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Dear Parents and Friends of St Kevin’s,
Learning opportunities abound here at St Kevin’s for everyone. Yesterday Mrs Boudan and I engaged in some learning around leadership and how to lead learning in a school community. We found it very useful with the focus being on how to support teachers in the art and science of teaching that will improve student outcomes.
Students are also busy learning and during my time in classrooms this week, students have shared with me what they are learning in writing and mathematics. Year 3 have been learning to write a text that will persuade the reader to their point of view. They made real-world links to this task through observing various advertisements persuading them to purchase certain goods or services. They were able to persuade me to buy them hot chips for lunch, which they enjoyed on Tuesday! Well done Year 3.
Year 5/6 have been learning about graphs and data. The real-world links to this were identified in the medical profession where nurses take your temperature and track it, if you are in hospital.
Both classes could also inform me how they were going in their learning, where they had to improve in their learning and where to go when they needed help with their learning task. These are questions that are also great dinner table conversations, they give you as parents a great insight into what your children are engaged in at school. It also directs children to be more accountable for their learning – yes I did some great work at school today and I learnt something important too!
As Principal I am focusing on writing and mathematics as these are our school-based improvement goals. I look forward to hearing from you as parents and carer’s what your children share with you about their learning journey at school.
Mary-Anne Jennings
Principal
Uniforms Update
Firstly, thank you for your patience. It has been very frustrating for everyone waiting for winter items to arrive.
The bulk of our winter uniform order has arrived at our supplier. We should take delivery by Friday but more like Monday. As soon as it lands at school stocks will be updated on the Qkr app. Orders that have already been paid for and have been waiting for stock to arrive will be sent home on Monday. We understand the difficulties that some parents are experiencing waiting for these out of stock items. Therefore the scheduled date for the wearing of winter uniforms has been postponed till June 1st.
GIRLS WINTER
- Long sleeve Peter-Pan blouse with logo on collar
- Navy tunic
- Jumper with logo
- Navy sports jacket
- Navy tights or white socks
- Black leather/or synthetic school shoes
Optional – Winter Alice headband, thin or thick, small or large school scrunchies, navy blue ribbon - no other coloured ribbons or headbands are acceptable. Navy scarf or navy gloves.
BOYS WINTER
- Long sleeve formal shirt, blue with logo on front pocket
- Navy jumper with school logo
- Navy sports jacket
- Grey socks
- Black leather or black synthetic school shoes
Optional – Navy scarf or navy gloves
SPORTS UNIFORM
- UNISEX short or long sleeve polo shirt with logo
- Navy track pants
- Navy jacket
- White socks
- All white (with white laces) sports shoes
As soon as the Qkr app is updated with stock quantities a compass alert will be sent. Thank you again for your patience.
Catholic Schools Week
This Sunday May 22 we will join our fellow Parishioners at the 9:30 Sunday Mass to celebrate everything that is amazing about Catholic Education. Our Captains will address the congregation after Mass and our Kindergarten students will be given a blessing by Father Gordon. After Mass we will have morning tea to enjoy with our Parishioners. Looking forward to seeing you all there.
Reports
Semester 2 reports will be available on COMPASS June 27. They are best accessed on a computer.
Parent /Teacher/Student Interviews
Wednesday June 29. Bookings via COMPASS will be live June 20.
External Review
St Kevin’s will undergo an external review in June led by CSO staff not associated directly with St Kevin’s. This is part of the review cycle that all schools undergo. Discussions will be had around the teaching and learning at St Kevin’s, Catholic Culture and Identity, parent and community satisfaction and involvement in the school, and areas of improvement. We look forward to hosting this review working with our colleagues identifying the strengths and successes of St Kevin’s and planning a pathway for ongoing success and goal setting.
News from the Assistant Principal
National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)
Over the last 7-8 weeks Mrs Stretton, ably supported by Mr Vaughan, has organised NAPLAN resources and procedures here into an inch of their life. Mrs Stretton has been committed to ensuring that NAPLAN 2022 would go as smoothly as possible for the Years 3 & 5 students. A HUGE thanks to Mrs Stretton for all of this organisation, I assure you that every “i” was dotted and “t” crossed. In true St Kevin’s fashion Mrs Stretton and Mr Vaughan were ably assisted by staff at the school who turned up each morning to help ensure that all was setup as it should be. We are blessed to have such a wonderful staff. Year 3 & 5 sat the NAPLAN in the following areas:
- Writing
- Reading
- Conventions of Language
- Numeracy
All of the Year 5 tests were completed online, with Year 3 doing the writing in a booklet, with the other three areas online. I would like to thank the Years 3 & 5 children for their focus and engagement in the NAPLAN tests. This is a point in time test. We look forward to analysing the results when they become available later in the year.
