No 6. Term 2 Week 1, 28th April 2023

Principal Update

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a great Easter break. I heard lots of stories of travel and fun. Personally, I stayed close to home and enjoyed the company of my family and Collingwood's continued success.

As we return to school, I am excited to continue our learning journey together. Our teachers and staff have been working hard to ensure that we have a safe and positive learning environment for all students. 

This term promises to be a busy one, with lots of exciting activities and events planned for our students. We are particularly looking forward to undertaking a whole school review before the end of the term. This review will provide us with the opportunity to reflect on our progress and identify areas where we can continue to improve. We are committed to providing the best possible education for our students and this review will help us to achieve that goal.

I would like to remind all parents of the importance of regular attendance at school. Attending school every day is crucial for your child's academic and social development and ensures that they do not miss out on important learning opportunities. If your child is unable to attend school for any reason, please ensure that you contact us through SZapp to let us know.

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to our school community. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or any member of our staff. We are always here to help and support you in any way we can

Jason Micallef,
Principal

New daily schedule

We are so appreciative of the way families have adapted to the new start and finish times of our school day. We know that these adjustments can be inconvenient and pose challenges when work schedules don't align. As a gentle reminder, please take note:

- No child should be dropped off at school before 8:45am. There are no teachers on duty before this time so we cannot guarantee children's safety. Parents should utilise the Before School Care facilities through Camp Australia which commence at 7:00am if required.

- Students are dismissed at 3:20pm and need to be collected from one of the three designated pick-up zones. All children will be funnelled to the hall steps at 3:35pm and should be collected from there. Children who cannot be picked up by 3:40pm MUST be enrolled in After School Care as staff are unavailable to supervise children after this time.

Welcome to the team!

This term we welcome Mrs Shelley Shannon to the St. Kevin's teaching team. Mrs Shannon is an experienced teacher and is no stranger to St. Kevin's, having done many days as an emergency teacher here over the last few years. She will be taking on the role of co-teaching 3/4DC with Mrs de Reus Monday, May 8th. 

Mrs Shannon's appointment allows Mrs de Reus to spend more time in her role as our school's Literacy Leader and for Mrs Castillo to resume her intended role as Student Tutor.

School Photos

Our school's annual photo day is coming up next Tuesday, 2nd May. This is an important day for all students, as it gives them the opportunity to capture a memory of their time at our school.

Please ensure that your child comes to school wearing their complete and clean winter school uniform on photo day. They will also need to bring their payment envelope - spares are available in the office if required.

Family photos are also available and can be taken from 8am-8:55am or when the class photos are finished. Order envelopes are also available in the office.

Orders can be made online at https://store.theschoolphotographer.com.au using code X3077PER52S.

PFA - Mother's Day Stall & Raffle

The Parent and Friends Association (PFA) is hosting a Mother's Day Stall and Raffle in honour of all the amazing mothers, grandmothers, and mother figures in our community.

The Mother's Day Stall will be held in the Performing Arts room on Monday May 8th, where students can purchase small gifts for their loved ones. There will be a range of items available, with all items priced at $5. If you are able to help with set up for the stall next Friday 5th May at 2:30 or with selling items on Monday 8th May 9-11, please email paf@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au. 

In addition to the stall, we will also be running a raffle with some fantastic prizes of cupcakes made and decorated by one of our very talented parents. Tickets for the raffle have been sent out this week, with all proceeds going towards supporting the purchase of a stage for our hall.

Staff Professional Learning

On Monday, our school staff participated in a valuable professional development experience aimed at improving their skills in teaching children to read. The day focused on ways we can support students to build their vocabulary and comprehension using research-based practices. We believe that this professional development will have a positive impact on our students' ability to read and understand texts. We are committed to providing the best education possible for our students and value these opportunities to enhance our teaching practices. Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we know that keeping children home can sometimes be challenging.

Enrolments

We are very excited to be holding school tours for families who have children starting school in 2024. If you know of anyone who might be interested to know this, please let them know of the days below and remind them that they need to be quick to avoid being pushed onto a waiting list.

Current families with children who are starting school next year, need to submit a completed enrolment to Trish in the office as soon as possible! 

Wonder Recycling Rewards for Schools

This year, St. Kevin's is taking part in the Wonder Recycling Rewards Program.

Collect any brand of bread bag and drop them into the boxes in the school office.  The more bags we collect, the more sports equipment we can earn! 

What is a bread bag for recycling purposes? The rule of thumb is that if it has contained bread of some sort and is a soft plastic, then it’s a bread bag. If it hasn’t contained bread, then it’s not a bread bag.

How clean do the bags have to be? Bread bags should be free from crumbs to ensure no contamination during the recycling process but they do not need to be washed. 

Student Wellbeing

Connecting Conversations

Connection between parents and children is crucial for children's cognitive performance, emotional regulation, and resilience. Dr Justin Coulson, a parenting expert, says that connection is not a fixed state but an impermanent one that ebbs and flows over time. Therefore, parents should make conscious choices to maintain a strong connection with their children in ways like chatting over breakfast or involving them in food preparation. Autonomy support is also crucial in building and maintaining connection, allowing children to make choices that support their development while offering meaningful guidance. As children grow, parents should aim to support their independence while maintaining a strong connection.

Child Safety

In this video, Behavioural Specialist, Jason Gibson, talks us through some areas of our kids’ and teens’ technology use that is important to put fences (boundaries) around.

Winter Uniform

As we are now into term 2, students are to be wearing their winter uniform by the start of Week 3. Students may wear their summer uniform until then if the weather is still warm (Except for School Photo day next Tuesday). Sport uniforms should only be worn on days the student's class is scheduled to have Physical Education or Sport.

The winter uniform for girls includes:

• long sleeved blouse
• winter tunic, skirt or pants
• knitted jumper or bomber jacket
• Navy socks and or navy tights
• black leather school shoes

The winter uniform for boys includes:

• long sleeved shirt
• pants
• knitted jumper or bomber jacket
• navy socks
• black leather school shoes

Optional items for girls and boys include:

• soft-shell waterproof jacket
• polar fleece vest

All items are available through Beleza and can be purchased in-store or ordered online. In order to preserve the uniformity of our student dress, we ask that students not mix and match sports and everyday uniform items. Girls should also not wear leggings under their skirts. 

We understand that from time to time, students will be out of uniform for a variety of valid reasons. If this is the case please provide a written note for your child's teacher to let them know the reason and for the length of time your child will be out of uniform.

Please ensure your child/ren's school uniform has their name on all items.

Winter Beanies and Scarves for Sale

AVAILABLE FROM THE OFFICE NOW!

St. Kevin's Beanie $12

St. Kevin's Scarf $18

SZapp - New and Improved!

There is a new version of SZapp available for Android and IOS Devices. Please ensure that you have updated to this version in order to receive communications from the school.

If you are using an Android Device, you will need to uninstall the old app and install the new version.

IOS Devices (iPhones) will be able to update without requiring a re-install.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but we are confident that the improvements in the new version will make it worth it.

An online guide on how to install and register/login to SZapp is available on the Schoolzine Website here:

Click here to view the Installation Instructions

If you experience any difficulties with completing this process, please reach out to Schoolzine using support@schoolzine.com. To assist with your query, they ask that you provide a description of the issue you are facing, the email address you are using when facing this issue and a screenshot of the issue.