5 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday 5th March – St Kieran’s Feast Day
Thursday 5th March - Beginning Year Mass
Friday 6th March – Years 2-6 - Walking the Cross-Country course in PE Lesson
Thursday 12th March – School Photos
Thursday 12th March - MISSA Netball Trials (10-12yrs)
Friday 13th March - Book Club Issue 2 Due
Friday 13th March - Term One School Fees Due
Friday 13th March - Cross Country
Monday 16th - Wednesday 18th March - Swimming Lessons
Thursday 19th March - School Disco - Glow Theme - Buffs Club
Monday 23rd - Wednesday 25th March - Swimming Lessons
Monday 23rd - Tuesday 24th March - Parent Teacher Interviews
Thursday 26th March - Swimming Carnival

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Last week St Kieran’s students and staff marked the start of the Lenten season with an Ash Wednesday prayer celebration. We are moving into a very important time in our liturgical calendar where traditionally, we repent, reflect and take stock of the death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us as members of a Catholic Christian community. During Lent, we talk to our students about ‘giving up’ something or going out of our way for others or promising to help those in need. This is also a good message for parents and a conversation that may be encouraged around the dinner table this week to see if your child has stayed true to their promise.

Thank you to Mrs Laffin for organizing our beautiful beginning year school Mass. This was very prayerful and a reflective mass in celebration of the memorial of our patron saint, St Kieran. Saint Kieran is the role model for our school and is one who was always there for the animals and made connections with his environment. He cared for those who helped him achieve his mission and especially St Patrick as he had sent him out on his mission. Through Saint Kieran, we can learn the importance of diligence and faithfulness in our daily life and work.

Finally, whilst on after-school duty during the week with Mrs Laffin we have become increasingly concerned about the safety of our students when school pick-up / drop off protocol is ignored. Under no condition is a student allowed to walk to a parked car unaccompanied by an adult, nor are they allowed to walk to a car waiting in line. All children are to be collected from the undercover classroom area or from the drop off zone. Last week a student was nearly hit by a driver in the parking area. Please keep your children safe. This requires some patience – granted – but queue jumping, double-parking and waiting for late students in the designated pick-up spaces only puts our children at risk. Let us work towards a safer collection zone.

Have a fabulous few weeks
God Bless

Claudine Dank

LOVE GOD

APRE

This week we celebrate the Feast of St Kieran, our school’s patron saint. Our feast day celebrations began with our Beginning of Year School Mass and Leader Induction. Parents were invited in for a shared lunch and students participated in fun rotational activities based around St Kieran. Watch out for photos to come in the next newsletter and on Facebook.

Project Compassion - GO FURTHER TOGETHER!

During the first week of Lent, we hear the story of Shirley, a Manide woman living in a remote province of the Philippines. She is a mother of four and the sole breadwinner of the family, as her husband is sick. However, Shirley was struggling to support the whole family and keep her children in school. With Caritas Australia’s support, Shirley trained to become an indigenous health worker and a leader in her community. She has learned to supplement her income and is now able to feed her family. The program has also helped Shirley’s children with school fees, uniforms and supplies.

During the second week of Lent, we hear the story of Twenty-seven-year-old, Phany, who lives in a village in western Cambodia. Struggling to earn a living as a farmer, she was forced to leave her daughter behind in the village, to take up construction work in the city. In 2016, Phany joined the Upholding Community Dignity Together program, run by Caritas Australia, in partnership with the Environment Protection and Development Organisation (EPDO). Phany learned new farming techniques, such as a drip irrigation system, which enabled her to get a better yield from her vegetable crops, and to conserve water for drier periods.

As part of raising money for project compassion, this year we will have our annual Easter egg fundraiser. If you are able to please donate one Easter egg that would be fantastic. These eggs will be placed together to make many small raffles. Tickets will go on sale during week 8 of the school term.

