Dear Parents and Friends of St Kevin’s.

Term 1 is well and truly underway with lots of learning happening in every classroom. On my Learning Walks and Talks this week the children could articulate what they were learning in Mathematics and how well they were going. Mathematics is our number 1 priority in 2023, with writing still hanging in there from 2022. Mrs Hogan will in her future newsletter section, update you on exactly what is happening in the world of Mathematics here at St Kevin’s. Please read and ask any questions you may have in this area.

Our Religion focus is on Catholic Culture and what it means to be a Catholic and how we give witness to our Faith. Mrs Boudan will lead us in this area through her Facebook posts and newsletter articles, so that we are all informed about the Catholic Culture that makes St Kevin’s such an amazing school.

On March 16 you will have the chance to visit your child’s classroom with them and engage in a conference with your child about their learning. The classroom teachers will also be in attendance, but they won’t do all the talking , in fact they will do very little. It is all about your child showing you their work and talking to you about their behaviour, friendships and what makes them a good learner. We look forward to this new way of engaging parents in the educational journey of their children, whilst at the same time making the students more accountable for their learning and the choices they make. We will have suggested questions for you to ask of your child at these conferences – the children will be very familiar with them because myself and the teachers ask them when we visit each other's classrooms too! We welcome your feedback to these conferences.

May we always keep learning something new each and every day.

Mary-Anne Jennings

Principal  

P&F

Meeting March 8 at 6pm in Staffroom. All most welcome.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is held this year from March 13-24. Years 3 and 5 will participate once again in this National Assessment Platform. We ask that parents not plan holidays during this time.

Kindergarten and Year 7 2024

Enrolments are now open for Kindergarten and Year 7 2024. Please call the school office for an enrolment pack.

Pupil Free Days

March 24 and April 24. Teachers will be involved in Professional Learning on these days. There will be no lessons for the students on those days. 

Out of Uniform Day

Wednesday March 29 is our out of uniform day. On this day students come to school in sensible play clothes, wearing enclosed shoes of their choice and a hat of their choice. The payment for wearing play clothes to school is to bring in some Easter eggs for our Easter Egg Raffle!! This is a fund raiser for the P&F and is a highlight of our end of term celebrations.

Easter Hat Parade

Yes we have an Easter Hat parade!! Wednesday April 5 at around 1pm in the school hall. Children make their hats at home and bring them into school on the morning of the parade. All parents and grandparents are most welcome to come along

Congratulations and Good Luck!

We have 4 of our senior students representing the Lakes Region at the Diocesan Winter Sports Trials in the next few weeks. Ava will be trialing for netball, Jonathan for soccer, and Braith and Reid in rugby league. Good luck everyone!  

School Musical

In late Term 3 we will be hosting our long-awaited school musical.  We had auditioned and cast roles for Superstan back in 2020 – prior to COVID disrupting the world.  About 2 weeks ago we had a meeting with all primary students regarding the upcoming school musical and auditioning.  It is extremely important that students take ownership of this production.  Scripts were distributed to students wanting to audition in Week 4. At this time we did a role play of how auditioning would be conducted and laid down the rules. Emails indicate that some students are uncertain of the process.  If your child is uncertain, rather than parents taking ownership, please refer them back to the teacher to clarify their understanding.

The rules

• All students must have their script in a display folder. Extra sleeves will need to be purchased and added to the display folder to allow one page per sleeve.  Extra pages means that it is easy for the student to follow the production and turn to the right page /scene.  Students whose script is not in a DISPLAY folder will not be auditioning. (completing this step shows commitment to the process)
• Auditions are Friday 10^th
• Students will be notified of their role on Tuesday 14^th
• Students must know all of their lines by Monday 12^th Students who haven’t committed to this will be replaced.  (Non- adherence to this timeline impacts all other students and the rehearsal process)
• Students are to make themselves very familiar with scene 1 – as they will be asked to audition any page, any character from this scene. They DO NOT need to know the lines by rote, they will read from the script. 
• Students are NOT auditioning for a certain character. They are auditioning for a character required to sing or a speaking part only.  All students are required to sing, certain characters have solos.

More Information

By the end of Term 1 we will have sorted classes into their singing/dance numbers and will advise regarding costuming.  All classes will have a song / dance performance.

In coming weeks, we will begin sourcing the props required for the performance, if you or friends can loan us any of the items on our props list we would be very appreciative. 

Synopsis

Meet the world's newest, greatest and most unlikely Superhero in Craig Hawes' comical musical that's packed with muscle and marvel!

Stanley Marvel may be the clumsiest clot in Megaville, but he's happy to read his comics and dream his life away. That is until it's turned upside-down when he discovers that local hero, The Candy King, is actually a Super-Villain determined to conquer the world with his corrupt confectionery! As the sugary charlatan and his mad minions enslave the citizens with hypnotic gobstoppers and a giant remote control, Stan knows Megaville is in need of a Superhero. But when his crazy Gran and her crumbly chums reveal an earth-shattering secret, Stan's shocked to discover his own true identity!

With a dose of secret formula and a pair of fantastic elastic anti-gravity underpants, Stanley Marvel takes to the skies as the greatest Superhero the world has ever known. Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's Superstan - a caped crusader fighting for truth, freedom and justice with his super powers, super tights and the strength to open a really tricky jar of pickles!

Can Superstan crush The Candy King and save the planet? Find out in this funtastic adventure as our hapless Superhero flies by the seat of his pants, faster than a speeding paper aeroplane, and learns that with great power comes great hilarity!

