13 May 2021

Newsletter Articles

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday 14th May - Free Dress Day (After School Fete)
Sunday 16th May - Ascension of the Lord
Thursday 20th May - 800m event for Athletics Carnival (8:30am-10:00am)
Friday 21st May - Athletics Carnival - Prep, Year 1 + Year 2 go home at 12pm
Sunday 23rd May - Pentecost
Wednesday 26th May - National Sorry Day
Thursday 27th May - Thursday 3rd June - Reconciliation Week
Thursday 3rd June - School Disco
Friday 4th June - World Environment Day
Friday 18th June - Mount Isa Show - NO SCHOOL
Friday 25th June - Last Day of Term Two

PRAYER / SPECIAL MESSAGE

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

What is the law of the People of God? It is the law of love, love for God and love for neighbour, according to the new commandment that the Lord left us (cf.John 13: 34). It is a love, however, that is not sterile sentimentality or something vague, but the acknowledgement of God as the one Lord of life and, at the same time, the acceptance of the other as my true brother or sister, overcoming division, rivalry, misunderstanding, selfishness; these two things go together. Oh, how much more of the journey do we have to make in order to actually live the new law.(Pope Francis, General Audience,12June2013)

Reflection

What do your struggle with more - loving God or loving your neighbour?

Take time to work on any weakness in these areas this week. What is God calling you to do?

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Dear parents and guardians,

Our school and community are very blessed to have such amazing parents and staff. Our school Fete last Friday night was a massive hit and I was so impressed by the amount of Mount Isa community members attending our Fete, the amount of young families in town and many people enjoying the night. I have heard so many stories from people in regards to them catching up with old friends that they have not seen for a long time or meeting new people due to lining up in the lines. That is what our Fete is about. Being able to provide Mount Isa community an event where they can get out of the house and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere with their family. The money raised on the night is an extra bonus.

This event was not possible without the help of many wonderful people who are part of the Parent Engagement Group. Thank you to Jade Coles, Kellie Wilson, Nicole Lobegeiger, Kate Seymour, Cassandra Hosking and Tara Sutton for all of the work behind the scenes. Then we also have all of the parent helpers on Thursday, Friday and the amount of helpers on the night. I also would like to say a special thank you to GSCC (Good Shepherd Catholic College) for the amount of students that offered up their time on the night to help out and volunteer with the stalls.

Lastly I would like to thank the Mount Isa community. The amount of sponsorship, items and equipment that we received was next level. Our Fete would not have been possible without that and your kind donations. Thank you for everything.

One another note. It has come to my attention that many students are arriving late to school. I know that this may not seem much, but when you start to calculate the time arriving late everyday it starts to make an impact on your child’s schooling. Below is a chart that makes you aware that being late to school is not a good thing considered that learning time is most important at the very beginning of the day.

God Bless
Claudine Dank

RELIGIOUS LIFE OF OUR SCHOOL

The Word

Jesus said, “Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved and they will be given the power to perform miracles.” After he said this, Jesus was taken up to heaven. The disciples preached everywhere, th eLord worked with them and miracles were performed. (Mark 16:16-20)

Jesus gave his followers an important least message: Go make disciples! A lot of people think that his call to mission is only for religious brothers, sisters and priests. But Jesus calls us all to be missionaries. He wants his followers to share his message of love with others.

Lord Jesus, give us the courage to go out into the world and share your love with everyone we meet.

Amen.

The Ascension marked the time when Jesus’ body physically left the earth to be with his Father in heaven. But while his earthly presence is no longer with use, he remains with us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Confirmation some of our St Kieran’s students have recently received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Over the next two weeks they will be involved in retreat sessions to prepare them to make their Communion.

For Catholics, the sacrament of the Eucharist is a sacred meal where we break bread and share the one cup. It is the sign of our unity with and in Christ. The Eucharist expresses the intimate, passionate love of Jesus. To help prepare your child:

1. Make mealtimes special.
2. Prayer for your child.
3. Gifts that give life.
4. Create a Prayer Space.
5. Get to Mass.

Please keep these students in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare to receive this sacrament.

PARISH INFORMATION

Please note the remaining Retreats for Communion Preparation.