Semester 1 Reports
Teachers have begun the process of collating data and writing Semester reports. The reports look a bit different this year. The main changes are:
- The strands of English: Reading & Viewing, Writing & Representing and Speaking & Listening, will be further broken down to specific skills in these three areas
- The comments for Religion, English and Mathematics will be in two sections:
- Areas of Strength
- Areas for Development
- Commitment to Learning now has a 3-point scale: high, developing & emerging
- Personal & Social Development and Learning Dispositions have a 5-point scale: consistently, usually, often, developing or requires support
More information about the new reports will be published in the Newsletter in the coming weeks.
The reports will be available on Compass Monday 27th June (Week 10). Those parents wishing an interview regarding their child’s progress report will have the opportunity on Wednesday June 29. Students in Year 1-6 are required to attend this interview with their parents.
Walk Safely to School
Tomorrow, Friday 20 May, is “Walk Safely to School Day”. Walk Safely to School Day is an annual, national event in Australia in which primary school children are encouraged to walk or commute safely to school, an initiative of the Pedestrian Council of Australia. Click here for an article on the health benefits of this initiative, the focus for this year’s event.
God Bless
Kim Hogan
Assistant Principal
School Fee statements were sent recently and are emailed at the beginning of each month. For those parents who have nominated to pay via instalments (weekly, fortnightly, or monthly) these payments should have commenced. If you require assistance setting up a Bpay or Direct Debit, please contact Kim at the office on 4954 0036 or admin@cardiff.catholic.edu.au. These regular payments should finalise the 2022 fees by 30th November 2022. Direct debit forms can be found online at www.cdfmn.com.au , forms tab, Payment of School Fees – Direct Debit Request form. Complete the form, download and sign then send into the school office for processing.
For those families who have nominated to pay in one instalment, this must be received by 30 June 2022 and fully extinguish their school fee balance. Please note that payments can be via cash, cheque or credit card.
VISION STATEMENT
A Catholic Community nurturing mind, heart and spirit – following the light of Christ
Last newsletter I asked you to contemplate what our new Vision Statement means to you. This week I ask you to think about how or where you see our Vision Statement in action throughout St. Kevin’s. I would greatly appreciate you sending me your thoughts via this link https://forms.office.com/r/Cuem6eHLLm
There are just 2 questions and it should only take a couple of minutes of your time.
It is very valuable to hear the perspectives our wonderful parents. I have a little treat to send home with your children to say thank you for taking the time to get in touch and share your thoughts.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
During the week of May 23 – 27, we celebrate Catholic Schools Week along with all other schools in our Diocese.
St. Kevin’s will begin Catholic Schools Week celebrations with 9.30am Mass on Sunday 22nd May. All families are warmly invited to attend, especially our Kindergarten families as we welcome our new Kindergarten children and their families into the Parish Community. Thank you to everyone who has RSVP’d, children have been allocated readings and little jobs. We are very excited to be celebrating in our church once again.
Catholic Schools Week will wrap up with Open Classrooms from 2pm on Friday 27th May. Please come along and see all the wonderful things the children are learning.
The theme of Catholic Schools Week 2022 is Fully Alive which reminds us that we are most alive when we are in touch with our inner selves and can acknowledge deep connections between ourselves, God, others and creation. As communities of faith, we are called to grow in awareness of the life in and around us, to live more fully and not to ‘settle for a bland and mediocre existence’. (Pope Francis, Gaudete Et Exsultate)
During Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate the remarkable work, passion and enthusiasm our Catholic schools exhibit daily. We recognise these places as learning communities who are committed to excellence through the education of the ‘whole child’, providing all round, Christ-centered education that nurtures each student spiritually, intellectually, socially, physically and emotionally. It is this style of education that enables all students to flourish, become passionate life-long learners and the very best versions of themselves.
May we all strive to live in active service of Jesus and His mission as we celebrate together during Catholic Schools Week and always.
A PRAYER OF REFLECTION FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK:
A NEW BEGINNING
Henri Nouwen
We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises.
Imagine that we could walk through the new year always listening to the voice saying to us: “I have a gift for you and can’t wait for you to see it!” Imagine.
Is it possible that our imagination can lead us to the truth of our lives? Yes, it can! The problem is that we allow our past, which becomes longer and longer each year, to say to us: “You know it all; you have seen it all, be realistic; the future will just be a repeat of the past. Try to survive it as best you can.”
So, what are we to do? We must open our minds and our hearts to the voice that resounds through the valleys and hills of our life saying: “Let me show you where I live among my people. My name is ‘God-with-you.’ I will wipe all the tears from your eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone” (Revelation 21:2–5).
Pause and reflect on a word or phrase that struck you.
How do you live each day as a ‘gift’ or as a ‘new beginning’?
Let us pray…
That each day we seek to provide the hope and life that the Gospel message offers us. May we empower our children to use their imagination, to see each day as gift, and to recognise God in all things.
