School Board News

I would like to congratulate Danielle O’Connor on her recent appointment to our School Board as a teacher representative.  Congratulations also to Robert McGregor (current Board Chair), Simon Scarano and Bec Hadfield (teacher rep) on their reappointments. On behalf of the school community, I would like to thank Catherine McGufficke for her 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.

The right to disconnect

Last week we sent home a Seesaw post to promote the Education Directorate’s direction for supporting sustainable workloads for our staff and our latest communication policy. We are very lucky here at Kaleen to have a wonderful parent community who respect and value our teachers, however, the messaging does provide clear guidelines and ensures consistent expectations across our system. A couple of parents have reached out to me to express that sometimes they may be required to send an email/Seesaw post outside of core working hours due to their work arrangements. This is completely fine, our teachers will respond within their working hours and recommended timeframes.

If you need to chat with any of our amazing Executive Teachers. This is our current structure leadership structure:

Preschool - Sarah Milligan and Michelle Northey

Kindergarten to Year 2 - Kate North

Years 3&4 - Danielle O’Connor (Acting)

Years 5&6 - Kelly Turner

Junior and Senior Small Group Programs - Sarah Milligan

Deputy Principal - Sarah Milligan (Acting)

Principal - Michelle Northey (Acting)

Learning Progress Statements 

Learning progress statements will be sent home this Friday (5 April). The purpose of the learning statement is to provide parents with a mid semester check in and inform them about their child’s learning progress. They are a reflection of where students are currently performing compared to their age peers (unless they are on a Personalised (P) Learning Plan). Teachers may indicate a request for an interview, please contact the teachers directly to organise a mutually convenient time.

Family Connect Initiative

A key priority in our school improvement plan is to increase our parent engagement. This year we have launched the Family Connect initiative which will provide a number of support and connection opportunities for our families. This term we will host our first Cuppa and Yarn Session and in early Term 2 we will be offering our first Parent Engagement Session on reading. Please read more details below.

• Cuppa and Yarn Sessions - These are an informal opportunity for parents/carers to enjoy a cuppa while connecting and chatting with other parents and the school leadership team. Deputy Principal, Sarah Milligan, and Principal, Michelle Northey, will be there and are more than happy to answer any questions you may have, offer support or just simply catch up with you all. Our first Cuppa and Yarn Session will be on next Wednesday 10 April, 9:00am-10:00am in the classroom next to the front office. All are welcome (including young children).

• Parent Engagement Sessions - These sessions will vary throughout the year and are designed to promote and support parent engagement in student learning. We will be seeking community feedback to ensure we are targeting the needs of our parents throughout the year. Our first session will have a focus on reading and how parents can support home reading. We will run two sessions (am/pm) on Wednesday 15 May (Term 2 Week 3) in the classroom next to the front office. The first session will start at 9:00am and the second session will start at 2:00pm. These are repeat sessions and you only need to attend one. Please note that these sessions are for parents/carers and unfortunately young children are unable to attend due to the space.

PBL Target achieved

We would also like to congratulate our students on achieving their PBL goal of 5000 W@K tokens as a school! We have had a spike in safety tokens this last fortnight, getting us over the line, with many of our students being recognised for being safe in and around the school. Students will receive their mystery prize of ‘Move or Movies in our PJs’ (chosen by students in each class) on Thursday Week 11 (11 April). Children are encouraged to wear their pyjamas (PJs) to school. 

External after School activities

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 3:00pm-4:30pm each Monday. In cases of wet weather, the program will move to an alternate location within the school grounds. A new program will commence at the beginning of Term 2 and will cost $225 for nine weeks ($25 per session). However, there is currently a waitlist. Please email nelson@getsettennis.com.au or phone 0422 809 160 to find out more and/or register for the waiting list.

Thursdays:

This term, Code Camp will be offering an after-school program for our (Year 2-6) students in the Kaleen Primary School library 3:00pm-4:30pm each Thursday. The program runs for 8 weeks and commences in Week 2 of Term 2. The cost for Code Camp is $284 for eight weeks. Book now HERE or call on 1300 263 322. 