Sacramental Program 2020

The Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – highlight our relationship with each person of the Trinity. In Baptism, we become a child of God the Father, as we are reborn spiritually. In Confirmation, we recommit our baptismal vows (made on behalf by our parents and godparents) and we receive the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit. At our first Communion, we unite with Jesus. When we take the host (body) and drink the wine (blood), we become one flesh with him. That is why it is called ‘communion’; we become one body and one spirit with Jesus.

If you wish your child to be enrolled in the preparation this year, it is not too late. There will be a Welcome Liturgy this Thursday, 5th March at 6.30 pm for 7.00 pm start at the Good Shepherd Parish Church. All are invited to come along and support the children as they take their next step in their faith journey.

PARISH INFOMATION

Children’s Liturgy

Volunteers are needed to teach children during part of a 9.00am Sunday Mass. Training will be given. Please contact Lorna on 0402 934 489.

World Day of Prayer

This coming Friday 6th March 7pm at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Abel Smith Parade. The service was prepared by the Women of Zimbabwe. You are invited to join our local Christian churches to pray for the people of Zimbabwe.

Stations of the Cross

Will be held each Friday in Lent at 6pm

Youth Group

This Sunday from 4pm is for Year 12 only.

CURRICULUM

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews for Term One will be held on the 23, 24, 25 March. Over the next few weeks, we will send out information regarding how to book your interview time this term. Interviews are an important opportunity for you to check in on your child’s progress over the start of the year. If you have concerns regarding your child’s progress at school, one of the first port of calls for us as parents is to check vision and hearing. Local optometrists will generally perform vision screeners free for Medicare cardholders with little waiting time for an appointment. Remember all of our staff are here to help, please contact us at the school or make a time to see your child’s teacher.

Home Reading

Our focus this year remains on children reading at home. Please remember to send reading folders in weekly so readers can be changed on Mondays. If your child is an avid reader and would prefer to read a book from home or the library than their reader then that is perfectly ok, just record what they have read on their Reading Log.

VOLUNTEER INDUCTION

If you are unable to complete the face-to-face volunteer package, please complete the online modules below. Completing these modules will introduce you to Catholic Education in North Queensland and your rights and responsibilities as a volunteer. The module will take approximately twenty minutes to complete. Following the completion of these modules, you will receive a certificate of completion via email; you are required to forward this certificate to the school’s Secretary (Belinda Thomson bthomson3@skmtsv.catholic.edu.au).

Online Modules

• Online Module 1
• Online Module 2
• Online Module 3
• Online Module 4
• Online Module 5
• Online Module 6
• Online Module 7
• Online Module 8

Instructions to Use

• Click on the Module link
• Click on the Pop-Out Icon in the top right-hand corner of the presentation
• Click on Open with Google Slides
• Click on Present

Supporting documentation

• Registration Form
• Confidentiality Agreement
• Volunteer Photo Consent Form
• Site Induction Acknowledgement
• Blue Card Application Form
• Handbook - Volunteer Induction

Quiz

Volunteers will be required to achieve 6/6 on the quiz and will receive a Certificate of Completion via email within 24-48 hours. Volunteers should forward this email to our school's Secretary (Belinda Thomson bthomson3@skmtsv.catholic.edu.au).

Parents/Volunteer Code of Conduct

ESMART (CYBER SAFETY)

Students in the upper years are talking a lot in regards to Tik Tok. Below is some information so you are aware of this app as a parent. You also need to know that a child must be 13 before having this app. The age on apps is to make sure that children are emotionally ready for what they are seeing and placing on there.

What is TikTok?

TikTok (formerly Music.ly) is a social media app for creating and sharing short videos. You can create and share short lip-sync, comedy and talent videos of 3 to 15 seconds. You can also create short looping videos up to 60 seconds long.

Website: tiktok.com
Apps: Android app, Apple iOS app

How do people use TikTok?

TikTok is used for: in-app purchasing, live streaming, messaging/online chat, online relationships and photo/video sharing.

