Newsletter 26th February 2025

Principal's Message

Early Close – Wednesday 9^th April

We will be having an early close this term on Wednesday 9^th April at 12 pm (noon) in order to run our annual parent-teacher meetings a la ‘speed dating’.  This means teachers are able to meet with parents for 10-minute bookings that afternoon, along with other time slots during the week before and during that week.  Teachers will focus on providing parents with information on how their children are doing in literacy, numeracy and socially/emotionally.  The meetings on Wednesday afternoon (starting at 12:30pm) will be held in the senior block.  Parents are asked, if they are able, to collect their children at noon that day.  If you cannot do that, supervision (but not classes) will be provided at the school until 3pm. While there are no supervised crossings surrounding the school, please be aware that no crossings will be manned at noon anywhere, so students should remain at the school until 3pm if this is a concern. No phone meetings are available on Wednesday afternoon and face-to-face meetings are always the best and most preferred.  The SZapp booking system will be opened for bookings before the end of term.  You will be notified when this has occurred.

Annual Reminders

We are required to provide everyone with some annual reminders.

While school starts at 8:50am each morning, we are happy for students to arrive at 8:30am when classroom doors open to allow students time to setup for the day and participate in before school sessions such as reading. This enables everyone to be ready for the start of the day. Students who arrive before this time must be seated in the quadrangle area and must not interrupt the teachers’ preparations for the school day (K-P students must be supervised by the parents before 8:30am). We can only guarantee supervision from 8:15am onwards. Students should not arrive at school before 8:15am. All students who arrive after 8:50am must report to the office so that we can record attendance without interrupting the classroom teachers’ lessons.

All students who have to wait at the end of the day for pickup must wait with Miss Jones at the kiss and wave (or with their gate duty teacher). Any students who have not been collected by 3:15pm will be taken to the office for collection. We are happy for students who are being directly supervised by the parents to play on playground equipment after school. Supervising other people’s children, without consent from their parents, is not compliant with legal requirements. Equipment cannot be used before school (except by clubs who have been licensed to use the school site for training) and the oval is out of bounds before and after school.

All visitors to the school must report to the office first. This includes parents who are attending the school after the start of the school day. Students will not be released from their classroom without a slip from the office. This is a safety precaution to ensure only people who have the right to access students do so.

We have completed a deed of licence with OSHClub and allow them to use the undercover area before and after school each day so we must avoid this area altogether to allow them to run their program uninterrupted. Please access the quadrangle via the gate near the library rather than through the undercover area.

For safety reasons students are not allowed to ride their scooters, skateboard or bikes on the school grounds (early childhood now has a cycle path for school bikes). Students are asked to walk these items instead. We also ask that parents follow the same rules as good role models.

Children are allowed to climb trees but they should not climb higher than a teacher can reach (approx. 1.5m).

A reminder that all student absences must be explained either in writing (by the SZapp app or by email) or by speaking to the school/class teacher (who will record the explanation in writing). All families taking vacation leave outside of school holidays must also write to the principal. In the absence of this request, these absences will be recorded as unauthorised. Australia has mandatory school attendance.

The staff car park is not available for dropping off students in the mornings or picking up students at the end of the day. It is a small car park and our staff can’t all park there because it is so small. It is also difficult getting out during peak times (especially if others are trying to get in) so please do not use the car park. While I realise that often people think that when they do it there is no harm, but if everyone did it, of course, there would be chaos. It is also not safe for children to be in this area as backing cars don’t always see small children and children can move quickly and unpredictably. Thanks for your support on this.

It is a condition of entry that you abide by the school rules and the directions given by the principal or her delegates.  Please be aware that the principal has no control over what occurs outside school grounds, such as on the roads surrounding the school.  The school cannot enforce road rules or control the parking on the side roads, nor can it actively control traffic on those roads. The school is, however, in charge of the kiss and wave on the school grounds.  Instructions on how to use the Kiss n Wave (alternatively called the Kiss n Drive) can be found on our website under the “For Parents” in the document called “Kiss and Drive guidelines” Kensington Primary School eNewsletter (kensingtonps.wa.edu.au).    There is also a link to this document under “Forms and Documents” on the left side of this newsletter.

