No 4. Term 1 Week 7, 10th March 2021
- Principal News
- Altar Servers', "Thank you"
- STEM - What is it?
- Student Representative Council
- Reconciliation Family Activity Night
- Ride to School Day
- School Advisory Committee
- Carpark
- PFA - Hot Cross Buns Drive & Easter Raffle
- St Kevin's Gardening Club
- Birthday Celebrations
- Need help with getting the kids to/from school?
Principal News
Welcome to Week 7 of our first term. How time flies when you are having fun right? I must say that despite the busy nature of schools at this time of year (or is it all times of year?), it is heartening to be welcomed each day with the smiles of students and parents walking into school, ready to tackle each day with optimism and vigour.
This week, we are excited by activities happening both within and beyond the classroom. Not the least of which, is the work of our PFA who are running our first Hot Cross Bun Drive. If you haven't ordered yours yet, make sure you check out the form on Operoo. Get in quick though!
We also host the first of our Parent Engagement Action Team workshops this Friday and are looking forward to welcoming Poonam, Kiran, Ryan, Nadine, Rain, Lani and Carol together with our staff; Mrs Kydas, Mrs Fonseca, Miss Buttigieg and Mrs Gage to look at ways we can make our home - school partnership even stronger.
On the sporting front, our senior students are excited to be beginning their Interschool Sport campaign this week as we have a number of students competing in District Swimming today and many of our Year 6s competing in a range of sports against Rangeview Primary School on Friday. We wish them well and know they will do their best and represent St. Kevin's with pride. Don't forget that Year 3/4 begin their swimming lessons next week.
I urge you to keep our Year 3 and 4 students in your prayers at this time. Next week, they will be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. For our year 4s, the preparation time has been an extended one, since we were unable to administer Sacraments last year. It will no doubt be an especially sacred occasion. We have two sacramental celebrations taking place. The first on Tuesday March 16 at 5:30 and the second on Thursday March 18 at 5:30.
As always, I wish you all health, happiness and peace.
God bless,
Jason Micallef,
Principal
Important Reminder
The school yard is unsupervised until 8:40am each morning. To ensure the safey of your children, we ask that children not be left unattended by parents in the school yard before 8:40am.
The school gates are closed from 9:00am and the only way into the school after this time is through the office. Students who arrive to school late (after 9am), will be issued with a late pass which they must pass to their teacher, so we can record their presence at school accurately.
Altar Servers', "Thank you"
I am writing this to thank you for your support and encouragement for our children to attend the Altar Servers training sessions on 27th Saturday and 28th Sunday in the Church to become Altar Servers in our parish community. It was lovely to see 56 a great number of newcomers who attended the training to join Altar Servers’ Ministry. I want to thank the Parents of your school children, for their support and encouragement for these young children to grow in their faith journey. I am grateful to both primary school principals and staff for your continued support and encouragement for our children.
Please Note: We will have an Altar Servers’ Commissioning Mass on 14thof March at 6 pm and there will be another Altar Servers training on the 21st of March at 2 pm in the Church.
Thank you once again for helping our children to say “Yes” to serve and the commitment to grow in their faith journey.
With a grateful heart
Fr. Anil
Weekend Mass at St. Kevin's Church
Did you hear the good news? St. Kevin's church has been open for Mass since the lockdown ended. There are some requirements to adhere to, but parishioners are welcome to attend any of the scheduled Masses in person. No bookings required. For more information visit www.stkevins.org.au.
STEM - What is it?
What is STEM? Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics however how do we apply this to teaching our students? Our STEM curriculum is based around teaching students the skills they need to plan and solve problems. Using real-world problems, students will apply scientific knowledge and technology in their approach to solve these issues. We are currently building the students capacity to design and engineer solutions and will begin to introduce more technology in terms 2 and 3.
My name is Sarah Kroenert and I am a passionate STEM educator. This is my 5th year teaching STEM. I have a particular passion for engineering and science and in the past have led an educational tour group to NASA!
I am so excited to see the students at St. Kevin’s flourish in our new STEM program, I am sure they will blow me away with their creativity and ingenuity!
Sarah Kroenert,
STEM Teacher
School Assemblies
The current Covid restrictions that schools need to operate under have relaxed considerably over recent weeks. At present we are allowed to gather as a school without capacity limits only if we restrict participants to just staff and students. Once we permit visitors into the school, such as parents, we are then obliged to limit our capacity to one person per 2 sq meters and ensure we do not exceed indoor capacty limits.
