Crunch&Sip

School Board

Due to the industrial action, the Board will not be meeting in person on Monday 29^th April, as planned.  They will review the budget, funding agreement and be updated on some staffing changes and other operational areas via email.

Access school dental services

The Education Department has school dental services which are free to students who are aged 5 - 16.

WA has over 150 fixed and mobile dental therapy services. Using the below link you can locate a service closest to you. 

Find the nearest Dental Clinic

Letter to Pre-Primary Families

What's Been Happening

ANZAC Ceremony

Thank you to Mr Griffiths and S4 for again organising our ANZAC day service.  A big thank you to Lance Corporal Nigel Battams who presented the ANZAC speech.  He is a combat engineer in the 13^th Engineer Regiment of the Australian Army. Thank you also to those families that sent flowers for the wreaths and also to the parents who helped out in putting them together. Thank you to the band and choir for performing so beautifully. It was a moving and respectful occasion.

We shall we remember them.
Lest we forget.

Student Voice Forum

Last week the Student Council ran their Student Voice Forum.  Two students from each of the classes from Year 1-6 joined the forum.  The Student Council asked for their feedback on:

• What they liked about the school
• New ideas for the school
• What charities we could support financially or with service and how we could raise funds
• What our school vision should include

Over the next few newsletters, we will share their feedback. 

The Student Council will consider what ideas they can work on and this can include how they will spend their $2000 budget (funded by the P&C).

What We Like

Foyer Display - Pre-Primary 1 & 3

The Pre-Primary classes in PP1 and PP3 have been learning about ANZAC Day, which takes place on the 25th April every year.

ANZAC Day is a day to remember the ANZAC soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who served in the first world war. The red poppy is a symbol to remember the soldiers who served in the war, and to remember all the other service men and women who have served for Australia. The purple poppy is a symbol to remember the animals who fought in the war.

Sport News

Summer Carnival

The last week of the Term 1 was the summer carnival. All our teams competed had a great day and competed well. The boys cricket won the shield with T ball and girls cricket coming second. Overall, we placed fourth. Thanks to Amy (coached girls’ cricket) and the many parents who supported us on at the carnival. We are now in training for the winter carnival during senior sport.

Edu-dance

Our Edu-dance program culminated in some excellent dance routines at the final concerts. Thanks to Mrs Voysey and Edu-dance for conducting the fun program.

National Ride to School Day

160 students rode, scootered or walked to school. S2 had the most students with over half of their class choosing to be active.

Walk to School Day is on 10th May. Let’s make a big effort to beat 160 that participated on ride to school day.

Running Club

Running club is back, this week we had 40 runners attend. Come and join us for a fun active way to start the day. New runners welcome. We run on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 8.00am – 8.30am.
Active kids learn better.

Faction Cross Country

This event is in Week 9 Friday 14^th June. The schedule will be in a later newsletter. The course maps are on the sport the notice board.

P & C News

Kindy/Pre-Primary busy bee

Thankyou to all the families who came down on Saturday to help with the playground busy bee - it looks great and I’m sure the kids are enjoying it. Some action shots below from the morning.

Book Club

Orders are due in THIS FRIDAY, 26th April.  You can order online or drop the exact cash in the P&C box at the front office.

Mother’s Day Raffles 

Tickets are now live for the Mother's Day raffle- there is an exciting group of prizes up for grabs, you won’t want to miss having a chance to win.

A big thanks to the local businesses who have donated prizes and to the wonderful Kindy class reps for organizing.

DUCKs Dads and Kids Bike Ride, Sat. 11 May 2024, 2pm

We have a DUCKs Dads and Kids Bike Ride coming up from Hurlingham Playground (start and finish, 7km loop), South Perth to the Kids Playground at Optus Stadium:

Saturday 11 May 2024

Arrive at 1:45pm for a 2:00pm briefing and departure.

Ride to the kids playground at Optus Stadium for about an hour of play, then return to Hurlingham Playground to finish with a picnic (provided).

No experience necessary. Suitable for all.

To Register please:  

Click Here

DUCKs Upcoming Events - Save The Dates (calling all Dads and father-figures)

2024
TERM 2

Saturday 11 May 2024 - Dads and Kids Bike Ride (free)
Saturday 8 June 2024 - Dads and Kids Indoor Climbing (cost TBA)

TERM 3

Saturday 20 July 2024 - Dads and Kids: Paper Planes and Pizza (minimal cost)
Sunday 4 August 2024 - Dads and Kids Hike - Lesmurdie Falls (free)
Sunday 1 September 2024 - Father's Day at Perth Zoo (free entry)

TERM 4

Saturday 26 October 2024 - Gravity Centre - Gingin (cost TBA)
Friday 8 November 2024 - Campout and Silent Disco (highlight of the school year)

Please note: Dates of events may need to change, but we will stick to this as closely as possible. Join DUCKs to stay up to date.

