St Kieran Newsletter Term 2, Week 7 - 30th May 2024
Principal's Message
God,
we ask You to be ever with us in our role of parenting.
As catholic parents, we have chosen to proclaim You to our children in a clear and unmistakeable manner. May Your truths be strong within us,
and may Your Spirit enable us to nurture our children with wisdom and authority.
Amen.
Our role as parents continues in the co-partners in the education of our children. As we all know, education goes beyond imparting facts and information, it also entails the imparting of the values of the community. Because of our choice to send our children to this school, the values that are imparted are those of a Catholic community.
We live in a time when the broader community’s values and catholic values continue to diverge; more than ever there is a need for Catholic values to be lived and witnessed equally in the school, the Church and the home. If we simply exist within the broader community, we can come to a point where we give up our beliefs, values and ideals and eventually stand for nothing.
In her book, North of the Orient, Anne Lindbergh tells about the oriental symbolism of trees: the bamboo stands for prosperity; the pine for long life; the plum tree suggests courage, because it puts out blossoms while the snow is still on the ground. We might adopt the plum tree as their symbol and show Christ-like attitudes when they are needed most: be kind and forgiving to those who hold opposite opinions and might be aggressive towards us; stand up for moral ideals when
it is contrary to popular opinion; have the courage and strength to do the difficult things by “putting out our blossoms” when it is not easy to do so.
The Dalai Lama, when commenting on religious beliefs, had this to say: “Each of us is free to believe or not to believe. But once you follow a religion and believe in what it teaches, you should give it great importance in your life and avoid having faith on every other day. Do not act erratically and make sure your thinking corresponds to what you say and do.”
Each of us parents is free to send our children to this school, but once we have made that choice, we need to be fully supportive if its ethos and values. We all know the effect on children, if parents are not in tune with each other within the family. The same effect is present if there is a lack of consistency between parent, school and the home.
The purpose of this Catholic school, St Kieran Catholic Primary School, is to help parents bring up their children in the Catholic faith as well as providing a sound comprehensive and inclusive education. The whole school community is responsible for creating a climate in the school that is permeated by the Gospel Spirit of freedom and love. When students observe their parents sharing common beliefs, attitudes and values, they feel more secure and purposeful within their own lives. They build on their sense of belonging at the school - that sense of oneness.
Over the past few weeks I have been speaking a lot about our values and beliefs at St Kieran Catholic Primary School especially when interviewing for our new Kindy classes for 2025. This is one of the areas that many new families focus on when asking questions or saying why they wish to become part of the community. The collective values of our families if very united and consistent across our school and this comes through as soon as you enter our school - it is the feeling that we have all generated as a part of community - thank you.
Just a reminder that we are not at school on Friday 31st May and Monday 3rd June due to Staff professional development and WA Day public holiday. We look forward to seeing you all return on Tuesday 4th June.
Best wishes and take care.
Mr Daine Burnett
Principal
daine.burnett@cewa.edu.au
Inclusion
School Calendar
A reminder to all families to continue to check the school calendar on our website for dates and events that are coming up during the term. We have a number of days that the school is closed this term Friday 31st May, Monday 3rd June and Friday 28th June.
Kindergarten Enrolments 2025
We are accepting Kindy Enrolments for Kindy 2025 and now conducting interviews. Please submit your application and make sure you have your children enrolled at St Kieran Catholic Primary School. If you have missed this process please call the administration office as soon as possible.
We do have a small number of spaces across other year levels and if friends or families are wishing to look at enrolling their children at our school.
Seesaw
Can all parents make sure you have access to your child's Seesaw. Teachers constantly post assessment results and pieces during the term. This is a great way to keep you updated on the progress of your child.
Unwell Students
As we are well and truly in the colder months can we please ask that unwell students are not sent to school. Our staff will call parents if a child is unwell or presents unwell - we are not trained medical staff and if a child says they are unwell or looks unwell we will call the families to collect them. Sending an unwell child to school in turn has an impact on the other students as well as the staff and of course the families at St Kieran. Your consideration around this matter is appreciated.