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Dear Parents
I really appreciate the feedback and time you have taken to complete the school communication survey over the past two weeks. This information is valuable in directing the focus of the school, to continue to improve the ways in which we communicate with you and share opportunities for learning in our partnership. Creating opportunities to build positive and trusting relationships that continue to enhance and build school community is at the heart of what we do. We will certainly work with the feedback you provided to better serve your child and family at St Kieran.
One area of focus will be a different format on how we communicate through the Newsletter. I am currently consulting with staff and parents on the P&F and Advisory committee on how we can improve this form of communication and deliver just in time news about what’s happening in the school. Another area of focus is the best time to deliver parent education sessions to you like the recent Literacy Information evening led by Mrs Hocking and Tuesday night’s session on the Advantages of Continuing your son’s Education to Year 6 at St Kieran’s. Attendance for both sessions could have been higher in order to reach a more critical mass of parents. I so appreciate that parents’ time for attending can be challenging at times due to juggling after school activities and we are all time poor. To this end, I will send you a very short survey to ascertain the best time you are available for this type of educational input in the future. Communicating a summary of these meetings to you is not the same as having your presence to understand the context of the presentation, asking questions and engaging in the conversation that gives such rich insight into school life. I encourage you to take the time to complete this 2min survey when sent to you.
Next Friday we introduce Lunch Club in Room 4. During the lunch break students K-6 that wish to engage in more passive and quiet activities can come in and join in the fun. Activities will include: gardening, drawing, game boards and reading just to kick off. Thank you to the SRC team of students from Years 3-5 who have come up with yet another great initiative at lunch time.
We are blessed to have our one and only wonderful school carer, Kevin Malone who celebrates his birthday on Sunday 15 May. I know you join us in wishing him a Happy Birthday on Sunday. We will celebrate his birthday with the school on Monday.
Welcome Edward S and his family who joins class Year 1 Blue.
Anna Marsella
Principal
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KINDERGARTEN 2023
Our principal Ms Marsella is currently conducting interviews for next years enrolment of Kindergarten students. Please return your application forms to the office as soon as possible.
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Assessment types & their purpose
This week, as part of teacher professional learning, our teachers will be looking at Assessment and Reporting. This is timely preparation for student reports which will be made available to parents later this term. It is useful to understand much of the work that goes into the preparation of such a report and the purpose of assessment tasks.
Assessment tasks assist teachers in identifying some key aspects of students’ learning. Assessments can be school based (i.e., a work sample) or they can be external assessments that are diagnostic or standardised. As the name suggests, a diagnostic assessment identifies strengths, weaknesses and knowledge or skills. Standardised assessments are formal assessments that have been designed to measure a child's abilities compared to other children his or her age.
At St Kieran’s we use a variety of assessments in order to gain a clearer, more accurate picture of a child’s individual progress. The MAI and Best Start assessments are both diagnostic. PAT assessments in Reading Comprehension and Mathematics are standardised and so measure against other similar students. All these assessments are actually “formative” too, in that they assist in “plotting” the student on the learning continuum.
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING occurs when teachers use inferences about student progress to inform their teaching (Formative).
ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING occurs when students reflect on and monitor their progress to inform their future learning goals (Formative).
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING occurs when teachers use evidence of student learning to make judgements on student achievement against goals and standards (Summative).
Usually, parents receive summative assessments of their child’s learning. This usually occurs at mid-year and end of year report time, as well as the parent, teacher, child interviews which are usually at the end of Term 1. Not all the results of assessments as outlined above are reported back to parents as many of these, e.g., the diagnostic or standardised assessments are really additional tool impacting the teaching and learning program designed for students.
Teachers, however, often do share the results of some of these assessments with parents, particularly in situations where a child is having some difficulty and further support is required. Alternatively, this can also occur when a child is requiring extension to support a high level of achievement. This is because more data, as explained above, provides a more precise interpretation of the student’s progress and/or needs.
Should you require further information or clarification, please contact the school and we’d be happy to meet with you.
Have a lovely weekend!
Marisa Bombardieri, Assistant Principal
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'Stronger Families, Stronger Communities'
National Families Week is a time to celebrate with family, make contact with extended family and friends, and share in the enjoyment of family activities within the wider community. It is a time to celebrate the meaning of family and to appreciate family life.
National Families Week is held between 15 and 21 May to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Families. At St Kieran’s we will celebrate Family Week with Monday morning prayer at Assembly, in class activities, family orientated picture books and an optional family orientated homework grid. Class teachers will speak with their class about how the grid will operate in their classroom.
Year 4 will celebrate their First Reconciliation next week. Mr Labone’s class on Monday 16 and Mrs Watson’s class on Friday 20. Both celebrations commence at 9.30am in the church and family members are warmly invited to attend.
Registration is now open for parents of Year 3 children or any parent who wishes their child to join the Parish Based Sacramental Program. Please view the attached overview of the Parish Sacramental Program for details.
Year 1 will be celebrating a Family Mass with the parish this weekend on Sunday 15 May commencing at 9.30am. We extend an invitation to all members of the school community to attend.
Yours in Religious Education
Mrs Kerrie Wetzlar
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Proposed 2022 School Dates
May
Fri 13: Yoga Yrs 3 & 4
Sat 14: P&F Family Photo 3-5pm
Sun 15: 9.30am Year 1 Family Mass
P&F Family Photo 3-5pm
Kevin's Birthday
Mon 16: NAPLAN Yrs 3 & 5 Maths
First Reconciliation Yr 4B
Fri 20: Yoga Yrs 3 & 4
Walk to School Day
First Reconciliation Yr 4W
2pm Assembly Yr 2
Parent Cocktail Evening - Save the date!
