No 23. Term 4 Week 7, 18th November 2020

Principal's News

Dear families,

I hope that with the easing of restrictions you have been able to enjoy some great activities with your family and friends. The weather has certainly been kind of late and I know that weekends for our staff are very welcomed at this very busy time of year. Our teaching staff are immersed in quality teaching at present and are putting in lots of extra hours to ensure that the assessment schedules are ready and formal reporting requirements are met for the end of semester 2.  

We enjoyed welcoming our 2021 Preps who attended their first Orientation Day last week. I must say they looked amazing in their brand new 'I'm a St. Kevin's Kid' t-shirts. We look forward to seeing them again this Friday in their staggered groups throughout the day.

At this time there is a lot of work going into ensuring adequate staffing for 2021. Our enrolments are staying steady for 2021 as we welcome nearly 80 new Preps and many more students across the school coming from other schools. With 77 Year 6's going out, we are grateful for a levelling out of numbers and look forward to maintaining a healthy intake in the coming years. We will always continue to ensure the best teacher to student ratios and access to expert educators remains our priority, which is why currently we have waiting lists for new students who wish to join our school community in every year level except grade 5 and 6.

I would like to take this opportunity to announce the exciting news that we have appointed a second Deputy Principal to fill Mrs Marciniak's position after she retired at the end of Term 1. Her shoes were certainly not easy ones to fill, which is why we have taken this long to reach this point, but I am pleased to announce that our very own Mrs Rebecca Gage (5/6GA) has accepted the challenge of working alongside Miss Rowlands and I to lead our great school from 2021. Mrs Gage is an experienced Deputy Principal and has a wealth of skill and knowledge in the areas that will help us to take full advantage of what we have learnt from this very unusual year. She was a popular choice for our staff too and we are confident that you will join us in congratulating her.

Enjoy the next couple of weeks as we journey closer to Advent and as we try to ensure that our celebrations under restrictions remain child focused and happy. Please go gently as the end of year can bring anxiety and worry with the transition to new schools, grade levels and new challenges. It is a time to look after each other more carefully and mindfully. 

As always if you have any feedback, ideas or you need any assistance at all, you are always most welcome to see me, Miss Rowlands or any member of the wider school leadership team. 

God Bless,

Jason Micallef,
Principal

Important News for Current Year 4 Families

If you are a parent of a child who is currently in year 4 you need to be aware that the key enrolment dates for students starting Year 7 in 2023 have been released. Parents of these students need to note:

• 27 January 2021   – Applications will open for students starting Year 7 in 2023.
• 20 August 2021       – Applications will close.
• 22 October 2021  – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants.
• 12 November 2021 – Final date for parents/carers to accept offer made by school.

Our Fleet of Bicycles has GROWN!

We have been very fortunate to have received a fleet of nearly 30 junior bicycles to add to our already substantial number of bikes, which we use in our popular Bike Ed program. The newly received bikes, which were donated to us, came to us from the Casey Safety Village, which has recently closed. While we are sad that Council deemed such a valuable community service to be no longer viable, we are so grateful that we could receive the bikes to allow us to continue this very important part of our curriculum program in a more inclusive way. We cannot wait to bring Bike Ed back to our students in 2021!

Art Competition Update

This year we invited the Grade 3 /4 students to enter the Openbook Howden Art Competition. Students were asked to design a new front cover for our school diaries. We congratulate all of the students who entered the competition especially the winner of the competition, who was a student from Dandenong South Primary School. All of our students received certificates to commend them for their entry into competition.

Congratulations to the following students:

3/4PE -Suhana Malhotra, Kylie Hayward, Veronicca Aggarwal

3/4FO - Orlando Morales, Ava Dizon, Nearra Maria

3/4MG - Delwin Mariyathasan, Peter Chiswell

3/4BR - Samantha Morales, Madison Aquino, Kiara Noronha, Jason John Britto, Marina Haddad

3/4TI - Chantelle jayawardane, Saish Ramnial, Charlotte Samuel

Advent Liturgies Online

Due to current covid restrictions, we are still unable to invite families to be a part of school activities that take place within the school grounds. However, we still feel it is very important for our families to be a part of such important parts of our faith tradition, especially as we move closer toward Christmas.

For this reason, this year's Advent Liturgies will continue to be hosted by our students and will be recorded for families to view via a private Youtube link. The videos will only be accessible by those who have the direct link and will not be able to be found by anyone doing a search.

If you would like your child NOT to appear in the videos, please let your child's teacher know as soon as possible. We can still include your child in the liturgy of course, but we will just make sure they do not appear on screen.

A new member of the St. Kevin' family!

This is Aren Agob from 1/2 AL with his new baby sister Manan. It means sweet treat from above.  Manan was born last week and we wish to extend a massive congratulations to the Agob family and welcome Manan to our St. Kevin's family. Such a gorgeous photo of them both.

What learning looked like over the last two weeks at St. Kevin's

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Camp Australia Information Sessions

National Skin Cancer Action Week

Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, including melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Every year in Australia skin cancers account for around 80% of all newly diagnosed cancers. Around 2000 people die from this disease every year.

However, more than 95% of skin cancer cases are caused by unprotected exposure to UV radiation from the sun, meaning it is a nearly entirely preventable cancer.

In terms 1 & 4 all children are required to wear a school hat whenever they are outside.  School hats can be purchased at the Office for $15.00.  Payment can be made by either credit card over the phone or send $15 cash in with your child.

Please click on the link and take the time to read about sun safety and preventing skin cancer.

Birthday's to Celebrate

November

9th   Glen 5/6 BU, Ateny 5/6 BU, Tristan 3/4 TI, Ethan 1/2 LO

10th  Acacia 5/6 DA, Meran 3/4 TI

11th  Noah PCA, Deui 3/4 PE, Franco 3/4 FO, Madison PCA

12th  Rumith 1/2 LO

13th  Aurelia 1/2 MA

15th  Braxtyn 5/6 AD

16th  Shenelli 5/6 BU, Jonathan 5/6 ME

17th  Kultaran 5/6 AD, Kiara 5/6 DA, Isaiah 1/2 SC, Angela 3/4 FE, Tanav 5/6 DA

18th  Zoey 1/2 LO

20th  Melodie 5/6 AD, Zara PAT, Chloe 1/2 FE, Kaiana 3/4 MG, Elizabeth PDE

21st  Caitlin 5/6 DA, Lohan 5/6 ME, Trey PAT, Tristan PCA

22nd  Zabrina 1/2 LO

Canteen Dates

Bellbrook Catering would like to wish all Staff, Children and families a safe and happy Xmas break. Your last canteen day for 2020 is Friday 11^th December and your first canteen day for 2021 is Thursday 4^th February. 

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