THE BULLETIN Kentlyn Public School

Ph: 4628 2455 - Fax: 4628 4365 www.kentlyn-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 3 Week 6 Always Our Best

**** All notes sent home and newsletters are now available on our website and SkoolBag ****

UPCOMING DATES

Tuesday 3 September- School leaders visiting St Patrick’s College. Wednesday 4 September – Zone Field Events Thursday 5 September – Zone Track Events Friday 6 September – K-6 Assembly

Tuesday 10 September – Regional Premier’s Spelling Bee and The Protectors – Anti-bullying show Wednesday 11 September 2019 – NDIS Information session 9:00 – 11:00am in the library

Dear Parents / Carers, Stage 2 Camp Wedderburn

Students had a wonderful time attending camp at Wedderburn on Tuesday and Wednesday. They participated in a range of fun and exciting activities including: archery, flying fox, laser skirmish, rock climbing and more. The food was great, the accommodation was warm and cozy and the camp instructors were friendly and supportive. Noone wanted to leave! Judging by the size of some of the suitcases, we think some of the kids were planning to stay longer.

KD Excursion Calmsley Farm KD enjoyed their first excursion, visiting Calmsley Hill City Farm with their friends at Ruse Public School. Whilst at the farm, students got to experience and learn many new things. The farm experience is heavily focused on “paddock to plate” coupled with an important message of “conservation and sustainability”. The children were led by a farmer / guide through a range of educational stations, many which gave them the opportunity to touch and pat many different animals. One of the most popular stations was the Cow Milking, where the children got to try milking for themselves.

Enrichment Group Some of our Stage 3 students have been working with students from Ruse PS this term in an enrichment group. Students engage in problem solving challenges focused on building their creative and critical thinking skills. This week, students were tasked with creating a protective capsule for their ‘baby egg’. These capsules were then put through a variety of tough challenges to see whose design was best. Currently students meet once a fortnight at Kentlyn PS. We are hoping to expand on these opportunities further in Term 4.

LARC Day

Last Wednesday, some of our Stage 2 and 3 students participated in an excursion to Mount Annan Botanical gardens to investigate our native flora. Students learned that many local native plants have traditional uses in Aboriginal culture. An experienced guide led the students through the park, allowing them to touch and taste a variety of plants. Students also built traditional shelters and participated in a tour of the Plant Bank, a state of the art facility where the seeds of threatened plants species are cultivated and stored for the future.

Kindergarten 2020 We are collecting enrolment applications for students wishing to start Kindergarten in 2020. If you have a child starting school next year please

contact the office to complete the enrolment form. If you know a friend or family member that has a child ready for school next year – please ask them to contact the school office to arrange for an enrolment pack and a school tour.

Please note that as of Term 4 the Department of Education is bringing in a new enrolment policy that changes the guidelines of accepting students who are out of our local catchment area. If you are unsure of what school is local to you please go to https://education.nsw.gov.au/school-finder Some facts that might help:

● All children must be in compulsory schooling by their 6th birthday.

● Children can start Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn 5 on or before 31 July that year.

● Students should start school at the beginning of the school year.

Contact us to discuss enrolment procedures and receive a school pack with all that you will need to know about lovely Kentlyn Public School.

When you come to enrol your child please remember to bring with you: · His/her birth certificate or identification documents · Proof of child’s address (current council rates notice, residential lease, electricity bill) · Immunisation history statement from the Australian Immunisation Register and any family law or other relevant court orders, if applicable. Our Kindergarten Orientation dates are as follows: Thursday 14 November – Orientation 9:30 -11:00 Thursday 21 November – Literacy Session 9:30 – 10:30 Thursday 28 November – Numeracy Session 9:30 – 10:30 Thursday 5 December – Combined craft activity 9:30 – 11:00am

SASS Recognition Week This week is SASS (School Administrative Support Staff) week and I would like to formally recognise the outstanding work done

by our School Administrative and Support Staff at our school. We are indeed very fortunate to have a wonderful team of SASS staff at Kentlyn Public School. These staff members go above and beyond

their daily duties to assist in as many aspects of school life as possible and they always do it with a smile. We sincerely thank:

● Our School Administration Manager Mrs Karen Macey

● Our School Administrative Office staff: Mrs Carol Meek and Mrs Michelle White

● Our General Assistant: Mr John Bird ● Our School Learning and Support Officers:

Mrs Judith Seeney and Mrs Denise Killeen, Mrs Lisa Mammoliti and Mrs Michelle White

● Our School Cleaner: Mrs Wendy Hesky If you see any of these fabulous staff around our school, please make sure you take the time to thank them for their wonderful contributions to our great school. Synthetic Grass The installation of our new synthetic grass area is underway! The project should be complete in approximately 2 weeks. We are looking forward to our new green play space.

