St Kieran Newsletter Term 3, Week 3 - 4 August 2022

Principal's Message

 God, I know I’m going to be very busy today.  
Help me not to be so busy I miss the most important things.  
Help me not to be too busy listening to other voices,  
that I fail to hear your voice speaking to me.  
Help me not to be too busy to sit still for a moment and be thankful.  
Amen 

Prayer is first of all listening to God. It’s openness. God is always speaking; he’s always doing something. A spiritual life without prayer is like the Gospel without Christ. The real ‘work’ of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me. Prayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us. To pray is to walk in the full light of God and to simply say, without holding back, ‘I am human and you are God’. 

Often we don’t take the time to appreciate the little things when we pray. This can be the sunsets, the stillness of the day, the stars, our family and those little moment that catch us unaware and hold a breath for that little extra moment. Take the time to look around this week and appreciate that moment that happens and even acknowledge it. 

I turn to You in prayer, O God, as best I am able. May I be strong. May I not be discouraged. May all who open their hearts hear your voice and know your love.  Lead me, teach me, help me to pray. Psalm 25 (mod) 

Take care and stay safe. 

Daine Burnett 
Principal 
daine.burnett@cewa.edu.au 

End of Term 3 - Start of Term 4

Just to make a note in all of your diaries that we finish Term 3 for students on Wednesday 21st September and return to school to start Term 4 on Tuesday 11th October

COVID Update

We would continue to ask families to be vigilant regarding the CVOD 19 pandemic. Please make sure that unwell children are not sent to school and that any child who becomes symptomatic should stay home and be tested for COVID-19. All parents must continue to refer to  healthywa.wa.gov.au  for information on close contact definitions, testing and isolation requirements. 
In regards to Online Learning this will now only be provided when a child has been confirmed as testing positive to COVID19 or has to isolate. First and foremost we want the child to be well and the child should recover firstly and then be well enough to undertake the tasks. To access Online Learning parents will need to request this in an email to Mr Burnett. 
Any positive COVID-19 result should be reported on the St Kieran COVID-19 Self-Reporting Portal which is located on our school website and positive COVID-19 RAT results must also be reported on the WA Health RAT Register, as is required by the WA Government. 
When uploading to the St Kieran COVID-19 Self-Reporting Portal parents should attach the WA Health message not a picture of the RAT result. Once this is completed the school will process the report. 

Incident Management Plan

Over the past year we have been working through a new Incident Management Plan at St Kieran Catholic Primary School, which includes such things as Evacuations, Lockdowns, securing the school site and other events that require the school to take action during our normal school hours. To ensure we have these processes implemented effectively we will be teaching the students these requirements and conducting drills during the year at various times to make sure we all understand these requirements. The class teachers will be reinforcing and explaining the drill message with each class as they occur.

Book Week 2022

Book Week is fast approaching! The theme for this year is Dreaming with Eyes Open. We will be having a Scholastic Book Fair again this year and a Book Week Parade to celebrate the week on Friday.  
The Book Fair will be running from Tuesday to Thursday afternoon, open before school, at recess time and after school.  
The Book Week Parade will be on Friday 26th of August at 9am. Your child is welcome to come to school dressed as a character from a book on the day.  
We will be running a Book Week poster competition in the lead up to Book Week. Your child can enter a poster they have designed themselves. The top ten posters will receive a prize! Please hand in your completed book week poster to Mr Jackson in the Library. Your poster must be based around the theme, Dreaming with Eyes Open. 

Reconciliation Commitment Mass **Change of Date**

The St Kieran Parish has needed to change the Reconciliation Commitment Mass weekend. The new date for the Commitment Mass is 6th and 7th August. 
You and your child can attend either Mass  Saturday evening 6.30pm or Sunday morning 9.00am as a prerequisite to receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We apologise for any inconvenience the change of date may have caused, but it is due to circumstances beyond our control.  If you or your child cannot make the new date, please see Father Wilson and he may able to arrange another Commitment Mass time. 

Confirmation Information

The Parent Child Workshops will be held on Tuesday 2nd August (4pm or 5.30pm) and Thursday 4th August (4pm) in the Upper Learning Area. Please attend the time slot you have previously selected.   
On Thursday 11th August all students in Year 6 will be participating in the Confirmation Retreat. This is a normal school day for the students, the only change is that students can wear free dress. 
The details are as follows:  

• When:                        On Thursday 11th August 
• Where:                      At school in the Upper Learning Area 
• Time:                          Normal school hours 8.35am - 3.00pm 
• What to wear:      Free Dress  
• What to bring:    Normal school bag, hat, water bottle, pencil case, iPad 
• Lunch/Recess:    As per usual. Bring from home or lunch order 

Number Talks

What’s New With Maths?
Number Talks
What are number talks?  Well, let’s chat about it!

