Kotara South Public School

Newsletter A Great Place to Be!

www.kotarasth-p.school.nsw.edu.au

kotarasth-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

(02) 4957 5319

150 Rae Crescent Kotara South 2289

4 September 2019 | Week 7 | Term 3

From the Principal

Welcome to another busy week at KSPS. We have had a lot of events happen over the last few weeks – Book Week and Parade, Book Fair, Water Safety Talks, Father’s Day Stall and Regional Athletics – just to name a few! Thank you to all our families and community members who have supported our school throughout these events.

I have been working on a poetry project with a group of Stage 2 students this term. They have been creating their own rhyming imaginative texts and experimenting with a variety of literary techniques such as alliteration, personification and simile. All students have done an amazing job with their poetry. Please read some of the completed poems further on in this newsletter.

Last Friday we had 12 students represent KSPS and Newcastle City Zone at the Regional Athletics Carnival. It was a huge day for our students who gave it their all in very cold, wet and windy conditions. We had competitors: Sprinting – Spencer, Aissata (MC), Luke F, Kyran, Cameron and Brandon Running long distance – Flynn, Tori, Nate & Jackson High jumping – Matthew; and Discus Throwing – Emma. Congratulations to the 9 students who have qualified for the State Athletics Carnival at Sydney Olympic Park in November – Flynn (1500m), Tori (1500m & 800m), Nate (1500m & 800m), Jackson (1500m), Aissata (100m MC) and our Senior 4 x 100m Relay Team – Brandon, Cameron, Luke and Kyran.

In the coming weeks our school will be participating in a Department of Education initiative: Tell Them From Me feedback surveys. The surveys will be completed by both parents and students (Yrs 4-6 only) with the focus on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. Please see the detailed information further in this newsletter regarding both the parent and student surveys.

Last week Year 6 attended Kotara High School as part of the transition process. The students had an awesome day meeting teachers, learning to read timetables, hanging out in the playground and participating in a variety of high school maths, food tech, science, PE and history lessons. Thank you to KHS for hosting this fantastic day.

The School Swimming Scheme begins first week back next term for all students in Year 2. Please remember to return notes and money as soon as possible. As in previous years, we have room to include up to 8 additional students from Yr3. If you feel your child would benefit from another year of this intensive learn to swim program please see Mr Eldridge or office staff for all relevant information and notes.

This week our Year 5 students will begin their training in ‘Student Leadership’ with Ms Payne. Each year at KSPS our Yr 5 students participate in this program and learn to engage with others, increase their confidence, develop their leadership skills and become an effective leader. This is the beginning of the leadership pathway at our school and will lead into nominating and voting for our 2020 student leadership team.

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Our annual Year 6 Mini Fete will be on Thursday 26 September (Week 10) this term. Our Yr 6 students are currently organising their stalls and planning for this event. Please see more details further in the newsletter.

Both Stage 2 and Stage 3 teachers have now sent home the final cost note with individual invoices attached for their overnight excursions in Term 4. Please complete the permission and medical notes and return to your child’s teacher as soon as possible. If you are using a payment plan option, please be up to date with your child’s camp payments as we need to close off full payment well before we go to camp. Full payment is welcome at any time. See your child’s class teacher if you have any questions regarding camp.

Catherine Ward – RELIEVING PRINCIPAL

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School News COUNSELLOR CORNER

Belinda Robinson – SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

PREMIER’S DEBATING CHALLENGE Congratulations to our two Stage 3 Debating teams who have now completed their competition in the 2019 Premier’s Debating Challenge. This has been a fabulous opportunity for Lilly, Lucinda, Luke, Phoebe, Jeremiah, Cooper, Jay and Elodie who all showed confidence and resilience when debating against students from other schools in our zone. The last debate of the series was completed at our school with our two teams debating against each other on the topic of “Teachers should participate in sport and P.E. with their students”. The adjudicator was very impressed with our students, who showed excellent Manner, Method and Matter - the 3 M’s of good debating. Well done to the Diamonds team of Jeremiah, Amber, Lilly and Cooper who came away with a win, narrowly beating the Opals team of Jay, Elodie, Luke and Phoebe. All of our students have improved immensely throughout the whole experience and have learned valuable debating skills. Look out parents these students can convince you into just about anything!

Sam McClymont – DEBATING COORDINATOR

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REGIONAL SPELLING BEE Congratulations to all of the students who have participated in the school Spelling Bee in recent weeks. Two representatives from each of the Junior (Years 3 and 4) and Senior (Years 5 and 6) categories have been selected to compete at the regional final. The competition will take place this Friday the 6 of September at Jesmond Public School. Rose and Sophie will be competing in the Junior category, while Lucinda and Matilda will be competing in the Senior category. We wish our girls the very best of luck!

