16 September 2021

Newsletter Articles

IMPORTANT DATES

Monday 13th - 15th of September - Year 4 Camp Winton
Friday 17th September - Last Day of School
Tuesday 5th October - First Day of Term 4

PRAYER / SPECIAL MESSAGE

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

Ancient Rule for Pilgrims

There is an ancient rule for pilgrims, which Saint Ignatius adopts, and which is why I know it! In one of his rules, he says that the person accompanying the pilgrim must walk at his or her pace, not going on ahead or falling behind. In other words, I envisage a Church that knows how to walk with women and men along the path. The pilgrim’s rule will help inspire us.

(Pope Francis, Address, 21 September 2013)

Reflection

Whom is God calling you to walk beside? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you walk at the same pace, accompanying others where they are, not where you’d like them to be.

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Dear Parents, Grandparents, Carers and Friends,

What a great week we are experiencing at the moment!

Yesterday was our Family breakfast.Special thanks must go to our Parent Engagement for supplying the sausages and bread for us all. Mr Dank, and all of his helpers once again did a great job in cooking and preparing the food for the families. They certainly love a bacon and egg burger for breakfast.

Thank you to all of the parents that attended the Parent-teacher interviews. They have been positive from the feedback I am receiving. These discussions are important in maintaining a good and open relationship with your child's teacher. My hope is that all communication is open and honest and always centred around the overall good for your children. There should never be any surprises but clear and positive pathways to success. I thank my teaching staff for ensuring this is the case for all interviews being conducted.

We are well on the way to organising our Prep Information Sessions and transition days for Prep 2022. If you know of anyone still deciding about schools for next year, steer them our way to arrange an interview. St Kieran’s prides itself on being inclusive and welcoming in nature. We have the children's needs at the centre of our business and we try to create an environment where learning occurs in an environment that is positive and encouraging in nature. We welcome any new families to our community and there is still room for next year. Please ensure you pass the word around in your circle of friends and contacts.

Individual NAPLAN results will be sent home with children in Years 3 and 5 on Friday 17th September. Look out for a large envelope addressed to Parents and Carers to ensure you receive your child’s results. The school also keeps a copy of all results.

I wish everyone a fantastic holiday and I hope that you all keep nice and safe.

Claudine Dank

RELIGIOUS LIFE OF OUR SCHOOL

The Word Ordinary Time 25

Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They did not answer him, because they had arguing about who was the best. Jesus called them together and said, “Whoever wants to be first must make himself last and the servant of all.” (Mark 9: 30-37)

In the second reading, St Paul warns against jealousy and ambition. This is where the battles between us start he says. Humility and service are the pathways to greatness in Christ’s kingdom.

First us Last game challenge! Have a race to be last. Someone say ‘go’ and then the challenge is to move as slowly as possible. You can’t go backwards, and you can’t stand still. The last one to reach the finish line is the winner!

Father in Heaven,
You love us all equally. Help us not to be jealous of one another,
but to seek only to please you.
Amen

PARISH INFORMATION

Christmas Drive

Next Term we are starting our Christmas Drive. If you would like to donate tin food, toys or non perishable goods that would be fantastic.

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

Congratulations to our Quest for Knowledge Team this year - Kiana, Gabe, Fletcher and Denan. Quest for Knowledge is an annual competition hosted by Townsville Catholic Education for teams of four Year 6 students. Together they answered a total of 240 questions across 10 rounds of trivia which included questions about Numeracy, Literacy, Religion, Indigenous Studies, Our Country – Australia, The World, Sports, Science, Music & the Arts, and General Knowledge. Overall, they placed 12th out of 17 and we are very proud of their efforts!

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Positive Partners FREE PARENT WORKSHOPS

It is very important that you spend the time to gather as much information as you can to help you support your child (diagnosis or no diagnosis). Please join us at school to participate in the Positive Partners Parent/Carer Workshop in the meeting room on the 6th of October. You also have the option to do this at home yourself. See Flyer below for further details. Even if your child does not have a diagnosis - all are welcome. Please RSVP plaffin@skmtsv.catholic.edu.au by Friday the 17th of September. Morning tea and lunch provided.

Interoception is the sense of our internal body – it is how we know how we feel. For people on the autism spectrum, interoception is often atypical. This makes it harder to recognise and manage feelings and emotions. During this session, you will develop an understanding of what interoception is and explore how interoception relates to autism and other diverse individuals. We will then look at some practical strategies to help individuals improve interoception and discuss why that might be useful. Join us for an interactive hour of conversation.

