Well, it has been an eventful, fulfilling term and the children are no doubt in need of a couple of weeks recuperation.  There are things to look forward to in Term 4 

• Our nominated Friday sport this term is rugby league. 
• Intensive swimming returns in Weeks 8 & 9.  The cost for this is included in your child’s recource fees
• 30 or our Year 1 & 2 students will represent the school at a League Tag gala day on 22 November
• A science incursion conducted by Kaleidoscope Science. The cost for this is included in your child’s recource fees on 26 October
• Year 5 prepare to wear the mantle as school leaders – captain's speeches Week 10 on 11 December 
• Year 6 graduation on Sunday 10 December and clap out on Friday 15 December at 2.45pm (COLA and church gate)

We farewell Mrs Courtney Albury who has been an invaluable staff member, both as a Learning Support Teacher and Classroom Teacher. Mrs Albury  is leaving us to take up an appointment at Kilaben Bay as their Learning Support teacher 4 days per week.  Mrs Albury is passionate in catering for all students’ needs and meeting them where they are at.  Her wisdom, generosity and commitment have been a huge benefit to the St Kevin’s school community. We will miss her! 

Staffing Term 4 

Kindergarten – Mr Anton van Zeeland 

Year 1 – Mrs Amy Arthur & Mrs Rebecca Mawhinney 

Year 2 – Mrs Cassie Tonks & Mrs Erica Keating 

Year 3 – Mr Martin Vaughan 

Year 4 – Miss Rebecca Astorini 

Year 5 – Miss Olivia Duggan 

Year 6 – Mrs Kim Hogan & Miss Alexa Watson. (Mr Willem Evers will work with Yr6 Thursday/Friday for the first 3 weeks whilst I am Acting Principal) 

Enjoy the time with your children and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 9th October. 

God Bless 

Kim Hogan 

Acting Principal

Ahead of a busy Term 4 … it doesn’t matter how much planning and preparation goes into Term 4 it just always seems to go so fast … I think it is timely to focus on developing independence.  Our goal is, undoubtedly,  that our children will be loving well-adjusted, confident, responsible, hardworking adults.  This does not happen magically.  It is the result of what we say and do. It starts from when they are pre-schoolers.  Have you fallen into the trap of doing for your child because its quicker and a whole heap less painful?  It is vital that your child is independent, it translates into so many things. Things that I have been noticing over the last few weeks:-

• Children that ask other children to tie their shoe laces for them (not older students but their own classmates)
• Children that can not pack their own bag
• Children that can not find their own belongings in their own bag and need a classmate to help them find it
• Children that are not able to dress themselves
• Children that are able to dress themselves but take an inordinately long time to do so (x4 times the time taken by other children)
• Children that struggle to carry their own bag – they don’t know how to deal with straps and cords, hold a bag, bear its weight.

Look! I am a parent and a grandparent.  I have been there but short term pain is worth the long term gain.  It might take a little longer to teach your child to be independent but the benefit for your child is well worth it.  An independent child approaches life with a more positive mindset.  This is so important for them at school and as a learner.

Teaching your child that they can do things by themselves, that they are competent little individuals translates into their understanding of self.  Independent learners are risk takers, they are not afraid to face a challenge and fail as failure is simply part of the learning process.  It is what you HAVE to do to learn something new.  Please ensure that your child does not see failure as a negative.  I believe the opposite.  If you never fail you are only doing what you can already do – what is the challenge in that. 

There are lots of great websites that have tips and ideas for helping parents help their children to become more independent.  Don’t despair its never too late! I particularly liked the tips below.

• Make your expectations known
• Invest time into teaching
• Establish routines
• Create Charts
• Shape their behaviour
• Provide praise
• Offer incentives
• Create behaviour contracts
• Don’t nag or beg
• Allow for natural consequences

How to Teach Your Kids to Be More Independent (verywellfamily.com)

Welcome to Week 10 of Term 3,

It has been a very exciting term in the Catholic Identity & Religious Education space for St Kevin’s and Term 4 looks to be the same!

In keeping with updates on the Liturgical Calendar and upcoming celebrations, please note for your Term 4 diary:

All Saints’ Feast Day Celebrations as a school will occur both in class and will be celebrated with our Parish at the weekday mass. More information to follow in Term 4 correspondence.

