8 February 2024

IMPORTANT DATES

Please find below confirmed important dates for 2024.  Due to unforeseen circumstances sometimes changes need to be made so please check this list with each newsletter issue.

Term 1 Dates:
Friday 9th February - Assembly 8.30am Year 3
Tuesday 13th February - Apology Day
Tuesday 14th February - Family Pancake Breakfast form 7.40am
Wednesday 14th February - ASH WEDNESDAY
Wednesday 14th February - Bravehearts Visit Prep, Year 1, Year 2
Friday 16th February - Assembly 8.30am Year 1
Wednesday 21st February - International Mother Language day
Thursday 22nd February - St Kieran’s Beginning of theYear Mass at GSCC 8.20am 
Friday 23rd of February - St Kieran’s families meet and greet BBQ 5.50pm
Tuesday 5th March - St Kieran’s Feast Day
Sunday 17th March - Close the Gap Day
Thursday 21st March  - Harmony Day
Thursday 28th March - Last Day of Term 1

Term 2 Dates:
Monday 15th April - Term 2 Begins
Thursday 25th April  - ANZAC DAY
Friday 26th April, 2024  - PUPIL FREE DAY

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Families,

Please congratulate your child/ren on a wonderful past week.  Students are settling into their new classroom routines.  Thank you to those who were present at our first Parent Engagement Meeting for 2024. It was wonderful to see so many new families. St Kieran’s will be holding its first ever ‘Winter Ball’ as the major fundraising event for 2024.  Our school relies heavily on these fundraising events to be able to continue to support our students.  In the past, funds from these fundraising events have been used to replace old furniture in the classrooms, purchase resources for classrooms, and purchase a large amount of new reading materials.  There are still plans in the works to upgrade our prep play area with allocated funds raised. If you are aware of any businesses that would like to be involved with a donation please direct them to contact the school office. Make sure you save the date!

We are also looking forward to greeting families at our Whole School Meet and Greet Family BBQ on Friday the 23rd of February.  Please watch out for order forms that will be sent home next week.

Townsville Catholic Education Office has approved an additional professional development day in 2024.  The date will be Friday 26th April, 2024 and will be a pupil free day. This day follows on from the ANZAC day public holiday on Thursday 25th April. The reason for granting this additional professional development day is to provide the time and opportunity for all teachers to prepare for the implementation of V9.0 of the Australian Curriculum at the commencement of 2025. This planning day will focus on supporting teachers to have a deep understanding of the changes to content and assessment from the current Australian Curriculum to the newly revised curriculum.  There is much planning already occurring in all schools to ensure all teachers are well placed to provide rich learning experiences for their students.  This additional professional development day (pupil free day) will only occur in 2024.

Have a great week!

Peta Laffin
Principal

RELIGIOUS LIFE OF OUR SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

Welcome to another exciting week at our school!

SHROVE TUESDAY
I am thrilled to announce that we will celebrate Shrove Tuesday on February 13th. Shrove Tuesday holds special significance for us. It marks the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and provides us with an opportunity for reflection and preparation. On this day, our students will engage in the tradition of making pancakes.. The term "Shrove" carries deep religious connotations derived from seeking absolution through confession and penance. It is a time-honored tradition for Christians to cleanse their souls in anticipation of the Lenten season. So let us come together on Shrove Tuesday, with a pancake breakfast next Tuesday, not only to enjoy delicious pancakes but also to embrace the spiritual significance of this day. May it serve as a reminder of the importance of repentance, forgiveness, and renewal in our lives.

ASH WEDNESDAY
As our school leaders, Year 6 students are invited to join the rest of the parish community to attend the Ash Wednesday Mass on the 14th of February at 6.30am at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church.  It is at this mass that the ashes are blessed and the Leaders will bring these to school so our whole  St Kieran’s School community can receive the ashes.  It is the parent/carer responsibility to transport students to and from the church.  Communication will be sent out to Year 6.

Please join us for our Ash Wednesday Liturgy on Wednesday 14th February at 8:30am in the Brother Walker Shed.

CONFIRMATION AND COMMUNION 2024
THE SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION are: 

Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist (in that order). 

These Sacraments initiate us into the community of God's people and enable us to share in the church's mission in the world. 

BAPTISM is the first stage of Christian initiation, through which God adopts us as His own children, Jesus Christ shares with us the risen life, the Holy Spirit unites us with God's family and the Church. 

CONFIRMATION is the second stage in the process of initiation. It is closely connected with Baptism in which the Spirit is first received. It is also intimately linked with the Eucharist, which incorporates us into full membership of the Body of Christ, the Church. 

SHARING IN THE EUCHARIST is the culmination of initiation into the Church through the breaking of bread and drinking from the cup. We are brought into communion with Christ and with one another. 

THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, our Good Shepherd Parish, to which individual families belong, has the responsibility to support and assist those families which are leading children into the sacramental life of the Church. 

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO? 

Should you wish for your child to participate in the 2023 Confirmation and First Communion Preparation Program you need to:

• Complete the attached enrolment form - Confirmation and First Communion (form attached)
• Return the completed form along with a copy of the candidate's Baptism certificate to the Parish Office (or school) with the $40 registration (this covers preparation materials, candle, Children's Missal, name tag and parent info). Forms are due by Monday 20th February.
• Attend the weekly masses, welcome liturgy, retreats, Confirmation and Pentecost celebrations as above.

The Sacramental Program for 2024 Information and Enrolment Booklet is available from the school office.

