No 11. Term 2 Week 9, 22nd June 2022
- Principal's News
- Cross Country Legends!
- Social Justice Leader Report
- Welcome to two new members of our teaching team in term 3!
- WOW! What a term for the PE department!
- Wellbeing, ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS
- First Eucharist
- Upschool by St. Kevin's
- GRADE 1 / 2 NEWS!
- School Fees
- Nationally Consistent Collection of Data
- Community News
Principal's News
Welcome to the end of term 2. What a term it has been! As you read this article, our staff and students will be thinking about winding up for the break and looking forward to some well earned down time. Families will be getting ready for home life with children and plans being made for how to keep them occupied. As this is the colder of the holiday breaks in the year, many might be wondering how to spend their time.
It’s safe to say that for much of the time these days, our lives are spent in front of some kind of screen. It is easy and highly engaging after all. But I wonder how many people realise that there is another highly engaging and stimulating place to go. A place that has been around for hundreds of years and even to this day, provides many people of all ages, a source of enjoyment, wonder and dare I say it… education. The public library.
It is true, public libraries are not yet obsolete and can in fact provide the community with many services and resources to assist learning and social development.
Most public libraries, including our own here in Hampton Park, offer a wide variety of children's books and magazines, with many in other languages. In addition to printed materials, libraries often lend digital versions of children’s books and movies. Libraries also make computers and Internet access available to the public. Many libraries sponsor special programs, including children's story hours, reading programs, and homework help. If your child has special needs, be sure to ask about services the library offers for those who may be gifted or need a little extra help. Many libraries have specially trained librarians for children. Feel free to ask them for help. You might as well; after all, you pay for the facilities through your rates and rent. If you don’t use what you are paying for, someone else will.
It might be cold and damp outside these holidays, but don’t fall for the lure of the screen. Go and explore the library, you never know… you just might learn something new.
May God bless you and keep you safe over the break and we look forward to seeing you in term 3.
Jason Micallef,
Principal
School holidays commence at the end of this week. Students are dismissed at 2:30pm on Friday June 24 and will return to school on Monday July 11.
Cross Country Legends!
Having succeeded at the District and Division Cross Country School Sports levels, these St. Kevin's kids competed at the Regional Cross Country Championships. Despite not advancing to the state championships, we are incredibly proud of their effort and camaraderie. They represented their school with pride and subsequently, we too are very proud of them.
Well done Logan, Lawrence, Tiana, Samantha and Olivia.
Social Justice Leader Report
On behalf of St. Vincent de Paul, thankyou!
The generosity of our school community to support the work of St. Vincent de Paul is amazing. To support the annual Winter Appeal, our school raised funds through the Beanie / Scarf drive and asked families to donate goods and products that are high demand over these colder months.
Here is a short message from three of our Social Justice Leaders.
Welcome to two new members of our teaching team in term 3!
Welcome Mrs Vincent to the Prep team
As Mrs Eades prepares to shift her focus from teaching to motherhood, we are pleased to share with you our newest member of the teaching team at St. Kevin's. Mrs Vincent will join Mrs Eades, who begins maternity leave in August, in Prep EA from the first week of term 3.
"Hi, my name is Michelle and I have always had a passion for teaching young children. I have two beautiful children of my own whom I raise with my husband in Patterson Lakes. I have been teaching for many years in the Early childhood sector and I have been a Kindergarten Teacher for the past 4 years and an Early childhood educator for 16 years.
I have most recently been a (CRT) relief teacher since March this year, teaching Foundation to Year 6 at Primary schools across South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
In my personal time I love bushwalking in nature around the local lakes, swimming at the beach, yoga/pilates/mindfulness and dancing/singing/drawing."
Welcome back Mrs Robinson to the Senior Team!
With Miss Buttigieg needing to take some personal leave for the remainder of the year, we are so excited to be able to welcome Mrs Robinson back to St. Kevins. You may remember Mrs Robinson from 2021, where she shared the teaching role of 5/6DA with Mrs Dawson. Mrs Robinson will be the full time teacher for 5/6BU from the beginning of term 3.
Take care, Miss Buttigieg!
As of next term, Miss Buttigieg will be on leave at least until the end of the year to focus on some personal matters that require her attention. We wish her all the best and God's blessings during this time.
WOW! What a term for the PE department!
Firstly, a huge thankyou to EVERYONE (staff and students) for their flexibility around Athletics. We understand the disruption to classes and all students have been amazing coming and joining in the trials.