We are appreciative of parents who are at present wishing to attend our assemblies but can't under these guidelines. We really want you there too! Be sure that as soon as the restrictions change, we will let you know. In the meantime, we will do our best to share video and pictures, where privacy requirements allow.
Student Representative Council
The Student representative Council is an important team of students who represent their classmates to discuss important issues and topics of interest to the students. They are chosen by their peers to be members of the SRC for two terms and meet regularly with Mr Micallef. Our students make up the largest stakeholder group in the school, so it makes sense that they should have a voice and play an active role in helping our school to strive to be the very best school we can be. Last week we congratulated our newest SRC members who received their badges during our school assembly.
Reconciliation Family Activity Night
Thankyou to our Year Three Reconciliation candidates and their families for their wonderful discussion about our faith and the important Sacrament of Reconciliation. We wish every family every blessing as they continue to prepare their child to receive this sacrament for the first time. Please keep these children in your prayers.
Ride to School Day
School Advisory Committee
We are seeking written expressions of interest from willing members of our parent community to join the School Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC provides a crucial point of connection between the wider school community and school leaders. While they do not have a decision making authority, they inform and advise the principal and school leadership from the perspective of families and the wider community.
It is intended that the SAC will meet twice each term - usually after hours and can be flexible enough to include members in a 'virtual way' if physical presence is not alway possible. Currently, two parents have expressed interest in being a part of this group, but ideally we would like to have 3 or 4 more. Please email Mr Micallef (principal@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au) if you would like to formally express interest in joining the SAC by Wednesday March 17.
The first SAC Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday March 24 at 7pm.
Carpark
We are so appreciative of all our families who have adapted back to using our carpark in its intended way. Your patience and cooperation to follow the directions of staff on duty and follow the flow of traffic ensures that everyone travels into and out of the carpark safely and efficiently.
Over the last few week's we have tried a few different strategies with the use of flags and bollards as well as directing traffic out of the gate on Edey's Run. At present, we appear to have reached a happy flow with almost all of the heavy traffic exiting the school in the afternoons by 3:45pm. Thank you for your support and patience as we continue to explore ways of making the carpark as easy to use as possible.
Do you drive into the school from Hallam Road?
Entering the school from Hallam Road can be done so from two directions.
- Turning left into the school as you head south down Hallam Road
- Turning right into the school by crossing over Hallam Road from the Pedestrian Crossing
For those who are turning right into the school, please note that you MUST give way to all oncoming traffic. Rushing across the intersection to beat oncoming traffic is both dangerous and illegal. Parents and carers are therefore strongly urged to be patient and consider everyone's safety.
PFA - Hot Cross Buns Drive & Easter Raffle
The Parents and Friends Association are up and running and have organised two fundraisers this term. Our Hot Cross Bun fundraiser is a great way to support our school by ordering your Hot Cross Buns ready for Easter. Packs of 6 are $8 - the same price as in the store, and will be baked fresh Monday March 22 and delivered to school on the same day for your child to bring home. Bakers Delight are donating $2 per pack! Orders close on Operoo this Sunday.
Our second fundraiser is our traditional Easter Raffle, look out for tickets coming home soon. We are also asking families to donate Easter eggs for us to make up hampers for the prizes. All funds raised from both of these fundraisers will go towards upgrading our playground.
If you'd like to be part of the Parents and Friends Association, our next meeting is next Thursday 18th March at 9am in the Welcome Centre. If you are unable to attend, please email Rebecca Gage rgage@skhamptonpark.catholic.
St Kevin's Gardening Club
Birthday Celebrations
March
11th Raavi PEA
12th Chloe 3/4MG
14th Chayanne PEA, Jayden 5/6LN
15th Jessica 5/6 DA
16th Sarah 5/6 SP, Tasha 1/2 HE
17th Selena 5/6 LN, Jordan PDE
18th Elizabeth PCA
19th Hayden PCA, Lucas 5/6 SP
20th Denita 1/2 DC, Zayne 3/4 DM, Anoji 5/6 ME
21st Evin 3/4 MG, Deng 1/2 DC
22nd Sithuki 5/6 LN, Alexander 5/6 DA
23rd Ethan 5/6 SP
24th Eden 5/6 MB
Need help with getting the kids to/from school?
