25 July 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to another action packed term for St Kieran’s. I hope everyone enjoyed the break and is ready to jump back in to another terrific term. It is was wonderful to be greeted by so many happy hellos on Monday morning! We officially welcome Jenna Robinson back from maternity leave to our front desk. She will be in on a Monday and Tuesday. Our term has started on a very positive note, with classes getting back to the business of learning.

Over the coming weeks we have a number of significant events taking place both in our school and diocese. Last week was celebrations for NAIDOC week, this week one of our students is currently taking part in Mulkadee. This year the final concert will be a performance piece – Alice in Wonderland. On Thursday will be school districts carnival and Catholic Education week will take place in Week 3 of this term. There will be many other events along the way.

A few items I would remind parents;

Sign in and Out

As Part of our School Code of Conduct it is very important that you child signs into school if he/she is running late. If there is a medical appointment during the day he/she will also need to be signed out of the school. PLEASE do not take your child from school grounds once they have started school without notifying the office.

If you are planning on visiting the school eg volunteer time, drop of an instrument or lunch can you please bring it to the office. NO parents are allowed to just walk into the school without notifying the office.

Winter Uniform

The cool weather has taken us all by surprise this week. Most students were able to access their school jumper or tracksuit at short notice. Students are expected to wear school endorsed winter gear (bottle green jumpers, cardigans or tracksuits) as part of their uniform. New and second-hand jumpers, tracksuit pants, zipper jackets and stockings are all available at the Uniform Shop or Best and Less. An explanatory note from parents is required if a student is not wearing the correct uniform to school.

May God Bless,
Claudine Dank

APRE Report

Feast of St Joachim and Anne (parents of Mary) - 26th of July

Saints Joachim (sometimes spelled "Joaquin," pronounced "wal-keem") and Anne, are the parents of the Virgin Mary. Mary had good, faithful parents who raised her with a love and devotion to God like none other except Jesus Christ Himself. Joachim and Anne serve as role models for parents and both deserve to be honored and emulated for their devotion to God and Our Lady Mary, the Mother of God. It is important to honor all Grandparents. Year 1 will lead us in an Assembly Prayer on Friday morning followed by a morning tea with the children during first break (10.40am - 11.10am).

Catholic Education Week

29 July – 4 August 2018

Catholic Education Week will be celebrated across Queensland from 29 July – 4 August this year.

This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day.

The theme for this year’s celebrations is: Discovering New Horizons. You may have seen the fence banner out the front of the school.

Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society. During Catholic Education Week 2018, Catholic education communities across Queensland are invited to celebrate how they are discovering new horizons.

Our school is planning a number of activities during the week and we hope you are able to join in the celebrations with us.

Monday - Thursday - In Class Activities looking at relevant scripture passages and creating some amazing artwork to go with them.

Thursday 2nd of August - combined Catholic School Mass (Years 5 and 6). Students are to be dropped at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church between 8.10 and 8.20am. Students will be transported back to school via a bus.

Friday 3rd of August - New Horizons Prayer on Assembly lead by our school students

Parish Information

Multicultural Festival - There is a meeting this Thursday at 4.30;pm to prepare for the Festival. All coordinators are really needed to come along. It is getting to the final stages of the planning now. Everyone is welcome to come along or to offer and apology so we know your interest.

Gold Bullion Tickets - these are now on sale! $100 per ticket for $10 000 Gold Bullion and Muli-draw prizes. See Debbie after mass or Corena in the Parish Office.

School Board Position

On the 13th August is the School Board AGM. It is with great sadness that Leonie Winks has completed a full term on the School Board and has decided to step down. I would like to acknowledge all of the great work that she has committed to the School Board for the last 3 years.

On that note, the School Board is seeking letters of interest from parents who wish to be considered for a seat on the Board. All of the letters of interest will be shown to the rest of the Board members and a decision will be made. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you require further information.

The School Board is a wonderful opportunity for all attendees to tap into other aspects of the school. They are a great source of a sounding board for the principal and always guide her in the decisions that need to made. Along with that there is formation, sometime school policy writing and professional development. This is foundational to their role as members of a school board.

Curriculum

Saint Kieran’s Wonderful Writers

This term across the whole school we will be celebrating and focussing on writing. Our 3-6 classes will all take part in Writing Groups every Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday from 10:10-10:40. During this time the children will be working in smaller groups and looking at ways to improve their writing regardless of ability. All class teachers from 3-6 as well as Mrs Dank, Mrs Laffin and Mrs Siemer will be leading the groups.