Patrick Armstrong – TEACHER

YEAR 6 MINI FETE The Year 6 Mini Fete is an annual event planned and organised by Year 6 to provide all KSPS students with an afternoon of fun while raising funds for the Year 6 farewell and the Year 6 gift to the school. This year the Mini Fete will be held on Thursday 26th September (Week 10) from 2-3pm. There will be lots of fun and plenty of stalls to enjoy so please remember to bring your money. Stalls will start from 50c and show bags will be sold at a price of $6.50 – see below for examples of the show bags on offer. There will be stalls offering food (chips, drinks and ice creams), activities and games. Year 6 look forward to the Mini Fete every year and are very excited about presenting this event to the school.

Note that this is an event for students only and will be an out of uniform day. Sam McClymont – CLASSROOM TEACHER

SWIM SCHOOL TERM 4 The School Swimming Scheme for Term 4 will take place at Charlestown Pool under the instruction of qualified teachers and will run daily for two weeks starting Monday Week 1, 14 October – 25 October 2019. All Year 2 students are reminded that their permission note and deposit of $40 was due last Friday 30 August. If you have not yet completed the permission note, please return the permission note and deposit to the front office. If you require another note or have any questions regarding the School Swimming Scheme please see the office staff or Mr Eldridge for information.

Final payment is due 20 September. A reminder that if your child has a pool pass the cost is $60 in total. The pass will need to be presented each day.

We are also offering a limited number of remaining places to students in Year 3.

If you feel your child would benefit from this intensive learn to swim program please see Mr Eldridge or office staff for all relevant information and notes.

Mr Eldridge - SCHOOL SWIMMING SCHEME COORDINATOR

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PARENT SURVEYS- PARTNERS IN LEARNING/TTFM At the end of this Term, our school will be participating in the Partners in Learning parent survey, another part of the DoE Initiative Tell Them From Me suite of surveys (student, teacher and parent surveys) on student engagement. The survey asks parents and carers of all KSPS students questions about different factors that are known to impact on student wellbeing and engagement.

Running this survey will help our school understand parents’ and carers’ perspectives on their child’s experience at school. These include: communication between parents/carers and staff, activities and practices at home and parent/carer views on the school's support of learning and behaviour. This valuable feedback will help our school make practical improvements.

The survey is open to all KSPS parents/carers and is conducted entirely online on smartphones, iPads, tablets, laptops or computers. The survey will typically take 15 minutes or less to complete and is completely confidential. The parent survey will be conducted between 16 September and 25 October. Although participating in the survey is entirely voluntary, your responses are very much appreciated.

There is a TTFM Parent Survey FAQs for Parents & Carers at:

https://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/FAQs/TTFM_Parent_Survey_FAQs_Parent_and_Carers_T3_2019.pdf

We will provide further information about how to access the survey in the coming weeks.

STUDENT SURVEYS- DOE INITIATIVE TELL THEM FROM ME We are delighted that this term, our school, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.

The survey is a great opportunity for our Years 4 to 6 students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help improve how we do things at our school.

There is a TTFM Student Survey FAQs for Parents & Carers at:

https://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/FAQs/TTFM_Student_Survey_FAQs_Parent_and_Carers_T12019e.pdf.

More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au

I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered to our Year 4 to 6 students during school hours at some point during Week 9 (16 Sep – 20 Sep). Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

A consent form for parents/carers about the survey has been sent home with students. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the form to school by Friday, 20 September. Copies of the form and FAQs have been distributed are available from: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents.

Catherine Ward – INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER/STAGE 3 ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

ICAS EXAMS ICAS Exams have been scheduled to take place over the next fortnight.

The exam dates will be as followed:

Writing (Years 5/6 only) Wednesday 11 September

Spelling Thursday 12 September

Mathematics Thursday 19 September

Patrick Warren – ICAS COORDINATOR

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STAGE 2 POETRY

PAUL THE PEBBLE Have you heard the story of Paul the Pebble He was mean and cruel and quite a rebel. He bullied other rocks and called them names, And wouldn’t include them in his games. Because of his actions the government had a meeting, And the leader announced while everyone was seating. I think you all know what this meeting’s about, We’re having a vote to kick Paul out. They raised their hands in the air, Even though some of them didn’t even care. Although the result was quite a variety, Paul was kicked out of the pebble society. Paul said “I don’t care” and left acting tough, But really he was lonely, what he said was a bluff. He set out on his journey into the blue, Through the forest he disappeared into. He wandered around with nowhere to go, He was in no rush and very slow. But then Paul knew what he had to do, He could get back together with his crew. He got up and started walking with a smile, And finally reached after walking for a mile. His home that stood big and tall, Quite large for a pebble who was very small. He walked right in and announced very clearly, I’m sorry for my actions, I am really. The pebbles were happy from then on, Because Paul was sorry for what he had done. He wouldn’t exclude others from his games And wouldn’t call them any rude names. Paul and his friends had lots of fun, They would play all day in the sun. By Wes Martin