Our popular coding program incorporates weekly challenges, functions, algorithms, branching, variables, game logic, user experience and maths. Coding after-school offers students a new project each week and the fun doesn't have to stop after class! Your child will be provided with their very own Code Camp World account which they can use to continue creating at home and to share their projects with family and friends. There are spaces available.

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 starting from the beginning of Term Two. This will be for 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  An expression of interest will be sent out to students today who have previously participated in chess coaching.  The cost will be dependent on the number of students interested in participating.  If you require any further information please contact Callum Joce at callum.joce@ed.act.edu.au or the front office at 6142 1750.

We also have a number of PE@K Lunch Clubs to enrich the learning experiences for our students during lunch time. Please see the latest PE@K Timetable and Lunch Clubs currently available.

Link PE@K timetable

Thanks for all your continued support and we hope you have a great holiday break, ready for another fabulous term of teaching and learning.

Keep Smiling

The Leadership Team

We are very proud of our inclusive and diverse school culture. As a school community we work very hard to ensure we are committed to the holistic development of every child - socially, emotionally, academically, culturally and physically (Kaleen Primary School Vision Statement).

This year the Education Directorate has released its new Inclusive Education Strategy which is also available as an easy read version and aligns perfectly with the strategic direction of our school to ensure that all students succeed and achieve their learning potential. Our vision is that all students enjoy coming to school to learn, share, celebrate and have fun (KPS Vision ). 

Throughout the term, our staff have been learning about creating Universally Designed Learning (UDL) environments and they have already started planning their 2024 Action Learning Projects to improve student outcomes. We are very lucky to have such an incredible team of educators who want to make a difference to every student, every day. 

In Week 8, we celebrated Harmony and Neurodiversity Week - the theme for this year was ‘Everyone Belongs’. This was a fabulous opportunity for our teachers to provide explicit teaching about inclusiveness, diversity, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. On Friday, March 22 we celebrated Harmony and Neurodiversity Day. The students participated in a range of activities in multi age groups that promoted and recognised our diverse community, expertly led by our Year 6 leaders. I would like to thank everyone involved for their tremendous efforts in making the day a great success. 

Lastly, I wanted to remind you about our P&C Inclusive Education Support Group for Parents/carers of neurodiverse children who may be interested in connecting and supporting each other either via WhatsApp or face to face at our termly catch ups. This initiative commenced last year and is led by our amazing P&C representative, Michelle Tabbah. Please contact her via email kaleenpandc@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the mailing list.

As the Principal of Kaleen Primary School, I am so proud of the work we are all doing in regard to Inclusive Practices and to ensure we are a welcoming school where ‘everyone belongs’.  

Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL)

Our Social and Emotional Learning Program ‘Everyone Everyday’ continues with the focus differing for year groups for the rest of the term. In Kindergarten, the focus is on making it easy for everyone to ‘join in’; in Years 1/2 the message is that ‘Everyone counts’; in Years 3/4 it’s about becoming informed, noticing and challenging, while in Years 5-6 the message is about taking on and navigating responsibility. Our Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL) focus and messaging to the students until the end of term is on respectful behaviours. 

Junior School - End of Term Focus

Respectful Behaviours:

• Speaking nicely to friends and classmates

• Taking turns and sharing equipment and space

• Listening to others

Senior School - End of Term Focus

Respectful Behaviours:

• Listen to what everyone has to say

• Respectful responses and comments towards others 

• Treat others how you wish to be treated

Mindfulness

In our regular weekly meeting, staff have been using an idea explored by Dr Adam Fraser – The Third Space. Dr Fraser uses this term to simply define and help us with the transitions, the changes that occur from one moment in our life to the next. As you can imagine, there are many transitional moments within our days, both big and small, and our school setting is no different. Some examples of transitions within a school day might include the change from home to school first thing in the morning; the changes involved in coming back into the classroom after recess; or the smaller transition from a floor group learning time to learning at desks. Our goal as staff is to equip ourselves and our students to manage these transitions in safe, calm and positive ways. Practising mindfulness such as body scans, breathing techniques and short quiet walks in nature can help us listen to our bodies and our needs. As staff we aim to prepare our selves for the work of our meetings by practising the same kinds of strategies. We practise leaving one ‘space’ (our teaching day) so we might be ready with clear minds and fresh energy for the next ‘space’ (our planning and programming). In this way we can all better stay ‘on track’ with learning and teaching. We encourage you to keep talking to your child/ren about the new techniques they are learning. As usual, here are some resources below that you could utilise to support our home/school connection.

