I am delighted today to be able to announce the appointment of our new principal for St Kieran’s for 2022. Ms Anna Marsella will commence her role at the beginning of 2022. Ms Marsella comes with a number of years experience in various leadership roles with her most recent position as principal of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Concord. More details about the appointment can be found in the letter sent via Compass earlier today. I look forward to welcoming Ms Marsella in the coming weeks to St Kieran’s as we begin the transition to a new school leader. 

Return to School 

There is great excitement building this week as we anticipate the return of our Kindergarten and Year 1 students next week. The teachers can’t wait to see their students face-to-face and to reconnect socially and academically with them and each other. The same will apply to the other grades that return the following week on Monday 25 October. 

Safety Measures 

While we are excited about the return, there remains some apprehension regarding the safety of everyone being on site from Week 4. With all staff fully vaccinated and safety measures in place as outlined in the letter sent home on Wednesday, we need to ensure that everyone in our community is vigilant with these measures. Most importantly, if your child is showing any sign of COVID symptoms, do not send them to school until they have been tested. Secondly, transmission of the virus is greatest between adults; social distance and do not congregate outside the school grounds. Parents must not be on the school site without prior permission. We need everyone to work together to ensure the safety of every member of our school community. 

Dismissal 

Beginning Monday, students will be dismissed in the afternoon in two stages; Blue and Green at 2.45pm then Red and Yellow at 2.55pm. This is to minimise carpark congestion and the congregation of parents at the Gordon St gate. As we requested last year, please consider arriving at the car park pick-up a little later than the scheduled pick-up time to avoid congestion and queuing on King Street. For parents picking up at Gordon Street, we ask that you leave immediately after picking up your child. 

Canteen 

The canteen will re-open from Week 4. There will be no canteen next week. The canteen will operate under COVID safety guidelines with online ordering only. More details will be available next week. 

Summer Uniform 

Students returning to school from next week will wear full summer uniform or sports uniform on the allocated days. 

Trivia Night 

Congratulations to the Currin family on winning last Friday’s trivia night. As with the first, this was another successful family event. Thank you to our P&F committee for organising this great community evening. 

God bless, 

   Michael Gallagher
   Principal

Gratitude
The staff at St Kieran’s are eagerly awaiting the return of our students. Whilst ‘zoom’ keeps us in contact nothing can replace face-to-face social contact. Teachers are preparing lessons and learning experiences that focus on the positives and discuss /debrief the student’s HBL experiences. A gratitude journal is a good tool for thinking about the good thing in our lives.

Reconnecting games and activities will be played upon return to school in order to commence rebuilding relationships. Relationships form the basis of human trust and sense of belonging. Reconnecting with friends and classmates and thinking with a positive mindset is fundamental to a student being happy and feeling safe in the school environment.

“Turning a negative into a positive,” Or “making the most of a bad situation” is an attitude we foster with our students. It is not always easy to turn negative situations into positive, however, times of difficulty often provide opportunities for lessons in resilience and convey the message to children that we are adaptable and that together we will get through whatever comes our way.

Let us not forget that we have an ally in our endeavours, one who is always listening.

“Lord thank heavens you are always available when I need to speak with you. Help me to be aware of how important it is for me to be available to my children when they need someone to talk with. AMEN”    

Yours in Religious Education,
     Mrs Kerrie Wetzlar

Leaving students: To assist with planning class groups for 2022 please complete this google form if your child will be leaving St Kieran's at the end of this year to attend another school. It is a government requirement that we send a student transfer note to the school they will be attending in 2022. Therefore we require information regarding any leaving students including Year 6 students. Please complete by Wednesday 20 October. 

In addition to the google form please notify the school in writing if your child is not returning next year (K - 5 only).

Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2022 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for a school travel pass for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).

Students who change address, school, campus location, or who have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or update their details before the end of term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications and current entitlements are updated and remain valid. School Opal card holders will have the changes applied to their existing card

For further information please click here.

Bigger, Better, Brighter
Last Tuesday every student was able to participate in the live stream of this performance as well as complete related activities. It was fabulous and the students (and teachers) loved how it focussed on St Kieran’s. While the students were able to have a break from HBL and enjoy the performance, there were some important messages from it too.

Library lessons
Library lessons will commence next Tuesday for K and Year 1 and the following week for Year 2. Students are able to borrow but I would like all outstanding books returned please. This also applies to students from all other grades.

If you have a child starting in 2022 please forward their application to the school as soon as possible.  Applications are available from the school website. 

The Canteen will reopen on Wednesday 27 October for online orders only.  Orders will be taken to the classroom for students.  There will be no over-the-counter orders or service. More information to follow.
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