Retreat Session 1

Wednesday the 5th May (Completed)
Thursday 6th May (Completed)
Wednesday 12th May (date change) 3.30-4.30pm St Kieran’s Catholic School

Retreat Session 2

Monday 17th of May 3.30-4.30pm St Kieran’s Catholic School
Wednesday the 19th of May 3.30pm - 4.30pm St Joseph’s Catholic School
Thursday 20th of May 5pm - 6pm St Joseph's Catholic School

Communion Practice - Saturday 22 May at 9:00am at the church

Sacrament of First Holy Communion - Saturday 22 May 6pm, Sunday 23 May 9am and 6pm

DIOCESAN BASED INFORMATION

Becoming New in Christ

The Gospel of Mark says that Jesus gets the disciples talking. He asks them what people are saying about who he is. They tell him what they have heard.

Jesus asked the question that really matters: “But, who do you say that I am?

Jesus asks the same question of us. As individuals and parishes, we need to direct our

minds and hearts to exactly this question: “Who do you say that I am?”

”To participate in the BELIEVE Conversation in your Parish, contact your Parish Priest or Parish Office. Reflection resources can be found at the link below:

National Catholic Mass Count

The 5th National Count of Attendance at Mass and Sunday Assemblies will be conducted in May 2021. Church attendance is perhaps the most basic measure of religious practice. Most dioceses conduct counts of attenders, but not every diocese does it with the same frequency, in the same way or at the same time. According to the most recent national count, conducted in 2016, about 11.8 per cent of Australia’s Catholic population, or 623,400 people, went to church on a typical weekend.

The National Count is conducted in the same year as the Australian Census (to be held on 10 August 2021) so that the information collected can most effectively be used in association with results from the other project.

It is intended that the 2021 count will be conducted in all parishes and other Mass centres, such as migrant community centres, throughout Australia. The count will be as comprehensive as possible and include people of all ages at Mass (including babies), and other types of Sunday Assemblies. It will be a simple headcount: no other information about individual attenders will be collected.

Plenary Council Update

As we journey towards the 1st Assembly of the Plenary Council, the ‘Working Document has been released. This document draws heavily on the voices heard during the Listening and Dialogue and Listening and Discernment phases of the Plenary Council, but also from other key sources. It is entitled Continuing the Journey.

There is now a regular Podcast to provide valuable insights into the journey the Catholic Church in on towards the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia. Episodes are available on Spotify and Anchor.

All other resources are available on the Plenary Council website below:

PREP ENROLMENTS 2022

IS YOUR CHILD STARTING PREP IN 2022?

Families seeking enrolment of their child into Prep for 2022 are invited to complete an Application for Enrolment, available on our website 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 2022, 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 2022. 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.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

Each fortnight we will profile a section of our Annual School Improvement Plan for 2021. This is the document that guides our plans and priorities for the year. We prepare this document based on initiatives set by the Townsville Catholic Education Office and through consultation with our school stakeholders: parents, staff and students

LEARNING AND TEACHING

NAPLAN

This week our Years 3 and 5 students have participated in NAPLAN tests for Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. We are so proud of all of our students and the hard work and effort they have put into completing these tests. For any child who was away on the testing day there will be catch up test sessions throughout next week. NAPLAN results will be distributed later in the year.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Positive Partnerships is a national project funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment through the Helping Children with Autism program. We’re delivered by Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect), who are Australia’s largest provider of autism services. They deliver high quality professional learning and resources through workshops, webinars and online modules for parents, carers and school staff. This strengthens their capacity to support and advocate for young people on the autism spectrum. A lot of information also applies to students who are experiencing difficulties in a number of areas. Your child does not have to have an official Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis to use these resources.

This website is a one-stop-parent shop for. As the number one carer of your child, you need to educate yourself in order to keep things positive and for your family to be happy. The Positive Partnerships site includes many (free) modules for parents to engage with. There are modules you can work through that will help you uncover the reasons behind your child’s tantrums or outbursts. There are information sheets on; well being/resilience, making conversions, health and hygiene, interest based learning, preparing for change, talking about sexuality, visual supports, Individual Education Plans, reactions to a diagnosis, avoidance behaviours and many more…….

The school is here to support your child through their learning whilst at school. The partnership between the school and home is vital. Clear communication with your child’s classroom teacher must work both ways. The school can also recommend outside services to assist your whole family at home if you are struggling to cope.

LIBRARY

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is on Wednesday, 19th May, 2021 at 11am. This year’s chosen book is “Give Me Some Space!” written and illustrated by Philip Bunting. It will be read to children across Australia and New Zealand by astronauts from the International Space Station...that’s right...live in Space! Check out both ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) website and Scholastic website for more information.