Fiona Manton

Congratulations Everyone! 

As Ministers for Wellbeing we are very proud of everyone's effort in reaching the target of 5000 W@K tokens. Our first reward is 'Move or Movies in our PJs' on Thursday 11 April and we look forward to working with the Student Parliament and Cohort Reps to decide on future rewards for the school.

Keep being safe, respectful, responsible leaners!

From Cate, Amelia and Elle

We have had feedback from the community that there have been several near misses at the top carpark with students darting in and around cars entering and exiting the car park during pick up time in the afternoons. We encourage parents to continue to report incidents to the police. We will continue to educate the students about road safety through a variety of programs. We would also appreciate it if parents could reinforce our messages about road safety by speaking to their children. We have permanently closed the gate that opens directly in the middle of the top carpark and all pedestrians are reminded to use the pathways to keep everyone safe. We are also looking to repaint the lines to improve visibility for each space.

We are an active street school. Walking or riding to school is a great way for students to be physically active each morning and afternoon, while helping to reduce congestion around the school and limiting our environmental impact. We encourage all of our responsible students (Years 4-6) to ride and walk to school as often as possible.

Kaleen Primary School is part of the Active Streets program, which is designed to drive culture change within school communities to make walking and riding to school the norm for Canberra students. Discussing riding or walking to school with your children may include:

• showing children the best route to and from school (in person and on our school map)·      

• teaching children how to cross roads safely (utilise crossings and underpasses where possible)

• what to do in case of an emergency (key people to contact or where to go).

Walking or riding is a fun, safe and healthy way to get to school!

Reminder – Monday 29 April 2024 is a Pupil Free Day

A friendly reminder to all parents and carers that there are 3 remaining student-free days for ACT public schools in 2024. These are the first day of each school term:

Term 2 – Monday 29 April 2024

Term 3 – Monday 22 July 2024

Term 4 – Monday 14 October 2024

Student-free days are for staff development, enabling teachers and schools to plan in a student-free environment. The increase in student-free planning days from 2024 is part of our Teaching Staff Enterprise Agreement, which prioritises better teacher workloads for educational leadership, teaching and learning.

Year 6 would love to thank the KPS community for their continued support of our leadership events. The Year 6 bake sale was a raging success as we saw many big smiles racing around the playground with hands full of baked goodies. 

On March 22 we celebrated Harmony Day at KPS, have a look at the pictures below to see how our students celebrated!

Our Kaleen Primary School Athletics Carnivals will be happening in Week 11 of Term 1. Please see below for all information in regards to our Junior and Senior Carnivals. 

If your child would like to participate in the Science Fair for 2024 they will need to start thinking about an idea and start planning their project now. 

More information will be provided later in the year, but its always best to start early. Here are some links to help you get started.

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 

• Parent Portal

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.  We kindly ask that you do not send student absences to your child's teacher via Seesaw.

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.

All educational resources have been purchased by the school. Payments will need to be finalised by the end of Term 1. Notes will be sent out next week. 

‘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 6 April. 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, Parent Portal or via our website using QuickWeb. If you have any questions or would like to discuss a payment plan, please contact the front office. 

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

Future of Education Student Equity Fund 2024 opens in January

The Future of Education Equity Fund 2024 to open on 17 January 2024.

From 17 January 2024 families can apply for the Future of Education Equity Fund for the 2024 school year. Eligible low-income ACT families can receive one-off payments for financial assistance to help cover the costs of their children’s educational expenses such as sport equipment and activities, music lessons, school uniforms and excursions. The following payments are available to those who meet the eligibility criteria:

• $400 for preschool students

• $500 for primary school students

• $750 for high-school and college students.

The Fund is open to eligible students enrolled in preschools (attached to a school) through to Year 12 in the ACT. Remember the 2024 application form will be available from 17 January 2024 and for further information visit Financial and resource assistance for families.