6 December 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

In the last newsletter of the year I would like to thank everyone in the St Kieran’s school community for supporting me in my second year as Principal. Life is good and I have enjoyed myself very much. As I reflect I am thankful for the past year. Together we have made this year the best we could and should be thankful for what we have reaped from the experience. To reflect on our journey – ‘the road to today’, is to understand that our experiences have added to the rich fabric of life that is St Kieran’s. Each of us has taken a different road on this journey of life. For some of us, the road has been relatively smooth, for others rough and challenging. Some of us take the high road, others the road less travelled. Largely however, Christ has given us the gift of making our own road – with a little help from our friends. Together with their parents and families, we guide each student in creating their own road that takes them on their own life journey. Together, our guidance encourages them to live life in abundance, to always have hope, to be inclusive, compassionate, loving and just. As a community we teach our children the joy of liberation and the healing of reconciliation. The way we live, the thanks we give and the journey we take, are based on the Gospel Values. Let's hope that in 2019 we are able to take a similar road.

Our Year 6s are in their final days as primary school students and relishing in the thought of a long summer holiday and the start of a new journey in high school next year. Graduation on Monday night was fantastic and everyone had a wonderful time. Thank you to Mr Cooney for creating a magical last hurrah for our graduates.

I was able to say a few words to the Year 6s on Monday night as they celebrated a momentous occasion. Our seniors will now be moving from the security of the familiar to the relative unknown. With the support of parents, St Kieran’s community has formed and guided these students over many years and our bond is built on hard work, friendship, respect and devotion to the things we value. I asked them to remember the good times, learn from the bad times and always find time to return to their old school for a visit. Year 7 will be a totally new but exciting experience for them.

School finishes at 12.00 p.m. tomorrow so please organise for your child or children to be collected at that time. A whole school assembly in the Brother Walker Shed will be from 11:30am and parents are welcome to attend as usual.

Thank you to all those students and families for the lovely Christmas gifts and cards. Enjoy your holiday break and may you be blessed this Holy Season with the spirit of Christmas.

God Bless
Claudine Dank

APRE Report

ADVENT IS COMING! BE ALERT

Jesus said, “Strange signs will happen to the sun, the moon and the stars. On earth, nations will be in despair, afraid of what is coming, the the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin, stand up, because your redemption is near.” (Luke 21-36)

The beginning of Advent in our Church calendar, marks the start of a brand new Church year. During these weeks, we turn our thoughts to the coming of Jesus, who is the saviour of the world. Jesus is the Son of God, present among the people God loves. That is good news!

Advent is what makes the Christmas season so special. It comes from the word ‘Adventus’, meaning ‘coming’, and is the first Church season leading up to Christmas. It is the hopeful waiting of Jesus coming to dwell among us. The colours of Advent are pink and purple, like the colours on an Advent wreath.

Father In Heaven,
Our hearts desire the warmth of your love.
Increase our longing for your Son Jesus.
Amen.

Thank you to all for a wonderful 2018 and wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas break!

‘May you be held in the palm of God’s hand’
Peta Laffin

Good Shepherd Parish Notices

Curriculum

Great Partnerships with Good Shepherd in 2018

Throughout 2018 we have had a number of opportunities to partner with students and staff from Good Shepherd Catholic College. This year we welcomed Miss Kate Troxell back to our school to complete her Certificate in Educational Support. Kate was a wonderful asset to our school as she supported students throughout the school each week.

In Term One students from Good Shepherd worked with our students in regards to leadership and in Term Two Good Shepherd students lent a hand with our Mothers Day Fete.

In Semester Two we welcomed Miss Sarah Keating and Miss Sheridan Scott to our school for Drama lessons. It was great to have these two experienced Drama teachers lead lessons with all of our children throughout the second half of the year. In Term 3 we had senior Sports and Recreation students come across and run a fitness session with our Year 6 class which was part of the Good Shepherd students’ assessment. All of the children enjoyed this fun and hands on opportunity.

In Term 4 our Yr 2 students went across to watch the Yr 10 Drama students’ performance of twisted Fairytales and our Yr 6 class were lucky to have a session with Mr Staples and Mr Fainges where they used 3D software to create vehicles that were then sent to the 3D printers.

We look forward to continuing these partnerships into 2019.

