No 21. Term 4 Week 3, 21st October 2020

Principal's News

Words cannot describe the joy the staff and I have felt in welcoming all of our students back to school after so long. The heartwarming smiles as they exchanged knowing looks with their teachers, the chirping hellos as they were reunited with friends and the spring in their step as they entered the gates, safe in the knowledge that they have come back to their St. Kevin's family. The last two weeks have been a momentous leap forward in returning to a buzzing hive of learning and we now look forward to welcoming you the parent community back into the school, hopefully very soon.

This term is a big term. Not only because it is Term 4 which is renowned for being a big one, but also for teachers and children desperate to make the most of these weeks ahead to support each and every child's growth and progress in learning. I would just like to remind parents though, that each child is on their own learning journey. Each of them are individuals who learn at their own pace and manner. As educators, our job remains to support, nurture and challenge children from where they are at, so they can achieve their best and we are confident we will see the growth that we expect from our children.

Know too that despite the fact that remote learning is over, we continue to cherish the strengthened partnership with you that has grown out of this experience and are looking forward to finding opportunities to maintain the connection between school and home. Working together we can achieve so much more. So I invite you to continue to play an active role in your child's learning and connection to our teachers. Be sure to read any emails, watch or listen to any media communication that comes home and don't hesitate to request a phone call or video conference if you have any queries about how to best support your child when they are not at school. Together, we are stronger. Together, we can achieve so much more. At St. Kevin's we stand together.

God bless you all,

Jason Micallef,
Principal

Staggered drop off and pick up times

Thank you to all our families who have adapted to the staggered start and finish times. This, along with preventing large gatherings are two mandates we must have in place for the school to be operational and open to on-site learning. I understand that for some this may not be convenient and be a juggling act, but unfortunately we all must follow these COVID restrictions.

I must remind our community though that the times for picking students up according to the two group times is not flexible enough to accommodate individuals with their own preferences. If you have a pink name tag (Meaning that at least one of the children being picked up is in grade prep, grade 1 or grade 2), you must not arrive at school to pick them up before 3:30pm. These students are not out of their classrooms and will not be waiting for you until after 3:30pm. So, to avoid holding everyone up behind you, if you have a pink name tag on your windscreen and arrive even a minute before 3:30pm, you will be turned around and asked to come back later.

Incursions, excursions, swimming, etc

Due to COVID restrictions we are unable to offer any kinds of incursions, excursions or swimming lessons. We are waiting in anticipation, that some of these restrictions may be eased shortly so we can offer some of these experiences or some kind of alternative. 

Footy Day

On Thursday 22 October we will have our annual Footy Day.  Children are welcome to attend school wearing their favourite AFL, soccer or rugby colours. 

Student Class Placement in 2021

One of the important tasks we will undertake very shortly is the creation of 2021 class lists. This is a very complex yet important task as we aim to create well balanced communities of learning.

Some of the factors considered when allocating students to classes include:
(a) Need for a balanced number of boys and girls
(b) Need for a well-balanced academic group
(c) Need for a socially compatible group
(d) Need to redistribute certain groups of students
(e) Possible conflict situations e.g. student/student
(f) Students with particular learning needs or behavioural concerns
(g) Varying degrees of independence and maturity
(h) The separation of twins and other siblings. 

In essence, we ask that parents please trust the school’s judgement and professionalism in making a decision that is in each child’s best interest. But if you have any relevant information that might help us to achieve our intention to create balanced lerning groups, please contact Mr Micallef by email, no later than Tuesday November 3rd to share what you know. Please note that requests for your child to be placed with certain other students or teachers will not be considered but if you feel you have valid reasons for why your child should not be placed accordingly, please let Mr. Micallef know so that your information can be considered.

Introducing the newest member of our St. Kevin's Community

Congratulations to Caryn and Steeve who welcomed little Anastasia Harper to their family earlier this week and to Scarlett (5/6) and Charlie (3/4) who now have a little sister to dote over.

School Canteen

Belbrook Catering, who provide our school a canteen service on Thursdays and Fridays have started up again. Orders can only be made online and must be made before 8:55am on the day. To place an order, you need to download an app to your phone or tablet called Qkr! Just create a familiy profile and select St. Kevin's Hampton Park and you are in. You will need a valid credit or debit card to pay for your order.

Remote Learning 2.0 Survey feedback

Remote and flexible learning has been the dominant approach to curriculum delivery for 2020 so far. Whilst it was not without its challenges for parents, students and teachers, the experience taught us a great deal about many things, not the least of which was how to be great role models for our students as we quite visibly had to learn about teaching online.

You may recall that late last term, we invited parents and students to provide us with valuable feedback about the experience of Remote Learning 2.0. Below is a summary of the results of the feedback we received from the 33 parents who responded.

• Teachers were more available and supportive to parents and students
• Almost a unanimous feeling that remote Learning 2 was much better than the first time. 
• Most parents found the use of platforms like Seesaw, Google Classroom and Wushka very good.
• The weekly video communication from teams was very well received and appreciated.
• Parents have a greater awareness of their child’s strengths and challenges in learning
• Parents appreciate the adaptability and responsiveness to feedback
  
• Almost unanimous agreement that parents felt somewhat or extremely well prepared to support the remote learning program at home
• They liked the digital meetings with teachers
  
• There was general concern across the board about the amount of screentime for children
• There were comments made about how we might be able to improve students' level of personal responsibility and accountability for completing tasks.

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