Dear Parents and Carers of St Kevin’s,

As I write this newsletter there is a buzz in the air …... today is our dress rehearsal for our upcoming musical “Super Stan”! Everyone is excited and nervous. We haven’t been able to perform a musical such as this since 2018, so everyone is thrilled that we can now engage in this activity once again. It has taken a wee bit more work as the concept is very new to staff and students alike, but I am sure you will be very impressed with the final production and performance.

The musical has 2 sessions timetabled – the 1pm matinee and the 5:30pm evening show. The gates to the school will open 30 minutes prior to each session. Seating is pre-booked and allocated, with seating being labelled with numbers as per your tickets. General admission tickets require you to bring your own chair. Parking will be in the streets around the school, as we cannot have vehicles on site whilst children are also on site for WHS reasons.

OOSH will be operating out of the school library on Tuesday afternoon September 12 and in the morning and afternoon of Wednesday September 13. Please continue to use the Newcastle St gate to drop off and collect your children.

This Sunday we also celebrate our Year 4 students receiving their First Eucharist. This is the final step in becoming fully initiated Catholics, and as a Catholic community we congratulate them and pray for them as they continue their faith journey that was started for them by their parents when they were Baptised. Congratulations Amelia, Rafael, Lukas, Erika, Evelyn and Blake.

Here’s to an exciting week of fun and learning.

Mary-Anne Jennings

Principal

Upcoming events.

September:

7^th Lakes Netball Gala Day

8^th Meet and greet kinder 2024

10^th First Eucharist Mass 9:30am

11^th Evacuation drill from playground

13^th School Musical – 1pm matinee and 5:30pm

14^th School photos – Winter uniform – forecast to be wet and cool

15^th Year 5 and 6 at St Paul’s for a visit

15th Year 1 Liturgy and assembly 2.15pm in the school hall

22^nd Last day of Term 3

SCHOOL RESUMES MONDAY OCTOBER 9, 2023

Staff updates

It is with a heavy heart that we need to say goodbye to Mrs Albury at the end of Term 3. Mrs Albury is moving to work at St Joseph’s Kilaben Bay as a Learning Support Teacher. The expertise Mrs Albury has in this field is exceptional and we were very lucky to have been able to access this expertise along with her excellent teaching skills over the past 8 years. We wish Mrs Albury all the best in the next chapter of her career. You will be sorely missed but never forgotten Mrs Albury.

Year 4 will be taught by Ms Rebecca Astorini

Year 6 will be taught by Mr Evers and Ms Watson during Mrs J’s LSL.

Mrs Jennings will be on Long Service Leave from September 15 till October 24. Mrs Jennings will be visiting family in Scotland and traveling through Europe. Mrs Hogan will be Acting Principal during this time.

Evacuation drills and lockdowns.

A lockdown drill from the school playground was conducted on Monday and all students responded very well, following directions and ensuring they were safe. We will also have an evacuation drill from the playground next Monday. Practice makes perfect, should we ever need to enact an actual evacuation or lock down. 

School photos

Wednesday September 14. Uniforms to be worn have been identified as winter, but if the weather really heats up on that day, we will alert you if there is a change. Payment is online only. No payment = no photos.

New students

We welcome Ethan G to Kindergarten and his parents Don & Loraine to our school community. We also will welcome more new students across the grades at the beginning of Term 4. We extend a warm welcome to all our new families and hope they come to love our school as much as we do! 

SUPERSTAN The Musical

We had our first full dress rehearsal yesterday and nearly all students were in full costume.  Our next full school dress rehearsal is next Tuesday 12^th September.  Again, students are to wear their school uniform to school on the day and bring their costume in their bag.  Please ensure label costumes and school uniforms so that items do not become lost.

If you have not secured your tickets yet there are limited tickets available for the evening performance next Wednesday however, there are still a significant number of tickets available for the matinee.  After talking to parents please remember that you do NOT need tickets for your primary school age children.

 Swimming Advice #1

Just a reminder regarding our Intensive Swimming Program.  This year we will be again holding our 2 week intensive swimming program in Weeks 8 & 9 of Term 4.  All students are expected to attend.  Infant students will leave the school at 9:30 am for a commencement time in the pool at 10am.  Infants will return at approximately 12noon for afternoon lessons.  Primary student will leave the school at 11am for a commencement time in the pool at 11:30am.  Primary students will return to school by approximately 1pm for afternoon lessons.   Students' swimming competence will be assessed by accredited instructors in our first session.  The $120 cost for this program is included in your child’s resource levy.  No payment is required.

Last year we noticed that there were a significant number of Infants children (K – 2) that were unable to dress themselves and had huge difficulty in looking after their belongings – putting their shoes etc in their bag at the pool before entering the water and then packing their swimming gear into their bags after swimming.  It is really important that you practice this with your child so that they are independent in this regard, it is such a vital life skill.  Staff are positioned outside of the public bathrooms but are not encouraged to enter the rooms whilst children are changing.

Your child’s swim bag should include

• Swim shirt – rash shirt is ideal.
• Swim goggles (optional)
• Underwear
• Towel
• Water bottle
• Sunscreen
• Thongs for wearing around the pool and in the change rooms
• Brush or comb

All items (including students’ shoes and school clothes) should be LABELLED.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

At St Kevin’s, according to our policy, students bring their own device from Year 4.  Students currently in Year 3 have paper notes in their bag Friday 8/9/23.  Please read all information carefully and return notes to school by the end of October.  It is extremely important that virus protection software is not put on these laptops as the device will not connect to Wi-Fi because of our system protocols.

