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Dear Families
Today is World Teachers’ Day in Australia. In appreciation of our amazing teaching staff, the Parents and Friends Association (P&F) provided a delicious morning tea to our staff. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to the school staff for the tireless work they do, day after day, in what is an extremely challenging but rewarding vocation. On behalf of the staff, I would like to thank the P&F for their kind gesture today. It is very much appreciated!
This week we welcomed many visitors to our school, including the twenty or so pre-schoolers who visited our playgroup on Wednesday as well as next year’s kindergarten students who attended the second transition session this morning. Today we also hosted visitors from St Thomas’s Willoughby who toured the various classroom spaces, such as The Hub and Year 2 classrooms, to see how we have successfully utilised our learning spaces.
Work on our play space is progressing well and is taking shape. The new play area focuses on creative and imaginative play for our younger students. Repairs to the plumbing and shared space will be completed soon.
Year 5 are preparing for leadership camp, which is at Collaroy next Thursday and Friday. It is an exciting time for them as they move towards becoming student leaders in our school community. We wish them the very best for what is for many their first camp experience.
Last week I had the pleasure of being at Polding Athletics at Homebush. I was extremely proud of the performances of all our St Kieran’s students who were representing Broken Bay. They did so with great sportsmanship, pride and effort. Congratulations to all of you and to those that have made it through to the state carnival.
St Kieran’s continues to provide student banking through the Commonwealth Bank, but as you may be aware, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are reviewing school banking programs. ASIC is asking community members of schools to answer a short survey and provide feedback about student banking. Simply visit https://consultation.asic.gov.au/financial-capability/review-school-banking-programs/consultation/intro/ for your opportunity to take part.
Finally, one of our parents was involved in a pedestrian accident last Friday afternoon, just before pick up. She is recovering well and is home from hospital. When I spoke to her the other day she expressed her most sincere gratitude for the way that the school community rallied to support her and her son at such a critical time. I would also like to thank our parents and teachers who dealt with the critical incident so calmly and compassionately.
Michael Gallagher
Principal
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Assessment Types and their Purpose
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.
NAPLAN is considered a diagnostic test as it is a tool designed to assist teachers identify gaps in students’ learning. Our teachers are analysing the results of NAPLAN 2019 closely during Professional Learning sessions this term, in order to look closely at data that will identify school trends and areas of need that may need a focus.
There are three aspects to school-based (i.e. work samples) assessments that teachers use. Teachers can use assessment either for, as or of learning. This is outlined below:
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
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Religious Education
We Are Mission
“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Bishop Anthony commenced the Diocesan Mission Mass. We were privileged to be amongst the first in the dioceses to meet our new Bishop. The 47 schools of the Diocese of Broken Bay were represented at the Mass.
A representative from Catholic Mission, Matthew, spoke about mission and his travels to poorer countries in the world. He told us that the Catholic Church is the biggest network in the world, even bigger than Apple. This means we can easily donate money from Australia to other countries in the world where help is needed with no administration costs.
Sr Stan in Ghana assists disabled and ‘spirit’ children by providing food, clothing, shelter and an education. ‘Spirit’ children are disowned by their communities because of bad luck or disability.
There was a very long offertory procession where all the schools in our diocese brought their fundraising gifts to offer to Catholic Mission. Catholic Mission will transfer these funds directly to Sr Stan to continue her work. We donated the money from our St Kieran’s Day Fair.
Our community thanked Fr David Ranson for looking after the dioceses whilst we were waiting for Bishop Anthony to be appointed. The Mission Team would also like to thank Mrs Sokolow for driving us to and from Waitara.
By Jordan, Christian, Paria, David and Scarlett
The Mission Team.
Mrs Kerrie Wetzlar
Dates for Term 4
- Yr. 6 Youth Mass & Spaghetti Night: Sun 27 Oct 6 pm - St Kieran’s
- Yr. 5 & Buddy Mass: Sun 17 Nov 9.30am - St Kieran’s
- Christmas Carols: Fri 6 Dec 6 pm - St Kieran’s
- Yr. 6 Celebration Liturgy: Mon 16 Dec 6 pm - St Kieran’s
- Thanksgiving Mass: Wed 18 Dec 12.00pm - St Kieran’s
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Save the Date
Christmas Carols
Friday 6 December 6pm - Confirmed
in the School Grounds
Christmas Carols at St Kieran’s was started by, and has been led by, our parent community. At this point we would like to call upon parent musicians and their friends to volunteer to play at this year’s Christmas Carols. Our teachers will prepare the children’s singing for the evening and we are requesting musical parents to play. If you are able to assist with our carols evening please let the office know and we will put you in contact with like-minded parents.
Yours in Religious Education,
Mrs Kerrie Wetzlar.
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NSW Polding Athletics
Last Friday a number of St Kieran’s students represented the Broken Bay Diocese at the NSW Polding Athletics Carnival at Homebush. The students competed against other students from the “Polding” area of NSW. All of the St Kieran’s students were successful in making the finals in their track events. This was a fantastic achievement.
A special mention and congratulations to Eve S, Philippa Q and Tadhg M who will now represent Polding at the NSW All Schools Athletics carnival.
RESULTS:
Jordan W - 9th in the 100m final
Tadhg M - 2nd place in the 800m final and 3rd place in the 200m final
Eve S - 2nd place in the 200m final
Philippa Q - 2nd place in the 800m final and 3rd place in the 1500m final
Junior girls relay (April U, Philippa Q, Charlotte H, Sophie N)- 4th place in the 4x100m relay final
Senior girls relay (Eve S, Lily Q, Paria S, Emie G) - 4th Place in the 4x100m relay final
Well done to all the students and we wish Eve, Philippa and Tadhg all the best for the next carnival.