Number talks are short conversations with children, that can last from five to fifteen minutes, directed at developing *number sense. At school, Mental Maths time provides students with great opportunities for exploring and sharing many different strategies that can be used to solve a number problem and arrive at an answer. These strategies are recorded and later discussed in terms of their effectiveness.
The sharing of strategies allows students to learn from one another as they:

• explain their thinking,
• readjust their thinking,
• change their thinking,
• make new mathematical understandings,
• develop a range of mental math strategies that can be used to solve a
• problem and
• consider the appropriateness of a strategy.

Making connections and seeing relationships between numbers means that children do not keep large quantities in their heads. They can simply refer to their knowledge of simple and effective strategies to solve their problems.
Teachers ask the children questions like:

• Who would like to share their thinking?
• How did you figure it out?
• Who did it another way?
• What is strategy do you think is the best for solving this problem?

*Number Sense is the, “Ability to recognise, understand and use the relationship between numbers to solve problems more effectively.” (Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute)
Why not give Number Talks a go at home!
Number talks provide parents with opportunities to use fun and engaging ways at home to promote and develop children’s confidence when dealing with numbers.

You could try these:

• Ask, “How many dots are their?”
• Ask how do you know how many dots there are?
• Ask what do you see? Talk about and record the different responses. E.g., I see 1 dot and 3 dots and 1 dot, I see 4 dots and 1 dot, I see 1 dot and 4 dots, I see 2 dots and 3 dots, I see 2 dots, 1 dot and another two dots, I see 5 dots.

• Tell, “The target number is 14.”
• Ask, “What 3 numbers can you add together to make the target number?”
• Say, “Can you find other combinations of three numbers to make the target number?” Hint: You can use the same number more than once to make a combination. g. 9+2+2
• Write down the combinations. Whose list is the longest?

     Note: You can adapt the above activity by adding any amount of numbers together to

                make 14. E.g. 7+7

Have Maths fun together!

Parking and Supervision at St Kieran

Please note parking in front of administration on Tyler Street is reserved for our Students with Additional Needs families - please refrain from parking here. All other families walking in to collect children are asked to park in the church car park. A reminder that before school, St Kieran Staff will only supervise the undercover area; and after school, staff will supervise the drive through and the undercover area.

Run Club and Athletics Training

Week 3 will be the FINAL week for the before school running club at Grenville. From Week 4 onwards Year 3-6 students will have the opportunity to come and practice their field events (long jump, shotput, and javelin) as well as sprints for the carnival. This will start at 7:45am every Wednesday morning and will be held at Adventure, please ensure you are wearing St Kieran Sports uniform and bring a change of clothes afterwards. Each week a different event will be held with a schedule of these events below:

Week 4: Javelin
Week 5: Shot Put
Week 6: Long Jump
Week 7: Sprint Training

*This is only practice, and no times or distances will go towards carnival results. 

St Kieran Withdrawal

Dear St Kieran Parents
To assist with our 2023 enrolments, can you please notify the school immediately or by the end of term if your child has been accepted to another school. 
St Kieran's fee processes and procedures requires parents/guardians to give the school a terms notice if not returning to St Kieran. Please see our  website for our fees processes and procedures:
https://stkierancps.schoolzineplus.com/_file/media/1268/school_fee_processes_and_procedures.pdf
Please email admin@stkieran.wa.edu.au
Your assistance is very much appreciated.

MSP School Photos

Do You Use Science In Your Job?

We have so many people within our community who work with Science every day and we would love to learn about their occupation.
If you are one of these people, we would love to hear from you! You may be an electrician, chef, doctor, engineer, gardener, vet, builder, mechanic, pharmacist, optometrist, landscaper, hairdresser… the list goes on and on… please consider coming in to talk to the students about your work.
If you would like to inspire young minds with a brief explanation of what you do, please get in touch.

Mrs Fulvia Stanford - Science Specialist
fulvia.stanford @cewa.edu.au

Introducing …. THE GOLDEN BIN AWARD!

At St Kieran Primary School we take pride in caring for the environment we work and play in.  In recognition of all the hard work that goes into achieving this, we have created the Golden Bin Award!
Each week the Environmental Pillar will walk around the school to check if each classroom is clean and tidy and rubbish is disposed of in the correct bin. They will then choose the most deserving class to receive the Golden Bin Award.
During assembly, the winning class will be presented with a trophy to keep in their classroom for the week and a certificate in recognition of their hard work.

Mercedes College Open Day Invitation

Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846, Mercedes College offers young women from Year 7 to 12 an outstanding Catholic education based on the Mercy values. Located in the heart of Perth’s beautiful heritage precinct, the College is the oldest all girls’ school in Australia, still on the original site of foundation. Its mix of heritage and modern facilities offers students a unique learning environment in a dynamic city setting.
On Tuesday 6 September our gates will open to the prospective families for our Open Day Tour, which presents the opportunity to speak with members of the Senior Leadership Team, Heads of Department, and key Teachers. Enjoy a tour of College facilities led by some of our students, with two sessions available, 8.30am and 11am. To experience first-hand why learning in the city will benefit your daughter’s education, please book into a session of your choice at www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/open-morning/