Click the links below to register now

Wednesday 6th October 2021 @ 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM AEDT https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/workshop/ ...
Tuesday 12th October 2021 @ 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM AEDT https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/workshop/ ... See less

WAHOO/STEM

It has been another fun term in STEM. I love hearing the feedback from the students and the excitement when they realise it is time for STEM. Here are just a few of the hands-on activities we have experimented with:

This term Prep have examined properties of materials and used this knowledge to build boats, bridges and houses.

Year 1 have built flying devices and parachutes, along with wind veins and rain gauges.
Year 2 have designed and made pizzas, had fun playing with cars while examining the effects of gravity on ramps and built boats.
Year 3 have been examining heat, constructing their own thermometer, finding out which colours attract the most heat and tested insulating materials.
Year 4 examined the properties of materials, looking at elasticity by bouncing balls and creating a bungee jumping cord for a doll. They designed and made a simple toy containing an elastic property, to entertain their classmates.
Year 5 looked at adaptations of animals and experimented with the differences some adaptations have made for survival, like blubber for insulation. They have also learnt more about binary code and had fun designing their own QR Code ‘treasure hunt’ around the school.
Year 6 also had fun designing their own QR Code hunt and have used morse code to code and decode messages.

I’m looking forward to seeing what next term has in store. I love hearing and seeing the creative thought processes of the students.

LIBRARY

Save the date! 25th October - 29th October (Week 4, Term 4) Book Fair is coming!!! We look forward to you all visiting our “Reading Oasis” in the library.

As this term comes to a close, we ask that you please return any overdue books and home readers as soon as possible. Thank you to those who have been returning books and home readers each week.

Have a safe and happy holiday and remember....keep reading!!!

INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

Indigenous Literacy Day

On September 1st we celebrated Indigenous Literacy Day. All of our classes took part in the online event through the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.The event included stories from talented First Nations people like pop star Jessica Mauboy, author and performer Gregg Dreise, celebrated photographer Wayne Quilliam, a special video from Uncle Archie Roach, videos of kids in community, and many, many more! We also spent time reading with our buddies in the Sacred Garden.

YOU CAN DO IT

Family information: Relationships

All children want close relationships with friends and classmates at school. These relationships are important to feeling happy and helping them to cope better with life’s occasional hard times.

Children who have good social skills are more likely to be healthy and happy and to achieve more at school and be more successful in their future careers. They are less likely to get into trouble, or be attracted to anti-social peer groups or become depressed. There is a ‘luck’ factor with regards to the people they will meet as potential friends, but it will be their social skills that make the difference in developing and maintaining friendships.

Key messages to communicate to your child about relationships

No one has close friends all the time and most people feel lonely sometimes.

Most people have times in their life when they feel lonely and their social life isn’t as good as they would like it to be. It isn’t the end of the world if sometimes you don’t have a close friend.

Not everyone will like you but lots of people will.

Nobody is liked by everybody. Being socially ‘rebuffed’ is a common experience that most children have at times. There are lots of other people to get to know. If you try to get to know people, tell them a bit about yourself, and treat everyone with respect and friendliness you will make some friends.

Friendships can change and not be as strong as they once were.

People change as they grow and friendships don’t always last or stay strong. Sometimes people who were your friends move on to other friendships and don’t spend as much time with you anymore. Sometimes you are the one who moves on and lets the friendship go. This is normal and it happens to everyone. It doesn’t mean anything negative about you.

Social skills are ways of behaving that help people get along with others and make friends.

People are more likely to want to spend time with you and be friends with you if you use the following social skills: play fairly, act like a good winner and loser, share and take turns, be kind and thoughtful and negotiate (i.e. compromise so that everyone gets at least some of what they want).

To HAVE a good friend, you have to BE a good friend.

You are more likely to find someone who wants to be your special friend if you act like a good friend towards them. A good friend is loyal, kind, thoughtful and fair. They stand up for their friend,

spend time with them, tell them about their feelings, listen to their problems and keep their secrets where appropriate. A good friend looks for the good things their friend does.

It’s okay to have an argument as long as you don’t hurt the other person.

