No 11. Term 3, Week 1, 14th July 2021

Principal's News

Welcome back to another term of progress and growth in learning. Term 3 has always been my favourite term as a teacher. It is the best term for focussed learning and teaching. By now teachers know their students very well and they in turn know their teacher. The classroom hums with the sound of busy learning and everyone understands his or her role within it. It is the term for growth and progress. For achieving one’s potential and perhaps even gaining a glimpse of what was once hidden potential. It truly is a great time of year to be in a classroom.

A highlight of this first week back at school has been the opportunity for all families to connect with teachers to talk about their students' progress so far this year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank families, especially those of students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 who have had a less than ideal process for connecting online with teachers. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to ensure the process was foolproof, Google decided to change some things on the Google Meet application over the holidays and without our knowledge, which made the whole process far more complicated than it would have been previously. We apologise if this caused any frustration.

Over the next two weekends, our Year 4s and 5s will experience a very special day in their lives as they receive the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist for the first time at St. Kevin's church.  We are taught that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith.  When we receive the Lord in the Eucharist, it is an act of thanksgiving to God.  It recalls the Lord’s Supper with his Disciples.  The Eucharist is essential to the communal dimension of our faith.  It is the nourishment that enables us to remain spiritually strong and healthy.

Pope Francis refers to the Eucharist as a gift.  He reminds us about how important the Eucharist is to our faith journey.  He encourages us to receive the Eucharist as a family as often as possible if we are so disposed and in the state of grace.  Our Holy Father spoke to a group of children in Italy as he recalled his First Holy Communion many years ago.  He addressed the children and stated, “You will make your First Communion, always remember that day your whole life: the first day that Jesus came to us.  He comes, makes himself one with us, makes himself our food, our nourishment to give us strength.”

As we reflect on these words of Pope Francis, we can give thanks for all the teachers, relatives, and friends of these children who have helped prepare them to receive this holy sacrament, and who assist them in their future growth in faith through their prayers and actions.  We especially thank the parents who are the primary educators of the children in the ways of the faith.

Lord Jesus Christ, bless the children coming forward to receive the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist for the first time. May this day be the step toward a life-long love of the Eucharist. Give them a hunger for this sacred food so that they turn to you for comfort, guidance, and wisdom as they grow into full discipleship. Thank you for their innocence and goodness. May their hands, extended in anticipation of your body and blood, inspire all of us to cherish this sacred Sacrament.  Amen.

Jason Micallef,
Principal

CSEF

To support schools during COVID-19 restrictions, the Department of Education and Training (DET) has extended the deadline for the submission of the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications to Friday 13 August 2021. The CSEF helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. Families with a valid concession card, such as a Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, as well as temporary foster parents, are eligible to apply. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families. Please contact the office for more information if you have not yet applied for CSEF and you believe you may be eligible.

AVAILABLE FROM THE OFFICE NOW!

St. Kevin's Beanie $12

St. Kevin's Scarf $18

National Consistent Collection of Data

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability and greatly influences our school's needs based funding allocation.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact us here in the office.

Congratulations Akein!

Did you know that we have a published author in our student community? Well we do! Akein in 5/6 SP has written and published a beautiful story about how two determined friends saved their village and animal friends from an impending disaster. Obviously Akein has spent a lot of time working through the writing and publishing process because the end result is a gorgeously illustrated book that will no doubt bring a lot of joy to the many children and adults who will read it. Well done Akein and congratulations on becoming a published author!

Wishing them well!

We send our best wishes and encouragement to the students representing St. Kevin's next week at the Regional Cross Country Championships, the AFL Divisional Competition and the Netball Divisional Competition. It is great acheivement of our school to be represented in these competitions. No matter how well they place on the day, we are incredibly proud of them all. 

Parents & Friends Association

Our PFA are a dedicated group of parents that meet twice per term to organise fun and fundraising evets. So far this year we have organised the second hand uniform stall, Hot Cross Bun drive, Easter raffle, Mother's Day stall and raffle and the highly successful Bunnings BBQ. These efforts have raised over $6000, which will go towards the redevelopment of the playground in the quad.  Future events may include a Father's Day stall, Hot Dog day and a Colour Fun Run, however we would love more people to assist with this. If you can come along, our meeting dates for this term have been set for next Wednesday July 21 at 9:15am and Monday August 23 at 2:30pm in the Welcome Centre. If you are unable to attend but would like to be involved, or maybe even take up one of the roles advertised below, please contact Rebecca Gage. We also have a private Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/stkevinspfa, please make sure you answer the 3 joining questions to ensure only school families have access to the group. 

Addams Family Musical Comedy

New playground update

After a digiligent consultation process, involving staff, the School Advisory Committee and students, a design has been selected and planning is underway for the redevelopment of the quadrangle playground. We are very excited and can't wait for this great project to commence, hopefully by the end of this term... fingers crossed!

Teach the Future Campaign

The Victorian Government is looking for 4,000 new teachers to support and inspire the next generation. People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who are inspired to help the next generation are especially encouraged to enrol in teaching courses. There are more than 1500 schools in Victoria, offering different types of teaching jobs across primary and secondary schools, and specialist education. Whether you’ve just left school or have an established career, there are pathways available to enter teaching - some post-graduate options could see you teaching within 18-24 months. 

For more information, visit https://www.vic.gov.au/teachthefuture

5/6 Camp Items not collected

There are a few items that were left at camp by some of our students.  If your child is missing any items, please visit the table outside the 5/6 rooms next to the Library.

Birthdays to Celebrate

July

12th   Aaron 1/2 FE

15th   Sirena 1/2 FE

16th   Chol 1/2 LO, Chanelle 3/4 FO, Seiona 3/4 BB

17th   Mario 3/4 FO

18th   Chiman 1/2 LO

20th   Raiden 5/6 MB, Sophia 3/4 PE

21st   Jordan 34/ BB, Jordan 1/2 RO

22nd Parth PKK, Simon 3/4 MG, Jayashree 1/2 RO

23rd   Sheran 1/2 RO, Kellan 5/6 SP, Roetishana 1/2 DC, Tanushika 3/4 FO

24th   Trisha PDE, Sherini 1/2 RO

25th   Cielle 1/2 LO, Henry 1/2 AL, Kristian 5/6 BU  

Transport Assistance