REPORT CARDS

Semester Two report cards will be issued in electronic format only on Tuesday 4th December (Week 9). Parents must access the COMPASS Parent Portal to view and download the report. The purpose of a report card is to give parents and carers information about demonstrated student knowledge and understanding of curriculum. Teachers take great care to ensure grades and comments on report cards are an accurate and current reflection of student learning.

Whilst your child’s report will be issued electronically via your COMPASS Parent Portal, students will still receive an envelope containing the book pack details for 2019. As Instrumental Music has only be operational for part of this term, no Instrumental Music Reports will be issued. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any concerns about assessment and reporting.

If you would like a paper copy of your report please let the office know.

School Fee Concessions

In the envelope that you will be given this week there is paper work in regards to Fee Concessions. If you are interested please fill out the paperwork and hand it to the office. Fee concessions are available to those families with students at both Good Shepherd Catholic College and St Kieran's as well as to the holders of a Health Care Card for the fee paying parent.

If you had a concession in place for this year, a new application form must be submitted for 2019.

Application forms are available from the school administration.

School Fees - Direct Debits

Unless you have an on-going school fee balance, the 2018 direct debit arrangements have been finalised for 2018. If you would like to re-commence a deduction for 2019, please see Lauren in the school administration as a new authority must be completed.

Physical Education with Mr Hardy

Thank you to everyone who has been involved with our sporting events, from parents making the early morning trips to Cross Country training, to staff and parents who have helped coach our Interschool sports teams or helped at carnivals over the past 3 years. Without this commitment and generosity, our students would not have the chance to experience all the opportunities sport in Mt Isa has to offer. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to teach in such a wonderful school. I wish all of our staff the best of luck for 2019 and to the students, thank you for 3 years of absolute joy.

Congratulations to all of our St Kieran’s students who have represented us at both District and Regional level (listed below), St Kieran’s and myself are very proud of your achievements.

Finally, congratulations to Linkyn Macmillan and Rilee Webber who were awarded the 2018 St Kieran’s Sports Persons of the Year. There is no doubt that both Linkyn and Rilee have displayed outstanding sportsmanship with a willingness to become actively involved in all aspects of school sporting life throughout the year. Both have represented St Kieran’s at a district and Regional level and should be very proud of their achievements. I wish both Linkyn and Rilee all the best as they move onto high school and I know they will continue to grow and develop in their sporting endeavors.

Instrumental

Recruitment for the 2019 St Kieran’s Instrumental Program is underway. If you have a son or daughter interested in Instrumental next year please let the office know.

Catherine Motteram
Instrumental Music Specialist

Prep Enrolments for 2019 and 2020

We currently still have spaces available for Prep for 2019. If you are interested please call the school.

Library

What a wonderful way to finish off the year with our Once Upon A Dragon Book Fair! Thank you to everyone who came along, including the Kindy class from St Mary MacKillop Early Learning Centre. This year you raised over $1000 to be spent supporting your children with books to read and love. Some of this money will also be spent to further develop curriculum and STEM resources.

A big shout out to the Library Legends, along with some other keen students, who helped with the theme, design and running of the Book Fair this year. It is so fantastic to be able to tap into the unique gifts of the students and see them shine! Library Legends have also done a fantastic job helping out in the library and this group will hopefully continue next year.

The students outdid themselves with the colouring competition and dress up competition this year and it took a combined effort to narrow the winners down, with quite a few of the classes having two winners!

There have been many changes in the library this year to make it even more of a friendly, welcoming and flexible space that the students love to be in. It has been great to see how each class uses the space differently and talk with the students to find out what it is they love best or would like to have added or changed.

This year has also seen the classes taking more responsibility for checking books in and out, and they have done an amazing job. All student loans should have been returned by now. If not please remember that it is never too late to return an overdue book, so even if you find it next year, please drop it into the office! Sometimes things go wrong with books, and that is ok - our aim it to keep your students borrowing and finding and nurturing a love of books. So if you know a book is lost or damaged, please let us know so that we can get your student back borrowing!.

Wishing everyone a safe and merry Christmas.
Jo Schlencker

Wahoo

Parenting Information

Compass

All parents need to download their child’s report if they are leaving in December 2018, as you will loose access once St Kieran’s completes the 2018 End Of year Rollover. Below you will find the instructions to access your child’s report card. If you have not accessed your child’s report. Please feel free to come into the office and Lauren will be able to help you.

Buy, Swap, Sell St Kieran’s

Kitchen Sink x 2 - $40
Scale Playground equipment - $300 and comes with instructions
Donga - $33,000 10mx3m

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.