next activity was the giant swing, it was very fun and we all when high. After we had all had dinner it was time for the County Fair. At the County Fair people sold fairy bread, milkshake, arcade, jumping castle and nail painting. Mr. Taylor got his nails painted bright red, they were very beautiful. We were supposed to have a Campfire, but it was raining so we had a Disco instead. On the second day we woke up at 7:15 and got ready for the Duo Flying Fox, Mrs. Stretton and Mr. Taylor went after everybody went and catchers didn’t catch Mrs. Stretton and now they will never hear the end of it. Our next activity was Raft Building it was girls verse boys. We got ready for Fencing, we had to get in a back-to-front jackets and fence other people. We then had dinner and left for the Challenge Night, the winner was The Basement Kids. We had cookies and chocolate milk for supper. The next day at 6:15 and got all packed up, our second last activity was Rock Climbing, Rebecca and Patrik went the highest. Our next and final activity was Archery, the teachers went in a competition with the instructor and won! We had a special lunch which was Hot dogs and a drink. Camp was so much fun and we will never forget it.
Mia B, Harper, Sienna, Mia L and Rebecca
5/6 great Aussie bush camp….EeeEee-ReeRee-GeeGee-MimiMeme, Macka
Year 5/6 left for great Aussie bush camp on Wednesday the 16th of June. We were picked up in a Newcastle Jets bus, after a 1hour bus drive we finally arrived at the bush Camp. The camp instructors introduced themselves, Paige and Wayland (who we called flamingo man). After we unpacked and being showed our Accommodation, we had hamburgers for lunch and forward into our first activity called the lost island which is mud world (a world full of mud) it was freezing cold. While doing the first part of the activity we were already shivering. Once we got to the train track, we all had to go under the muddy water. after we finish in the mud, they had outdoor showers to wash off before afternoon tea. We had a shower and got changed. Then we had the giant swing the best of all it was 30m high you were harnessed in, and all your peers had to pull the rope all the way then up into the SKY. You had to pull a piece of rope that made you swing remarkably fast. After the giant swing, we played some games and played scream race. Had a campfire had another shower and went to bed and Eva told us a bedtime story about how meme stole the demons torch then we went to bed around 9:30pm.
The next day Giesela woke us up by going to the toilet and being loud. We got up and ready then the camp instructor came to wake us up. We went over to the campsite to see that the fire was going. We talked about what we were having for breakfast. We were told that we would get hot food and cereal. At breakfast everyone was drinking the apple juice then there was no more left. . After breakfast we went back to campsite and talked about the dual flying fox that we were going to soon. When we got to the flying fox, we were showed how to put a harness on.
Eva, Renee, Giesela, Mackenzie, Emme
Parents have asked for Term Planners. Term 3 events and meetings can be viewed on the school website under the Events Calendar Tab at the top of the page. We hope this helps your planning.
Messages from the Assistant Principal
Can you believe that ½ of the year (6 months / 100 school days have passed)? At St Kevin’s we are committed to a cycle of continuous improvement. Our pupil free day was very successful with teaching staff reviewing their current practices and looking for opportunities where we could grow and extend the learning of the students in our care. To develop more self aware, independent learners we will be focusing on descriptive feedback, self and peer assessment. These are key factors in formative assessment and are now embedded in our fortnightly Professional Learning Team discussions (more on that in our next issue).
Mathematics
As you are aware Mathematics is our focus curriculum area. Last Friday, our Infant teachers attended a Number Talks professional learning day with Fiona Foley. Our Infant teachers greatest takeaway from the day was confirmation that what we are doing in Number Talks is spot on! This year under the direction of our resident guru, Fiona Stretton, teachers have been utilising Number Talks in all classrooms. It really has made an impact. In Terms 3 and 4 we have lined up more Mathematics professional learning in after school inservices and look forward to embedding that into our daily practice as well.
Our Crunch and Sip Mathematics sessions (5:30pm before P&F meetings continue to attract small numbers). We are thinking of videoing these sessions and uploading them to our Facebook page. What do you think?
Many blessings and safe travels for those heading off on a road trip or holiday adventure. I look forward to seeing all the children back refreshed and enervated from their holiday break.
God Bless
Kim
Yaama,
In our NAIDOC Prayer Service today we began with great words from Miriam Rose Ungunmerr, 2021 Senior Australian of the year. In 3 short statements she gives a simple yet profound message of how we can connect with each other and know each other….
‘To know me is to breathe with me.
To breathe with me is to listen deeply.
To listen deeply is to connect.’
Miriam Rose Ungunmerr is 2021 Senior Australian of the year. She is a renowned Aboriginal Artist and Educator who is dedicated to creating bright and fulfilling futures for Aboriginal children and youth.
‘Heal Country’ the NAIDOC Week theme, calls all of us to heal and enhance relationships by knowing, breathing, listening and connecting with each other.