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Swimming Carnival
Dear Parents,
Please click on this link for permission note for the St Kieran's 2019 Swimming Carnival. Please ensure you complete this form ASAP so that your child can be included in the Swimming Carnival program. If, for any reason, your child will not be able to participate in the carnival, please send an email to the school or a note to your child's teacher informing them of this so that we can ensure they are not included in the program.
Kind regards,
Emily Channell, Sports Coordinator
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Basketball
Last Monday, a group of 29 Stage 3 students attended the Northern Beaches Basketball Gala Day at Warriewood. Several of our girls had never played basketball before, yet they fought out some amazing battles on the court. With each game, they improved their skills considerably and showed incredible tenacity on the court! Our Year 5 boys won all but one of their games proving that they were indeed a formidable team. They lost to Sacred Heart who were mostly representative players who played a near-perfect game. Our Year 6 boys went through to the Grand Finals undefeated, only to be pipped at the post by Sacred Heart.
ALL of our students upheld the wonderful reputation of St Kieran's in their great display of skills and sportspersonship, and they should all be extremely proud of themselves - we are very proud of them!
A huge thank you to the generous parents who gave up their time to support us on the day - Richard Bartlett, Anne Jopien, Sasha Chahwan-Harris, Mark Wells, Stephen Otis, Rachelle Woodland, Domenic Andreone and Alicia Potega. Without you, our participation would have been impossible - thank you!
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2020 Opal School Travel
Stay up to date with Opal and ticketing changes.
Applications for student travel in 2020 opened on Friday, 11 October 2019.
Students progressing to Year 3 and Year 7 no longer need to re-apply if they:
- are continuing at the same school
- are residing at the same address
- have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.
Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification via email.
Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply. If students need to update their information or re-apply please click here.
Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2019 to ensure student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card is not cancelled. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2019, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.
Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2020.
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The Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the library on Tuesday 12 November and Wednesday 13 November (Week 5, Term 4). There will be two opening times: 8.15am-8.45am and 2.45pm-3.30pm. This is a great opportunity to support the school and purchase some wonderful books and goodies. It’s even a chance to do some Christmas shopping.
Book Fair Volunteers
I will require help on the days that the Book Fair is open. If you are able to help please return this linked Volunteer Form.
Thank you
Liz McGuire
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Volunteers Needed - Return and Earn
The Year 6 Environment Team have encouraged students at St Kieran’s to recycle their canteen purchases of Moove and Nudie juice containers. These containers are taken to a Return Point to earn a refund of 10c per item. Return Points closest to our school are Coles, Manly Vale; Woolworths, Balgowlah and Westfield, Warringah Mall (behind Aldi). We need volunteers to collect the containers from school on a Friday afternoon to take them to a Return Point. If you can help or would like more information, please see me.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Michelle Leydon
(Year 6 Environment Team Mentor & Year 1 Teacher)
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Expressions of Interest - Canteen Coordinator
After 5 years of dedicated service, our wonderful Canteen Coordinator, Jo Nesbitt will be leaving at the end of the year.
Jo has worked tirelessly to provide the school with a healthy canteen and has assisted streamlining the ordering system using QKR.
We wish Jo all the best as she pursues other career interests.
The Canteen Coordinator position has now been advertised through the Catholic Schools Office. If you are interested in applying for the position please click here https://www.teachers.on.net/vacancy/30938/
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Disco Volunteer Request
Volunteers are required for the disco from 3pm to 8.30pm. Please contact Jo Quarrell if you are available for either of the following time slots.
4pm - 5.45pm Kinder to Yr 2 5.30pm - 8pm for Yrs 3 - 6
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Canteen
Canteen Menu here
NEXT WEEK’s ROSTER (Term 4 - Week 3):
Wednesday 30 October: Nicole Wall, Caroline Wells
Thursday 31 October: Jane Smith, Kristie Hardy
Friday 1 November: Sascha Chahwan-Harris, Angela Sokolow, Cris Unwin
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. |
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Dads' Curry Night
A bus will be organised to pick us up from school and drop us off as before - normally around 6.45pm.
The cost of the bus is generally about $25 /depending on the final numbers.
Dimpys' Menu is linked here and includes all food and drink. I believe the guys look after us really well and there's always plenty to eat and drink.
I will need a $50 /deposit as per usual, to secure the booking for the restaurant and the bus. (total will be around $110 all in). I am looking forward to catching up again soon.
Again, as always, the invite is open to other dads past and present and who are not on my mailing list.
Cheers Howie |
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Entertainment Memberships 2019 / 2020
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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Catholic Faith
Would you like to learn more about Catholic Faith and Practice or how to become a Catholic?
A group of mothers with primary school aged children is beginning this journey and you are most welcome to join us on Saturday 19 October between 10.30am and 2.30pm in the Parish Centre. Please contact Janette on 0408 866 521 or sacraments@northharbourcatholic.org.au if you would like more information.
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Manly Warringah Basketball
Term 4 Information
The Athlete's Foot Rewards Program
The program donates $5 to the school for shoes purchased from their stores for any family member. Click here for more information.
Halloween at the Council Libraries
Halloween at the Library, come hang with us! Don your most Spooktacular outfit and join us for some fun. Bewitching books, ghostly tales, haunting hunts and more. Click here for details. Girls Auskick
The Balgowlah Suns Club is running a four-week long training session for girls aged 5-12 later this term. Click here for further information.
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