Principal's News

Our theme for this year

Let's Care! Be the difference!

Parent Newsletter Term 3, Week 4 Tuesday 06/08/24

God of all people,

We praise you for our Australian saint, Mary MacKillop, who gave her life to serve you in the poor and oppressed. As she is honoured may we continue to learn to share her vision. Help us to recognise, as she did, that the poor of our time will hear the gospel in the way we serve them. Be with us as we strive to follow her and carry out our mission of service and care. We thank you for all those who, like Mary MacKillop, have helped us to see the possibilities for our country and its people. May we witness to our world the true meaning of fair play and care for the oppressed.

In Mary MacKillop, we celebrate a journey of deep love and sensitivity to your will. Like her, may we learn to grow in appreciation of the fullness of your love and the depth of your mystery. Help us to always reach out to others through the daily challenges of our journey towards you. Amen

The School will be attending Parish mass on Thursday 8th of August at 9:15am

Grandparents and Special Visitors Day!

What a spectacular turn out and such beautiful interactions. Thank you to all the parents and carers who made it happen! These are the days that the students will treasure and it was so amazing to see the students at their best, using manners and being proud St Kevin’s ambassadors.

Thank you to all the delightful grandparents and special visitors. You are always welcome at St Kevin’s. I thought Nick the Coffee Truck man did a top job. We all enjoyed the warm drinks! Thank you Nick!

Traffic Management Plan

Last week the Traffic Management Plan was shared with each family at St Kevin’s. Please read it and fill out consent on Compass. This signifies that you have read the Plan. If you have any questions please email me or Laura Mangiavillano chair of SAC at sac@sktemplestowelr.catholic.edu.au

Homework Policy

The Staff and SAC team have all worked together to revise the St Kevin’s Homework Policy. It has been ratified at the implementation stage.

St Kevin’s Homework Policy

Please have a read and if you have any questions please email me or Laura Mangiavillano chair of SAC at sac@sktemplestowelr.catholic.edu.au

MACSSIS Survey

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS): Monday 26 August – Friday 13 September 2024

Throughout each year, we pause to listen to our students, families and staff to gauge how our learning community is travelling.

This feedback is invaluable to our progress as effective school communities and is backed by evidence-based research and best practices.

A significant and formal way in which we engage and gather data is through MACSSIS, the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys. MACSSIS is a set of surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic schools in Melbourne by the Learning Services team at MACS, in partnership with researchers at Learning First and in wide consultation with principals in our schools.

In 2024, students, families and staff are invited to participate in MACSSIS via our secure and purpose-built online platform. The online platform is where our school leaders will access the summary reports that visualise the results of the student, family and staff surveys. The MACSSIS survey platform is operated by an independent supplier, ORIMA Research Pty Ltd.

The platform meets with the high security and privacy standards for handling student and school data. Participating schools are in the process of updating their privacy policy to ensure school communities are fully informed and protected. Students at our school will be provided with supervised sessions, where teachers are on hand to help and answer any questions.

Families and staff can complete the survey anytime over the three-week window via an emailed link and password. Feedback has indicated that previous surveys were completed across a range of mobile devices and different web browsers. Our community’s opinions are critical to understanding how our school is performing – MACSSIS is a key data source for guiding the ongoing work to improve our school. The surveys are not a test; they are an inclusive way to support the work we are already doing to improve our school. Everyone has the right to refuse to participate, or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during or after completion of the survey. Please notify the school if your child does not wish to participate. If you would like more information, please contact the school.

Diabetes Training

We have a child who has recently been diagnosed with Diabetes. Staff who are working with this child have all completed Level 3 training provided by Diabetes Victoria and the Royal Children’s Hospital.

International Visitors

The International students have settled in well and it is refreshing to see students making friendships and proudly sharing the facilities while learning together. The international students presented at the assembly on Wednesday. Linked is their presentation.

Year 5 /6 PE Nominations for Week 2 and 3

The nominations are for students being respectful, listening and showing sportsmanship.

Term 3 Week 2 Thursday 25/07	Term 3 Week 2 Friday 26/07	Term 3 Week 3 Thursday 01/08	Term 3 Week 3 Friday 02/08
Alyssa M	Tiago C	Keizen C	Lucas C
Alexander F	Jonathan T	Tiago C	Asher T
Mia	Phoenix H	Asher T	Nathaniel O
Diya A
Tiffany
Lucas C

Well done to these students! We look forward to seeing many more names on this list in the next few newsletters.

Turn off ‘Teasing’!

‘Turn away from Teasing

Hi Everyone,

This term all classes have been focusing on various social skills. In particular, we have been looking at ‘teasing’ and the impact it has on others. Teachers and students have been discussing ‘What is teasing?’ and ‘When does it change from being harmless and playful to hurtful?’

Students in Years 3-6 have been talking about why people tease. Some of the main reasons people tease others are:

To test limits
To set aside groups of children
That's what they have learnt from put downs they have seen on TV / social media
To gain power
To get attention
Peer pressure / to feel part of the group or to be liked

We have also been discussing the concepts of banter and roasting. We can think that teasing, banter and roasting are be meant to be fun or in ‘good spirit’, especially when our children are exposed to these types of behaviour on TV and social media. However, we are teaching our students that more than often, these things can be used to hurt others, it can hit a raw nerve or be misinterpreted.

At St Kevin’s we would like to discourage teasing and roasting completely. We would like to empower our students to form positive relationships with their friends and peers by using positive language and actions. We would like our students to understand that we can have fun, share jokes and laugh with our peers, without putting them down or continuously making unwanted comments.

Our focus on ‘teasing’ has come at an appropriate time, as in week 5, August 12th - 16th we will be taking part in ‘Bullying No Way’: a National Week of Action. During this week the teachers and students will take part in activities to help understand what bullying is, how we can respond to it and most importantly how we can try to prevent bullying from happening.

During this week we will be having a whole school assembly on Wednesday 14th August, 2:30pm in the Church. During this assembly, each class will present to our school community a commitment that they are going to make to ‘Turn away from Teasing’. Each class will write and sign a commitment to how they are going to help stamp out unwanted teasing, which in turn can lead to bullying. Please join us at our next school assembly.

Thank you to all of our students who have already voiced their opinions on teasing and who are working towards developing positive relationships with their peers at school.

Enjoy your week,

Fiona George

Student Wellbeing Leader

Seesaw

PBL

RESPECT

Term 3 Week 3-4

Expected Behaviour: I learn from my mistakes (Resilient)

Staffing News

Marcello Carraffa returned urgently to Italy to attend to a sick relative. Chiara Leone will be leading the TCL Program for the next 4-6 weeks with my support and that of all staff members.

We wish Marcello and his family the best and hope he can return to Melbourne soon.

Parish News

Did you know that we celebrate everyone's birthday at the Parish of St Kevin's?! When it is your special day, you will receive a card from the Parish and if you are at the church - we will sing and have a cake! It is always fun to be remembered

Every Wednesday the parish offers free online meditation. It is a chance for quiet prayer and is available for everyone in the school and parish community. Interested? Ring Ana on 7064 3948 for more details