27 May 2021

Newsletter Articles

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday 27th May - Thursday 3rd June - Reconciliation Week
Thursday 3rd June - School Disco
Friday 4th June - World Environment Day
Wednesday 16th June - Deadly Smiles Fluoride Screening Visit
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)

Walking With Us

The Most Holy Trinity is not the product of human reasoning but the face with which God actually is revealed, not from the heights of a throne, but walking with humanity. It is Jesus himself who revealed the Father to us and who promised the Holy Spirit. God walked with God’s people in the history of the People of Israel, and Jesus has always walked with us and promised us the Holy Spirit, who is fire, who teaches us everything we do not know, and from within guides us, gives us good ideas and good inspirations.(Pope Francis,Angelusaddress,26 May 2013)

Reflection

Our earthly fathers often walked with us through life. Our heavenly Father continues to walk with us here on earth. Take time to have a conversation with God. Ask God to guide and inspire you.

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

Winter is not far away and just around the corner. The weather at present is positively glorious. We certainly live in a beautiful part of the world. Just a reminder to have the correct uniform for your children please. It is a green jumper and the correct shoes are black. The office has plenty of jumpers and tracksuit pants if you are needing any. Please make sure that you place your child’s name on their clothing.

Soon I will be in the process of interviewing for new Prep enrolments for 2022. If you have children ready for Prep, please give the school office a call and arrange an enrolment package. If you have friends looking around for a school for next year, let them know that St Kieran's is welcoming and ready to hear from them. Our places are filling up fast.

Our term disco will be held on the 3rd June from 6pm - 7.30pm at the Buffs Club. The theme for the disco is GLOW. Lollies and Glow products will be for sale. Please make an effort and come. It is a great opportunity to have an easy dinner and enjoy each other’s company. A big thank you to all the parents who will be volunteering their help during the evening. It is greatly appreciated.

As you will start to notice over the next few weeks commencement will be starting on the new toilets. This project has been a highly anticipated one and one that will provide our students with outstanding facilities. Year 2 and the Parent Engagement room will be swapping over for a term as the work will be happening outside of the Year 2 classroom. I realise building is always a difficult process within schools and this is amplified by the restrictions of our site. I am very confident that the work will proceed quickly and where possible with a minimum of disruption. I thank you for your patience at this time.

Blessing for the fortnight ahead
Claudine

RELIGIOUS LIFE OF OUR SCHOOL

The Word - The Most Holy Trinity

The eleven disciples went to a hill in Galilee to meet Jesus. Jesus said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go to all people and baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always. (Matthew 28:16-20)

As the Bible makes a distinction between the Father and the Son, both being distinct “persons”, the Holy Spirit is also a distinct person. One God, three person, co-equal of one nature and essence, this is the nature of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit dwells in the believer, perfecting us for the day of Redemption. Trinity Sunday commemorates and honors not an event, but a reality: the Holy Trinity. Trinity Sunday falls on the Sunday after Pentecost.

Try this at home: Create a Trinity ring with three strips of paper with the words Father, Son, Spirit on them. Join the first one into a ring. Loop the second strip through the first ring and join it. Loop the third strip through the first two rings and join it.

God the Father, Christ our Saviour, Spirit of Love.

You call us to share in your life and love; One God, three persons.

Amen

PARISH INFORMATION

Australian Catholics

The Winter Parish Edition on WORK is now available at the Church entrance. Pope Francis has announced this year as “The year of St Joseph's”. An article in this edition is dedicated to “The carpenter’s father”.

BECOME

Next week we will begin the final section, Session 3 on Becoming with a video from the Bishop to begin discussion. We look forward to your responses and to see where we can “Grow in Christ”.

Parish Office Volunteers

We are seeking volunteers who might take on a particular job in the Parish Office at any time that suits or to be able to be present in the Office for a specific time of the week. Please ask the priests or call the Parish Office to see what you might be able to do.

