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- Principal News
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- Religious Education News
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education News
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- eSafety Parent Webinar -Getting Started with Social Media
- Federation of P&F Association event: Behaviour, Big Feelings, and Self-Regulation parent workshop
- Every Day in School Means So Much More
- 2024 School Student Travel Parent Information
- Need some lunch box ideas Nutrition Snippets
- Strengthening bonds through family meals
Dear Parents and Friends of St Kevin's,
I return to you after my long service leave where I travelled to Scotland to visit family and then onto Europe to explore the history and architecture of the various countries. My husband and I had a wonderful time and I return, refreshed and ready for everything Term 4 brings. I thank the staff, and particularly Mrs Hogan, for keeping the St Kevin’s ship on a steady course during my absence.
Currently the students are completing various assessment tasks as the conclusion of the school year approaches. Data from these assessments assists us to measure growth in their learning and identify areas of strength and need for the 2024 academic year. Academic reports for Semester 2 are also being completed, so it is a busy time for students and staff.
Friday, we have our School Expo – you may have heard this being advertised on the radio. We are targeting our new families in the area, who may be looking at enrolling their child with us. St Kevin’s has much to offer and is a fantastic community where parents and teachers work together to ensure all students have the best Catholic education available.
So, Christmas is fast approaching, and we have many events on our calendar. We hope you can attend most of them with your children, celebrating our faith, education and success in learning. Keep an eye on COMPASS and our school calendar for all relevant details.
Have a great weekend
Mary-Anne Jennings
Principal
St Kevin’s
November
Thursday 2nd – whole school Mass to celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
Friday 3rd – School Showcase 8:30 – 10:00am
Friday 3rd -Prayer service (led by Year 3) and Assembly 2.15pm in the church.
Wednesday 8th – P&F 6pm
Friday 10th – Kinder 2024 transition morning 9-10am
Monday 13th- Rememberance Day in Class Prayer Service
Monday 13th - Personal Planning meetings with our LST Mrs Natalie Warren
Tuesday 14th - Personal Planning meetings with our LST Mrs Natalie Warren
Friday 17th - Prayer Service and Assembly 2.15pm in the church
Monday 20th – Year 3 to 6 sport incursion with Motiv8
Tuesday 21st – Children's University Graduation 4pm
Wednesday 22rd – Year 1 and 2 Oz Tag Competition at Swansea
Friday 24th – Kinder 2024 Transition morning 9-10am
Monday 27th – 2 week Intensive Swimming starts for K-6
December
Monday 4th – Week 2 of intensive swimming.
Sunday 10th -Year 6 Graduation Mass 9.30am at St Kevin's church
Monday 11th – Captains' speeches and voting for 2024
Tuesday 12th – P&F Christmas bake sale, Christmas Craft Day and Infants Nativity.
Wednesday 13th- End of Year Liturgy and awards 1pm
Friday 15th – Last day for students. Year 6 luncheon and clap out.
Welcome to our new families
We welcome Flynn in Year 3 and Isaac in Kinder and their parents Samuel and Alice.
We welcome Randall in Kindergarten and his parents Jay and Nichole.
We welcome Penny in Year 6 and her parents Gavin and Kira.
Welcome to the St Kevin's community and we look forward to getting to know you better.
Staffing 2024
We are currently completing our staffing for 2024. No teachers have been assigned to classes as yet.
Uniforms
Thank you to all students who are wearing the correct school uniform and ensuring they have their school hat with them. Wearing your school uniform with pride reflects a positive self-image, confidence in learning and engagement with our community.
Hair
As the weather warms and for health and safety reasons, (head lice!!!) all students (male and female) with long hair should ensure that their hair is neat and tidy and either in a plait, or braided or in a ponytail. Hair colours of unnatural shades and styles that are socially offensive, are not permitted.
Earrings and Jewlery
A reminder to all students (male and female) that earrings worn to school should be only sleepers or simple studs. This is a health and safety requirement. Students are also only permitted to have 1 set of earrings in their ears. Other piercings are not permitted.
Bangles, bracelets and watches – only 1 simple bangle or bracelet that cannot get caught on things here at school whilst playing or doing sport. Again, it’s about health and safety. Watches can be worn, but smart watches with data are not permitted to be worn at school.
Final school fee statements were emailed yesterday. If you have not received yours, please check your "junk" mail or contact the school. Thank you to all those families who have paid their school fees. Fee balances must be finalised by the due date of 30th November 2023.
If you have finalised your fees for the year and want to get a head start on next year's fees, you can continue making regular payments, for Bpay, use your Biller Code and Reference number. Any payments made in advance will be on your account as a credit and will come off next year's fees.
If you are eligible to receive regular Centrelink payments i.e. Family Tax Benefit, you can also set up regular payments via Centrepay to come out of your Centrelink benefits. If you would like information on how to set this up, please email me on admin@cardiff.catholic.edu.au or phone the school on 4954 0036.
The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle declares that no family who supports the Catholic ethos should be denied a place at a Catholic school due to financial circumstances. If you are experiencing financial difficulty and are unable to finalise your account by the due date, please conact the school to arrange a meeting with the Principal to formalise a mutally agreed payment plan.
News from the Assistant Principal
My how this year has flown, we are seriously on a countdown to the end of the year and things are picking up a pace.
