No13. Term 3, Week 5, 11th August 2021
Principal's News
Hello St. Kevin's family. I trust you are all doing the best you can through this latest lockdown. I know that today's news of the lockdown being extended for another seven days will come with a struggle and a sense of uncertainty, but this is also an opportunity to be reminded that we are never alone. Jesus reminds us that the work of God is among us and that we can draw faith and solace from the mysterious and beautiful ways that God is within each and every person we meet.
Once again the staff and students of St. Kevin's have shown themselves to be incredibly resilient and agile as we moved very quickly to online classes last Friday. The pace at which changes are occurring can at times be overwhelming. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage each member of our community to make contact with us here at school if there is anything we can do to clarify uncertainty, answer queries or provide assistance.
My prayers, as always, are with everyone who is being impacted by the pandemic that remains such a challenge for our local and global communities. Everyone at St. Kevin's remains hopeful that we will be together again next Friday August 20. As always, we will be sure to continue communicating with you all further about any adjustments to be made with the Remote Learning Program or if any new information comes to light about a return to face to face learning. I ask that all families keep a close eye on the SZ App for any relevant communication.
God bless,
Jason Micallef,
Principal
First Eucharist Masses
As we will continue to be in lockdown over this weekend, our scheduled Masses for all of the Year 4 classes will not go ahead. We are hopeful that our Masses scheduled for Saturday August 21 will be able to proceed as planned. When we are able to reschedule the postponed Masses we will be sure to let families know.
Enrolments 2022
If you have a child who is starting school in 2022 and you HAVE NOT YET handed in an Enrolment form to the Office, please call the school asap as our positions are almost full and we do not want any of our current families to miss out on a spot.
Attention parents of current Year 4 students
Families of current year 4 students who intend on sending their child to a Catholic secondary school need to be aware that enrolment procedures and in particular, that the timeline for confirming enrolments differs from those intending to seek placement at a public secondary school. Please note that for students commencing Year 7 in a Catholic secondary school, applications open on January 28, 2022 and close on August 19, 2022.
Happy Anniversary Father Des!
Wishing Fr. Des a Blessed 42nd Anniversary of his Ordination next week! On behalf of all the school community, we thank you for your faith leadership which has helped us to grow, despite the uncertainty and challenges of this year. May the grace of the Lord be your present inspiration and guide as you nourish your flock with the Word, strengthen us with the Sacraments and lead us deeper into the mystery of our faith.
Community Prayer is back!
It is so important to find opportunities for our community to come together as one. One way we hope to achieve this is through an opportunity to together in an online Community Prayer event. Held next Tuesday August 17 at 1:30pm.
During last year's lockdowns we held these Community Prayer events each week and very successful with over 100 separate connections from students, staff and families attending at each. We even had some parents connecting from work!
Be on the lookout for the link to this live event. The link will be posted for students on their class Google Classroom or Seesaw page and we will share the link with families via SZapp.
Finding ways to stay connected
Many of our students have expressed how challenging it has been to be apart from their friends. No doubt as adults many of us feel the same way. So being creative with maintaining those relationships is vitally important. After all, we know how important our friendships are in a crisis.
There are many ways that we can encourage social connections while at home. For example:
- Watch a movie or TV series with friends using Netflix Party.
- Set up a WhatsApp group your friends (and parent supervision), name it 'Lockdown-memes' and share all the best remote learning memes you can find.
- Start a music playlist with a friend.
- Pick a pal that you are comfortable with and write a diary. You can create a shared Google doc, name it 'The Lockdown Diaries' and promise to write in it regularly.
3/4 Fundraiser, Fairy Bread
It's National Dog Month
That's right, August is National Dog month and to celebrate our favouriate furry family members we invited staff and students to introduce us to their pet dogs or share their funniest dog jokes! They have been coming in thick and fast and we hope to share the all with you over the coming week. In the meantime, here is a short snippet of what everyone has shared so far.
Handy tip for parents during lockdown
Parenting can be a challenge in ordinary times, but during a lockdown, some of the issues parents are faced with can be even more difficult. In this short video which we first published last year during the extended lockdown, Maureen Flanagan our School Counsellor, shares with us some useful but simple strategies for dealing with online.
Birthday Celebrations
August
10th Vivek 3/4 TI
11th Christopher 3/4 MG
12th Trenay 1/2 AL
13th Jaden 1/2 RO
14th Tahlia 3/4 MG, Erin 3/4 PE
15th Nathaniel PCA, Ryan PDE
16th Hannah 1/2 LO
17th 5/6 BU, Fedora PKK
18th Nathan 1/2 LO, Aaron 3/4 PE, Kiyan 3/4 PE, Muthaka 3/4 PE
19th Eryn 1/2 FE, Johnny 5/6 ME, Bradley 5/6 BU
21st Ryn 3/4 BB, Angeline 1/2 DC
22nd Eloa 1/2 DC, Vera 3/4 PE
23rd Kirby 5/6 ME, Lamiyah 5/6 MB
24th Mischa 1/2 FE, Aaron 5/6 MB
25th Daniel 1/2 LO
27th Sebastian 3/4 BB, Huvindu 3/4 TI
28th Brayden 1/2 RO
29th Minuki PEA, Kerry 3/4 BB
30th Malakye 5/6 MB, Noah 5/6 DA
31st Agamjot 1/2 DC, Jayden 3/4 MG, Fiona 5/6 ME, Aaron 5/6 ME
Community News