Disagreement happens sometimes in friendships or between classmates. Speak up when you think that things are not fair or when you don’t agree about something, but do so in a way that doesn’t hurt the other person or their feelings, and remember to try and see things from their point of view as well. It is important to find a way to disagree that lets you both find a solution to the problem and still be friends. It is easier to do this if you try to manage your angry feelings.

What can you do to help your child develop good social skills to get along well with others, and make and keep friends?

• Make your child’s friends and classmates welcome in your home and get to know them. Discuss beforehand what your child can do to make sure their visitor has a good time (e.g. do things that the visitor will enjoy too and not just what your child will enjoy).
• Model good social skills when you are with your own friends and talk to your child about what you do to be a good friend (e.g. be a good listener, have conversations about things you have in common, and support them when they are feeling sad or worried).
• Suggest to your child that all of the children they meet regularly at school, sporting activities and clubs are potential friends. Encourage them to develop a diverse social network so that they can interact with and learn about many people, not just people who are similar to them. Discourage the belief that only certain ‘cool’ or very popular classmates are worth being friends with.
• Empathy means understanding the feelings of someone else and letting them know you
• understand how they are feeling. Help your child to develop empathy by talking about how others might be feeling by stressing the importance of trying to understand rather than judge.
• Teach your child how to negotiate by negotiating with them whenever possible. For example, they may not want to shower at the time that suits your timetable. You could offer them a 15-minute extension if they do it without any further argument when that time arrives.
• Teach and model the social skill of ‘respectful disagreeing’, which involves finding a point of agreement before stating disagreement (e.g. ‘The scary movie you want to see did get a good review but I think most of us would rather see a funny movie.’)
• If your children are arguing with each other, sit them down and ask them to listen to each other’s feelings and points of view, then insist on their negotiating a solution. Try not to act as referee, and stress that put-downs are unacceptable.

ESMART (CYBER SAFETY)

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Sponsored by Mount Isa Coffee Club

Congratulations to the following students for their first Principal award:

Lachlan Allen
Shaquille Kippist
Ryu Ibardolaza
Kaster Jacobs
Rosie Wilson
Nicole Pengo
Paisley Gallagher
Dora Arthur
Isabella Dolzan
Adrian Glover
Sophia Horwood
Lola Villanueva
Harrison Pritchard
Izaiah Booth
Liston Cama
Mackenzie Campbell
Denan Duncan
Kayleigh Mealing
Phoebie Mason
Lily Ellem
James Rivas
Katelyn Boyce
Chad Hobbs
Silvara Haworth
Eamon Mcmanus
Lucas Brady
Carlos Rodriguez
Jayden Mann
Amelia Kingdom
Malu Simpson

Congratulations to the following students for their second Principal award:

Eastly Retchford
Arya Brauer
Caylyn Ring
Maddison Moon
Lucy-Ana Stowers
Diaz Rodriguez
Riley Lobegeiger
Andre Brauer
Anthony Macnamara-Day
Sahmara Coles
Ali Baillie
Aaliyah Retchford
Cleo Coe
Marcella Perrott

Congratulations to the following students for their third Principal award:

Micah Smith
Chelsea Saldana
Jermaine Blackman
Meleka Sopoaga

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.

THE FATHERING PROJECT

Each fortnight there will be some information for Father’s from the Fathering Project. There will also be future events for dads and kids at the school. The first part is about Fathering Fundamentals. Each newsletter will be a different fundamental.

Fathering Fundamentals

More engaged dads. Improved futures for kids.

Our aim is to build stronger families and communities by giving men the resources, guidance, and support they need to take on the responsibilities of engaged parenting.

Our research team has defined the Fathering Fundamentals as the core elements of fathering. They’re applicable every-father, to every day.

The fundamentals are Connecting, Communicating, Family Values, Learning, Positive Parenting and Wellbeing.

Below is information in regards to Learning

Fathers and father-figures have been shown to have a significant impact on academic achievement as well as the social and emotional wellbeing of children.

Children’s attitudes toward learning and school are also strongly influenced by their father. If you model and encourage a love of learning you will be setting your child up with the same attitude throughout their lives.

Your job as a parent is not to teach your children everything you know, but rather to encourage them to discover things for themselves. If you can instil in them the mindset that learning is fun, they will grow up to be a lifelong learner who thrives on a challenge.

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.

Thursday Meal Deals

Term 3 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.

COMMUNITY NOTICES