Assessment
As Mrs Jennings alluded to, over the past week students have been completing standardised tests and will continue to be assessed in class throughout each day as they demonstrate their learning. Our staff meeting this week explored how to understand these standardised tests and analyse the data to create targeted teaching that will bring about student improvement and growth.
Events
We have some great events coming up that you may want to add to your calendar as reminders :-
Monday November 20th : Primary students (Years 3 –6) will participate in a Motiv8 sports incursion. This will be a day of fun and celebration. There is no cost for this event as it is part of the school levy. It includes a free sausage sizzle, drink and iceblock.
Wednesday November 22nd : League Tag Gala Day at Parbury Park, Swansea for selected Year 1s and all Year 2 students. A Compass Event was posted regarding this event this week. There is no cost for this event as it is part of the school levy.
Monday 27th November – Friday 8th December : Intensive Swimming Program daily at Speers Point Pool, no cost for this event it is included in your levy. Parental consent for this event closes tomorrow evening. A reminder email has been sent to the 38 recipients who have yet to respond.
Tuesday 12th December : Infants’ Nativity and Xmas Craft. Grandparents welcome to come and assist with Xmas craft from 12 noon. Picnic Recess at 1:15pm ( all welcome). 1:45pm School choir to perform followed by the Infant Nativity extravaganza.
Faith Life, Catholic Identity and the Liturgical Season
This week as a Parish, we acknowledge and celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls; an easily remembered one as it falls over the period of Halloween, which has pagan significance rooted in the Celtic tradition of harvest. There is knowledge to be mined from our school’s celtic/Irish heritage here of St Kevin and his blackbird!
The feast days are one of great significance for our Parish as All Saints’ Blackbutt South Parish. This week’s gospel reading of The Beatitudes reminds us that a commitment to peacemaking and ongoing faithfulness to the Christian life is one of great reward. Pope Francis’ Angelus address speaks of this:
“Brothers and sisters, let us look within and ask ourselves: are we peacemakers? In the places where we live, study and work, do we bring tension, words that hurt, gossip that poisons, controversy that divides? Or do we open up the way to peace, forgiving those who have offended us? Do we care for those who are on the margins, do we redress some injustice by helping those who have less? This is called building peace.” – Pope Francis, 2022 Angelus address, St Peter’s Square 1st November.
Parish and Community Events
Our annual Parish All Saints event will be held on Sunday 5th November at 10am. One Mass will be celebrated, followed by a Picnic Lunch on this weekend.
Parish School Leaders and Father Joseph recently met to discuss the Parish Sacramental programme for 2023/24. Collectively, we decided that to be more consistent for families, the programme will run each calendar year, rather than across two years. Please see attached the outline. This is current of 2023, and is subject to minor changes.
Infants Nativity:
To be held in Week 10 – Tuesday 12th December, 2023 at 2pm.
Religious Education
Year 3 continue to enjoy engaging with the Pilot Year 3 Pedagogy of Encounter. Over the next few weeks, Mrs Arthur and staff will attend professional learning sessions around the new Year 2 and Year 3 curriculum modules to be ready for implementation in 2024.
Stage 2 Learning Cycle will be consistent with the following infographic below:
Social Justice
Our Mini Vinnies team will be soon asking for donations to our St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. This will start to happen from Week 5. Information will be distributed both in hard copy and via Compass and School Newsletter. Please keep an eye out for information!
May God’s Spirit be with you and your families each day!
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education News
Yaama,
In an Acknowledgement of Country we pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the traditional owners and name the Country we are on. We make reference to the ongoing relationship the people have with each other and with Country.
Even though Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people may not live in a traditional way on their land, they are still connected to it, and to them the meaning of ‘Country’ is much more than just ownership of the land. As Professor Mick Dodson explains:
For us Country is a word for all the values, places, resources, stories and cultural obligations associated with that area and its features. It describes the entirety of our ancestral domains.
So, while we see certain landmarks and places every day in our local area such as Mt Sugarloaf, Lake Macquarie, Nobbys or Swansea Heads, we don’t often think about the special significance these places have for our traditional owners, the Awabakal people. There are Dreaming stories associated with some of these places – Mt Sugarloaf and Swansea Heads for example. The children enjoy these Dreaming stories and there is often a good underlying message in them as they learn more about Awabakal people, language and culture.
The following re-telling of the story of Malangbula – The Petrified Women of Swansea Heads, is by Tayla Peterson (2018) and is printed in the online resource - Awabakal Language Program © Miromaa ALTC. All rights reserved.
Malangbula – The Petrified Women of Swansea Heads
Picture from: Miromaa (2016) Aboriginal language & technology centre
Story © Miromaa ALTC. All rights reserved
According to Awabakal lore, a long time ago, the two upright rock forms at Swansea Heads were once women. The two women were turned to stone after getting into trouble from an Awabakal warrior. The reason for them being in trouble is not clearly told.
The women became protectors of the nearby burial sites of their ancestors. The Awabakal feared that sea monsters would move down Swansea Channel and into Lake Macquarie, so the two women kept watch for any coming danger. When they saw strange ships or creatures coming from the sea, the women would return to human form and warn the people of any dangers.
Nginowa
Phil Taylor
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Teacher
The last day for borrowing will be Thursday 23rd November. All books will need to be returned to the library by Thursday 30th November to allow for stocktake. Year 6 students will need to have all library loans returned and signed off by the library assistant prior to departing the school.
Every Day in School Means So Much More
Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options.
When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier, and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.