Faith Life, Catholic Identity and the Liturgical Season

A very noteworthy date in the Liturgical Calendar for the Maitland Newcastle Diocese is the Perpetual Day of Remembrance. Perpetual Remembrance has occurred in the Diocese since 2017, and in 2020, Bishop Bill Wright established a decree that the Sunday before, or on 15^th September of each year will be a feast day marking the Perpetual Day of Remembrance; acknowledging our brothers and sisters in Christ that suffered in the times of historic sexual abuse in our Diocese.

Our diocese acknowledges the pain and suffering of the individuals this affects and continues to pledge a commitment to Safeguarding and integrity in all areas, offices, and departments, including our schools.

For your reflection, I have included a prayer in this memo and will leave you with a quote from Pope Francis from his Encyclical Papal Text “Fratelli Tutti”:

“249. Nowadays, it is easy to be tempted to turn the page, to say that all these things happened long ago and we should look to the future. For God’s sake, no! We can never move forward without remembering the past; we do not progress without an honest and unclouded memory. We need to “keep alive the flame of collective conscience, bearing witness to succeeding generations to the horror of what happened”, because that witness “awakens and preserves the memory of the victims, so that the conscience of humanity may rise up in the face of every desire for dominance and destruction”.” (Pope Francis, 2020, Fratelli Tutti)

Religious Education

Last Week, Mr Vaughan and I attended the training with selected schools in the Diocese in preparation to be part of the Pilot Program for the new Religious Education Curriculum I’ve spoken about. Year 3, 2023 will be piloting the fourth module in this new curriculum in Term 4. The Pedagogy of Encounter Model continues to successfully roll out in its staged phases and we are excited to be one of the few schools in the diocese to be invited to pilot this curriculum. Please take the time to view our infographic which outlines the features of the new Year 3 curriculum.

As I’ve said in my previous newsletters, Year 2 will also have a new curriculum in 2024.

School Led Parish Mass

Please join us to celebrate our sacramental candidates First Eucharist on Sunday 10^th September at our School-Led Parish Mass. There will be coffee and cake to celebrate afterwards!

May God’s Spirit be with you and your families each day!

Amy Arthur

Acting Religious Education Coordinator

"Emu Men"

Indigenous Traditions of Fathering.

Bhiamie points out that… There were also colonial impacts on Indigenous families. Colonisation caused disruptions to Indigenous fathering in many ways.

Economic conditions meant many Indigenous men were forced to be away from their children for extended periods, such as when working in pastoral or pearling industries.

It is clear Indigenous fathering carries its own meaning and interpretation. Features such as sharing of fathering roles, transmission of culture, the making of young boys into men, and the public affection and displays of love fathers share with children.

‘Emu Men’

With these things in mind, Bhiamie considers the unique gendered patterns of emus to describe fathering. During nesting season female emus lay the eggs, but it is the male emus that sit on the nests to warm the eggs and keep them safe. After the eggs hatch, the male emu rears the chicks, raising them into adulthood.

Emus are especially important to some Indigenous groups across Australia. For many, they are creation beings and an important totem. They offer food and resources such as feathers, eggs, and ointments made from fat.

Bhiamie suggests the term ‘Emu Man’ to describe these Indigenous male roles, saying…

 

This Father’s Day let’s all acknowledge and honour the unique place of Indigenous fathers, and celebrate their place in our families, and contributions to healthy communities.

Let the land blossom with Emu Men once more.

Painting by Gamilaraay artist Hayden Wood

 

Nginowa (Awabakal - goodbye)

Phil Taylor

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Teacher

Book Week and Book Fair

Thank you for everyone getting into the spirit to help celebrate Book Week! There were some amazing costumes on display! Here are some photos of some Kindergarten children enjoying their first Book Week celebration.

We were very lucky to have so many people supporting the book fair and St Kevin's were able to purchase nearly $1000 worth of books for our library!

We are very grateful to the families who have either finalised their fees for the year, or who are making regualr payments to ensure that fees are up to date and on track to be finalised by the due date of 30th November 2023.

Fee statements were sent via email last Friday 1 September. Please check your "junk" mail if you have not received it. I would encourage you to check your balance and ensure that your regular payments are sufficient to have the account paid in full by the due date and make any adjustments necessary. I am happy to assist in calculating this amount should you need help. If paying monthly, there are 3 monthly payments remaining; if paying forntightly, there are 6 fortnightly payments remaining; if paying weekly, there are 12 weekly payments remaining. 

Any family experiencing genuine financial hardship, are encouraged to contact the school on 4954 0036 to arrange a confidential meeting with the Principal to make a suitable payment arrangement. 

Supporting positive school attendance is a shared responsibility - everyone has a role to play in promoting the regular attendance of students.

All children should be at school on time each day and remain until the conclusion of lessons in the afternoon.  This ensures a consistent routine for students which helps children feel secure, as well as allowing children to learn and grow.  Days off school not only contribute to significant gaps and lost opportunities in learning, it is also hard for children to establish, develop and maintain social connections.

We ask that you try to limit appointments through the school day where possible.  

Frequent lateness should also be avoided, as children need to get into a good routine each morning.  If you are having difficulty getting your child to school on time, please talk to their class teacher.  

If your child is absent from school for a whole day, please log an attendance note through Compass. If your child is absent for part of the day, the absence is recorded when you sign them in or out via the kiosk in the office.