Newsletter 10th March 2021
Principal's Message
We are over half way through the term now – time flies. Thanks to all the parents and staff who attended last week’s faction swimming carnival. You will find the details below in the Sports section of our newsletter. A big thanks to Mrs Stanford for organising and running this day. Thanks also to the parent volunteers, Martine, the Baha'i volunteers and the staff for all their hard work. Congratulations to the faction leaders on doing a great job at their first carnival. We were very proud of all the students and the way they represented their factions and our school. As usual everything went smoothly and even the forecast storms didn’t eventuate during the day. The interschool swimming team will receive their invitations shortly. This event will be on 18th March.
Harmony Day
While Harmony Day is officially celebrated on 21st March to coincide with the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, we will be celebrating it on Friday 19th March. To celebrate our country’s cultural diversity, we ask students to either dress in their national costume (or another country’s national costume) or to wear the Harmony Day colour of orange. We will have a short assembly on the basketball courts first thing in the morning which will include a parade of our costumes and the performance of our whole school Harmony Day song - parents are welcome to watch from the perimeter. The children will then work with their buddy classes and in their own classes to celebrate this special Harmony Day.
Surveys
There are a couple of changes we have made for 2021 on which we wish to get feedback from parents, students and staff. The first change we would like feedback on is the new break times (three breaks) and having lunch after a break (rather than before). As we must prepare timetables for Term 2 soon, we need to get feedback in order to make a decision about whether we will continue with these changes, modify them or go back to the old system. Year 3-6 students will be asked to give the school feedback by completing this survey in class. Kindy to Year 2 parents are asked to complete the survey by going to:
Or you can use the QR code, above right. The feedback for the above survey must be in by 17th March.
Similarly, in preparation for next term’s drop offs in the morning for Kindy and Pre-primary students, we would like to know whether parents would like to use the kiss and wave. We can’t have two drop off points so we need to make a decision about whether to have it at the kiss and wave or in the early childhood area. An email/app message will be sent to Kindy and Pre-primary staff to give them access to the survey form. Please return that as soon as possible (no later than 22nd March).
Next term we will let everyone settle into the new drop off processes before we seek feedback from everyone on how that is going.
Metal Artwork
Below is a photo of the gift the Year 6 class of 2020 gave to the school. It has been installed on the limestone ramp wall between the kindy and the senior block.
NAPLAN for Year 3 & 5
Parents of students in Year 3 and 5 should have received an information sheet entitled NAPLAN Online – information for parents and carers. If you did not receive one, please let the school know so we can get one to you. Students in Year 3 and 5 will participate in NAPLAN online in May this year. If you have any concerns or believe your child should not participate in this national literacy and numeracy assessment program, please let the office or your child’s class teacher know ASAP.
Attendance & Holidays
One of our school targets in the last business plan was to improve attendance (at least 85% of students will attend regularly -90% of the time). At school, many concepts (such as in literacy and numeracy) are taught in a sequence. Missing school means missing out on learning – which can often make it difficult to catch up later. This is particularly important in the early years when essential foundation skills are being taught.
Going to school every day helps children learn the important life skill of ‘showing up’ – at school, at work, to sport and other commitments.
Research from the Western Australian Telethon Kids Institute shows that every day at school counts towards a student’s learning. Students who attend more, generally do better at school and in life.
The School Education Act 1999 does not allow principals to give permission for families to take holidays during the school term. As students are required to attend school every day, time off for holidays is recorded as an absence.
While it can be tempting to take advantage of discount offers for accommodation and flights, we strongly encourage you to organise holidays during school holiday periods to make sure your child doesn’t miss out on school.
Please contact the principal if you have been considering taking a holiday during the school term. You should explain why the holiday must be taken during school time and provide the dates. Your child’s teacher will be able to tell you what learning your child would be missing out on.
Kiss and Drive/Wave
For those of you who are new to our school, you may not be aware of how the kiss and drive area works. It is located on the school netball court and accessed from Fourth Avenue. The exit is on Banksia Tce. While there is no parking, this is an opportunity to quickly drop off or pick up your child from the school. Please keep circling if your child has not arrived for pick up and there is a queue of parents onto the road waiting to collect their children. This means that the system works more effectively as a queue on the road can quickly become gridlocked. In the event that a gridlock should occur, you will need to exit by turning left. Please also note that you cannot overtake someone while on school property. Please be aware that there is a drain cutting under the driveway and if you decide to drive around someone you may end up damaging your car if you drive into it accidentally. So, please stick to forming a queue and not overtaking. Please see the school website for more information on this or click on the following link:
Annual Reminders
We are required to provide everyone with some annual reminders.
