Newsletter Meet and Mingle (with free BBQ) Information

The school and P&C are joining forces to host a community event for all of our Kaleen families on Wednesday 15 February (Week 3) 4:00pm - 6:00pm. This is an opportunity for you to meet your child/ren’s teacher(s) and hear about some of the classroom learning and routines. Each session begins with a teacher welcome, followed by an allocated time for you to mingle and ask questions. The BBQ will be available from 4:15-5:45pm and you are welcome to gather near the basketball court at any time that fits in with the allocated sessions outlined in the timetable below. If you have children in consecutive years and need to attend back-to-back sessions, the initial ‘Teacher information’ sessions do not overlap, so you will be able attend all of the ones relevant to you, no matter how many children you have at KPS! Please note that these sessions will begin on time, so please be prompt to avoid missing the presentations. If you do happen to miss the ‘Mingle and Information’ time for your child’s year level, teachers will also be available for questions or a chat during the BBQ. Preschool families have already attended information sessions prior to commencement of Preschool, however, all families are invited to the community BBQ. We look forward to seeing you there! 

External After School Programs

A number of external organisations are interested in running after school programs in and around our school grounds. If you are interested in your child/ren accessing after school programs, could you please fill out this short survey to help us better understand the types of programs you would like offered. Please understand that these after school programs would be offered through external providers and would not be supervised by school staff. Click here to access the survey which will be open until Friday 10 February (Week 2). 

Teacher Professional Learning

Over the past couple of weeks our talented and dedicated teaching team have been busily planning for another fantastic year of learning. At Kaleen Primary School, we are all learners, so teachers kicked off the year by participating in a range of professional learning, strengthening our learning and teaching practices. Staff looked at researched based strategies to enhance our teaching of writing and improve our consistency of practice across teaching teams. We also engaged with a hands-on practical workshop, ‘Inspiring Students To Write’ delivered by the amazing Harry Laing (local author). Harry had our teachers participate in a wide variety of games and exercises which involved creative writing and we left the workshop with new tools in our writing tool kits. These initiatives link to teachers’ 2023 action research projects and where teachers will engage with “Timperley’s Spiral of Inquiry” to enhance student outcomes for their students. Thank you to our staff for their high level engagement throughout all professional learning sessions. Follow the link to see some of our teachers awesome work. 

PBL Four Week Focus

As a part of our PBL program, Fiona Manton (Kindergarten Teacher) is teaching staff mindfulness strategies they can use with their students. The first four week focus is all about breathwork (slow and purposeful breathing). People have been practising breathwork for thousands of years and new research demonstrates it is linked to many physical and mental health benefits. When we feel stressed, our breath tends to become fast and shallow. This limits the oxygen entering our bloodstream. Our brain tells our body that there is a threat, and our body responds by triggering its fight or flight mechanism. Breathwork can short circuit this response and help our body to start functioning normally again. Regular breathwork can enhance mood, sleep, mental focus, release stress hormones from the body and improve our respiratory function and immune systems. We encourage you to talk to your child/ren about the new techniques they are learning. 

Before School Supervision

A member of the Executive Team is on playground duty in the Senior area (basketball court, netball court and grass area adjacent to the Gym) from 8:45am-9:00am each morning. Senior students are asked not to play on any fixed playground equipment before school. If junior students are with their own parent/carer, they have the option to supervise them on the play equipment outside the kindergarten classrooms. All other equipment is not available for play during these times and we ask students to stay out of these areas completely to avoid any confusion.

Safe parking around schools

Please find below a message from the ACT Education Directorate. Safe parking around schools The start of the school year is a particularly busy time in our school carparks and surrounding streets. It’s important that we park safely and legally to support the safety of students. Parking on a footpath, nature strip or roadside verge can:

 • Cause safety risks for pedestrians as they are less visible to oncoming cars 

• Increase the risk for vulnerable members of our community like children, people who are visually impaired, and those using a wheelchair or pram 

• Restrict the line of sight for other road users 

• Restrict access for emergency services vehicles. 

Parking on nature strips can also damage trees, footpaths, gutters and underground pipes and cables. Please also remember not to park across driveways or block neighbouring residents’ properties. As students return to school remember to also slow down and stick to the 40km/h limit around our schools between 8am and 4pm. Parking inspectors regularly patrol school zones to support safe parking and keep students safe. If you cannot find a car park in our school car parks, we suggest parking a little further away and walking or riding the rest of the way – it’s a quick and easy way to get in some exercise too. Let’s all work together to keep our kids and community safe! More information about travelling safely to school is available on the Transport ACT website.

Bye for now,

Chris Shaddock

Principal

Personal Property

Please label all your child’s clothing and school items such as lunchboxes, drink bottles and bags. If your child loses an item and it is labeled we are able to return it. Any unlabeled lost items are sent to lost property, located at the front of the canteen. 

Uniforms

Our uniforms are ordered online and provided by an external provider. Please use this Link to order uniform items. They can be delivered free to the school (collected from the front office) or a shipping charge applies for home deliveries. Our uniform shop (located near the Preschool) has some limited stock/sizes of new items and second hand uniforms . It is open on Wednesdays 8:30am-9:00am.

All students are expected to wear the school uniform each day. Kaleen Primary School colours are Navy and Emerald and navy items can be purchased from any store.

If you have any old uniforms that you would like to donate to the school, please drop them off at the front office. 

2023 Book Packs

All educational resources have been purchased by the school. A payment note went out on Wednesday. Payments will need to be finalised by the end of Term 1. 

‘Book Pack’ pricing includes:

• Stationery items

• Digital Technology and Subscriptions

• Educational Resources (art and craft supplies, photocopy paper, year level specific recourses)

The cost for each ‘Book Pack’ is $95.00. There is a reduced rate for families with more than one child attending Kaleen Primary School (including the preschool). Payment is required by Thursday April 6th. The prices are listed below.