Please email DUCKS.KPS@gmail.com or ask a fellow dad to be added to the DUCKs private WhatsApp dads group or to our events email list.

Thanks DUCKs dads. Keep doing great work.

Conrad Slee
Dads United for the Children of Kensington - DUCKs

Uniforms

Follow the QR code for a direct link to the uniform shop to order online. Include your child’s name and classroom and we will deliver the following Thursday. Easy as! Happen to have ordered the wrong size? No problem, we are happy to exchange, just leave the tags on. 

Wondering what to do with uniforms you’ve outgrown? Leave them in the red donation bin located next to Room 7.

Principal's Message

Pupil Free Day – Monday 6^th May

As you will be aware, we did not have our usual pupil free (school development) day at the start of this term.  The reason for this is that the planned professional learning for the staff was not available on that day, so we have had to shift the day to accommodate this training.  We will need to do that again in Term 4.  We really prefer to have the pupil free days on the first day of term, whenever possible, but for a series of four trainings, over two years, we have had to shift the day to accommodate this much in demand training.

Vista Street

As you will know, last year and this year we have not needed to use Vista Street kindy.  However, we may need it in the future, so we don’t want to lose it.  This year and next, the Department plan for that site is to allow Kensington Secondary School to use it.  Our equipment will be stored until we need the site again, which should not be until at least 2026.

Early Childhood Busy Bee

A huge thank you to the parents who came along, organised by Ed McLarty and Amanda Thomason, on Saturday to do some gardening and manual labour to clean up the early childhood playground.  They removed tyres, concrete, weeds and a myriad of other items.  Things are looking so much better.  We are now organising to meet with a playground designer to look at improving this area and the old naturescape area.  This will be a project the P&C will work towards funding once the bike shed has been completed.  See the P&C section below for photos from the day.

Bike Shed

We had hoped the bike shed would be upgraded over the past holidays, but we now believe it will be done over the next holidays.  We are looking forward to seeing this.  We may have a few days at the end of the term where this area may see some preparation work that will require us to change how the bike shed runs for the last week.  We will let you know. A big thank you to the P&C for funding the lion’s share of this work.

Introducing New Teaching Staff in Term 2

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we have four new members of our teaching staff in Term 2.  We also will have some new Special Needs EAs (SNEA) starting soon too.

We welcome:

Access to free period products

Our school will soon be providing access to free period products for students, as part of the Western Australian Government’s commitment of access across WA public schools.

Period products are a fundamental health necessity and having a period should not be a barrier to participating in school. Providing access to free products at school is designed to enable students to stay engaged in their studies and ease some cost-of-living pressure for families.

We believe a dispenser will be installed in the senior girls’ toilets where students will be able to take what they need, when they need. Both Libra-branded pads and tampons are available. Libra products are Australian manufactured and made to Australian Standards. We will confirm the location of these products once we have them confirmed ourselves.

Our school is committed to improving students understanding of period health and addressing any stigma.

Information available from the following websites may assist you to have conversations about menstrual health and hygiene at home:

• https://www.getthefacts.health.wa.gov.au/our-bodies/periods
• https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/menstruation

WA Student Assistance Payment

All Western Australian school students (Kindergarten to Year 12) currently enrolled in a public school, registered non-government school, or home-schooled, with a valid WA student number (WASN) are eligible to claim this payment from Monday 15 April 2024.

The WA Student Assistance Payment is available to claim within the ServiceWA app. More information about setting up the app and step-by-step instructional videos are available on wa.gov.au/servicewaapp. The ServiceWA app is the fastest and most convenient way to claim the payment; however, alternative claim methods will be available for those unable to access ServiceWA. More information is available at education.wa.edu.au/wasap/questions-and-support.

A support line has been established for parents and carers to manage any enquiries regarding eligibility and how to claim. Parents and carers can call 1800 882 345 for support between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

The school will assist parents and carers to identify a student’s WASN or provide support to submit a claim in exceptional circumstances. You should already have received advice on your WASN from the school.

