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Dear Families
The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on all of us in one way or another however, life for our students continues as normal. Advice from various authorities is “not to panic” and this is especially important for children. At school, students are reminded about the importance of regular handwashing, with soap and sanitiser available in classrooms. Regular updates from the Catholic Schools Office echo the advice of the NSW Department of Health and Catholic Schools NSW. At present, advice for families returning from overseas is that individuals must self-isolate for 14 days if they have returned from China, South Korea, Iran or Italy. Any other countries visited require individuals to stay home if there is any sign of illness. I ask that parents monitor their children’s health and as with any illness, keep your child at home until well enough for school. An updated letter from the CSO was sent to all families today.
Many students competed in the Cross Country this morning at Miller’s Reserve. Congratulations to all those that took on the challenge and to the children that made it through to the Northern Beaches Cross country next term. Many thanks to Mrs Middleton, Mr Labone and the parents that were able to assist.
Congratulations to the swimmers who competed at the Broken Bay Swimming Carnival on Tuesday evening. Four swimmers made it through to the Polding Carnival that will be held at Homebush on Monday 6 April. Results will be announced next week.
St Kieran’s annual Open Day is on Tuesday 24th March with a morning and evening session. Each year our Civics and Citizenship leaders and parent volunteers lead tours of the school; I believe potential families appreciate the honesty and insights of parents and students! Word of mouth is the best seller so I ask once again for you to encourage any family or friends considering a school for next year to attend either session on Open Day. Flyers were delivered to ten local pre-schools but we still have a number left that could be shared around the community. Please contact the office if you can help in the distribution of these.
St Kieran’s received two new flags courtesy of the Member for Warringah, Zali Steggall MP. Her visit on Monday morning was in response to a letter from the Civics and Citizenship leaders in Year 6. Many thanks to Zali and to our Civics team for their great efforts.
More and more parents are expressing concern and anxiety over the use of social media and other forms of communication by their children. St Paul's is hosting a parent information evening next Monday night titled Safe on Social, which commences at 6.30pm. Details are in the newsletter.
The North Harbour Parish has a Parish Pastoral Council that acts as an advisory group to the parish priest, Father Dave Austin. Nominations are being accepted for vacancies that arise in May. I encourage any school parent who would like to have a voice in the parish to consider nominating. Please contact the school office for more information.
A reminder that school supervision commences at 8.15am. Students should not be at school before this time unless supervised by parents, or in a before-school activity. Before-school care is available for students requiring supervision before this time. Thank you for your understanding.
Michael Gallagher
Principal
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Please note that dates may be subject to change. Remember to check your Compass App for any updates.
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2020 Term Dates
End Term 1: Thursday 9 April
Term 2 Commences: Monday 27 April
End Term 2: Friday 3 July
Term 3 Commences: Tuesday 21 July
End Term 3: Thursday 24 September
Term 4 Commences: Monday 12 October
End Term 4: Wednesday 16 December
Staff Development Days - Pupil Free
Monday 20 July - Numeracy / Science
Friday 25 September - Spirituality
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Parent Teacher Interviews
Thank you to all the parents who have organised an appointment time for the Parent Teacher Interviews. The online booking system via the Compass app has run quite smoothly. A reminder that the site will be closed to bookings next Friday March 20. Instructions to book in are in the school section below.
NAPLAN TESTING THIS YEAR WILL BE “TAILORED”
From May 12 to May 22, students in Years 3 and 5 will be participating in NAPLAN Online testing. All tests will be online except for Year 3 Writing.
The information brochure for parents and carers addresses common questions about NAPLAN Online testing.
In an effort to prepare for online participation, our students will be participating in a Practice Test during the week beginning March 23. The questions in the Practice Test are not designed to assess the students but rather to test if participation and the use of devices can run smoothly.
Introduced last year, one of the newer features of the NAPLAN Online format is that it is a tailored (or adaptive) test. The tailored test provides a more precise assessment of your child’s performance in the areas of Reading, Language Conventions (Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation) and Numeracy by adapting to responses. As your child progresses through the test, questions may be easier or more difficult, to better assess his or her ability.
Many of the same questions appear in both paper and online tests, but not every student doing the online test will be answering the same questions in the same order.
Your child’s NAPLAN results and scores are based on the number and complexity of questions he or she has answered correctly.