Father’s Day Stall We had a very successful Father’s Day stall. There is a HUGE amount of work that goes into preparing a stall like that and I would once again like to thank

the very small but very dedicated P&C members for ensuring that every child in our school was catered for with some great gifts that I know all our dad’s

will enjoy. A very special thank you also to Mrs Heather Campbell and Mrs Kylie Jones for ensuring that we had enough stock and we were good to go. It was a delight to see the enjoyment on the children’s faces as they selected the perfect gift for their dad, or the special person in their life. There was also lots of great hands on maths happening as they were calculating whether they had enough money to purchase just one more little gift School Development Days 2019 –

The purpose of school development days is to assist whole school strategic planning and staff development which contributes directly to the improvement of student learning outcomes through the provision of targeted professional learning activities aligned to departmental priorities and quality leadership practices. Five school development days are available each year; the first day of the school year, the first day of Terms 2 and 3 and the last two days of Term 4.

The two additional school development days for teachers on the last two days of Term 4 of each year may be rescheduled, as per DoE procedures.

This year our school will be varying one of the two School Development Days of the year which was scheduled for Friday 20 December 2019. Instead of running a school development on this day, staff have undergone professional learning over two evening sessions during Term 1. These sessions were

● Conversations about Texts – with a grammar focus

This change will not impact our students who will still finish Term 4 on Wednesday 18 December 2019.

COMBINED RUSE AND KENTLYN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - TWILIGHT FAIR – RAFFLE Thank you to all the parents that have returned their raffle tickets thus far. It is through this generous and continuous support of our school events and fundraisers that we have been able to

purchase new equipment and resources for our students K-6 throughout the year. Our goal is to sell 300 booklets. As you are aware there is an absolutely amazing first prize to be won

and the “Kavallaris” family have already purchased 10 booklets. There is a big competition within my family at the moment on who is going to win it 1st Prize: A Gold Coast Holiday. Five (5) night holiday at Sea World Resort & Water Park on the Gold Coast for two (2) adults and two (2) children, (in a Resort Double Room), $1,000 Flight Centre Airfare Voucher, unlimited entry during your stay for two (2) adults and two (2) children to Sea World, Warner Bros Movie World, Wet ‘n’ Wild Gold Coast and Paradise Country and $200 credit for food and beverages at Sea World Resort & Waterpark. Major prize valued at $3,300. The raffle will be drawn at approximately 7:00pm at our Twilight Fair which will be held on Friday 22 November at Ruse Public School. All monies and tickets, including unsold tickets, must be returned to the office by 15 November 2019. We have a total of 300 booklets to sell. Ruse will be selling 700 booklets. If both schools are able to sell all of our booklets, we will raise more than $35000 on the raffle alone! Book Seller’s Prize: A bookseller’s prize will be also be offered with each family who sells or purchases a complete book of raffle tickets going into a draw to win a Sony 4GB MP3 Walkman. Additional School Prize/Incentives $100.00 voucher to be used at any REBEL store to the family that sells the most tickets. Pizza party and ice-cream for the class that sells the most booklets. Please note that we are strongly recommending that children do not sell door to door raffle tickets without the supervision of an adult.

Thank you, and I am very confident that our whole school community will once again support this major fundraising initiative for our school.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

Free advice for

families Wednesday 11 September 2019 from

9:00am – 11:00am

We have been given an opportunity along with all schools in the Campbelltown area to organise the Team Leader of NDIS for our local area to run some information/connection desk sessions for our families. They have agreed to hold an information morning followed by individual assistance where required. For more information please visit the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) at https://www.ndis.gov.au/ The NDIS coordinator will be attending our school on Wednesday 11September 2019 from 9:00am approximately 11:00am. They will hold a group information session starting at 9:00am and then will be able to assist each parent individually with their separate needs and form completion where necessary. This session will be held in our library. Please RSVP if you are attending for catering purposes. Tell Them From Me - Parent Survey – To further strengthen the important relationship between parents and school.