You would have heard a lot of chatter amongst your children at home around Socktober & Mini Vinnies; we have some very motivated students pledging their commitment to our Mini Vinnies/Social Justice team at school. Sent home this week was a note advising that we are selling raffle tickets in support of Catholic Mission Australia’s efforts in Timor-Leste. First prize in the student raffle is a signed Newcastle Jets Jersey & second prize is a Socktober ball. Mini Vinnies reps will be selling tickets at lunch & recess this week to fundraise for Catholic Mission Australia.

We invite our school community to get behind the efforts of Socktober & fundraising to Kick Goals for Good! When you create a fundraising page through the Socktober links I invite you to take advantage of your workplaces, social media & neighbours to reach your goals and contribute to our school team!

In addition to the raffle at school, I invite you to consider sponsoring the Maitland Newcastle Catholic Diocese Team to go into the draw to win a Corporate Box experience at a Newcastle Jets match for the 23/24 season.

Vinnies Youth/Mini Vinnies at St Kevin’s

Thank you to the students in Grades 2-6 who have registered their interest for the school Vinnies Youth chapter and attended our first chapter meeting. It was excellent to see so many Social Justice Warriors committed to initiatives that make the world a better place. I know there was a lot of interest in the Year 1 class to be involved, and I can only anticipate this was the same for Kindergarten; so I ask families of K/1 students to send me suggestions of what a ‘Mini’ Mini Vinnies would look like for our K/1 Social Justice Legends and whether in 2024 we split the Social Justice Groups into Infants and Primary to target our initiatives. Many Josephite schools connect their order and heritage to St Vincent de Paul’s Good Works as “Junior Joeys” – Junior Josephites. I will link a Microsoft Form for your feedback.

Here at St Kevin’s our school community’s commitment to Social Justice is always that of great generosity.  Please follow the QR Code to have your say, or link here: https://forms.office.com/r/zEJ7M5dkgz

Amy Arthur

Acting Religious Education Coordinator

Yaama,

‘The Voice’ Referendum

As you are aware the Voice Referendum will be held on Saturday 14 October.

By now you will have received the official Yes/No referendum pamphlet from the Australian Government which outlines the Yes and No cases.

I’m sure you have heard a lot in the mainstream media and on social media about the Voice proposal, some of it factual but there is also some misinformation and disinformation, which will continue right up to referendum day.

As the referendum date draws near may we all consider carefully the arguments for the Yes and No cases to make an informed decision on polling day.

Staff Professional Learning – Cultural Awareness

The Catholic Schools Office is delivering professional learning for teachers in the diocese on Cultural Awareness. The Crossing Cultures, Hidden Histories (CCHH) workshop developed in conjunction with Catholic Schools NSW is for educators to increase their cultural knowledge and understanding. It focuses on history, government legislation, policies and other significant events that have impacted on the lives of Indigenous Australians.

As a trained facilitator I will help to deliver the CCHH workshop with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Officers at the Catholic Schools Office along with several other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education teachers in the diocese. Our staff members at St Kevin’s will eventually participate in this important professional learning opportunity.

It’s been a very busy and productive term. Wishing you all a happy holiday period and I’ll see you again in Term 4.

Take care.

Nginowa (Awabakal - goodbye)

Phil Taylor

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Teacher

Mathematics Problem Solving Enrichment Group

In Term 2 and 3, Year 3 students have been engaging in enrichment group sessions building their toolbox in selecting appropriate strategies to obtain an answer to a worded problem. As result of data review, we identified selecting problem-solving strategies in mathematical worded problems as an area of need. Using the Problem Solver Program and Maths Explorer, students have been exploring ‘guess and check’, ‘find a pattern’ and ‘make a table’ strategies. We begin our sessions explicitly teaching the problem-solving strategy and we unpack the problem together. Students then independently unpack and apply the strategy to another word problem. This provided opportunities for the students to struggle, challenging them to understand the question. We stressed and encouraged that it is ok to feel frustration when not getting it right the first time and the importance of practicing the problem-solving strategy over time. The students have thoroughly enjoyed seeing their growth in selecting and applying these strategies in these sessions and recognising when to apply it in their own classroom setting.

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.