While school starts at 8:50am each morning, we are happy for students to arrive at 8:30am when classroom doors open to allow students time to setup for the day and participate in before school sessions such as reading. This enables everyone to be ready for the start of the day. Students who arrive before this time must be seated in the quadrangle area and must not interrupt the teachers’ preparations for the school day (K-P students must be supervised by the parents before 8:30am). We can only guarantee supervision from 8:15am onwards. Students should not arrive at school before 8:15am. All students who arrive after 9am must report to the office so that we can record attendance without interrupting the classroom teachers’ lessons.
All students who have to wait at the end of the day for pickup must wait with Miss Jones at the kiss and wave (or with their gate duty teacher). Any students who have not been collected by 3:15pm will be taken to the office for collection. We are happy for students who are being directly supervised by the parents to play on playground equipment after school. Supervising other people’s children, without consent from their parents, is not compliant with legal requirements. Equipment cannot be used before school (except by clubs who have been licensed to use the school site for training) and the oval is out of bounds before and after school.
It has been school policy for some time for the early childhood area (enclosed area where the kindy and Pre-primary classes are located) to be vacated by 4:00pm. Likewise, now that we have OSHClub on site, it is important that we vacate the school grounds by 4pm to allow the OSHClub to use the area, as they are licensed to do.
All visitors to the school must report to the office first. This includes parents who are attending the school after the start of the school day. Students will not be released from their classroom without a slip from the office. This is a safety precaution to ensure only people who have the right to access students do so.
We have completed a deed of licence with OSHClub and allow them to use the undercover area before and after school each day so we must avoid this area altogether to allow them to run their program uninterrupted. Please access the quadrangle via the gate near the library rather than through the undercover area.
For safety reasons students are not allowed to ride their scooters, skateboard or bikes on the school grounds. Students are asked to walk these items instead. We also ask that parents follow the same rules as good role models.
Children are allowed to climb trees but they should not climb higher than a teacher can reach (approx. 1.5m).
A reminder that all student absences must be explained either in writing (by the SZapp app or by email) or by speaking to the school/class teacher (who will record the explanation in writing). All families taking vacation leave outside of school holidays must also write to the principal seeking authorisation. In the absence of this request, these absences will be recorded as unauthorised. It is important to note that authorisation for absence due to vacations is also dependent on past attendance, length of absence and plans for maintaining your child’s education. Australia has mandatory school attendance, so authorisation is important.
The staff car park is not available for dropping off students in the mornings or picking up students at the end of the day. It is a small car park and our staff can’t all park there because it is so small. It is also difficult getting out during peak times (especially if others are trying to get in) so please do not use the car park. While I realise that often people think that when they do it there is no harm, but if everyone did it, of course, there would be chaos. It is also not safe for children to be in this area as backing cars don’t always see small children and children can move quickly and unpredictably. Thanks for your support on this.
It is a condition of entry that you abide by the school rules and the directions given by the principal or her delegates. Please be aware that the principal has no control over what occurs outside school grounds, such as on the roads surrounding the school. The school cannot enforce road rules or control the parking on the side roads, nor can it actively control traffic on those roads. The school is, however, in charge of the kiss and wave on the school grounds.
Upfront Payments
The office is now ready to take payments for upfront charges. Parents can either come in, email us or phone the office to arrange this. It is a good way to sort out most costs so you don’t have to worry about them throughout the year.
Bronwyn Jones
PRINCIPAL
THANK YOU
Thankyou to Vic Park Men’s Shed for making a bridge for our Kindergarten students. They are also working towards restoring the benches that students use in the quadrangle. A big thank you to our gardener Mr Leatt-Hayter for organising this.
Clare Brook
Deputy Principal
Education Assistants
Meet our new education assistants - some started this year and some have been made permanent this year after starting last year.
Values and Honour Awards
RESPECT
An attitude of treating ourselves, others and all living things with dignity and courtesy. Treating others as we want to be treated.
INTEGRITY
Being honest and standing up for what you believe is right. Doing the right thing even if it is hard.