Tuesday's Industrial Action

As you know the half-day stop-work action was taken yesterday morning by the SSTUWA.  We had approximately 80 students away.  The morning absence, if parents have explained it as due to the industrial action, will not be counted as an unauthorised absence and so it will not impact their semester’s attendance percentages.  However, if they did not arrive for the afternoon, the absence will be counted, and parents would need to provide another reason.

Community News

The Department of Education will once again deliver the Career Conversations events for families and schools throughout the state in 2024.  Feedback on the 2023 events is positive and participants highly valued the opportunity to hear accurate, up-to-date career pathway and labour market information.  A key highlight for the participants was hearing from industry representatives and employers.  

Containers for Change

School Board

Next Monday the new Board members will join our continuing Board members for our twice a term meetings.  The new Board members will complete an induction first, then continue on for our meeting which will be followed by a Welcome/Farewell dinner.

On the agenda for our meeting is deciding on our roles, reviewing the deeds of licence, finalising the Annual Report, deciding on a process for revising the school vision statement and reviewing the school budget.

Japanese 日本語

Connect and Communicate with Nihon at
Kensington PS

The year of the tatsu dragon is going by quickly and we are nearly at the end of term. Some fabulous events are happening this term and this year. In 2024 to support us, Miss Asuka Nakashima is joining our classes on Fridays. She supports our lessons, maintenance of the Japanese garden and assists Whittle sensei with the taiko team and further supports our learning of Japanese language and culture. Some Kensington families are supporting our school community by hosting a Japanese student visitor arriving on this weekend for a week. The group will attend English classes in the morning and join in regular classes in the afternoon. There is a wonderful chance for all to engage with Japanese culture this coming Saturday at the Perth Japan festival on the Perth esplanade 11am- 8pm. There will be taiko, dancing, music performances, martial arts demonstrations and food stalls. Lots to engage and Connect and Communicate with Nihon (Japan).

Whittle sensei

Japanese language teacher

P & C Voluntary Contributions

Clarifying Confusion around P & C Voluntary Contributions

We have received many calls and emails regarding P & C Voluntary Contributions.  Although the P & C voluntary contribution was mentioned on the booklist, please note that payment for this specific contribution was not collected through the booklist so it needs to be paid directly to the school (as per the booklist notice). The decision not to collect it through the booklist was made to prevent families from inadvertently paying $60 per student instead of the intended $60 per family.

Apologies for any confusion and thank you for your support.

What's Been Happening

Interschool Swimming Carnival Win

Thank you to Mrs Stanford for organising another terrific swimming carnival.  Mrs Stanford organised this interschool event for our school and for Victoria Park and East Victoria Park primary schools.  Thank you to our parent supports who came on the day to cheer the children on or to take on roles in helping run the carnival.  Thank you also to Mr Powers for caring for and supervising our team.  Our team did very well to take the shield and a number of students also took home champion or runner-up champion medallions.  Congratulations to everyone on their wonderful participation and sportsmanship.  Please see the sports report below for more information.

Kindy Families

Please be aware that because Term 1 was a 9-week term and we are heading into an 11-week term, our Kindy timetable will have a change for Term 2 only.

Usually, Kindy 1 would attend Wednesdays on the school odd weeks (1,3,5,7,8,9) and Kindy 2 would attend Wednesdays on the even school weeks (2,4,6,8,10). However, in Term 2 this will reverse, but only for Term 2.  Term 3 and 4 will revert to the usual weeks.

Please see the calendar attached.  

Foyer Display - Room 4

Harmony Day is a fun day when we celebrate how we all look different on the outside but are the same on the inside as kind and special friends. We learn that even though we may seem different, we all have feelings and dreams just like each other! 

Honours and Values Awards

Sport News

Inter School Swimming Carnival

Last Tuesday our inter school team competed against Victoria Park and East Victoria Park. We were very successful with our swimmers competing amazingly across the pool. We have great depth in our swimming ability and placed in all events.

Congratulations to our medallion winners: 

Vivienne Yr. 4 runner up girl.

Ioane Yr. 4 runner up boy.

Jessie Yr. 5 runner up girl.

Finn Yr. 5 champion boy.

Xavier Yr. 6 champion boy.

Alfie Yr. 6 runner up boy.

The results were: 

1^st Kensington.

2^nd Victoria Park.