If you have any questions about NAPLAN Online, please feel free to contact me at school
Marisa Bombardieri
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Enrolments 2021
Do you have a sibling starting Kindergarten in 2021. Enrolments are now open. Please see the linked application form. To assist the school with projection of numbers for Kindergarten next year, it would be appreciated if you could fill this in and return with required paperwork by Friday 20 March. Enrolment interviews will take place in early Term 2. Please let neighbours and friends know that applications are now being accepted.
Open Day is being held on Tuesday 24 March from 9.15 to 11am and twilight session from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
Please email the school office should you have any questions.
Regards
Julia Postle
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Religious Education
First Reconciliation Liturgies
Please remember in your prayers the children and their families who are preparing for First Reconciliation. Fr John Sullivan OSA visited the Year 3 students on Thursday to talk with them about Reconciliation and conduct a Q & A session. We thank Fr John for his support of our school community.
Lenten Preparation.
Lent is a period in which we focus in a special way on turning our hearts towards God. We need to find ways which are personally meaningful for us.
We are called to three forms of Lenten penance, or soul searching. The Church asks us to reflect on our lives through prayer, self-denial and helping others.
Students at St Kieran’s are more familiar with a ‘Lenten SPF 40’ - Sharing, Praying and Fasting for 40 days.
The emphasis with our students is not what they cannot do, but what they can do.
We can share more of our friendship and time with others. We can share the workload at home by helping around the home.
We can pray more for other’s needs, not our own. We can pray through our kind actions.
We can fast from thinking only of ourselves. We can fast from unkind words.
A focus for us all could come from the words of Pope Francis:
Do You Want to FAST this Lent? ~ Pope Francis
 Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.
Yours in Religious Education,
Mrs Kerrie Wetzlar
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Parent Teacher Bookings
Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held during Weeks 9-10 of this term. They begin on Monday 23 March and should be completed by Friday 3 April. Please note that interviews are 3-way interviews for the students from Years 2 to 6. We include the students in the process as this is a way of developing self-reflection – a crucial part of learning.
As with the MAI bookings, parents will be able to book in a time via the Compass portal. Instructions* for booking are linked below.
> Booking via a mobile
Booking an interview time: Parents will be able to access the booking site to book a time until Friday 20 March.
Interview times are 15 minutes in duration and will be held in your child’s classroom.
Attached to this email is an Observation Sheet. We ask that you, print and fill the form in, then return it to the class teacher as soon as possible. This will assist in ensuring all aspects of your child’s progress will be addressed.
Marisa Bombardieri
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Premier's Reading Challenge
The Premier’s Reading Challenge has commenced and students are now able to logon and enter their books. If your child has a logon from previous years, this may still be used. If your child doesn’t know or has forgotten their logon, their class teacher has a copy of them.
A new feature to the site is the PRC Student Site, making it much easier to navigate and search for and add books.
For further information on the PRC, go to their website.
Please note that the PRC closes on Friday 28 August.
Good luck and happy reading!
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Insights - Michael Grose
Michael Grose is a former teacher and one of Australia's leading parenting and educational writers and speakers. He is the author of nine books for parents, plus 'Parenting Ideas' which offers a wide variety of parenting and educational resources from renowned experts including himself. In addition to this Parenting Ideas hosts webinars throughout the year which our parent community can access free of charge using a Voucher Code. The next webinar ‘Future-proofing your child’ will take place on 18 March at 8.00pm. To register for the webinar click here and use the Voucher Code FUTURE.
We would like to share his latest article with you: Going beyond the fishbowl
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Extra-Curricular Opportunities
Evergreen Music Mixed Ensemble: For information and enrolment for the music program at St Kieran's in 2020 click here.
Drama Scene: Catering for K-6 during lunch in the school hall. Enrolment online or contact Stephanie Waites 0407 235 914.
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Canteen
Volunteers Next Week
18 March: Danielle McNamara, Lynette Keenan (Morning), Kate Page (Afternoon)
19 March: Matt Aberline, Sar-Jane Lai
20 March: Vanessa Morello, Jo Hall, Maria Costi, Volunteer Required for the Afternoon Please
· Full day Volunteers are required from 8.50am to 1.50pm.
· Morning Volunteers are required from 8.50am to 11.15am (M).