We would be very grateful if you set aside 10 - 15 minutes to complete a parent survey that will assist us further with our planning as well as strengthening the relationship between parents and schools. This survey is designed to measure, assess and report insights from the parent point of view at the school and system levels. The focus of this NSW survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. The survey is anonymous. The survey questions aim at understanding parents’ perspectives on their child’s experience at school, including teaching, communication and the school’s

support of learning and behaviour. The survey also aims to understand parents’ perspectives on activities and practices at home related to their child’s learning. The survey will ask parents questions about:

● Parents feel welcome ● Parents are informed ● Parents support learning at home ● Parents participation at school ● School supports positive behaviour ● Safety ● Inclusion ● School supports learning

The parent survey provides school principals and school leaders with parents’ perspectives on their school as well as learning at home. Communication between parents and staff, activities and practices at home, and parent views on the school’s support of learning and behaviour help build an accurate and timely picture that schools can use for practical improvements. Data collected from the survey responses are quickly compiled into reports for school leaders. I will then use this information to help us identify emerging issues and plan for school improvement. The parent survey is complementary to Tell Them From Me student survey that your child may have been asked to complete. These surveys are offered (along with a teacher survey) to ensure schools can capture the views of students, teachers and parents. For more detail on each of the surveys, see the survey website: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/ The survey typically takes 10 - 15 minutes and is conducted entirely online through a secure website operated by the survey developers, The Learning Bar. To complete the survey please log on to: http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/4kcv4 Thank you for your support with this matter. Three Way Learning Conversations (Parent/Student/ Teacher Interviews) Thank you to all the parents that have already logged on and confirmed their sessions. This year we would like to see all parents taking advantage of this great opportunity to hear their child/ren discuss with them what they are learning at school and their future

goals for Term 4. Please note that if you are not able to come in on the day, we can also organise for a phone interview to take place at a time suited to both parents and teachers.

Our 3 Way Learning Conversations will be held throughout September 2019. For your child/ren dates please see dates below. If you are unable to use the online system or make it on the set date, please call our school and we can organise a time that is suitable for both the teacher and yourself. Interview times and locations: Mrs Davenport K/1D Tuesday 10 September 2019 - from 9:00am – 6:00pm – in library Ms Rogers 5/6R and Miss Hagedoorn 5/6H Tuesday 24 September 2019 – from 9:00am – 6:00pm – in library Miss Hamilton 4K and Mr Connor 2/3C Wednesday 25 September 2019 – from 9:00am – 6:00pm in library Mr Elvis 1/2E Thursday 26 September 2019- from 9:00am – 6:00pm in library In order to secure your booking please go to the following website and follow the instructions listed below: www.schoolinterviews.com.au

Presentation Day Assembly Please save this date in your diary Friday 13 December 2019 9:30am – 11:10am Premier's Reading Challenge

Premier’s Reading Challenge, as it finishes on Friday 30 August 2019. All students wishing to complete the challenge for this year and be eligible for their certificate need to have their reading records finalised by this date. Please follow the link below if you need to update your student reading record. https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.htm

Indianna and Aurora’s Environmental Tips

The smiles you give comes back to you! Androula Kavallaris Principal

P&C News

Canteen Volunteers We are still in need of parents/helpers to volunteer a few hours to help out in our school canteen. If you think you may be able to spare some time, please contact the office ASAP. P & C Meeting Please note that the next meeting of the P&C will be on Monday 21 October 2019 at 6pm. Purchasing School Uniforms Remember that if you need to purchase any aspect of our school uniform please come and see the lovely

ladies in the office and they will assist you with your request.

AWARD WINNERS

Principal Awards Lexie Saunders

Art Award Tiare Mako

PBL Awards

Tom Farmer

Abby-Leigh Willemsen Antoine Bellerose

Zahra Saffar Jack Jones

Vanessa Gayoso-Amato