How can you report online abuse or block someone?

• Report inappropriate content
  How to report abuse, spam or inappropriate content.
• Block an account
  How to stop someone from contacting you.

How can you protect your personal information?

• Privacy settings
  learn how to make your account as secure as possible.
• Comment controls
  Control who can comment on your videos.
• Who can see and download your content?
  Choose who can see the content you post on TikTok.
• Save a video, privately
  create a video that no one else can see until you are ready.
• Control what people can see on your profile
  Control which information other TikTok users can see.
• Hacked account
  Advice on what do to if you notice suspicious behaviour on your account.

To be cyber safety please keep talking to your children about the latest trends with apps and what they are doing online. Open communication in regards to the internet, apps etc is the best for your family.

LIBRARY

One of the things I notice as a teacher is that children who read for pleasure tend to be more successful not just in literacy, but in their academic studies as a whole. It does not matter what exactly they read, just that they read, period. We need to start having our children read books for fun! These are some recent statistics from Canada. They are very interesting to see.

HPE

Our school cross-country is coming up very quickly on Friday 13th March. Notes have gone home and are due back ASAP please. Students may come to school early this Thursday, Friday and next week on Tuesday and Thursday if they want to practice running the oval.

It is a really fun day for students and we love watching our students compete and participate. They have such wonderful sportsmanship and it is so enjoyable to be a part of this. Students are encouraged to get dressed up in their house colours to support their team.

The swimming carnival will take place on Thursday 26th March from 4pm-7pm.

The 10-12yrs MISSA (Mount Isa School Sport Association) netball trials will be held on Thursday 12th March. If your student plays netball confidently and they would like to attend the trial, please see Mrs Lloyd or the office for the paperwork.

INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

Our busy term continues! Last week we welcomed Mrs Annete Ah Wing to our growing team. Miss Annette (to our kids) has come to us with a wealth of experience having worked as an IEW at both St Benedict’s and Marian schools in Townsville for many years. We are blessed to have such an experienced school officer working with our students this year.

Due to forecasted rain, we have decided to postpone our SKIFS welcome back to school BBQ. We will update you with a new date as soon as possible.

YOU CAN DO IT

Developing Social Skills

School is only one place in which children learn and practice social skills. There are ways in which parents/carers can also help.

The Basics:

• Explain the importance of Personal Space
• Teach Empathy
• Help your child understand how to have a conversation
• Teach about basic manners
• Talk about expressing wants and needs

Practice:

• Read to your children
• Model good behaviour
• Play emotional charades
• Play games that encourage eye contact

Support Your Child’s Social Life:

• Support Friendships (host play dates, go to events)
• Get child involved in TEAM SPORTS!!
• Get child involved in other extra-curricular activities (guides, boy scouts etc)

Please ask if you would like further information.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

P&F News - Fete

Thank you to all of the parents who are already putting their hand up to help at the Fete. I am sure that this year it is going to be fantastic.

PLAYGROUP

Welcome to another year of fun at Little K’s! Playgroup will run every Monday from 8:30am-10am.

Little K’s Playgroup Term 1, 2020

TUCKSHOP

Tuckshop - Meal Deals

Week 6 - Thursday 5th March - Asian noodles, popper, popcorn and zooper dooper.
Week 7 - Thursday 12th March - Cheeseburger, popper, cupcake and zooper dooper.
Week 8 - Thursday 19th March - Chicken curry with rice, popper, brownie and yoghurt bar.
Week 9 - Thursday 26th March - Shepherds pie, popper, popcorn and watermelon.
Week 10 - Thursday 2nd April - Hot dog, popper, cupcake and zooper dooper.

Meal Deals cost $9.00 and covers both first and second breaks.

Did you know the tuckshop can make cupcakes for your child’s birthday? $1.00 each, please enquire at the office. Phone orders can also be made.

COMMUNITY NOTICES