Amen.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
The dates and details are still being finalised with Fr Joseph for the children in years 4, 5 and 6 who would like to participate in the sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist. My sincere apologies for the delay. I will be in touch via Compass with details as soon as possible.
May God’s Spirit be with you all each day.
Mrs Jasmina Boudan
Religious Education Coordinator
Yaama Ngindaay
National Sorry Day: 26 May
The following information on National National Sorry Day is from Reconciliation Australia website.
Sorry Day (26 May) is a time to remember the past policies of forced child
removal, and reflect on the sad and painful stories of the Stolen Generations.
It is a time to recognise the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples and the power of saying Sorry.
Did you know?
- The first Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998—exactly one year after the
Bringing Them Home Report was presented to the Parliament. - The Bringing Them Home Report was the result of an inquiry into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, and recommends both an apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and reparations.
- The term “Stolen Generations” refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians who were forcibly removed as children from their families by
government, welfare, or church authorities, and placed into institutional care or with non-Indigenous foster families. - The forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children began as early as the mid-1800s and continued until the 1970s.
In 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in Parliament House. This was a significant event in the life of the country and an important step on the journey to reconciliation.
“We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on
these our fellow Australians...For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.”
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 13 February 2008
The short 5 minute video below gives an excellent overview of the Apology and its significance. Well worth viewing.
National Reconciliation Week: 27 May to 3 June
Information on National Reconciliation Week is from the Reconciliation Australia website.
What is National Reconciliation Week?
The dates for NRW remain the same each year: 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey -the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I found the last few words in the opening paragraph in the Sorry Day information above particularly thought-provoking and enlightening…. the power of saying Sorry.
We may think of saying sorry as being in some way a sign of weakness, but in fact it’s a sign of strength. I once heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa say the same thing in relation to the beginning of the healing process in his home country after the dismantling of the policy of apartheid. Saying sorry can open the door to healing, restoring relationships and moving forward, positively, together.
Please join us to commemorate Reconciliation Week and to pray for us all on our reconciliation journey Monday 30 May at 9.00am in the hall |
Yaluu ngali ngamilay
Phil Taylor
Aboriginal Education Teacher
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Wow, 23 students from St. Kevin’s have completed PRC
Congratulations to the following students for completing PRC in the last fortnight.
Year 1 – Alistair, Henry, Noah R
Year 2 – Julia
Year 3 – Belinda
Keep up the fantastic reading.
Please encourage your child to borrow PRC books each Friday and enter them online. Library borrowing will be on tomorrow as Naplan is finished. Thanks to all the children who found books to read at home last week.
National Simultaneous Storytime 2022 – Week 4 and 5
National Simultaneous Storytime book for 2022 is, " Family Tree" by Josh Pyke.
We are reading it in the Library lesson during Week 4 and 5.
We didn’t join the live event due to it being lunchtime at St. Kevin’s.
The children have been designing their Growth Trees in Library lesson and showing how Family has helped make them the people they are and helped to shape them as a person.
Below is Zavier’s response to the book “Family Tree”. Great work Zavier.
Typing
Please remind your children to practice typing. I am encouraging Year5/6 to practice at home so they improve their speed and accuracy for high school. Children from 2-6 have typing.com passwords.
Congratulations to Julia and Tessa for their amazing typing skills this month. Keep it up girls.
Many thanks
Dianne Binkin
Teacher Librarian
From the Office of Safeguarding -Taming the Tech
NCSS 3.1.1 The entity supports and encourages families and carers to take an active role in monitoring children's safety when participating in activities.
TAMING THE TECH – HOW PARENTAL CONTROLS CAN HELP KEEP KIDS SAFER ONLINE
Recent eSafety research found 56% of parents and carers of children aged 8-10 use parental controls to keep their kids safer online.
Taking part in eSafety’s webinar on parental controls can help you learn more about these software tools and other strategies for taming the technology in your home.
If you would like to learn more, watch the parental controls video eSafety's parent and carer guide to parental controls and download the fact sheets Parental controls fact sheets on using parental controls to manage devices and apps.
NEW RESOURCES RELEASED BY THE ESAFETY COMMISSIONER.
eSafety downloadable resources to help you start the chat about online safety issues and strategies with your child.
- Books eSafety book guide
- Information sheets eSafety Information Sheets
- Audio files eSafety Audio Files
- Family tech agreements eSafety Family Tech Agreements
- Activities eSafety activities
STORY PUZZLES FOR EARLY YEARS – SWOOSH & GLIDE
Swoosh and Glide are sugar glider twins who love to help other young adventurers explore the internet safely. In this activity book there are four stories to find by working out the picture puzzles. Help Swoosh and Glide find out the stories in these pictures and learn some online safety tips along the way!
Downloadable Swoosh & Glide