Other Writing initiatives in the school this term will include:

Published student writing in each newsletter throughout Term 3

Family Week - Meet the Author Event (families and students share published work)

Writing display board outside staff room

Saint Kieran’s Writing Competition open to all students with a winner from each grade with celebrity judges!!

Our Writing Competition will take place in Week 8, so keep an eye out for more information which will be sent out soon.

Enjoy the wonderful work from all of our authors this term.

Mel Siemer
Curriculum

P.E with Mr Hardy

District Athletics

Students selected to attend the District Athletics carnival will be required to arrive at Sunset Oval prior to 8:30am. Once Students have completed their events they may return to school or be taken home, however any students who leave during the day must first inform a St Kieran’s teacher at the carnival. Students not involved in Discus may leave at 2:00pm. Parents will be responsible for transporting students both to and from the event.

1500m

Any students nominated in the 1500m event will need to be at Sunset Oval Wednesday afternoon from 3:30pm. 10yrs students will run first, so all primary races should be finished around 4:30pm.

If you have any questions concerning the carnival, please don’t hesitate to contact me – thardy1@sjmtsv.catholic.edu.au

Please find the timetable for the day below:

STEM Club

STEM Club has started back for the term this week. STEM Club days will be Mondays and Wednesdays at second break. We have have to change from Fridays due to a clash with Rock/Pop. For the next 2 weeks STEM Club will be looking at Ozobots. Ozobots are a fun and exciting way to learn coding through drawing code as well as using the app on the iPad. Due to the complex instructions to begin with STEM Club will be limited to 10 students at a time (just during the learning stage). There is a sign up sheet outside the STEM Club door for students to put their name on. Once students have completed training they will be able to use the Ozobots as part of regular STEM time.

P&F Dates

We would love for all new and old families to attend the school P&F meetings. Times starts at 5:30pm in the school staffroom.

Below are the dates;

August - 6th
September - 3rd
October - 8th
November - 5th

Buy, Swap, Sell St Kieran’s

Gas Lift Chairs - $10each excellent condition
Kitchen Sink - $40
Scale Playground equipment - $300 and comes with instructions

If you have something that you would like to Buy, Swap or Sell please let us know and we are happy to place it in the newsletter.

Story of the Week: Year 3 Six Sentence Story

This week the Year 3 class wrote six sentence stories. The structure is as follows:

Sentence 1: Introduce the character.
Sentence 2: Where does the character live?
Sentence 3: What is the characters special talent?
Sentence 4: What problem does the character face?
Sentence 5: How does this problem make the character feel?
Sentence 6: How does the character resolve their problem?

Enjoy Cooper’s story of the very sad snake:

Author Cooper Robinson

What’s Happening In Year 2

In year 2 this week we have been revisiting some fractions (wholes, halves, quarters and eighths). In this week’s rotations we learnt about dividing groups , objects, shapes and even investigated the possibility of dividing some students in half, quarters and eighths.

In rotation one this week, students divided some groups of shell’s into the leant fractions .

In rotation two, students drew and divided some chosen shapes into the leant fractions.

In rotation three students grouped counters by stacking them and exploring their fractions.

In rotation four students looked at dominos. They looked at the total amounts on the dominoes and noted their fractions.

Tuckshop Meal Deal – Term 3

2nd August

First Break – Burritos + Popper
Second Break – Popcorn + Zooper Dooper

9th August

First Break – Fish & Chips
Second Break – Muffin & Zooper Dooper

16th August

First Break – Cheese Burger + Popper
Second Break – Brownie + Zooper Dooper

23rd August

First Break – Hot dog + Popper
Second Break – Popcorn + Zooper Dooper

30th August

First Break – Butter Chicken + Rice + Zooper Dooper
Second Break – Muffin + Zooper Dooper

6th September

First Break – Asian Noodles + Popper
Second Break – Brownie & Zooper Dooper

13th September

First Break – Tacos + Popper
Second Break – Popcorn + Zooper Dooper

20th September

First Break – Fish & Chips + Popper
Second Break – Muffin + Zooper Dooper

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Newsletter Sponsorship

We are pleased and excited to inform you that we’ll be producing a new eNewsletter with Schoolzine. The move to this new format will enable us to communicate with the school community across multiple channels. It will promote and enhance our engagement with parents, students and the wider community.

We believe you’ll find the eNewsletter highly engaging, as it will provide us with a more efficient and effective means of connecting with you. The new format will allow the inclusion of video, photo galleries, online bookings, mobile app, feedback forms, calendars and so much more.

The newsletter also has a sponsorship section which provides a great opportunity for local businesses to engage with our parent community. If you would like to be a part of this, please contact Schoolzine.

1300 795 503