29 October 2020

Newsletter Articles

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday 30th October - Day for Daniel - Dress in Red (gold coin donation)
Friday 30th of October - Homemade Soccer Balls Games for Catholic Mission
Monday 9th November - 13th November - NAIDOC Week
Wednesday 11th November - School Transition Day
Monday 23rd - 27th November - Book Fair, Mother’s Xmas Gifts & Plants
Thursday 26th November - End of Year Mass
Monday 30th November - Year 6 Graduation
Tuesday 1st December – Mini Fete and Talent Show
Wednesday 2nd December - Year 1 Nativity Play
Wednesday 2nd December - Wet Wednesday
Wednesday 2nd December - Christmas Concert at 6pm
Friday 4th December - Last day of school finish at 12pm

PRAYER / SPECIAL MESSAGE

The Francis Factor (Reflecting on the Words & Wisdom of Pope Francis)

The Middle Class of Holiness to be sure, the testimony of faith comes in very many forms, just as in a great fresco, there is a variety of colours and shades … In God’s great plan, every detail is important, even yours, even my humble little witness, even the hidden witness of those who live their faith with simplicity in the everyday family relationships, work relationships, friendships. There are the saints of every day, the “hidden” saints, a sort of “middle class of holiness,” as a French author said, “middle class of holiness” to which we can all belong. (Homily, 14 April 2013)

Reflection - How can your family relationships, work relationships, and friendships be a means to help you grow closer to the Lord? How can you find holiness in your everyday routine as a member of the “middle class of holiness”?

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Dear Parents, Grandparents, Carers and Friends,

Last weekend I was watching the NRL grand final (not that it interested me). The part I was interested in was the conversation with Cameron Smith after the match and what his team has gone through. They have been away from their families for 5 months. They have not slept in their own bed for 5 months. Their families were at the game but they could not hug or kiss them. The sacrifice and commitment of those men and the organization was quite commendable and shows that if you believe in something so bad, you will go to extraordinary lengths to gain success.

Schools are similar in some ways. We haven’t had to be away for 5 months but each and every day we sacrifice and commit in order to give the best to your children. Many times this is taken for granted because we live in a nation and community that does not have to endear any hardship to an extreme level. We wake up and assume the same will happen day in, day out. Schools make decisions all the time. If there is trust and complete assurance that the school will always do what is in the best interest of students, then there should be no problem. Unfortunately we are human and as humans we can be inflexible to certain situations. We only want it one way or our way or nothing at all. This can narrow our choices and result in missing out on something good and exciting. As stated, trust is important. To have trust you need good relationships. We are so lucky in this community that we have good relationships and that there is trust. It is what makes us so special.

With this in mind, and to help our organization of class for next year, please complete and return the returning to school form, if you have not already done so. Thanks everyone in advance for doing this.

Lastly thank you to all for the amazing outfits for book week dress up and also the gold coin donation for Catholic Missions - socktober and Day for Daniel.

God Bless
Claudine Dank

RELIGIOUS LIFE OF OUR SCHOOL

This week we celebrate All Hallows’ Eve and the feasts of All Saints and All Souls. All Saints’ Day (Thursday) is a holy day of obligation, commemorating those who have died in God’s service. In the time of the early Church, this day was to honour martyrs. By 741, the feast day came to include all the saints in heaven. November 1st became a holy day of obligation in 1484, by Pope Sixtus IV, and the day before became known as “All Hallows’ Eve” or Hallowe’en. On All Saints’ Day, it is common for Catholics to visit the cemetery and pray for those who have died: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. Year 4 will lead us in Prayer during Assembly this Friday.

Catholic Mission Month 2020

Congratulations to all the students who came up with some crazy sock combinations! The school raised $128.30. Check out the photos on our Facebook page if you have not already done so.

Mini Vinnies Social Justice Evening 2020

This term, St Kieran's students from years 2 - 6 have the opportunity to participate in a Mini Vinnies Social Justice Evening on Friday the 20th November from 5pm - 8.30pm.

The Mini Vinnies Social Justice Evening will help raise awareness about what it means to be homeless and the types of homelessness experienced by both adults, young people and children. Students will be engaged in a range of activities to help give them a sense of what it is like to be homeless and an understanding of how life circumstances can change. The evening also discusses with the students how we can help in regards to fundraising, volunteering and being an advocate for those in need.