Emily and Emma Emily was a kind and friendly dog Who was born next to a colossal log All her sisters and her brothers Made fun of her and all the others Laughed, fussed and made fun And then they went out and played in the sun But no one really knew the truth About her best friend Emma the sleuth One day after a huge bank robbery All the dogs were tired and slobbery Emma the extremely trustworthy sleuth Went down to the bank to find some proof Emma was extremely sad But also very, very mad That Emily’s dad and mum Had stolen a massive sum Of freshly printed cash And had made a very quick dash Towards the luscious green bushes. And all the dog’s chatter went into shushes. ‘Mum, Dad how could you, Surly this is not true!’ ‘Yes, we are sorry, But please, please don’t worry!’ Emily was very sad But also extremely mad Now years after the bank robbery All the dogs were tired and slobbery They all loved Emily and Emma They were all best friends forever. And that day made history Emma had solved a mystery. By Lily O’Brien

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Assembly Awards

WEEK 5 & 6 K’OR Saxon Tyrie

Willow Langi Josephine Horvath Cian Crowe Skylor Crowe Charlotte Burton

1/2G Gemma Green Rio Cristaudo Lexi Sullivan Noah Hamence Ivy Owens Lennox McDermott

3/4M Noah Tam Yam Ruby Thompson Tom Forrester Nina Thompson Xavier Cowie Bella Turner

5/6P Nate Ward Clara Hodge Arabella Bourke Imogen Fazzari Thomas West-Sooby Lucinda Powell-

Betts

KR Isla Simpson Ayda Solis Annabelle Lemon Maxwell Castagna Natalie Henderson Leonardo Stormon

2C Juliette Creamer Jasmine Breen Hugo Evans Josie Farrow Joe Forrester Connor Dwyer

3/4W Flynn Ward Rose King Orla Crowe Oliver Playdon Archer Freeman Sam Cross

HSUB Deacon Harty

K1/P Siara Lange Hayley Jago Elke Hirneth Eva Moylan Sophia Askew Boston Watters

2E Willow Toomey Peter Jago Kylara Wech Jada Capriotti Eleanor West-

Sooby Lia Sheldon

5/6J Zayleigh Taaffe Josie McMahon Zali Smith Jackson McClymont Curtis Williams Patrick Dunne

MERIT AWARDS

Gold Tom Phelan Cooper Main

Silver

Thomas McClymont Emilyne Creamer Maya O’Brien Holly Brock Hugo Bourke Rory Abel

Bronze

Cooper Betts Bobby McKee Joshua Pinchen Sienna Hain Nate Hefferen

1A Callan Regan Abigail Cousins Sienna Hain Vivienne Bencke Pippa O’Brien Cooper Betts

3/4F Lily O’Brien Elsie Wood Alexandra O’Donnell Dylan Googe Sebastian Smith Edan Tearne

5/6M Cameron McCallum Angelina Ottery Krisztian Horvath Adam Cowie Matthew Butler Charlotte Jackson

Keep track of school events by signing up for notifications on the Sentral for parents app. ‘What’s On’ reminders are posted each Sunday evening. Or, please check the Events page of the KSPS Website for all upcoming dates and details.

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P&C Association FATHER’S DAY STALL THANKS Many thanks all to the fantastic volunteers who helped to purchase, prepare and sell gifts at the Father’s Day stall last week. We hope all the Dads, Granddads, Poppys and other special people enjoyed receiving gifts chosen by the students.

If your child brought home an IOU from the stall, please return the amount owing in an envelope, clearly marked with your child’s name and class and “Fathers Day IOU”, to the school office as soon as possible, thank you.

TERM 3 DISCO This term’s disco will be held on Thursday 19 September. The P&C will be providing hot dogs, chips, water and temporary tattoos. If you are able to help cook or serve at the disco please email the P&C or put your name on the Online Roster.

If you’d like to pre-order hot dogs, please fill out the Online Order Form. Pre-orders help us to purchase the right amount of food and reduce waste. EFTPOS payments are available for the hot dogs, using our Square reader which will be located at the canteen. Please note that a processing fee of 1.9% is added to all card payments.

CANTEEN NEWS At last month’s P&C meeting, members voted to approve a modified canteen menu, in line with the NSW Department of Education’s Healthy School Canteens Policy. We hope to complete the changeover to the new menu by the start of Term 4. This means that some stock on the current menu will only be available until it is sold out. Party Meat Pies are already sold out. If you have any queries regarding this process, please email the P&C. We will distribute the new menu soon, via the newsletter, Facebook and Sentral.

GROUNDS AND GARDENS WORKING BEE Save the date: the next Grounds and Gardens working bee will be held on Sunday 22 September from 9am to 11am.

SEPTEMBER P&C MEETING Please join us for the next P&C meeting on Wednesday 11 September at 7pm in the school library. We are starting to think about our plans for next year, so if you have any ideas for fundraising or suggestions for events, we’d love to hear from you. Please come to the meeting or send us an email or Facebook message.

CANTEEN HELPERS Mrs Best is always on the lookout for helpers in the canteen. Volunteers help from around 8.45am until approximately 12pm. Mrs Best will send you home with a delicious lunch as a small token of thanks for your support.

Online Canteen Roster Term 3/4

Next Meeting: 11 September

7pm in the Library

kspspandc@gmail.com

Kotara South Public School P&C

Next Volunteer Day is

22nd September Monday 9th Sep

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