We encourage all parents and children to use the pedestrian gates to access the school, rather than the gates used by cars to drive through the kiss and wave.  Apart from holding up traffic, this can be unsafe for children especially, who don’t always have the ability to process the traffic information in a timely manner.

Please note that the school has a Mobile Devices and Computer Use policy.  This policy states that children should not use personal mobile devices during school hours.  This includes smart watches.  Students who use their smart watches inappropriately (including being distracted by looking at things on them) will run the risk of having them confiscated and given a yellow behaviour slip. This policy can be found on our website under the “For Parents” in the document called “Mobile Devices and Computer Use Policy” Kensington Primary School eNewsletter (kensingtonps.wa.edu.au).    There is also a link to this document under “Forms and Documents” on the left side of this newsletter.

Volunteering Parent Declaration Forms

We thank all our parents who generously volunteer their time and energy to support our school community. Last year there were some changes to the Working with Children Check policy, to ensure the safety of children when we have volunteers in the school.

If you would like to volunteer at our school, you will need to sign a ‘Parent and child volunteer declaration form’. You cannot volunteer if you have a current Working with Children Negative Notice or Interim Negative Notice.

These changes affect parents who are engaged in volunteer work. For example, you are considered a volunteer when you assist with activities such as reading sessions, day excursions, helping at a sports carnival or carrying out P&C duties.

You are not a volunteer when:

• picking up and dropping off your child
• observing events like school assemblies
• attending parent and teacher interviews
• visiting the uniform shop.

If your circumstances change, and you are issued with a Negative Notice or Interim Negative Notice after completing the ‘Parent and child volunteer declaration form’, you must advise the principal.

A current Working with Children Check is required by all other family members and friends over 18 years of age who want to volunteer.

It is a collective responsibility to ensure the safety of our children. We appreciate your ongoing support and dedication to our school community.

Please note that a fact sheet and the declaration form can be found in the Forms & Documents section of this newsletter (left hand column) and the Parent section of the school website: Forms & Documents - Kensington Primary School (kensingtonps.wa.edu.au)

Allergy Aware

We are seeking your help to support the students in our school with severe allergies.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that is potentially life-threatening. The most common causes of anaphylaxis in schools are allergies to food and insects (bees).

The Best Practice Guidelines recommend an Allergy Aware approach, which means we are supporting students at risk of anaphylaxis in the following ways:

• training staff
• educating students about allergies and anaphylaxis
• teaching students that we all have different needs and to be respectful of others
• teaching students the importance of getting help immediately if their friend with allergy looks sick.

For food allergies, we are also:

• encouraging students with food allergies to wash their hands before and after eating
• encouraging students to wash their hands after eating something their classmate or friend is allergic to
• teaching students not to share food with friends who have food allergy.

Food allergies are common in school aged children and avoiding the food is the only way to prevent an allergic reaction. Therefore, we have put a range of different things in place to help keep these students safe. In younger primary classes, we may send letters home to suggest ways to support a child with food allergies that are additional to those listed above.

We ask you to support the school’s Allergy Aware approach so that we can increase safety and provide an environment that meets the needs of all our students.

Thank you for helping our school be “Allergy Aware”.

School Board

  Board Meeting Term 1, Week 3 (17^th February)

The Board met last week and discussed the following:

·        Facilities updates – early childhood playground and Rooms 1-10 painting

·        Wellbeing dogs in the school

·        Community members and new elections

·        Early Close on 9^th April for parent-teacher interviews

·        End of 2024 Financials

·        Target achievements for the last Business Plan and proposed targets for the next Business Plan

Minutes of the meeting can be found on our school website Our Community - Kensington Primary School (kensingtonps.wa.edu.au)

Upcoming Events

NAPLAN

Year 3 and Year 5 students will be participating in NAPLAN testing this term.  Parents of students in those year levels should have received a brochure providing information on NAPLAN. Below is a timetable of the testing so parents know when tests will be conducted.  There will also be catch-up testing for students that miss a test session.

If you wish to withdraw your child from the testing, please speak to your child’s teacher or Clint McNerney.

Everyday Matters

As you may remember from last year, YouthCARE offers a Christian Values Education Program called Everyday Matters.  It is approved by the Department of Education, just as is the Bahai program.  YouthCARE has organised some volunteers to deliver this program at recess in the undercover area for those interested.  Permission slips must be signed and returned to the school for your child to be able to attend this program.  See the attached documents below for more on this program and to give your permission if you wish your child to participate.

