ISSUE 13
Things to Know
Important Dates
- 27 August Lift Off Go! Year 6
- 30 August Senior assembly Hosted by Year 5
- 4 September The Great Indigenous Book Swap
- 6 September Junior Assembly Hosted by Kindergarten
- 6 September Team Colours day
Chris Shaddock
Principal
Principal's Address
Dear Kaleen Community,
Welcome to the halfway mark of Term 3! We are midway through a busy term of learning and loving every minute of it. Please read on to hear about the happenings in and around the school.
Book Week and Book Fair
Congratulations to Krissy McCombe and the entire school community for their part in what has been an amazing Book Week. The 2019 CBCA Book Week theme is: Reading is my Secret Power! Classes have celebrated by engaging in literacy activities across the school and staff and students have definitely upped their reading habits. We have had several ‘Book and Craft’ sessions and ‘Buddy Reading’ opportunities in the library as well as senior school ‘Trivia’ challenge. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Book Character Dress up Day. We had an amazing turn out of students and staff in a range of different costumes with lots of smiles all around.
Last week, Krissy McCombe also coordinated our fabulous Book Fair. Thank you to all the families who supported our school by purchasing some of the books. All money raised through the Book Fair will all go towards purchasing additional quality texts for our school library. There is a strong correlation (not causal effect) between households that are full of literature and children (within those homes) experiencing academic success. When children access books in their own areas of interest they are more inclined to read, which ultimately helps them to become more capable readers. Thank you to all members of the community for working with the school to develop kids who are passionate about reading.
Partnership with University of Canberra – Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)
We are very excited to continue our Affiliated Schools Partnership with the University of Canberra. Each Wednesday for the next eight weeks, our Year 5 students will engage in the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Maths program. The unit is evidenced based and supports our students to further their mathematical understanding in the area of fractions. We welcomed 33 preservice teachers into our school last week. They had a great time meeting the Year 5 teachers and students and did an excellent job delivering their first lessons. We look forward to another successful PCK partnership and hosting additional Affiliated Schools programs here in the future.
PBL News
Earlier this term we had our external PBL coach from the Directorate conduct our annual SET (School Evaluation Tool). The coach interviewed a large sample of staff and students and viewed our PBL systems and data. He was blown away by what he witnessed! We have reduced the number of negative behaviour incidents across the school and continue to acknowledge and promote positive behaviours through our W@K Band incentive system. We scored over 95% in our overall assessment which highlights the positive school culture here at Kaleen Primary School. Congratulations to all members of the school community on this achievement!
As a part of our PBL program, we will be utilising the ‘Be You’ resources. ‘Be You’ is led by Beyond Blue with delivery partners Early Childhood Australia and headspace. This addition to our PBL program will enhance our approach to supporting our children’s (and school community’s) mental health. The initiative will ensure our community is positive, inclusive and resilient – a place where every child, young person, educator and family can achieve their best possible mental health. We plan to formally launch this initiative in 2020. Later this year we will be asking our parents, staff and students to participate in a short survey to provide us with some feedback to guide our implementation strategy. We are very excited and optimistic as a school about this new addition to our PBL program.
Belconnen Track and Field Carnival
Congratulations to our students who represented Kaleen Primary in the Belconnen Athletics Carnival earlier this week. It was a freezing cold day (top of 8 degrees) with pockets of rain/sleet, but our squad remained in good spirits. All members of the team did their absolute best and we had several students place in a number of events and races. Our kids were perfectly behaved and this was noticed by staff and parents (including those from other schools). Thank you to all our parents who braved the cold weather to cheer on our team. A special thank you to Nikki Van Huizen and Danielle O’Connor for their work leading up to the carnival and supporting our students on the day.