Every year St Vincent De Paul donates baskets of essential items to those in need throughout Mount Isa and surrounding districts. This year St Kieran’s students are asked to help with this and collect as many items as they can to go into these packages. Putting together the packages will formulate the Social Justice Action part of the evening.

All St Kieran's students can contribute and be involved in preparation for this evening.

Each class is asked to begin to collect the following essentials (non-perishable) items over the next few weeks. These include: soaps/ body wash, face washers/ hand towels, shampoo & conditioner, deodorants, tin foods, disposable wipes.

PARISH INFOMATION

Jungawala - St Keiran’s is rostered on this Sunday.

DIOCESAN INFORMATION

Mass Livestream

Sunday Mass from the Sacred Heart Cathedral will continue to be Live Streamed for the community. You can find the stream here:

Prayer resources and other important information can be found via the link below:

SCHOOL RENEWAL PLAN AT ST KIERANS

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Positive Partnerships is trialling a four 90 minute session online workshop for parents and carers of school aged students on the autism spectrum for the Far North QLD region. There will be the option of daytime or evening sessions or a combination to suit, with the following topics covered:

• The diversity of autism
• Working together – home and school
• Sensory Processing
• Understanding behaviour

If you would like to attend these sessions our Parent Engagement Room and Meeting room can be set up for you! Please contact Mrs Peta Laffin for details or email on plaffin@skmtsv.catholic.edu.au.

Attention and Concentration

Targeted Outreach Project

There is free support and assessments available. Queenslanders with Disability Network know so much about the NDIS process and NDIS partners. The following free NDIS application support is available:

• Collecting and preparing information;
• Filling out and sending NDIS forms;
• Discussing disability related needs with doctors and specialists;
• Providing functional assessments where needed; and
• Keeping track of the NDIS access request until the process is finished.

How can the Targeted Outreach Project help?

The Targeted Outreach Project connects with families of students with disability and can help them to:

• Learn about the NDIS;
• Decide whether the NDIS is for them; and
• Access free and practical individual support to apply for the NDIS through ART.

ART has small teams in the Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors who provide support to people with disability to help them with:

• collecting and preparing information, filling out and sending NDIS forms
• discussing disability related needs with doctors and specialists
• providing functional assessments where needed
• keeping track of the NDIS access request until the process is finished

If you help with the NDIS application process, Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) is available to help. Contact QDN on 1300 363 783, email targetedoutreach@qdn.org.au. Or you can go to the online referral form here.

Targeted Outreach Project

There is free support and assessments available. Queenslanders with Disability Network know so much about the NDIS process and NDIS partners. The following free NDIS application support is available:

• Collecting and preparing information;
• Filling out and sending NDIS forms;
• Discussing disability related needs with doctors and specialists;
• Providing functional assessments where needed; and
• Keeping track of the NDIS access request until the process is finished.

How can the Targeted Outreach Project help?

The Targeted Outreach Project connects with families of students with disability and can help them to:

• Learn about the NDIS;
• Decide whether the NDIS is for them; and
• Access free and practical individual support to apply for the NDIS through ART.

ART has small teams in the Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors who provide support to people with disability to help them with:

• collecting and preparing information, filling out and sending NDIS forms
• discussing disability related needs with doctors and specialists
• providing functional assessments where needed
• keeping track of the NDIS access request until the process is finished

If you help with the NDIS application process, Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) is available to help. Contact QDN on 1300 363 783, email targetedoutreach@qdn.org.au. Or you can go to the online referral form here.

WQPHN NPSM (National Psychosocial Measure) Transition Project

One of the primary objectives of this project is to improve consumer knowledge and understanding of NDIS process, support and services in the local area.

The project commences with a consumer survey and I would value your completion and support with sharing this survey with your colleagues, parents, carers, support teams and any contacts that may want to share their feedback on the NDIS process. The Survey page can be printed and displayed as well as forwarded by email to contacts.

The survey information and links are attached to this email and can be completed online or there is a printable version included for use if this method is more suitable. The survey closes on the 30th November 2020.

LEARNING & TEACHING

Every Day Counts

In the past few weeks our team has had a detailed look at all of our student data to ensure all students are well supported. One trend we see regularly is the close relationship between attendance and academic achievement. Students who are regularly absent miss important content in class which leads to a lack of confidence in the classroom. This can easily become a cycle where children begin to feel lost so they seek to take more time off school, and the cycle continues. What might seem like just a day or two off each fortnight adds up to a significant amount of schooling over time. If you need assistance getting your kids to school please let us know as we are more than happy to help in any way we can.