DIOCESAN BASED INFORMATION

Mass for You at Home

Did you know Catholic Mass is broadcast on free-to-air television each Sunday morning? Mass for You at Home is broadcast at 6am on Channel 10 and WIN. Let family and friends know that they can pray along at home if they are unable to attend their local parish. Find out more at the link below:

Get vaccinated for the common good

Vaccination against COVID-19 is a morally good thing, providing protection for the person vaccinated and the wider community. Some COVID-19 vaccines are associated with ethically questionable production and research practices, but Pope Francis and the Australian Bishops have advised that it is morally permissible to receive any vaccine made available. Here is a short video supporting the vaccine -

More information is available at the link below

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 –

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 below 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

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Maths In Action Research Project

This year our school is excited to be working closely with staff from Townsville Catholic Education Office on an action project designed to improve Maths outcomes for all students across our school.

We are focusing on the following research questions:

What can we learn from the use of high impact teaching strategies in Mathematics in Year 3&4, at St Kieran’s?

How can these learnings improve student outcomes in Mathematics across the school?

Last week Megan Wuersching (our curriculum advisor) and Kate Sargeant (Early Years Project Coordinator) worked with our Years 3 & 4 teachers, looking at recent data to plan hands on engaging Maths activities focusing on Fractions. These lessons also encompass high impact teaching strategies and whole body Mathematics.

We look forward to working with our team throughout the year and sharing the results of the research with our school community.

LIBRARY

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) was a successful event this year. Students spent the time with their Buddy classes watching Philip Bunting’s book “Give me Space!” being read live from Space!

Many students have shared their love of the book along with the Library display of Una (from the book). The Year 5s shared their experience with the children from Mary Mac and Year 1 have made amazing space people.

The three winners of the Library colouring competition are Jayden, Kepa and Harlee-Rose. Congratulations!

HPE

We have had some very exciting news this week in representative sports; three of our students travelled to Cloncurry for the NW trials and have been selected to represent the North West region at the State Schools Rugby League competition in Cairns in June. A massive congratulations goes out to Denan Duncan, Fletcher Choyce and Taige Pigliafiori – we wish you all the very best boys!

In addition, Boh Baillie and Lucas Brady have been selected to represent the Mount Isa district at the NW soccer trials here in Mount Isa at the beginning of June – we also extend our congratulations to these boys on your selection in the local team and wish you both all the best for that event.

Our Inter-school athletics carnival went extremely well and I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the parent volunteers, students and staff members for all their hard word on the day – without the help from our school community, we wouldn’t have been able to run the events like we did. It was an extremely close contest this year but Corella was the overall House Champion for the carnival and Moondarra took away the Spirit Award. Congratulations to all the Year 6 students who organised the war cries and thank you to you all for all your help with setting up and packing up for the day. You are all such hard workers and your efforts are greatly appreciated. Also, congratulations to the Age Champions for the day:

09yrs Boys - Riley Lobegeiger
09yrs Girls - Ayla Coles
10yrs Boys - Tobie Pfeffer
10yrs Girls - Isabella Sodenkamp
11yrs Boys - Liston Cama
11yrs Girls - Hayley Kleinman
12yrs Boys - Lennox Dank
12yrs Girls - Kiana Jacobs

We will be holding some “Little Legends” competitions over the coming weeks and throughout next term – this will involve the students getting together for different sports, being coached by our Year 6 leaders.

INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

National Sorry Day

This Thursday we will commemorate National Sorry Day with a whole school prayer in the Sacred Garden at 8:20. National Sorry Day is a day of remembrance and commemoration held to highlight the impact of past policies of forcible removal on the Stolen Generations, their families, and their communities. It is of particular significance to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia. The day is an opportunity for all Australians to remember past mistakes and build stronger bridges for a richer, stronger future together.

Reconciliation Week

This Thursday marks the beginning of Reconciliation Week. National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW are the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

27 May 1967 On this day, Australia’s most successful referendum saw more than 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and recognise them in the Census.

3 June 1992 On this day, the Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision, the culmination of Eddie Koiki Mabo’s challenge to the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ (land belonging to no one) and leading to the legal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of lands. This decision paved the way for Native Title.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year's theme is: ‘More than a Word’ which we will explore with our students through activities in class throughout the week.