3^rd East Victoria Park

Thanks to our helpers Shannon, Carla, Brendan (parents), Charlie (Wesley workplace student), Mackenzie (Notre Dame student), and Val (volunteer) for helping to make the day a success.  A huge thank you to our Endeavour captains Parker and Finlay who had to step up and assist with judging at the last minute. They did an excellent job.

Summer Carnival

Tuesday 26th^h March selected Year 5/6 will compete in the Victoria Park area summer carnival. We will play tee ball, volleyball, Newcombe ball and cricket (boys’ and girls’ teams).

Sporting Schools

Thanks to sporting schools funding we have had additional coaches that have assisted – Digby and Gareth with some PE sessions – tennis and volleyball. We have purchased new tennis racquets and more volleyballs.

Running Club is Back

Running Club will commence on the first Tuesday of next term 16^th April. We will run on the track on Tuesdays and the oval on Fridays from 8.00am – 8.30am.

We are using Consent2Go as a permission for your child to attend. If a student attended running club last year, they will be sent a consent2go permission invite.  New runners once you child has attended you will be sent an invite to give permission for your child to participate. Parents of Kindy, PP and Yr. 1 students must attend with their child. Please see Mrs Stanford if you require more details.

Edu-dance Concerts

The concerts for Edu-dance will take place next Wednesday 27^th March. Parents are invited to attend. If you video the dance, please make sure it only includes your child. Not all children have photo permission. The classroom teacher has details of the requires costume. Thanks to Mrs Voysey for her hard work in preparing the children for their concert.

2.00pm Concert 1: P1, R1, R3, R4.

2.30pm Concert 2: P3, R2, R5, R6.

National Ride2school day

Friday 22^nd March is National Ride2School day. Children and parents are encouraged to ride(or walk) to school.

Hockey Clinics

Yr. 1 and 2 are participating in hockey clinics over the next week. If you would like to register for the winter season follow the link. 

Registration - Wesley South Perth Hockey Club (wasphockey.asn.au)

P & C News

Mothers Day Raffle

Raffle to be launched on 15th April and drawn on 8th May. If you buy enough raffle tix and win a prize, no need to buy a Mother’s Day gift. 

Further information will be spread through what’s app groups, as we seek donations from local businesses or your spare gifts cupboard.  Keep your eye out for a qr code for online raffle ticket sales coming home in week 1 term 2. 

Save the date: Saturday April 19th

Kindy / PrePrimary playground busy bee - more info to come.

Fundraising Update 

The class reps met up last week to plan out the events calendar for the year. Each year group has been allocated an event, please support your class reps to help deliver these fun events for our kids and help raise funds for our school. Every bit helps!

Next P&C Meeting 22nd April

DUCKs Dads kick-off night, Wed. 13 March 2024

We had a DUCKs Kick-off night on 13 March 2024 with about 16 dads attending, a mixture of mostly newer dads and some well established DUCKs.  It was a great opportunity for introductions and new connections to what our dads group is all about and how to be involved at school. We also heard from some longer standing members such as Jason Parsons and Ed McClarty about the value to themselves and their children of getting involved and connecting with other dads. Overall it was a great opportunity to meet new dads, share activity ideas that we want to plan for 2024 and think about how we can best support our children at school.

DUCKs WhatsApp and Email groups

Reminder that we have a private DUCKs WhatsApp group and email list for dads, If you wish to be added, please contact us at DUCKS.KPS@gmail.com or ask one of the dads in the group to join.

The Fathering Project - channel

I encourage you all to check out some great short videos, audio clips, hints and tips on how to be the best dad you can be at the link below:

https://thefatheringproject.org/fathering-channel/

How Other Dads Dad - podcasts

Keen to take the best of the hard earned wisdom from other dads? Try listening to these highly recommended and excellent interview podcasts by well loved funny man Hamish Blake as he talks with other dads about what they've learned during their time as fathers. Settle-in for an hour long listen, while working on a project perhaps.

https://howotherdadsdad.com/

Thanks DUCKs dads. Keep doing great work.

Conrad Slee

Dads United for the Children of Kensington - DUCKs

UNIFORM SHOP AT VISTA STREET KINDY

Uniform shop is closed for the rest of Term 1. Online order will be processed and delivered to classrooms. 

Uniforms

Follow the QR code for a direct link to the uniform shop to order online. Include your child’s name and classroom and we will deliver the following Thursday. Easy as! Happen to have ordered the wrong size? No problem, we are happy to exchange, just leave the tags on. 

Wondering what to do with uniforms you’ve outgrown? Leave them in the red donation bin located next to Room 7.