JANGAWALA

Please join us at Jangawala on the following dates:

Have a fantastic week.

Evon Downie 
Assistant Principal Religious Education

LEARNING AND PEDAGOGY

Learning Sprints
The beginning of a new school year is always a busy time for all of our staff as we touch base with all of our students and check in on their progress through screeners, reading assessments and tricky word testing. From this data we have created our first learning sprint for the year based on reading and tricky word (sight word) practice. Our staff will be working with targeted students on a 5 week 4 x per day sprint where we will be practising these skills and tracking the progress of the child. We will keep you updated over the 5 weeks to fill you in on our progress.

Early Years Testing
Over the next 2 weeks all students from Prep to Year 2 will be undergoing the Early Years Testing which focuses on Literacy and Numeracy skills. This is a diocesan wide testing process that is delivered by the classroom teacher either individually (Prep and Year 1) or in a small group (Year 2). Our Speech Language Pathologist and Paul Allen (TCE Curriculum Advisor) will meet with our Prep - 2 teachers in Week 6 to discuss results and look at best ways to support all of our students. Parents interested in seeing their students' results will have the opportunity during parent teacher interviews later in the term or by making an appointment with your child’s classroom teacher after Week 6.

Mel Siemer
Assistant Principal of Learning and Pedagogy

PRAYER / SPECIAL MESSAGES

Pope Francis’ Message:
“....the word (of God) is for everyone, the Word calls everyone to conversion, the Word makes us heralds.”

The Word:   
A man with a skin disease came to Jesus and begged, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”  Jesus was filled with pity.  “I do want to, “he answered and he touched him and said, “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man.  Then Jesus said, “Tell no one about this.”  But the man spread the news everywhere.  He talked so much that Jesus could not go out in public.  Mark 1:40-45

Look Closer: 
Compassion -  In the time of Jesus, people believed that disease was a punishment from God.  Compassion means to feel sorry for the suffering of others and to want to help them.  Jesus had compassion for the people who were sick and suffering and healed them.

FROM THE GUIDANCE COUNSELLOR

Screen Time vs Green Time

According to Queensland Health, “children aged 6-12 years old, need between 9-11 hours of sleep per night”.

URSTRONG

COWBOYS TRY FOR 5!

Thank-you to everyone who came to meet our Cowboys players at our Launch BBQ last week. It was wonderful to see so many parents attend to support this program. We hope the lucky winners are enjoying their Cowboys training jersey.

We have kicked off our Cowboys Try For 5! program with our fortnightly prizes being handed out on Monday to the class with the highest/most improved attendance for weeks 1 and 2. Year 6 and Prep tied for highest attendance with an amazing 94% but Year 6 took out the prizes because they had improved their attendance from week 1 to week 2. Well done to both of these classes!  We also had a large number of students with 100% attendance for both weeks, they received a certificate and went in the draw for prizes as well. 

Well done to everyone on putting their best foot forward to start off our year, we were impressed with how many students had high attendance! 

Each fortnight we will get an updated Leader Board poster from the Cowboys. Each class is represented by a Cowboys NRL or NRLW player. This term our players are:

Prep - Tahlulah Tillett
Year 1 - Jason Taumalolo
Year 2 - Murray Taulagi
Year 3 - Francesca Goldthorp
Year 4 - Scott Drinkwater
Year 5 - Kirra Dibb
Year 6 - Reuben Cotter

These Leader Boards will be in our Newsletter and in the classrooms to encourage the kids to get their player to the front.

Attendance is so vital to the students receiving the most out of their education as possible to be the best they can be so please encourage your children to be excited to come to school.

MUSIC

The Prep class has enjoyed learning two different versions of Twinkle Twinkle.  We have looked at the calm, ‘lullabye’ version, that is known by many.  We have also learnt a fun ‘Rock and Roll version’:

Twinkle Twinkle little star
My Dad’s got an electric guitar
You might think he’s getting old
But he loves that Rock and Roll!

If you are lucky enough to have a prep student, ask your child to demonstrate the two different versions!

Preps have also been learning about ‘beat’ and high and low sounds found in music.

Why Music?

1. Music is a Science.
2. Music is Mathematical.
3. Music is a Foreign Language.
4. Music is History.
5. Music is Physical Education.
6. Music develops Insight and demands Research.
7. Music is all these things, but most of all, Music is Art.

That is why we teach music.
Not because we expect you to major in Music.
Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life.
But so you will be human.
So you will recognize beauty.
So you will be closer to an infinite that is beyond this world.
So you will have something to cling onto.
So you will have
more love,
more compassion,
more gentleness,
more good,
In short, more Life.

Unknown.

ECO WARRIORS

A big thank you to Mrs L , Mrs Schlencker and all of their busy workers. With so much beautiful rain over the past month our garden has become a lush jungle that this hard working team has begun to tame. The next few weeks will involve a whole lot of weeding and preparation of garden beds for upcoming planting.

LIBRARY

Next week is Queensland School Library Week.  Check out the website for competition details & prizes.

(Source:  https://www.qsla.org.au/qslw)

A BIG thank you to everyone who has returned overdue books after the holidays.  Greatly appreciated!

TUCKSHOP

Our Tuckshop is still closed! We are working hard to get our fridge replaced and will notify you as soon as we are back up and running. 

F.A.C.E.

St Kieran’s Parent Engagement 

temailc28.pandf@skmtsv.catholic.edu.au

COMMUNITY NOTICES