Tues 24: Broken Bay Cross Country
Fri 27: Yoga Yrs 3 & 4
Sat 28: P&F Family Photo 3-5pm
Sun 29: P&F Family Photo 3-5pm
June
Thurs 9: School Photos
Fri 17: Athletics Carnival
July
Fri 1: Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day
Please note that dates may be subject to change. Remember to check your Compass App for any updates.
2022 Term Dates
Term 2: Tuesday 26 April to Friday 1 July
Term 3: Monday 18 July to Friday 23 September
Term 4: Monday 10 October to Friday 16 December (students)
Did you know that the Compass Calendar updates automatically to our website? It's easy to view on your mobile phone. Click on the button below to access.
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Congratulations to the following students who received Merit awards this week:
KB: Zubin B, Valerie D
KW: Lelaina D, Stella L
1B: Grace C, Samuel S
2B: Louis H, alexander M
3B: All of 3B
3W: Lincoln D, Chloe P
4B: Finn W, Freddy W
4W: Grace P, Christian G
5B: Maya H, Lucy W
5W: Olivia M, Olivia R
6B: Brooke B, Ivy V
PE: Chloe P, Lucy W
Creative Arts:
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Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate a birthday this week:
9 May: Joshua M and Angelique C
10 May: Oliver C
11 May: Domenico M
14 May: Jacinta W
15 May: Mia L, Thomas D and Ryan W
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Cross Country Apology
An additional congratulations to Darcy B who also made it through to the Broken Bay Cross Country Championships at Galston on Tuesday 24 May, a wonderful achievement. The School Community wishes you the best of luck. Well done Darcy.
REMINDER: please can students return their Cross Country singlets that were borrowed for the Northern Beaches carnival.
Kind Regards Lucy Middleton
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Todd Woodbridge Cup - Schools Team Challenge
The Todd Woodbridge Cup is a Stage 2 (Year 3 and 4), tennis team-based event, that is not just about selecting the best students or even students with experience playing tennis, but rather encouraging all students to participate in an inclusive event, providing a positive experience playing tennis, growing friendships, and giving every student the opportunity to represent their school in a team environment. Events will be hosted at various venues throughout Sydney with the winning teams from each event progressing through to a State Final which will be held at Sydney Olympic Park in Term 4.
Competition Information:
· Teams of 4 boys & 4 girls (1 additional boy and 1 additional girl as substitutes may also be named if required, teams can only substitute players between rounds)
· Cost is $40/team to cover event costs
· All players to wear school sports uniforms
· Parents are responsible for transporting students to and from the venue
Dates:
· Monday 8 August: Keirle Park Tennis Centre
· Tuesday 16 August: Collaroy Tennis Club
If you are interested in registering for this opportunity, please send an email to the office to be forwarded to Nick Labone (re Todd Woodbridge Cup).
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P & F NEWS
We hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day weekend! Thank you to everyone who came to Mother's Day breakfast last Friday to celebrate the special women in their children's lives. Special thanks to the Kindy parent volunteers who helped make the morning a huge success.
Natasha Obad started the family photoshoots last weekend and what glorious weather she had so let's hope this weekend will be the same!
Looking ahead next Friday 20 May is the Parent's cocktail party! The P&F are very excited to see this event go ahead after being postponed from term 1. We have sold around 80 tickets so thank you to those people who have purchased their tickets. Our principal Anna Marsella and some staff members will be in attendance so it will be a great opportunity to say hi and have a chat outside of the usual school setting. If you haven't bought your ticket yet today is the last day to purchase via Qkr!
The P&F team - Bec M, Tammy, Conor, Cath, El, Sissi, Alicia and Rebecca
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P & F Family Photoshoot New Dates
To reschedule your session the available dates are Sat 14 May, Sunday 15 May, Sat 28 May and Sunday 29 May for time slots between 3pm-5pm due to best lighting at this time of day.
Please email Natasha Obad Tashyo@live.com to change your photo session times.
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Canteen Open - Online Orders Only
The Canteen is open Wednesday to Friday for online orders only for recess and lunch. Orders will be taken to the classroom for students. There is no over-the-counter orders or service.
Facebook
Thank you,
Nicole and Domeniki
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Parenting Ideas - NAPLAN
Dr Justin Coulson is the co-host and parenting expert on Channel 9's "Parental Guidance", the founder of happyfamilies.com.au, and one of Australia’s most trusted parenting experts. He is the owner of Parenting Ideas. His article for parents this week is: Does NAPLAN help children succeed academically?
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EXTRA CURRICULA OPPORTUNITIES
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Evergreen Music
Junior and Senior Band has commenced with Evergreen Music. Please click here for information regarding enrolment.
Young Investigators Science - Term 2 Marine Biology
We have two classes available in Term 2 on both Wednesday & Thursday mornings. To enrol or for further information please click here.
Alana Wylie PhD - Eye Heart Science
Drama
To enrol click here.
Stephanie Waites, Drama Teacher - 0407 235 914
Chess
Term 2 Chess has commenced on Fridays from1pm - 1.50pm. For further information and to register click here.
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Masses
MASSES Livestreaming will continue for the next week and once that ends recorded Homilies will continue.
- For all Parish Bulletins from the Catholic Community of North Harbour please click here.
- Parish Gospel and Homily Live Streaming Facebook or via YouTube.
- For information regarding the Sacraments please contact Janette Davidson on 0408 866 521 or via email.
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