School Satisfaction Surveys
As mentioned in the previous newsletter, parents and carers, school staff and students are asked to complete a short, but important survey. This year all students from years 4-6 will be asked to participate in the student surveys. The survey results will contribute to school research and improvement processes and will be open until 2 September 2019. We have such a fabulous community! The school has already received 120 completed surveys and are on our way to achieving our whole school incentive for a ‘Wheels Day’. We are aspiring for 85% (but would of course love 100%) completion rate. We are constantly updating the display in the foyer and some cohorts are well on their way to getting onto the big wheel. The surveys were emailed home last week, but please contact the school front office if you didn’t receive one.
Family Reading Before School
Our library is opened each morning from 8:30am - 9:00am for ‘Family Reading’ time. This is a valuable time to read with your child before school and to keep out of the cold winter mornings while you wait for the school day to start. All children in the library must be accompanied and supervised by their parent/carer.
Library News
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Last week we had a special visit from Clifford the Big Red Dog. Clifford gave out hugs and high fives as well as fist bumps to excited students. We also learned some fun facts. Did you know that Clifford is over 8 metres tall and weighs more that 87 tonnes!
Book Week- Reading is my Secret Power!
P&C News
We’re now half way through term 3 and it’s starting to warm up. It’s nice to see parents and grandparents not having to huddle together like penguins until the bell goes.
I'd like to remind parents to drive and park legally and safely around the school or risk a fine.
P&C committee has recently discussed getting in guest speakers every three to six months to talk to parents about topics of interest. We’re considering topics like ‘talking to kids about cybersecurity’ and ‘relationships and consent’ but we’re open to suggestions. We’re also open to tapping into the wealth of knowledge within our community. We’ve set up a short survey to gauge community interest in different topics and options. If you can spare a couple of minutes, we’d appreciate your input. https://forms.gle/WnTjJx2BicWnpAqu6
The ACT P&C Council is hosting a similar workshop on 12 September on ‘Dealing With Your Child’s Anxiety’ where special guest Kieran Vaughan will talk about anxiety, stress, trauma and techniques for dealing with them. RSVP https://forms.gle/D1j96pG8ALG652dy6
Maribyrnong PS is hosting a trivia night on 14 September and Kaleen PS community has been invited. As a result, we’ve put our plans for a trivia night on hold. If you’re interested in attending their trivia night, tickets are $20 each - please email paulinaryoung@yahoo.com.au.
As an alternative, our P&C committee decided to organise a market stall day in term 4. At this stage we’re looking to rent stalls for $30 on a Sunday in late October. We’re also looking into getting a coffee van, barbecue/food options and a jumping castle. We might also run a white elephant stall if you’d like to donate the gold you find at the back of the garage when you spring clean. If you’re interested in either helping to organise the day or run your own stall, please email kaleenpandc@gmail.com. There’s likely to be interest from external people running stalls but we’d like to give the school community the first opportunity before extending the invitation more widely. If you’re potentially interested, contact us.
The Bears bar is now in operation. We’re interested in hearing people’s good and bad experiences with the bar. The bar is open to receiving informal complaints and working with the school community to address any concerns. If you would like to raise any concerns, please email Jeremy Kidson on jeremy.kidson@northies.net.au and CC kaleenpandc@gmail.com.
Ben Peters Jones
P&C President
Lift off! Year 6 ‘Go’ Program- Save the Date
Our next Lift Off evening is for our Year 6 families. It will be on Tuesday 27 August 2019 between 4-7pm. An invitation and information about the program has been sent home this week. Please return your confirmation slip to your child’s teacher. We look forward to Marlena Basser from Uplifting Australia hosting another fabulous Lift Off event.
ICAS 2019
ICAS assessments will be conducted in weeks 7, 8 and 9. The parent payment system has now closed and you should have a record of the assessment/s purchased for your child. Please check the schedule below and lock in the dates for your child’s assessments. This year all assessments will be conducted at 8:15 am at Kaleen Primary School. Please come to the front office on the day of your scheduled assessment and we will direct you to the location. As the assessments are all online, there will not be any make-up sessions if your child is absent on the day.