Kim Hogan

Assistant Principal

Term One School Mass

Thank you to all our wonderful families, children and staff members who joined us for our Term One School Mass, with a very special thank you to Mrs Hogan for her delicious scones! Father Joseph led us in a lovely celebration with beautiful blessings on the school year ahead.

Stage Masses

I am very excited to announce that, upon discussions with Fr Joseph, our class masses this year (weather permitting!) will be held amongst nature on our school playground. I very much look forward to celebrating with the children in creation made by God. Please come along and join us if you can. For Term One:

Primary Mass – March 9^th 9.30am

Infants Mass – March 30^th 9.30am

Launch of Project Compassion

Last Tuesday I had the absolute please of escorting our leaders to the Diocesan Launch of Project Compassion at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Ava, Logan, Jamie and Reid represented St. Kevin’s with maturity and I couldn’t have been prouder. They thoroughly enjoyed the pancakes and ice cream that followed the launch!

Project Compassion

Each classroom has a Project Compassion box on their Sacred Space and the children are invited to do extra little jobs at home to earn some money to pop in the box. They may even like to donate change from the canteen. We will announce our Project Compassion fundraiser for 2023 on Compass in coming days.

         First Week of Lent  
                                                    (Week beginning Monday 27^th February)

We begin our annual Lenten Project Compassion journey by learning about Laxmi, a 16-year-old girl living in Jajarkot, a remote district in Nepal where almost half of the population live below the poverty line.  Tragedy struck when Laxmi was 10 years old and her father passed away. Her father worked hard to pay for his children's education and, after losing him, Laxmi was at risk of falling further into extreme poverty.

With the support of our partner Caritas Nepal, Laxmi joined a child's club at her school where she was encouraged to resume her education. Through the child’s club, Laxmi developed the skills and confidence to become a leader, advocating for clean water taps at her school. 

Laxmi is now excelling in her studies and working towards her dream of becoming a civil engineer. She continues to be involved in the child's club, serving as an advisor and mentoring the next generation of young leaders at her old school.   

Watch a short film about Laxmi’s story here.

Ash Wednesday

Whilst our year 4, 5 and 6 children celebrated Ash Wednesday will Mass in the church, our Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 children celebrated with an intimate liturgy in the library. Kindergarten helped to create our purple hearts on the cross, reminding us to be more like Jesus each day we walk through Lent.

This Week’s Formation Flash...

Why is purple the colour for Lent?

Purple symbolises repentance and penance. Priest vestments of purple or violet are used during the seasons of Advent and Lent. School and Classroom Sacred Spaces are adorned in purple at these times too. The colour reminds us of the violet flower that bows its head and is a symbol of humility. Lent is the season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

May God’s Spirit be with you all each day.

Mrs Jasmina Boudan    

Religious Education Coordinator 

Monday 20 - Sunday 26 March 2023

Why orange?

Orange has been the Harmony Week colour since the first event was held in 1999.

Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations.

By wearing orange, people show their support for all cultures that make up Australia. Harmony Day celebrates this diversity, aiming to foster inclusiveness, mutual respect and the idea that people of all different cultures can make a valuable contribution to society.

By wearing something orange during Harmony Week we show our support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.

What is Harmony Week?

Harmony Week is an opportunity for all Australians to embrace cultural diversity and to share what we have in common.

Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. An integrated multicultural Australia is an integral part of our nation's history and character. As with all things we value and treasure, it is important to nurture and strengthen this.

The message of Harmony Week is everyone belongs.

On Thursday 23 March we will celebrate at school with a Prayer Service and a focus in each classroom on the importance of treating everyone with respect. Our children do this very well most of the time, however occasionally there are words which some use to tease and disrespect others. They may hear these words and phrases on TV, social media or older children and adults, and think it is ok to use them. At school we deal with these incidents when they arise and contact parents so that we can all reinforce the importance of speaking and acting respectfully to all.

RESPECT is one of our 3 school rules, to…be SAFE, be RESPECTFUL and be a LEARNER. The classroom teachers and I will lead the children in discussion, share age-appropriate film clips about teasing, bullying and racism, and explore how we can be upstanders by calling out disrespectful behaviour, and not be bystanders.

Thank you for your support of our upcoming Harmony Day celebration at school, and continuing to speak with your children about how important it is to treat everyone with respect.

Yaluu ngali ngamilay (We will see each other again)

Phil Taylor

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Teacher

Mrs Stephenson is back in the library!

I am thrilled to return to St Kevin’s after a year off on mum duties. Our library has been put back together after housing lots of furniture and resources while the renovation of our new classrooms was undertaken. Lessons in the library have kicked off this week and library borrowing started today. Students will need to bring their library bags each Thursday in order to borrow some of our lovely books to take home for the week.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is now open. Students will be given their log ins next week. More information to come in the next few weeks.

I look forward to an exciting year with the students of St Kevin’s in the library and all the fantastic things we have ahead of us!

Here’s a picture of who kept me super busy during 2022!

School Fee Statements were issued today. Please check your Spam/Junk Mail folders and if you have not received yours, contact the school office. Thank you in advance for your consideration of how you will settle your fee account in 2023. Should you need assistance in calculating your weekly, fortnightly or monthly instalment, please reach out to the school via phone 4954 0036 or email admin@cardiff.catholic.edu.au and I will be happy to assist.

Please find information below regarding the 2023 School Fees and a link to the Direct Debit Request form via the Catholic Community Fund.