If you have…

1 child the cost is $95.00

2 children the total cost is $180.00

3 or more children the total cost is $250.00 per family

Payments can be made by cash, EFTPOS, or via our website using Quickweb. If you have any questions or would like to discuss a payment plan, please contact the front office. 

Medical Conditions and Medication

Medical forms will be sent home to all families next week. Please complete all relevant sections and return them to school as soon as possible. This information is required by the ACT Education Directorate and needs to be updated each year.

If your child has a known medical condition or requires medication to be administered throughout the school day. You will need to complete the relevant forms at the front office. 

We are an allergy friendly school and currently have students who are Anaphylaxis to nuts and sesame.  To ensure the safety and well being for all children we kindly ask that you do not send any product to school that contains these ingredients. 

See images below for some items that contain Sesame. 

Student absences

If your child/ren are absent for any reason from school, you must notify the school before 9:00am on the day of the absence. We have three ways you could let us know. 

• Email the school at KaleenPS.Absences@ed.act.edu.au 

• Telephone the school on 6142 1750, or 

• Direct to teachers via SEESAW

Please include the date, student's name and class. It is a legal requirement that all absences are recorded with an explanation. If we have not been informed, the absence will be marked as unexplained and you will be sent a notification via SMS.  

Learning Session Times

Preschool: 8:45am - 2:45pm 

Kindergarten - Year 6: 9:00am - 3:00pm 

Session 1: 9:00am - 11:00am 

Morning Break: 11:00am - 11:30am 

Session 2: 11:30am - 1:00pm 

Lunch Break : 1.00pm - 2:00pm 

Session 3: 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Late Arrivals and Early Leavers

All students entering or leaving school during school time must be signed in/out by their parent/carer. All parents wishing to collect or drop off students outside of normal hours must enter the school via the front office. Parents/carers are not permitted to go directly to their child’s classrooms without KPS front office staff support. Under no circumstances are students to leave the school without being signed out from the front office. 

Students Arriving Before School

All students who arrive before 8:45am without parental supervision are required to wait at the back of the school on the basketball courts. No students are permitted to play on the senior or middle playground equipment before school commences. Parents are able to supervise their own children on the junior play equipment adjacent to the kindergarten classrooms.

Welcome back! We are excited to open the library and start sharing books with all of the students. We have some amazing new titles we will be putting out over the next few weeks to engage and encourage readers.

Your children will have a Library session once a week where they can browse and borrow books to take home. See your classroom teachers for your child’s Library day and time. We ask that students bring a library bag to keep their books in when they are borrowing. This can be anything from a plastic grocery bag or a tote bag. We sometimes have spares if you forget. 

This year the borrowing limits will be 2 books for all junior students and 3 books for senior students. Books can be kept for 21 days before they become overdue. Overdue notices are printed 1-2 times per term and will be sent home in students bags. Teachers may also notify families via Seesaw. If books are lost families are asked to pay for or make a contribution towards purchasing a new book, if they have capacity to do so. 

Hot Reads for Term 1:

Are you looking for some interesting book titles to engage your children?

Our Library Coordinator Krissy has some great recommendations. Check them out! (Note we have all of these titles in our Library.)

Preschool:  Lift the Flap books- Reading lift-the-flap books with your child is also helpful from a literacy-learning perspective. While your child can't yet read the words in the book, lifting the flap themselves enables them to tell part of the story by showing you what's under the flap and naming it for you.

Kindy: Mo Willems Pigeon Collection- These fun and engaging picture books are great for identifying emotions as well as discussing and teaching thought and speech bubbles. The simple text so is perfect for beginning readers to identify words as they follow and read along.

Year 1 and 2: Dragon Masters Series- This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

Year 3 and 4: Wolf Girl Series- Anh Do's thrilling new action adventure series Wolf Girl takes off with a surge of adrenaline and will send readers' fight or flight instincts into overdrive. This series offers a step-up in reading challenge for fans of WeirDo and Ninja Kid.

Year 5 and 6: The Keeper of the Lost Cities- Recommended for fans of Harry Potter. This 3 book series is imaginative, well-crafted, and engaging, with a strong girl protagonist and plenty of interesting supporting characters. the book has much to offer in the way of imaginative issues and plot twists, not to mention credible, appealing role models showing loyalty, friendship, and courage.

Happy Reading

Krissy McCombe

Library Coordinator & Community Liaison Officer

Scholastic Book Club

Our school participates in Scholastic Book Club a few times throughout the year. Keep your eye open for a catalogue in Term 1, 2 and 4.

The Book Club is great way to purchase books and encourage reading as well as contribute to our school as 15% of every order goes back to our Library to purchase new resources.

Issue 1 catalogues will be sent home in bags this week. Ordering is easy, just follow the 5 step instructions outlined below (Please note, we are not currently accepting cash orders).

Ordering closes COB Tuesday 14 February

Find out more about Book Club by using the link provided https://issuu.com/scholastic_australia/docs/scholastic_book_club_parent_guide?fr=sODVlMDM0NDU5MDI

This year Scholastic is offering a free book giveaway!

2023 KPS Staff 

School Board Vacancies 2023

If you would like to contribute to the governance of Kaleen Primary School, you are invited to nominate for a position on the Kaleen Primary School Board. No prior experience is necessary. 

We have one P&C association member vacant in 2023, the position has a two year term. 

Nominations will open at 11.00am on Monday 6 February 2023 and will close at 11.00am on Monday 20 February 2023. 

Please click this link for the nomination form.

You can submit your nomination by:

• Email to diana.wallace@ed.act.edu.au (preferred)

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

Community