· Lunch Volunteers are required from 11.15am to 1.50pm (L).
Any changes to the canteen roster, please contact: Hannah Davidson on 0438 433 231 or h.davidson1@hotmail.com
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Dads' Curry Night
The first Curry Night will kick off in Manly as it's always a good place to start with The Steyne, then on to Ashianas. There are plenty of places to visit afterwards if you get a long leave pass for the night.
So please put Friday 20 March in your diaries - 6pm onwards kick off and 7.30pm at Ashiana.
Of course a few kids left St Kieran’s last year and are off to new schools, however our Curry Night has an alumni, and old dads are more than welcome, and in fact, encouraged to come along.
All new Kindy dads are especially invited.
Any questions please let me know. Look forward to catching up,
Cheers Howie
Howardgiles100@hotmail.com Tel 043 8888528 |
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Digital Entertainment Memberships
Entertainment Memberships have now gone digital!!
Click here to order your membership now. For further information and to answer all your questions, please contact Susan Nicols at slnicols@hotmail.com
*** March Special ***
If you buy an Entertainment Membership between 1 - 31 March, you will receive a $10 JB Hi-Fi eGift Card! Just enter promo code GIFTME at the checkout.
There is also an early bird special where you will get up to 3 months extra membership when you purchase the new Multi City or Multi Plus Membership. Entertainment Memberships can start anytime and are packed with thousands of substantial savings on dining, travel and fun family activities. The digital membership is easy to download to start using instantly. New offers are added weekly for ongoing value all year round.
Click here to order your membership now. For further information and to answer all your questions, please contact Susan Nicols at slnicols@hotmail.com
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Sacramental Program News
2020/2021 Children’s Sacramental Program for children in Year 2 (and older)
The Bishop’s Office has now finalised the Diocesan Confirmation Program and Confirmation will be celebrated at North Harbour Parish on Saturday 15 August 2020 at 10.00am, 12 noon and 3.00pm.
The program commences with a Sacramental Program Overview Meeting for parents new to the program on Tuesday 5 May at 9.30am OR Wednesday 6 May at 7.00pm both in SK Church. An introduction to the sacramental program including Family Preparation Groups, the role of Group Facilitators and how parents accompany their children (for the sacraments of Confirmation, First Reconciliation and First Communion) in our parish-based, family centred process will be explained at this meeting.
A Confirmation Information Meeting for all parents will be held on Tuesday 16 June at 9.30am OR Wednesday 17 June at 7.00pm both in SK Church. Fr Dave will speak on the sacrament and explain why the Sacrament of Confirmation is the first sacrament the children will receive in the Diocese of Broken Bay and how this differs from other dioceses and overseas. How the sacramental preparation and age the children receive this sacrament may be different from the parent’s experience and why this can be confusing. The role of the school and special religious education classes in supporting the program, the process and time frame for this sacrament including final details of Family Preparation Groups and booking a date via TryBooking will also be provided.
A copy of the full 2020/2021 Children’s Sacramental Program and information on how and when to Enrol will be available in coming weeks.
Please contact Janette Davidson on 0408 866 521 or at sacraments@northharbourcatholic.org.au for more information.
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Children's Liturgy
The children’s liturgy ministry is always looking for new mums, grandparents and carers to be involved in this wonderful and rewarding ministry. Being a volunteer in this ministry involves helping with children’s liturgy that takes place on Sundays at the churches of St Cecilia and St Kieran’s. You will be placed on roster alongside another volunteer who is currently doing children’s liturgy to help out about once to twice a term. Children’s liturgy only takes place within the school term and doesn’t take place when year family masses are scheduled. All information, resources and activities are printed off and provided by the children’s liturgy co-ordinator on a weekly basis. All volunteers will be required to obtain a working with children check number, but this is simple to do, and this is something that I can help you obtain. If you feel like this is something you could get involved with or would simply like more information, please feel free to contact me on 0403 063 013 or at bryannecrabb@gmail.com |
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Gotcha4Life Fun Run
Gotcha4Life Foundation invites the northern beaches community to join the foundation team to raise awareness and funds to help build mental health and fitness. The Gotcha4Life Fun Run in its third year is being held at Griffith Park - Long Reef, Collaroy on 22 March and we are reaching out to schools to take part and register a team. Click here for information.
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