School Board News

I would like to congratulate Simon Scarano on his recent appointment to our School Board. Simon brings a wealth of skills and knowledge and is an active member of our Kaleen Primary School P&C committee. Congratulations also to Robert McGregor (current Board Chair) and Bec Hadfield and Fiona Chapman (teacher reps) on their reappointments and to Catherine McGufficke for her continued service in 2023. On behalf of the school community, I would like to thank Rochelle Wood for her four years of service while her children attended our school. Thank you to all Board members (past and present) for working collaboratively with the P&C, staff, school leadership and students to keep steering our school in the right direction.

Updated School Procedures (Sharing food/Birthday Cupcakes)

Now that the Covid19 pandemic restrictions have eased, we are updating our school procedures related to students sharing food (including birthday cupcakes) at school. Parents are once again welcome (but not expected) to bring in cupcakes for their child’s classmates on their birthday. We ask families to distribute these cupcakes after school (with other parents present) to ensure children have their parents' permission. Most junior school students have a parent collect them in the afternoons, however, some attend after school care. In these circumstances, parents can inform their child’s teacher of their after school food sharing preferences and teachers will assist with this process.

We also encourage students not to share food with friends during school hours (this includes buying for their friends at the school canteen). Certain students have dietary requirements and some parents prefer their children to eat the food they pack rather than receiving food from friends. 

Student Parliament Action

Koshon (Student Parliament Rep Minister for Sport) has been talking to students across to find out what we can do to enhance sport and play breaks at Kaleen Primary School.  The junior school students reported they would like some mini soccer goals and a mini basketball court to play on. The senior school students said they love the new school basketball hoops, but would also love the faded lines to be remarked on the basketball and handball courts. Koshon (AKA Action Man) has worked with the school executive to purchase three sets of mini soccer goals and a basketball hoop and backboard for a new half court school basketball (between the kindergarten Year 2 classrooms). We are currently waiting on quotes to have the lines repainted on the basketball and handball courts. We will let you know more once we hear back. Thank you to Koshon for listening to the people and to all those students who offered their feedback.

Assemblies

We are excited to reintroduce assemblies next term each Friday afternoon 2:15pm (alternating senior and junior each week). These will replace our virtual assemblies and focus on special messages, awards and a performance item from the host cohort. Please see the Term 2 timetable below for more details:

Week 2 - Year 6

Week 3 - Year 2

Week 4 - Year 5

Week 5 - Year 1

Week 6 - Year 4

Week 7 - Kindergarten

Week 8 - Year 3

External After School Programs

In Term 2, a number of organisations will be running after school programs on our school grounds. These programs are offered through external providers and will not be supervised by school staff. Please contact the businesses directly to find out more about their terms and conditions and/or to book a spot for your child. 

Mondays

Get Set Tennis coaches are offering group lessons for Kindergarten to Year 6 students on the Kaleen Primary School tennis courts 3pm-4:30pm each Monday. In cases of wet weather, the program will move to the school hall. The program commences at the beginning of Term Two and will cost $225 for nine weeks ($25 per session). Please email nelson@getsettennis.com.au or phone 0422 809 160 to find out more and/or book in a spot. 

Tuesdays 

Join Perform Australia for drama classes in the school hall from 3pm-4:30pm - learn acting skills, play drama games, and explore characters! The program begins Week 1 of Term 2 and will cost $250 for the term. Please enrol online directly at www.perform.edu.au/kaleen or call Perform Australia on 1300 908 905 to find out more. For Kindergarten to Year 6.  

Thursdays

Gecko Sports will be offering a multi-sports program which gives kids the opportunity to play a different sport each week. Unfortunately, due to staffing issues, this program is scheduled to commence at the beginning of Term 3.  Information on session times and how to enrol will be provided towards the end of Term 2.

PE@K Program

Separate from our external provider program,  Kaleen Primary school will be offering chess coaching from 3-4:30pm in the Library on Wednesday afternoons. This will be for any interested students in Years 3-6 who are looking to develop their chess playing skills and receive support to improve their strategy and critical thinking. This program will commence from the beginning of Term 2 and will cost $100 for the term. Please contact Callum Joce at callum.joce@ed.act.edu.au or the front office at 6142 1750 to find out more and/or to book in a spot. 

Wishing you all a fabulous break!

Bye for now,

Chris Shaddock

Principal

2023 Book Packs

All educational resources have been purchased by the school. Thank you to those families who have already paid.  Contribution requests will be sent home this afternoon to families who have not yet paid. These 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. 

