This weekend, many students in our school community will be making their Sacrament of Confirmation. We keep these students in our thoughts and prayers at this exciting time in their faith journey. We also keep in mind, their families and Confirmation sponsors who will be supporting these students on their faith journey. Thank you to our Sacramental Coordinator, Janette Davidson for her organisation of the students and coordinators– 190 students making their Confirmation across one weekend is no mean feat! Finally, thank you to the Year 2 teachers for their preparation of the students in the lead up to this weekend and for their support of the students at their Confirmation session across the weekend.

Upcoming Dates
Saturday 17 August: Confirmation – Yr 2 Church (various times)
Sunday 18 August: Year 1 Family Mass Church 9.30 am
Wednesday 28 August: St Augustine’s Feast Day-Church – 10.00 am
Friday 30 August: Father’s Day Liturgy – Kindergarten -Assembly Area – 8.45 am
Monday 9 September: St Kieran’s Day Liturgy – Yr 3. Church – 10.00 am
Sunday 15 September: Kindergarten Family Mass Church – 9.30 am
    Miss Emily Channell, Acting Religious Education Coordinator.

How children develop their skills in Numeracy
 

The Environment Team travelled to Taronga Zoo to learn about all the things we can do to help our environment. The first speaker was Sophia Skarparis  a high school student.  She spoke about  the three million tons of plastic per year that we throw away and the devastating impact to the one million marine animals that are killed. Sophia has started her own initiative called BYO: She encourages us to  refuse plastic use, reduce, reuse, re purpose and recycle. You can do this by Bringing Your Own container, metal straw, cutlery, reusable bags, and your cup. Together we can help save the environment, one step at a time.
 
Bee-hind the scenes:
During this unbeelievable experience, we studied the exceptional value of Aussie native non-stinging bees. These bees are  tiny and live in holes in trees.They encourage all plant life  to stay alive and flourish. Bees play a big role in making our garden at St Kieran’s grow. We want to expand our school garden. We learnt that bees pollinate ⅓ of the food that we eat.  We heard about a B ‘n’ B hotel which is a Bed & Breakfast for bees, birds, butterflies & biodiversity. As part of the Environmental Team's role we will investigate how we can be a part of this B & B project. 
 
Ideas for St Kieran’s:
We look forward to implementing some environmentally friendly actions in the future and will keep you informed of our initiatives. We thank Mrs Leydon and our parent helpers who accompanied us to Taronga Zoo. We had a fantastic day.

A Google Form was sent to all parents of students in Kindergarten and Year 1 last week about the Kindergarten and Year 1 Swim Safety Program that takes place on Thursday 12 September. Please ensure that you complete this form ASAP using this following link.

Kind regards, 
Emily Channell

92 students have already completed the challenge this year and many other students are making a great effort to read all their books to complete the challenge. The challenge closes on Friday 30 August so make sure all books are entered. https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html
 
Book Bonus
This is also a reminder that students are able to participate in the Book Bonus in conjunction with the PRC. Students collect sponsors for the books they have read (even if they have finished the challenge) and the money raised from the sponsors goes towards books for our school. Not only that, schools less fortunate than ours also receive books. Please see the link below if you’d like to register your child and seek sponsorship. If every child who participates in the challenge receives a few dollars in sponsorship, this will go a long way in getting books for our school. See https://www.bookbonus.org.au/ for further information. Thank you and keep on reading!

Please find the link to the Term 3 Years 3-6 Gala Day in this email. Your prompt attention to the completion of the permission note would be greatly appreciated. 
 
Please ensure that you read all of the information in the note carefully. One form is required to be completed for each child in Years 3-6.  
 
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. 
Emily Channell

Thank you for returning permission notes for the Northern Beaches Athletics Carnival. There are still a few notes outstanding and I would appreciate these being returned ASAP. 
 
We are in need of more parents who are able to volunteer their time to assist on the day. If you are able to assist with some light duties on the day, your help would be appreciated. We will have a shift to cover throughout the day by parents as the staff members attending will be acting as officials on the day and are needed for supervision. If you are able to assist, please email Emily Channell  and let her know of your availability. 
 
Thank you in advance for your help with this. 
Kind regards, 
Emily Channell

Last week was Dental Health Week aimed to educate Australians about the importance of maintaining good oral health by promoting these key messages:
Brush twice a day with a toothpaste that contains fluoride. • Clean in between teeth at least once a day with floss or an interdental brush. • Eat a healthy, balanced diet and limit sugar intake. • Regularly visit the dentist for check-ups and preventive treatment.
 
Children in Kindergarten to Year 4 have been sent home a toothbrush and toothpaste today as part of the Dental Health week initiative

Any questions or comments please just email us. st.kierans.pf@gmail.com

Can you spare an hour or two and help us with the Father’s Day breakfast? We will have two BBQs running so need some help cooking, serving and checking off names. We were hoping to get 10 volunteers to make the morning as seamless as possible.
 
Free bacon and egg rolls and endless thank yous to all those who can help!

Canteen Menu here

Ordering through QKR
Due to the high volume of lunch orders being placed on a Friday, QKR is sometimes unavailable close to the 8.30am cut off. Lunch orders can be placed up to 2 weeks in advance, so to avoid the congested period please try to order the night before or first thing on a Friday morning.
 
NEXT WEEK’s ROSTER (Term 3 - Week 5):
Wednesday 21 August: Amanda Raleigh, Kylie McClafferty
Thursday 22 August: Alyson Perry, Shahn Schwarz
Friday 23 August: Samantha Economos (M), Jenny Yu (M), Richard Bartlett, Amelia Tipping (A), John McNamara (A)
 
·  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: Jo Nesbitt - via text on: 0410 629 135.

Click here   to order your membership now. For further information and to answer all your questions, please contact Susan Nicols at slnicols@hotmail.com

Confirmation 2019
On Saturday of this coming weekend Fr Dave, Fr Paul and Fr John will confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on approximately 190 candidates (with 110 children from SK and SC Schools). Our parish clergy were given permission to celebrate the sacrament as we currently do not have a Bishop in our diocese. 
Thank you to all who made the preparation for and the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation such a special family occasion for the children and their families.
 
Baptism Program for Older Children commences on Sunday 8 September for parents who may be interested.
Our Parish offers a preparation program for children:

• seven years and older (with a Catholic parent/s) who are not baptised and would like to receive the Sacrament of Baptism;     
• who have been baptised into another Christian denomination who wish to be received into the Catholic Church and  participate in the Children’s Sacramental Program.

Please contact Janette on 0408 866 521 or at sacraments@northharbourcatholic.org.au for a copy of the program dates.
    Janette Davidson, Family and Sacramental Minister - Catholic Community of North Harbour

Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre
Manly Warringah basketball association (non profit) have some great programs being held at NBISC. For information click here

Paper Plane State Championship
Conducted by the University of Sydney on 31 August.  Click here for further information.

 

Register now to become a Manly Nipper
Registrations are being held on Sunday 8 and 15 September.  Click here for more information.