Principal's Message 9/8/19
STAFF CHANGES
I have been informed by Miss Sonia Spadacinni that she is returning to teach in Hong Kong at the end of next week. We have been very blessed to have had such a quality music teacher with us, even if it has been for such a short time. We are fortunate to have Mrs Anita Johnston replacing Miss Spadaccini, who will be commencing in two weeks time. Mrs Johnston spent time with our choir last week and will work them next week prior to the two performing arts sessions on August 21 and 28.
First Communion
Congratulations to the children who received their first communion last weekend and those who will celebrate this sacrament this weekend. The five masses celebrated this year will have seen 75 students from our school and the parish receive the Eucharist for the first time and the opportunity for parents to work together with the parish is now embedded into the Parish Sacramental Program.
AFTER SCHOOL PICK UP
Once children have been collected from the classroom or the undercover area at the end of the day, they are handed into the care of parents and guardians. The school expects that if you choose to stay on the school premises to use the play equipment after this time that you will actively supervise your child during this time.
This means being close by, watching them playing, especially on the equipment.
We continue to have a number of accidents occurring because children are not being actively supervised after they have been collected. Although there is always a staff member on duty in this space, their primary concern is for the children waiting to be picked up from the undercover area.
We also request that there are no ball games played after school as these games are often in the same area that students are waiting to be picked up and that this can cause real confusion whether these children have already been picked up or are still waiting. It also reduces the space available for waiting parents. Children are more than welcome to use the LEGO table and play equipment, as long as they are being supervised as explained above.
NAPLAN AUDIT ITEM
St Kieran is one of the 440 schools nationwide that has been selected to participate in the ACARA Item Trial, to be conducted using the Online National Assessment Platform. The aim of the Item Trial is to evaluate NAPLAN test items that are under consideration for inclusion in future tests. The trial will be conducted in our school this coming Monday and Tuesday. Students in 3B and 5B will complete the trial over these two days.
CONGRATULATIONS MRS BROWN!
Congratulations to Mrs Denise Brown on her 30 years of service to Catholic Education Award that she received yesterday morning together with a large number of other representatives of Catholic Education. We are very proud to have another of our staff reach this important milestone, and one such as Mrs Brown who is continually learning new skills and displaying what it is to be a life long learner. WELL DONE MRS BROWN!
ASSUMPTION MASS/ BISHOP'S LITERACY
We will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption this coming Thursday with Mass at 11am. This week our children in Years Three and Five have completed the Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment together with all students in Catholic Education across Western Australia in the same year levels. Our results in this assessment over the past several years has continued to show improvement from previous years, with our results last year well above the state average in the Yr 5 age group which is the only one where results are measured against the state cohort.
CYCLIC REVIEW
As explained in our previous newsletters the school Cyclic Review will be undertaken next week. There will be four visitors who will spend a couple of days working with staff, the students and parents reviewing the past few years in regards to our improvement processes and helping set the improvement agenda for the next few years. Once the review has been undertaken we will feedback key findings that will help explain where our focus will be over the next few years and how we will attempt to do this.
Have a great weekend!
Peter Cutrona
Principal