Today we observed NAIDOC Week at St Kevin’s. A big thank you to Lehetta Porter and our staff who helped to make this such a special and meaningful celebration.
…………………………………………..
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday: 4 July 2021
Celebrating the gifts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics
Did you know?
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) 2021
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday is 4 July 2021, the start of NAIDOC Week. Parishes across the country will acknowledge NAIDOC Week at their weekend Masses and pray for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities and all cultural communities, that God’s Spirit of reconciliation will live in our hearts and minds and help us to embrace the diversity that makes for a richer country and stronger Church.
Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday period.
Yaluu ngali ngamilay (We will see each other again).
Phil Taylor
Aboriginal Education Teacher
NAIDOC DAY
Whilst we are on the upcoming school holidays, NAIDOC Week will take place (4th – 11th July). This year’s theme is, “Heal Country”. The information below is directly from the official NAIDOC Week website:
Country is more than a place and inherent to our identity.
We speak about Country like a person, sustaining our lives in every aspect - spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally.
NAIDOC 2021 invites the nation to embrace our First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.
Our NAIDOC celebrations here at school began with a beautiful liturgy involving each of our teachers and our Indigenous students. We heard the Aboriginal story of creation, prayed the Aboriginal version of the Hail Mary and joined together in song for the Aboriginal Our Father. It was a very moving and meaningful way to begin our day. Thank you to all our children who showed great reverence and respect, we are very proud of you all.
The school community was involved in many special activities throughout the day. Our clap sticks have been painted beautifully by the boys in years 3,4,5 and 6 while or primary girls learned how to weave a bracelet with Mrs Porter. The infants children enjoyed using their weaving skills to create a turtle.
Each child also had the opportunity to paint an Aboriginal-inspired cross which will be displayed at school during term 3. Hopefully these will become a special feature of their bedrooms a little later down the track. We concluded our day with indigenous tabloid games for an afternoon filled with laughter, love, joy and community spirit. Make sure you keep an eye out on Facebook for many fabulous photos!
What are we learning in Religion?
Each newsletter, we will showcase a class and give you a little insight as to what they are learning about during Religion lessons. This week we hear from…
Year 2!
For the last few weeks, Year 2 have been learning about the Christian Scriptures and all about the life of Jesus and His teachings. This week we also celebrated Our Lady Help of Christians. We spent our Religion lessons praying, reflecting and celebrating Mary. We hope you love our Mary artworks!
Written by Year 2
I wish you all a fabulous holiday filled with special moments for your family.
May God’s Spirit be with you as you travel, rest and play.
Mrs Jasmina Boudan
Religious Education Coordinator
100 Days of Learning
On the 16th of July Kindergarten students will celebrate 100 days of school. The students are invited to wear a decorated t-shirt to celebrate 100 days of learning.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
45 students from St. Kevin’s have completed PRC. It would fantastic if all children could add some books to PRC during the holidays. I given some children a sheet for their personal reading log. Please send that into school and I can enter their books online.
Congratulations to the following students for completing PRC in the last fortnight.
Kinder - Joseph Z
Year 4 – Jamie, Cameron, Logan
Year 5 - Charlie
Year 6 – Cristiano
Keep up the fantastic reading.
Please encourage your child to borrow PRC books each Friday and enter them online. Books can also be borrowed on SORA app and from our local libraries.
Kindergarten won the Library borrowing trophy this week, congratulations Kinder.
Reading Throne Competition
Some of our talented artists from St Kevin’s will paint a Reading Throne Chair during Term 3. Lollipops is our theme thanks to Mackenzie in Yr 5. Bunnings Glendale will display the Reading Thrones and prizes will be awarded to the best designs. Good luck St Kevin’s and we look forward to the final result and photos.
Book Week – Week 7, August 23rd - 27th
Theme – Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.
More information about Book Week will be sent home next term.
Many thanks
Dianne Binkin
Teacher Librarian
Colour Run
Get ready to be colourful ………The P&F are hosting our a St. Kevin’s Colour Run on September 17th. More details to follow early Term 3.
Thompson Pie Drive
The Pie Drive code will be sent via Compass on Monday 12th of July. Orders will be open for a three-week period. All orders will be delivered directly to your nominated address. There are over 80 items that can be ordered. A great time to fill your freezer with lots of delicious goods.
Paint and Sip
On Saturday the 9th October we will host a paint and sip event in the school hall. More details to follow.
From the Office of Safeguarding
A great way to share important information to children regarding their own safety is by sharing some quality Children’s Literature with them. There are a number of resources around in print and online. The school has the following resources that you can borrow to share with your family at any time. Please contact the office to borrow a copy.
My underpants rule by Kate and Rod Power
A secret safe to tell by Naomi Hunter
There is also a valuable online resource where you can find lots of information for parents and children.