Here is a recap of the term:
ISS vs Cranbourne Carlisle, District Cross Country, Regional Tennis, ISS vs Casey Fields, SJRC Soccer Gala, Footy Incursion, State Tennis, AFL Gala, Gymnastics (cancelled) ISS Vs Coral Park (cancelled) Athletics Day (postponed) Divisional Cross Country (rescheduled), Lightning Premiership (cancelled) Divisional Cross Country Take 2, Athletics Day Take 2 (cancelled), Regional Cross Country.
The senior grades have been amazing working with the junior grades with multi age agility circuits, football skills, athletic rotations. Despite all of this, we still held athletic trials, with all students still able to be involved.
Due to the inclement weather we have utilised the Hall more than ever and we hope for a sunnier Term 3 so we can get back outside more often!
Still to come… get your bikes and helmets ready… it's back!! Bike Ed in term 3 and 4!!
Happy P.E-ing!! Mrs. Langdon and Mrs. D
Wellbeing, ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS
Children are naturally curious, and they crave information. This prompts them to ask questions. Almost every parent and teacher has experienced this — they ask you one question, only to bombard you with an excess of others following your answer. OR It can be the opposite, and it’s like pulling teeth at the end of the day asking what they’ve learnt at school and you get crickets…or a very basic ‘good’.
Have you ever tried turning the tables and taking on the role of the investigator? It is important to:
- Build their trust with lighter questions.
- Be genuinely interested.
- Watch your response.
- Don’t force it.
There is always the fun would you rather questions for students –
- Would you rather slide down a slide or swing on a swing?
- Would you rather play football or tennis?
- Would you rather be smart or incredibly funny?
- Would you rather ride a horse or an elephant?
- Would you rather have oatmeal for breakfast or lunch?
- Would you rather be six years older or three years younger?
Or some more silly questions like:
- If you could be invisible for one day only, what would you do?
- Would you rather be as small as an ant or as tall as a giant?
- If you could visit one planet in the universe, which one would it be?
Another nice question to ease into the conversation about how their day went, is what went well for you today? It also helps build kids' attitude of gratitude and appreciation.
Here are some others are:
- What or who made you smile today?
- What book did your teacher read for the class today?
- What was your favourite part of your school day?
- Did you help anyone in class today?
- Did someone make you laugh?
- Who sat next to you at lunch?
- Did anyone show an example of unkindness? What did you do?
Open-Ended Questions for Kids
Open-ended questions are those that have no definitive right or wrong answers. They should lead to conversation and maybe even more questions. Here are some ideas.
- Do you enjoy any sports, and why did you choose those?
- What foods do you love and why?
- What’s your favourite thing about school?
- Why did you decide to draw that picture?
We hope this helps support some good conversations with you and your family.
First Eucharist
Our Year 4 students are currently preparing for First Eucharist at school and at home with their parents’ support. A big thank you to our parents, who as the first educators of children in faith, are supporting students with this. Families have participated in a family workshop learning about this Sacrament with a particular focus on connection to the Last Supper and the symbols associated with the Eucharist.
Children will receive this Sacrament on Saturday July 23rd at the 5pm and 7pm evening Masses. We look forward to celebrating this special sacrament of initiation with our students next term. All students, families and extended families from our school and parish are invited to attend these Masses to show their support.
Upschool by St. Kevin's
In the latest Upschool by St. Kevin's video, Mrs Bruhin talks to us about Child Safety Education.
GRADE 1 / 2 NEWS!
The 1 / 2 students participated in the Responsible Pet Ownership incursion on Friday 17th June.
Dearne came to our school to teach us about safe ways to approach dogs and how to care for animals. We had a great time meeting ‘Leica’ (the german shepherd) and performing role plays and learning ways to be safe around animals!
Here are some great tips for approaching dogs and some photos from our incursion!
School Fees
Thank you to those families who have ensured their school fee accounts have been settled or made arrangements with us to have them settled in an appropriate time frame.
Next term we will be reaching to families whose accounts are behind to determine what if any support may be necessary to help. If you are having financial difficulty, I urge you to make contact with the school, to discuss your circumstances.
We appreciate how difficult it can sometimes be for parents to come forward with financial concerns, but our school will always ensure each case is handled with care and discretion. Amongst all the worries that we have at this time – worrying about the payment of school fees should not be one of those things.
Nationally 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.
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 the school.
Fact Sheets for Parents, Guardians and Carers
Community News