Sports Section
2019 Belconnen Region Track & Field Carnival
Congratulations to the 37 students that braved the cold conditions and represented Kaleen Primary at the Belconnen region Track & Field carnival held at the Australian Institute of Sport on Monday 19th August.
Team members were magnificent ambassadors for our school. Their positive attitude and conduct throughout the day was outstanding. Encouragement and support of team mates was fantastic and sporting efforts on the track and in the field, were highly commendable. All team members worked cooperatively with team mangers & officials, giving their best efforts when competing, enjoying the opportunity to participate at a world class athletics venue. A big thank you to the parents & supporters that came along to offer their encouragement and support during the day, including Mr. Shaddock who popped out to cheer on our team. Special thanks to Hamish who assisted throughout the day as long jump official.
Congratulations to Shanna T who broke the record for the 11yrs Girls Shot Put.
Our girls finishing 4th and the boys finishing 6th out of 25 schools in the points score. Outstanding achievement Track & Field team!
The following Kaleen students placed in the top four (4) in their respective events and qualify for the ACT 12&U Track and Field carnival to be held on Tuesday 10 September. Well done on your performances and all the best for the ACT carnival.
Nikki Van Huizen and Danielle O’Connor
(Team managers)
Boys Basketball
The Year 5-6 Boys Basketball Team took part in the Jamie Pearlman Cup on the 8th of August. For a team that included a majority of first time players, the team performed outstandingly well, working together, taking on feedback and conducting themselves with high levels of sportsmanship at all times. They won 3 out of 5 games and finished 7th in their competition. Well done everyone!
Heroes' Corner
Lola Rooney has just come back from school swimming nationals in Melbourne after winning a silver medal in the relay swimming Breaststroke in a new personal best 46 seconds shaving 4 seconds off here previous best
It was a night of high drama When Lola was then asked to swim for the South Australia team as they were one short and she held her own against the 12 year olds swimming an age group up!
Lola said it was very exciting and is now in training for next year in her new favourite sport!
If you would like to have your child’s achievements acknowledged here, please email a short blurb to KaleenPSAdmin@ed.act.edu.au.
Out of Hours School Care Feedback
The Education Directorate is seeking feedback from families about out of hours school care at our school – including before school care, after school care, and/or holiday programs.
Below is a link to a five-minute survey that we would appreciate you taking the time to fill out.
The Directorate is reviewing arrangements for out of hours school care from January 2020. This includes how providers are engaged and an increased focus on collaborative partnerships between schools and providers that delivers quality services for families.
Your response is valued and will inform the out of hours school care service at your school.
We would be grateful if you could provide your feedback before 30 August 2019, by clicking on this link:
https://acteducation.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38lzuh4MMfdCsnj
All responses are anonymous and collated data will be provided back to individual schools.
Thank you for your help.
Monday 19 August is hats on again in the playground. Please ensure your child/ren have a hat to wear everyday.
Community
Child360 App for Parents
The development of the Child360 app was a collaborative process across the National Workforce Centre, our child and family partners and health practitioners. Emerging Minds Workforce Development Officer, Sophie Guy, facilitated this collaboration and took some time to chat to us about the app’s development, her favourite features and other ways in which parents can support their children’s social and emotional wellbeing.
Why was the app developed?
The Child360 app was created as a simple guide to help parents to support their child’s social and emotional wellbeing. There is so much information out there about raising children, which can be confusing.
Download it via the app store or Google Play store now!
Westfield Belconnen Junior Summer Sport Expo
Looking to sign up for summer sports but not sure what to pick? Join us for an all in one info night with a host of local sporting clubs!
They’ll have all the information and sign up processes ready go so when the temps warm up you’re ready to get out onto the field.
Date: Friday 23rd August
Time: 4:30pm – 7:30pm
Location: Westfield Belconnen Level 1, centre court
Find out more : http://bit.ly/WB-SportsExpo19