Classroom Foyer Display
Year 6 Beach Swimming
In Week 4 this term, the Year 6 students had beach swimming lessons down at Cottesloe Beach each day. They learnt new swimming skills and techniques, as well as strategies to stay safe at the beach and help others who are in trouble. The weather was perfect throughout the week, and all the students had a great time swimming in the water and playing in the sand. The display shows several photos from the week. Below are some reflections from students on their experiences.
“I loved beach swimming because we got to swim at the beach and play in the sand. I liked the last day the most because we got to go to the reef and see all the fish.” – Maddie
"I loved beach swimming lessons because it was super fun and we did lots of swimming and saw lots of fish. My favourite part was playing flags, surfing on the boards and looking at the reef.” – Sachi
Sports News
Faction Swimming Carnival
We were very fortunate to have a great day for our swimming carnival.
Well done to all our competitors who gave their best effort in competing in many races and to the swimmers that had fun at the inside activities with Mrs Jetta, Mr Griffiths, Mr Powers and Mr Anson.
We had several records broken. Congratulations to Niamh who broke the Year 6 50m Breaststroke and Butterfly records as well as the Open 100m Freestyle and William who broke the Year 5 50m Freestyle and Butterfly records.
Congratulations to our champions: -
Year 3: Champions - Eliza and Ted
Runner ups - Isobel and Freddie
Year 4: Champions - Harriet and James
Runner Ups - Zara and Joe
Year 5: Champions - Evita and William
Runner Ups - Mackenzi, Amy and Elliot
Year 6: Champions - Niamh and Hamis.
Runner Ups - Sophia and Marcus
The overall results were very close, with Investigator being champion faction on 334 points, Parmelia second on 332, Cygnet third on 302 points and Endeavour fourth on 298 points.
Thank you to the parents who had various roles on the day- starting, marshalling, judging, timing and set up and pack down; Martine for assisting; James and Emily (Baha’i volunteers); and to the staff for your support at the carnival and back at school. Without your assistance, the carnival would not take place. Huge thanks to our Year 6 faction captains for organising their factions to get them ready for their events.
Interesting fact: All Year 6 girls have passed Stage 5 in their swimming lessons and 24 competed in the 50m Freestyle. Well done, girls!
Inter School Swimming Carnival
The carnival is on Thursday March 18 and competitors (Years 4 – 6) have been chosen from the results of the faction carnival and will compete against East Victoria Park and Victoria Park. The team list is on the Sport noticeboard outside the staff room. We know they will swim their best as they represent Kensington Primary School.
Circus
The Year 1 to 6 students have had their first circus session for the year. The next sessions will be in Term 2. Pre-primary will be in Term 4.
Running Club
Running Club will commence Tuesday March 23 on the oval from 8.00am– 8.30am. We will have 3 sessions before the end of term, running on Tuesdays and Fridays. All students welcome.
School Board
Board Elections
We have a new School Board team. I will delay announcing all the new members until the next newsletter as we are awaiting some formalities to be completed. Our next School Board meeting will be on 29th March. The Board will be reviewing our new Business Plan. This will be followed by a School Board dinner where we farewell our past board members and welcome our new members, along with getting to know the P&C office bearers.
P & C News
Scholastic Bookclub Organiser Wanted
At the end of 2021, I will be reluctantly stepping down as the Scholastic Bookclub Organiser for Kensington Primary School and I’m keen to identify one or two people who can learn the ropes before I finish. The role involves distributing catalogues, managing our school’s account with Scholastic and packing and delivery of book orders.
I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this job and have loved fostering the love of books amongst our kids.
I have worked on my own but if two people worked together, the load would be shared and it would be even more fun.
If you are interested in taking on this role, please contact me on 0414 915 169.
Susan Henwood
School Banking
School banking is now on Thursday mornings 8.30 - 8.50am outside the music room. Previous bankers, we welcome you back - please bring in your completed deposit slips with your deposit book. New bankers are also most welcome, please see the link below for more information.
Waterwise and Wastewise
Community News
Good afternoon everyone
The City of South Perth is reviewing its plan for the future – the Strategic Community Plan - and is carrying out a brief survey and hosting an online workshop for the community.
We would appreciate it if you could distribute the information below through your communications channels, to help us reach the broader City of South Perth community.
For more information on the Strategic Community Plan Review, visit yoursay.southperth.wa.gov.au or feel free to give me a call on 9474 0777.
Kind regards
René Polletta
Community Develpoment Officer - Youth & Children
P 9474 0708 M 0439 638 781 E renep@southperth.wa.gov.au
Cnr Sandgate St & South Tce, South Perth WA 6151