YOU CAN DO IT

In Years 4, 5, and 6, we have started looking at ‘Courage.’

Fear is a normal response to situations that might harm us. Fear motivates us to determine whether or not the situation really is dangerous and then, if it is, to take action to protect ourselves. Everyone feels scared at times. Courage means facing your fear and not being overwhelmed by it. We need courage if we experience misfortune. We also need courage to face some of the ‘everyday’ challenges in our lives such as learning a new skill or sorting out friendship issues.

Key points to communicate to your child about being brave:

Everyone feels scared sometimes.

Some people pretend they never feel scared but everyone does. Different things scare different people. One person might feel nervous about learning to dive but not about acting on stage.

For someone else it might be the opposite.

We all need to use ‘everyday courage’ in our lives.

Everyday courage is shown when you try to do something that is ordinary but it still makes you feel a bit nervous such as giving a talk to the class, trying out for a part in a play, sleeping over at a friend’s house or going to camp.

Weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of trying to be a hero.

A hero is someone who puts himself/herself at risk to protect the safety and wellbeing of another. It is rare for someone your age to be in a situation where heroism is required. If you are, think carefully before you act as you might not have enough skill to help the other person and you could get badly hurt or make things worse. Consider calling 000 or ask an adult to help.

You can be a hero in smaller ways (e.g. by standing up for someone who is being mistreated at school).

There’s a big difference between courage and being foolhardy.

Being foolhardy means being stupid and doing a risky and scary thing (e.g. jumping from a tree branch into a river) just to show off or because people are daring you to do it. If you do something

really dangerous, the best you will get are bragging rights and the worst you might get is serious injury or death.

What can you do to help your child to be brave?

• Talk about times when you have felt scared and what you did to overcome your fears and be brave. Give examples of times when you tackled your fears and ‘had a go’ at something that was difficult. Stress how pleased you felt afterwards.
• Discuss the gains that being brave can bring (e.g. self-respect, confidence, skills).
• Look for examples of courage, heroism and foolhardiness in the media and discuss these with your child to help them to understand the differences between courage, heroism and foolhardiness.
• Encourage your child to have the courage to do what they believe is ‘the right thing’ even if others don’t agree with them.
• Remind your child about the things that took courage for them to do when they were younger but which now seem easy. Explain that things that take courage for them to do now will seem easier and less scary as they grow older.
• Stress that throughout life there will always be new challenges that require courage.

Facing our fears and showing courage is one of the ways we become stronger.

ECO WARRIORS

Our garden space is taking off with our pumpkin hill beginning to sprout and our zucchinis and tomatoes looking good. We have also given the old pots from in front of the office a new life with a colourful paint job. These pots will be used for our sensory garden and are now filled with herbs & lavender that smell amazing and other interesting flowers that feel squishy and spongy. Theola, in Year 6, experimented with planting some old garlic and sweet potato and we are loving watching it begin to grow!!

Last week we had a zoom meeting with Gwen Michener from Catholic Earthcare who gave us some great tips for our garden, worm farm and composting. This week we are aiming to get our sensory courtyard ready to go and plant our passionfruit vine which will grow along our school fence.

ESMART (CYBER SAFETY)

SCHOOL DISCO

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Sponsored by Mount Isa Coffee Club

Congratulations to:

Lily Bold
Frankie Hosking
Anthony Macnamara-Day
Ashton Morrisby
Ryan Price
Caylyn Ring
Chelsea Saldana
Jack DeSatge-Ambrum
Sophia Ezzy
Jax Kelly
Harlee-Rose Moore
Aaliyah Retchford
Max Thorpe
Oriah Westcott
Ayla Coles

These students have worked so hard with their learning and the effort they have placed in their work. We are all super proud of them.

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

FETE SPONSORS

We give many thanks to the following businesses for their generous donations towards our 2021 Mother’s Day Fete.

COMMUNITY NOTICES