What's Been Happening

TREK2School Report

In 2023 20 of our Year 5/6 students and their families participated in a research project called “TREK2School”.  This was conducted by the KIDS Research Institute and UWA.  We have received the preliminary report for KPS.  The report also includes data from a similar project in 2007 as a comparison.

The TREK2School Study was designed to create a robust evidence base to inform targeted interventions aimed at increasing active transport to school among primary and secondary students.  The combined results from all schools indicate that travelling by car is the most common method of transport to and from school, followed by walking.  However, walking and biking are the preferred choice for most students.  Students highlighted busy roads as a barrier to walking or cycling to school.  Only one quarter of students thought that walking to school was easier than driving.  Parents highlighted traffic volume, busy roads and a lack of safe road crossings as barriers to walking or cycling to school.  Another barrier identified by parents was the convenience of driving to school.  The top recommendations from both students and parents were to have more safe crossings, paths on both sides of the road, and dedicated bike paths separated from the road.  These insights provide a solid basis for developing targeted strategies to encourage active transport among primary school students in Perth.

With the upgrade to the bike shed, it is hoped that more students will be able to ride their bikes to school, knowing their bikes can be left on site safely.  We thank the P&C for this improvement in facilities.  We also hope more students are able to walk to school, reducing traffic and pollution around the school as well as improving general mental and physical health.

Sport News

Welcome back to school. Please ensure that all students have a hat, water bottle and appropriate footwear for PE lessons. If your child is unable to participate in a PE lesson, can you please let me know by email Raema.Stanford@education.wa.edu.au or via your classroom teacher.

Faction Swimming Carnival

The carnival is on Wednesday 5^th March. All Year 5 and 6 students and invited Year 4 students will attend. Permission, payment, and the program will be via Consent2Go. Nominations for events have been completed in PE lessons. Students who have passed Stage 5 will participate in swimming events; those who have not passed Stage 5 will participate in events in the inside pool.

Selections for the interschool carnival will be made from the faction carnival. The interschool carnival will be on Thursday 27^th March.

Sporting Schools

We have been successful in gaining Sporting Schools funding this term. Some students will be involved in volleyball sessions and, later in the term, tennis sessions.

Faction Carnival Dates 2025

VPASSA Inter School Carnival Dates 2025

Winter Community Sport

Registrations are now open for local community winter sports. Follow the link on the c sport’s website to sign up.

Japanese News

P & C News

Election BBQ & Cake Stall March 8th

The Kensington Primary families will again be holding an election BBQ & cake stall as a fundraiser for the P&C. We’d love donations of baked goods, lolly bags or store bought treats! Pop in and grab something yummy on your way to the polling booth.

Upcoming Dates

P&C AGM 25th Feb 7:30pm in staffroom 
Election BBQ & Cake stall 8th March
Movie Night 14th March 

DUCKs Dads Kick-off Meeting, Wed. 5 March 2025, 7:30pm

Welcome to the 2025 school year to the amazing KPS Dads and Father-figures. We have our DUCKs Dads Kick-off meeting next week and we would love for you to come along. This will be a welcome new dads to the school, a chance to reconnect with other fathers and plan our activities for the year.

Date: Wednesday 5 March 2025

Time: 7:30 - 8:30pm

Location: KPS Music Room (near central playground) - access from Fourth Ave gate

Audience: Dads and Father-figures of KPS

Purpose: Welcome to new dads, reconnect with other fathers, bring ideas for Dads and Kids activities and plan events for 2025.

Drinks and nibbles provided.

Please:

After a fantastic 2024 of DUCKs Dads and Kids events and the stellar turnout of over 400 people at the end of year Campout, we would love to keep the great work going and have your ideas for the coming years. We look forward to seeing you at the kick-off next week.

If unable to attend, please also RSVP and let us know, so that you can be on the DUCKs Dads list for 2025.

Thanks,

Conrad Slee

DUCKs - Dads United for the Children of Kensington (primary school)

Containers for change bins

The new Containers for Change bins are now located inside the bike shed. Please ensure that only eligible containers are placed in these bins. Currently, the bins are accessible only from inside the bike shed until the outside art installation is completed later in the year.

Containers for Change

Community News