Una dreams of a life in Space. Life on Earth is just so so-so. But how will she get there? And will she complete her mission to discover life in Space? And did she remember to feed Neil the goldfish?

*Please return all overdue library books and Home Readers as soon as possible, thank you.

HPE

We had our first inter-school sports gala day in week 2 for the year. Some of our talented Year 5&6 students participated in the netball competition and did our school proud. All participants showed amazing sportsmanship throughout the day and it Miss Geddes said it was a wonderful day of sports and the students improved so much. Our next gala day is rugby league which will now be in Week 8.

We have also had our first representative sport event which was cross country, also in week 2. We took a team of 11 students to the golf course to compete against other students in Mount Isa. All students did extremely well and we were all amazed at the improvements in the student’s running times.

Please remember our athletics carnival will be coming up quickly in week 5!

YOU CAN DO IT

Other Things you can do to Teach Children Persistence:

• Provide children with accurate feedback concerning the amount of effort they are expending and how much effort and time are really needed to complete homework and other tasks.
• Correct any faulty ideas that an unmotivated child may have concerning how hard he or she is working. Say, “You may think you are working as hard as you can or you are doing enough, but you need to and can work harder to be successful.”
• Repeatedly show children how their big efforts result in learning or success.

• Provide strong, immediate reinforcement (i.e. verbal and non verbal) for effort children put towards work that they find hard or boring (chores, homework, specific school work).
• Teach children about short-term and long-term goals. Discuss the connection between them, and chart children’s progress towards goals. Praise children’s efforts towards short-term and long-term goals.
• Identify a role model in a child’s life. Ask the young person what that role model would say regarding schoolwork and how to succeed, including the importance of persistence. Tape a picture of the role model and a quote on the child’s desk.
• Teachers and parents should draw children’s attention towards their willingness (without complaint) to do tasks that are not considered fun.
• Establish a behavioural contract with clear expectations concerning effort, and consistently enforce logical consequences when children do not complete chores, schoolwork, and homework.
• Do not rescue children from negative consequences of failing to complete their chores, homework, or schoolwork.
• Discuss with children how things will not turn out okay if they avoid their work.
• Enlist the cooperation of the class/family in supporting the children’s persistence.

ESMART (CYBER SAFETY)

COMPASS NEWS

Recent Privacy Breach

Breach notice

Catholic Schools in the Townsville Diocese are moving to a centralised digital information management system called COMPASS. This transition enables us to better manage information relating to students, enhancing our ability to manage student welfare and support students in their learning, providing parents and guardians with immediate access to more information about their students, and assisting the provision of quality education to students.

Personal information about students, parents and guardians has been migrated across to the new system using a platform called Ancestry. In March, we realised an issue with this migration, whereby parents who were formerly listed on student records re-appeared. For a period of time, some unauthorised parents had very limited, but nonetheless, access to our parent portal. Our records show that no unauthorised person entered the Compass system during that time, so no data breaches were actually recorded. Additionally, some unauthorised parents received whole-of-school text messages. We have assessed this information and determined the risk of a serious breach is minimal, mainly due to the fact that the text messages did not communicate sensitive information – they contained generic school messaging.

Please be assured that the privacy and confidentiality of the information entrusted to us about our students and their families is of the utmost importance. We worked quickly to mitigate this issue and cleanse the data records at the school. If you have any questions about the way we manage our data, and how it will impact the handling of your (or your child’s) personal information, please contact the Principal of your child’s school.

TUCKSHOP

All tuckshop orders are to be made online through Flexischools by 9.00am on the day required.

2020 Families - Please remember to change your child's classroom to their 2021 class prior to your first order this year.

In the app go to the profile tab - students - select student - click on the pencil and update the year level first and then class and press save.

Term 2 Meal Deals

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

This week in Playgroup we did some symmetry painting with some added glitter! We also enjoyed some outside play in the lovely weather and did some craft using heart shapes. Next week we will be enjoying some hands-on cooking.

MOTHER’S DAY FETE

Free Dress Dates:

Friday 14th May - Free Dress - To say THANK YOU.

Please ensure that students wear sun safe clothing (sleeved shirts) and correct footwear as students have PE lessons on these days.

FETE SPONSORS

We give many thanks to the following businesses for their generous donations towards our Mother’s Day Fete.