No 14. Term 3 Week 5, 10th August 2022
Principal's News
Many of our Year 6 students have been preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. This Friday evening they will complete this journey as they are presented to Bishop Tony Ireland to be Confirmed as full members of our great Catholic family.
Part of their journey has been to explore, research and learn about saints who they can look to as role models and inspiration. I was quite impressed with how deeply they knew about the saints and how they could talk about what they see in them as Spirit-filled people.
Which is why I think it is fitting and timely that we consider one such saint that I think, speaks to us all. St. Mary of the Cross or Mary MacKillop as we more commonly speak of her, was a cofounder of the Sisters of St Joseph. She is Australia’s first saint and her feast day was earlier this week.
Mary MacKillop is undoubtedly one of Australia’s most remarkable and inspiring women. What I especially find significant about her is how the power of her inspiration is clearly visible today and we recognise in her an ordinary woman who lived her life in an extraordinary way. She is known for her compassion for anyone in need, regardless of race, colour or faith and we are inspired by her goodness and reverence for respecting the dignity of others, especially those most neglected in society. She displayed the kind of love that allowed her to forgive so readily, the people whom she had trusted, but who treated her so unjustly. Many are moved by her trust in God and her profound sense of gratitude.
St Mary MacKillop as an exemplary role model; a woman of wisdom, kindness and virtue. Her perseverance, determined spirit, faith and integrity are a constant inspiration to us all, her life empowering generations to ‘never see a need without doing something about it’. A worthy and much needed saint for our kids, educators and the wider Australian nation.
Please spare a thought and prayer for our Spirit-filled Confirmation candidates as they begin their journey as full members of the Catholic community.
God bless,
Jason Micallef,
Principal
Late pickups from school
As families would know, school concludes at 3:30pm and students are expected to be picked up in a timely fashion. Teachers are scheduled for supervision of students waiting to be picked up until 3:45pm, but we often find that there are children awaiting their parents or trusted adult until 4:00pm or even later.
Obviously, sometimes things happen and parents can be held up by traffic and other unforeseen circumstances. One off occasions such as this are to be expected from time to time and a quick phone call to school to let us know you are running late, makes a big difference to your child and supervising teachers.
In the event that the nature of your work or distance travelled could mean that being late is likely to happy more than once in a while, we recommend families pre-emptively enrol their children into Camp Australia, the After School Hours Care program as a casual attendee. You only pay for the days you use, but being enrolled means your children can be booked in on the day, and wait in a comfortable environment with their friends until you arrive.
Feast of the Assumption celebrations
This Monday we will be celebrating the Feast of the Assumption with St Francis de Sales.
Our Preps, Grade Ones and Twos will be traveling by bus to St Francis de Sales and sharing in a special Liturgy and surprise activity there with their Junior students.
Our Year Three, Four, Five and Six students will host visiting students from St Francis de Sales. They will have a Mass here at 11am and then share in a surprise activity together.
As a school, we will be gathering together for a special whole school Assembly on this day at 2:50pm. Families are invited to attend and join in the celebrations in the Hall at 2:50pm - 3:20pm.
Prep and Junior Families are required to provide permission via Operoo ASAP.
Sporting Achievements
NETBALL GALA DAY
Congratulations to our girls who represented our school at the Netball Gala day. After being undefeated in their pool matches, the girls were unlucky to have lost a close battle in the semi finals by just one goal. They played and represented St. Kevin's with pride. Well done, ladies!
CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE JORDAN
Recently Jordan in 5/6DR was invited to an elite basketball training camp at Hoop City. He had the honour of sharing the court with NBA player - Seth Curry. No doubt this would have been an amazing experience for Jordan.
Since then, Jordan has been notified that he has also been nominated to try out for the FDP (Future Development Program) with Basketball Victoria - tryouts will start in November 2022.
Well done and congratulations Jordan. Your effort shows us what is possible with hard work and determination.
Junior Visual Arts
In Junior Visual Arts, the students have been experiencing the joy of working with clay! So far this term, the students have been given the freedom to explore and experiment using their imaginations, clay tools and hands to roll, pat, press, carve and manipulate the clay into different shapes and creations. They have also been guided to create simple pinch pots and use clay tools to create their own markings and patterns to decorate them. The children appear to be LOVING the experience of working with such a tactile medium. Here are a few pictures of students’ creations so far and I am sure you’ll agree that the joy on their faces says it all :)
Student Wellbeing - Friendships
Your child’s world gets bigger when she/he starts school. Relationships with other people – like the children in their class at school – become more important.
Friendships are good for your school-age child’s self-esteem. When your child has good friends, they feel like they belong. Their friends care about them, and this helps them feel good about themselves.
Friendships help children develop important life skills like getting along with other people and sorting out conflicts and problems. Children with these skills are less likely to have social and emotional difficulties later in life.
Young children enjoy playing with their friends, but they still need their parents. In fact, during the early school years, family relationships are still the biggest influence on your child’s development. Good family relationships are what your child needs to learn and grow.
Family relationships give your child a stable, safe home base through the ups and downs of making and losing friends. In fact, the care and love you give your child at home helps your child manage other relationships.
As kids navigate friendships, there's plenty parents can do to offer support. If your child seems upset, or suddenly spends time alone when usually very social, ask about it.
Here are some tips:
Talk about your own experiences. Share your own experiences of school — cliques (small groups of people interested in common topics) have been around for a long time!
Help put rejection in perspective. Remind your child of times he or she has been angry with parents, friends, or siblings — and how quickly things can change.
Shed some light on social dynamics. Acknowledge that people are often judged by the way a person looks, acts, or dresses, but that often people act mean and put others down because they lack self-confidence and try to cover it up by maintaining control.
Find stories they can relate to. Many books, TV shows, and movies portray outsiders triumphing in the face of rejection and send strong messages about the importance of being true to your own nature and the value of being a good friend, even in the face of difficult social situations. Here are some ideas: https://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/the-power-of-friendship-14-inspiring-primary-school-reads-about-friends/
Foster out-of-school friendships. Get kids involved in extracurricular activities (if they aren't already) — art class, sports, martial arts, language study — any activity that gives them an opportunity to create another social group and learn new skills.
BOOK WEEK IS NEARLY HERE
That's right! Book Week is happening between Monday August 22 and Friday August 26.
Throughout the week at St. Kevin's we will be celebrating all that is wonderful about books.
