Dear Parents
Today we were to celebrate
Grandparents Day with a liturgy, morning tea and classroom visit for our wonderful grandparents. Sadly, for obvious reasons, this did not happen. Year 2 however have compiled a video with a song, prayers and stories for our grandparents that you will find on our Facebook page and via Compass. St Anne and St Joachim were the grandparents of Jesus and their feast day occurs this week, which is why as a Catholic school we celebrate Grandparents Day in July. Thank you to Year 2 and their teachers for your creative efforts.
The return to school this week has gone smoothly with students returning rested and happy to be with their peers again. There remains an atmosphere of uncertainty due to the ongoing pandemic but we are all working at making school a calm and pleasant place for everybody. I am cognisant of the disconnect between school and home due to restrictions on parents being present on the school premises. If you have any concerns or queries, please make an appointment to meet with me if you wish to discuss.
Parent/Teacher interviews will provide you an opportunity to reconnect with the class teacher, hear your child’s progress and to set goals for the remainder of the year. I encourage you to meet face-to-face, as I know many parents have not had the opportunity to meet at all this year. The option of a phone call or Zoom meeting is there for those who do not wish to be on site. Online bookings for interviews opened yesterday through the Compass portal. I ask that you book your time through Compass and return the '
Observation' form to school as soon as possible. Reports will be available through Compass from 3pm next Friday.
Many representative school sports have been cancelled this year with Athletics being the latest casualty. There will be no Northern Beaches or Broken Bay carnivals this year. We plan however to organise a modified carnival for our school later this term to be held at Millers Reserve. This will allow our students to participate in a fun day as well as give our sport team an opportunity to lead a significant school sporting event. We recognise that many opportunities have been taken away from us this year, both at school and in our family lives, but we hope to provide for our students wherever possible.
Ms Bombardieri’s mother sadly passed away at the end of Term 2 after a short illness. Representatives from our school community were able to attend Marisa’s mum funeral at St Kieran’s Church during the holidays. Marisa will return to school next week after being on leave. Please keep Marisa, her brother and family in your prayers.
The peer-teaching program
Engage begins next week with Year 6 students guiding groups of K-2 children through the social and emotional learning (SEL) skills as part of the PDHPE syllabus. You will find out more about the program in following newsletters.
Mrs Vanessa Clifford has informed me that she will be taking maternity leave at the end of Term 3. Congratulations to Vanessa and her family on this wonderful news.
Personalised school tours are continuing this term. Thank you to the families who have been spreading the word about St Kieran’s to their friends and neighbours. We have had a number of queries and enrolments based on the recommendation of current and past families.
If you have been financially impacted recently by COVID-19, I encourage you to take up the offer of fee relief by the CSO. You can access the support forms via this
link.
God Bless
Michael Gallagher
Principal