PREP ENROLMENTS 2021

Families seeking enrolment of their child into Prep for 2021 are invited to complete an Application for Enrolment, available on our website (www.skmtsv.catholic.edu.au) or alternatively collect an application package from the School Office.

As we are anticipating that there will continue to be strong demand for placements within our Prep groups for 2021, it is important that applications are received by the school as soon as possible.

Please note that if you have a sibling of a current St Kieran’s student you will also need to complete an enrolment application for your child for Prep 2021. Students enrolled at St Joseph’s Kindergarten or St Mary Mackillop Early Learning Centre are also required to complete an application form.

St Kieran’s Catholic School works in partnership with St Joseph’s Catholic School and Good Shepherd Parish to coordinate the Prep enrolment process so that the best opportunity is afforded to all.

ESMART (CYBER SAFETY)

Here is a link that will help you with online safety. There is also a parent online safety book that can be downloaded.

LIBRARY / CHILD PROTECTION

Book Week, this year, was held from Monday 19th – Friday 23rd October, 2020.

This year asked children to embrace the theme “Curious Creatures, Wild Minds”, and let me just say that the students at St Kieran’s certainly did that. It was wonderful to see all of the creativity of our students and parents on display.

This year’s best dressed/imagination Winners from each class were;-

Prep - Lucia Rodriguez and Elliott Beattie
Year 1 - Kennedie Robinson and Seth Tallentire
Year 2 - Rose Devine and Lachlan Allen
Year 3 - Madison Saunders/Aubrey Gianni and Kyle Laffin
Year 4 - Lily Ellem and Jericho Lagiono
Year 5 - Isabella Dolzan and Cooper Robinson
Year 6 - Allysha Paul and Jett Malouf

I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful efforts in embracing this year's book week.

Mrs Anderson

HPE

Our Term 4 is looking very exciting already. In PE, students are doing gymnastics sessions on Thursdays with Miss Trudy from Leichhardt Gymnastics. Students have loved their first couple of sessions already. On Fridays, we are working on our Motor Skills Program with the Prep-Year 2 classes and the Years 3-6 classes are doing netball skills sessions.

In School Sport news, we would like to say how proud we are of some of our students who have recently competed (and are currently still competing) in State School Sport competitions; Marnie Caldwell and Sienna Wilson travelled to Redcliffe to compete for the Northern Region in softball. The girls did extremely well and their team came in 5th overall which is amazing. Marnie is also competing for the North West region with Charlotte Byrnes in Toowoomba at the State Schools Netball competition. We wish the girls all the very best!

In athletics news, a big shout out to Moondarra on their win for the Athletics Carnival for 2020. There were so many students who did their house, and St Kieran’s proud for their sportsmanship and athleticism on the day. The year 6 cohort were especially helpful all day and you will be missed next year.

Our Age Champions for 2020 were:

09yrs Female: Isabella Sodenkamp
09yrs Male: Tobie Pfeffer
10yrs Female: Scarlett Venz
10yrs Male: Lucas Brady
11yrs Female: Jessica Tokawa
11yrs Male: Lennox Dank
12yrs Female: Allysha Paul
12yrs Male: James Kleinman and William Webber

Congratulations to all students who competed.

State of Origin

Wednesday the 18th of November we will be taking on the kids in the annual Staff Vs Year 6 touch football game at second break. Students are invited to wear their origin colours on the day.

ECO WARRIORS

Sustainability Award

This year our Eco team put together a submission for the annual Townsville Diocese Sustainable school award. Make sure you check out our video on Facebook and cross your fingers!!!!

TUCKSHOP

Thursday Meal Deals

Term 4

Did you know the tuckshop could make cupcakes for your child’s birthday? $1.00 each, please enquire at the office for an order form.

PLAYGROUP

Monday Mornings between 8.30am - 10am. Open for all community members’ ages between 1 – 4year olds. While we always have a plan for each week, activities are child directed, letting them explore, create and learn at their own pace.

This week the children enjoyed some wet outdoor play. Last week they painted rocks and leaves and had another visit from Penelope the duckling who they had met the week before.

LOST PROPERTY

We have a number of items in the office that we do not know whom they belong to. Below is a brief description of the items we have. If they belong to you, please collect them.

• Grey and red Spinach Boost glasses
• Blue Fitbit watch
• Black Vogue Glasses Case with purple and cream Vogue glasses
• Size 6 Left foot Black Jazz Shoe.

COMMUNITY NOTICES