Things to Know

Community Sensory Garden Design Input Opportunity

Thank you to the 125 students who entered our Design Input Opportunity for our Community Sensory Garden Project. Earlier this week I met with Taymore Tabbah (P&C Community Garden Project Leader) and Fiona Chapman (Executive Teacher) to review the designs and discuss the next steps of the project. We were blown away by the creativity and critical thinking demonstrated in the entries! We looked for common and unique themes across the designs (suggested materials, section labelling, functional and creative layouts etc) and linked these to suggestions captured by our Student Parliament. We used this information to create two concept designs which we have shared with landscape architects to create two potential designs that are both functional and within budget. Once the formal designs are complete and approved by the P&C and School Board, we will ask the community to vote to determine which design would best serve our purpose. The winning design will be installed early next year and we will hold some parent working bees to put the final touches on the project. Thank you again to our amazing P&C for their work securing the funding for this initiative by winning the ACT Government community engagement grant.

PBL Achievement

Our students have achieved their whole school PBL target by earning 7000 W@K tokens! Each class has earned a ticket to a PBL Cohort Team Challenge. In Week 8, each teaching team will test their students' problem solving skills and knowledge in a number of ways. This might include cooperative games, team trivia or even a detective style challenge that requires students to solve a mystery. If classes successfully complete the challenge, they will receive an additional prize of 30 to 60 minutes of “Me Time” (individual reward) or “We Time” (team reward). These rewards will be negotiated with all students who are deemed to be successful. Congratulations to all our staff, parents and students for their contributions towards our positive school environment.

Online eSafety Resources for Families

With our growing reliance on technology, it’s important to increase our awareness of how to stay safe in the online world. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner provides advice and support to all Australians in this area. To support your child to navigate their digital world and avoid harmful online experiences, the following information can assist you in having the hard-to-have conversations about online safety and setting boundaries.

Your support and guidance can give your child the confidence to make sound decisions online – and know where to go for help when they need support or advice.

• Be engaged, open and supportive

• Get involved. Share online time with your child as a part of family life. Talk about favourite apps, games, and websites.

• Keep lines of communication open. Ask about their online experiences, who they are talking to and whether they are having any issues.

• Reassure your child they can always come to you, no matter what. Let them know you will not cut off internet access if they report feeling uncomfortable or unsafe when online – this is a real concern that may stop your child from communicating with you openly.

• Get to know the devices you and your child use and set them up for privacy and online safety.

• Use parental controls as appropriate to set boundaries.

• If you feel your child needs support, please maintain contact with our school so you can work together to support them. Seek professional help if your child is distressed or shows marked changes in behaviour or mood, remembering that organisations such as Kids’ Helpline and Beyond Blue can help.

• If you feel your child is in immediate danger or at risk of harm, call Triple Zero (000) and stay with them until they are safe.

You can find additional information and resources at the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to support you and your family.

Thanks for your ongoing support.

Bye for now,

Chris Shaddock

Principal

The KPS Japanese Choir receives

an honourable mention

in the “Japan in a Minute Online Video Contest”

organised by the Japan Foundation.

Mr. Sam Bryant, a coordinator of the KPS Japanese Choir, took initiative and produced a music video to enter a contest organised by the Japan Foundation. The theme of the contest was; “I cannot visit Japan now due to Covid. What do I love or miss about the place?”.

Bryant-sensei shot a video of the Choir singing the Olympic support song, “Paprika”, and edited it to meet the requirements of the contest. The Choir wanted to send their love and support to the Games digitally as millions of people missed out watching the fabulous Olympic Games in person due to travel restrictions.

86 videos were submitted to the Online Video Contest from Australia and New Zealand. On November 9 it was announced the KPS Choir was one of three recipients to receive an honourable mention.

Below is a comment by the Japan Foundation;

An adorable acapella rendition of ‘Paprika’, showcasing forms of athletics which are often seen at Japanese sports festivals. A wonderful tie-in with the Tokyo Olympics.

Please check out the Japanese Choir’s performance on the link below as well as other prize-winning videos which superbly capture a variety of experiences of Japan and Japanese Culture.

https://jpf.org.au/events/japaninaminute/

I would like to thank Bryant-sensei, for his wonderful talent and dedication, as well as the choristers and their families for their support.

Mari Kitasaka

Teacher of Japanese

Rostrum Grand Final 2021

The 2021 Rostrum speaking competition Grand Final was held on the evening of Monday 8 November at Radford College. This event saw the absolute cream of the crop of young speakers from the ACT and surrounding NSW districts compete for the top honour in a variety of topics ranging from “Fake News” to “Wild Weather”. Our very own Pinipa from 5NV represented our school on the night, having proceeded through from the semi-finals on her stellar run. Pinipa’s chosen topic was “The Power of Music”, in which she discussed the many ways in which music has changed our society, can affect our brains, and ultimately soothes our souls. Although she spoke incredibly well, Pinipa was beaten to the post by another competitor on the night. Making it this far in Rostrum is an incredible achievement in and of itself, and we as a school community would like to congratulate Pinipa on her fantastic accomplishment- well done, Pinipa!

We look forward to seeing (and hearing) you all again for Rostrum 2022.

-Mr Shapowloff

With the cancellation of School Sport Australia Championships for 2020 and 2021, School Sport ACT (SSACT) has not had the opportunity to acknowledge representative achievements through the nomination of students to the Excellence in Sport Awards held in March each year. To ensure students are still acknowledged for their efforts in school sport in 2021, SSACT has awarded certificates to students who have represented their school in 3 or more sports either at School Sport ACT or State Sporting Organisation (SSO) events in 2021.

Congratulations to the following students who have received awards for Kaleen Primary.

Year 5 Year 6

Ethan J Lachlan S

Pinipa L Kai F

Layla A Sam S

Japanese Merit Award

Every year only two students receive the Japanese Merit Award.

At the end of the first semester, Ziying Wang (5SB) received the award.

The second awardee for this year is Connor Barker (6KT).

Connor consistently topped the cohort in Japanese throughout his primary school years. He is a very talented, wonderfully dedicated learner. What sets him apart is his exceptional memory as well as his ability to apply his knowledge to problem-solving.

It was a pity that due to Covid, I was unable to teach Japanese to Connor in the second half of the year.

Connor, it has always been an absolute pleasure to have you in my class. I hope you continue learning Japanese and make use of it in the future.

Congratulations! おめでとう！

Mari Kitasaka

Teacher of Japanese

If you would like to have your child's achievement acknowledged here, please email a short blurb to KaleenPSAdmin@ed.act.edu.au

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