Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are occurring over Weeks 9 & 10 (Kinder to Year 6). Preschool statements of learning will be sent home in Week 10 with parent interviews next semester. Teachers (in the primary school) have recently sent home notes (in school bags) to capture parent’s interview date and time preferences.  Next week, parents (who have returned the note) will receive a confirmation slip with your interview time. We look forward to discussing your child's progress.

School Tour and P&C Coffee Cart

We had some feedback from our P&C that some of our new and existing families would appreciate a tour of the school. We are holding a walkthrough for anyone who is interested after the P&C coffee cart community event. The Coffee Cart (8:15-9am) and school tour (9-9:30am) will take place front of school (near the Yarning Circle) on Thursday 29 June (Week 10). We encourage you to grab a free cup of coffee and mingle with school staff and other parents. Please meet Michelle and Chris at the coffee cart at 9am if you are interested in attending the tour. Thank you to our amazing P&C for sponsoring and organising this event.

Action Research (Writing Initiative)

Our teachers are currently engaging in whole school action research projects with a focus on improving student writing outcomes. The whole school focus question is “What areas for improvement can we identify in our practices that could lead to improved student outcomes in writing?”. Each cohort has their own sub questions that relate to the needs of their students. We are measuring our progress through a number of assessments to give us a better understanding of individual students and whole school growth. The preliminary results indicate that students have already shown increased engagement in writing across the school. We will continue to support students to develop their writing skills through this action learning process and look forward to more positive gains in the future.

Library Upgrades

The library upgrades look amazing with the lots of new lounges and shelves (and more shelves to come). I would like to acknowledge the School Board and P&C for supporting and funding this project. This investment will no doubt enhance our school reading programs and impact positively on our students’ love of quality literature.

School Mural

We have engaged with Aboriginal artist Eddie Longford to create an Acknowledgement of Country mural in front of school. Eddie plans to work with the school community to develop a design that represents our connection to the land and water in and around our school. This work is scheduled to happen after Winter in the warmer months of the year. We welcome all of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and other members of the community to contact the school if they are interested in contributing to this project. Please see a couple of the designs below that Eddie has made with other ACT schools.

External After School Programs

In Term 3, a number of organisations will continue to run after school programs on our school grounds. These programs are offered through external providers and are not 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. A new program will commence at the beginning of Term Three and will cost $225 for nine weeks ($25 per session). Currently there are no spots available, however, please email nelson@getsettennis.com.au or phone 0422 809 160 to find out more and/or register on the waiting list. 

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 3 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

Next term, Code Camp After-School will be offering an after school program for our (Year 2-6) students in the Kaleen Primary School library 3pm-4:30pm each Thursday. The program commences at the beginning of Term Two and costs $260 for eight weeks ($32.50 per session). Participants get creative using design, code and logic to build their own game! Book now HERE. Parents will receive a $15 Early Bird discount if they enrol prior to 30th June using the discount code AS3-EB-15. Or give us a 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.

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 3 and will cost between $50 and $100 for the term (depending on numbers). 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. 

I look forward to seeing you in and around the school.

Bye for now,

Chris Shaddock

Principal

School Happenings and Information 

Staff at Kaleen continue to practise mindfulness strategies. We can spend a lot of time thinking ahead. However, a regular mindfulness practice can increase our awareness of what is also happening in the present moment. It can ‘wake us up’, help us become more aware of our feelings, thoughts, needs and behaviours.

This term we have been getting to know our brain a little better. Mary-Caitlin, one of our Year 2 teachers, introduced us to a program called Grow your Mind. You can find out more about it here :  https://growyourmind.life/ It describes the functions of the brain in user-friendly ways, such as the Amygdala being a little like a Guard Dog. Our Amygdala is useful in that it helps us sense danger and can be protective, much like a guard dog. However, our Amygdala can also become over-protective at times, influencing our behaviour so we sometimes might become overly anxious or frightened. If we can become more aware of this idea, it can help us then choose positive mindful strategies when we are feeling scared or anxious.

Other strategies we have been experimenting with are getting in touch with our right brain with art and craft to balance our more analytical left-side of our brain. Providing our children with small moments of quiet (non-talking) time to draw, colour or sketch in nature can also be a restorative and clarifying strategy.

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

Fiona Manton

 We had the reptile man visit for national environment week.

Pictured are children from the Purple and Red group.

We got to meet –

Snakes, turtles, blue tongue lizards, a shingleback lizard and a crocodile.

Belconnen Region Cross Country

Congratulations to the 46 students that represented Kaleen Primary School at the Belconnen Region Cross Country Carnival at Mt Stromlo on Thursday 25th May. In sunny conditions, our students put in outstanding efforts on the day and were outstanding ambassadors for Kaleen Primary. They were cooperative and respectful when working with officials that ran the event, supportive and encouraging of fellow team members and they demonstrated a wonderful sporting attitude. Each athlete completed their challenging courses, performing to the best of their ability on the day. At the end of the day when asked who enjoyed the experience of competing at a Regional carnival, all responded with enthusiasm. Great effort everyone!

A big thank you to the families for coming out to support and encourage our team. Your support was appreciated! Thank you to Erin and Olivia for assisting on the course. 

Congratulations to Ellen M who finished third and Harriet B who finished fifth in their races. They have qualified to represent Belconnen Region at the ACT Cross Country Carnival on Thursday 15th June. We wish them all the best.

To mark the 35th birthday of New Parliament House, Kaleen Primary had a number of students perform as part of the ACT Primary Concert Choir. Congratulations to the following students who did Kaleen Primary proud. 

Shrestha, Phoebe, Olive, Olivia and Avrielle.

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

Community

Raising Respect
Free parent/carer information sessions

Children need to be safe, connected, and free to grow as their unique selves. To make this happen, we need to learn how to challenge disrespect and gender stereotypes. Raising Respect is an ACT Government funded project to help equip parents and carers to talk to their children and others about respect, gender equality and inclusion.

Raising Respect runs one-hour information sessions for parents and carers to learn together. If your school is interested in hosting a Raising Respect session for parents and carers, register your interest and Raising Respect will get in touch with options Raising Respect registration form.

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.