Voluntary Contributions  - Library Trust

For many years, students have benefited from the financial resources provided through voluntary contributions from parents, carers and other citizens. With these contributions, our school can purchase additional educational materials, and provide supplementary programs and activities for students. The School Board works collaboratively with the P&C to allocate these funds towards the school’s various educational programs and initiatives. Our School Board has approved the same contribution rate as previous years - $95 for one child or $150 for a family. Voluntary contributions may be made in full, in part or in instalments to our Library Trust Fund that has been established to enable parents to make tax deductible contributions of $2 or more.

Thank you to those families that have made a contribution this year.

PE@K 

Student Parliament Fundraiser!

The first charity fundraising event Student Parliament will host is "Crazy Costume Day"! Crazy Costume Day is on Thursday 6 April (last day of Term 1) and all gold coin donations raised will be donated to The Cancer Council, supporting Australians affected by cancer. 

So, dress up in tutus, crazy socks, wigs, bright colours and help Student Parliament to raise money for this very worthy cause. 

Thanks for your support - Student Parliament and Mrs Hadfield.

The Red and Purple Preschool groups, had a visit from Kenny Koala today.

Kenny Koala discussed lots of ways for the Pre-Schoolers to keep safe at home, at school and in the community.

We got to see Kenny’s Koalas car and hear the sirens 

Belconnen Regional Swimming Carnival

On Tuesday, we had 15 students represent Kaleen at the Regional Belconnen Swimming Carnival. They all competed extremely well, showing great spirit with lots of cheering, and represented Kaleen in a responsible and respectful manner. It was great to see all students better their times and break some personal bests. On the day, we also had two place getters; Violet Little who placed 3rd in both the 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke and Lijane Dietrichsen who placed 1st in the 50m backstroke. 

Congratulations to all swimmers and well done!

This term the staff at Kaleen Primary School have been practising mindfulness as an educational strategy. We have been taking time throughout the day to breathe deeply, to pause, to use our senses to notice our surroundings - what we can see, hear and smell. Practices like these can bring about a sense of calm and clarity. We are using them to help ourselves and our students stay ‘on track’ with learning.

Lately we have been pausing to do a body scan. After taking 3 deep breaths, we try moving our attention gradually from our toes, up through our body until we reach the top of our heads, easing tension where we find it. Such a practice can bring about renewed calm and ease when feeling tired, worried or restless. Another strategy we are trying is asking the question ‘What else is here?’ Research suggests our brains are built for survival and are naturally wired to scan for danger. Sometimes this can mean we may be more prone to seeing the negatives in any given moment rather than the positives in a fast-paced world that can sometimes lead us to feel rushed and stressed. However, after taking a deep breath and then asking, ‘What else is here?’ a fresh perspective, energy and new ideas can be found.

Why not give one or more of these strategies a go at home.

Community Garden at Kaleen Primary School

The sustainability teams here at KPS have been  busy fixing up the existing garden areas at the school but also are exploring opportunities where we can connect with the community in the area of Sustainability. We are looking forward to the building of our greenhouse and would love to share the resource with the community by  possible setting up a Kaleen Community  Garden. We would like to gauge your interest and would appreciate it if you could please take the time to complete this short form.

Olyvia has been doing Nippers at Malua Bay, Batemans Bay since November 2022 until March 2023.

Pambula was the Second Carnival she has participated in and she completed the following events u11 year events:

Female 1km Run, Female Flags, Female Boards, Female Swim, Female Beach Sprint

Olyvia also did the Diamond Lady event (Run, Boards and Swim consecutively). 

It was a massive day and she was the only girl in her age group to complete all events.

Olyvia was placed in the top 10 for all events which she participated in. This is a massive achievement for her second competition and first year at Nippers.

On Sunday 26th March 2023, Cody played with his new NRL team the Gungahlin Bulls U12’s at the Goulburn Junior Stockmen Life Members Carnival.

They played and won 3 games of football, against Young, Crookwell and Goulburn.

They won the semifinals to then take on the top U12 Goulburn team in the final.

His whole team played an amazing game, winning 6 - 0.

Cody played his best game of the day in the final and was awarded, by the referee: Player of the tournament for U12’s.

Great work Cody, all your hard work is starting to pay off, keep it up! 

Annabella from 3BH has recently returned to Canberra after spending time in England helping to care for her Grandad. Since getting back to Canberra, Bella has been busy fundraising for Dementia Australia.

At the weekend Bella was one of over 800 people who took part in the Canberra Memory Walk & Run, jogging 5km around Lake Burley Griffin, to help fundraise money for families affected by dementia.

We are all very proud of Annabella and how kind and caring she is.

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

Community

Canteen Staff Wanted 

If you are looking for part time or full time work, school hours, Monday to Friday 9am to 2pm in a school canteen please contact us on 0408 200 481.

You must be able to work in a team environment, have basic cooking skills and knowledge of meal preparation. Must have a drivers license & Working with vulnerable people card.  (if you do not have a WWVP card it can be obtained once successful) Please contact us on 0408 200 481 for further information.