Newsletter 30th November 2022
Principal's Message
Parent Helper Morning Tea & Christmas Concert
Thank you to everyone who attended this morning’s Christmas Concert and Parent Helper Morning Tea. If you missed the concert, there is a repeat performance tonight at 7pm. Congratulations to Mrs Dewing and her team of helpers and the Junior choir for a wonderful performance. The school band, a troop of circus performers and Miya all performed amazing items. We are very grateful for all their huge efforts. Can’t wait to see it all again.
I wish to take the opportunity to thank all our parents and volunteers who have helped at the school over this very busy year. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child. We have a wonderful village. Thank you also to Mrs Bushen and Mrs Rankine-Hume who led the preparations for this event and to the staff for providing the catering.
Art Prizes
Congratulations to Sienna B for winning the P&C Art Award with her black cockatoo. This will be hung on the school wall of art in the office. Congratulations to Kenzi M for taking home the People's Choice prize for her dragon. Both girls will receive their prizes very soon. They were acknowledged at this morning's concert and will be again in the evening's concert too. Thank you to Mr Geoff Baker, MLA, Member for South Perth, who presented the girl's with their certificates and unveiled their work this morning.
2023 Booklists
You will find the 2023 booklist information on the SZapp app under the tile called ‘Booklists’ (bottom left button on the app) or on our website at the following link: Booklists - Kensington Primary School (kensingtonps.wa.edu.au)
2023 Contributions and Charges Information
Please find the Contributions and Charges information for 2023 in the flyer below.
Biennial Community Surveys
This is the last week to get your survey responses in. We will hand out the last of the icy poles next Monday. The link to the survey is below. Don’t forget to print out the thank you page at the end so your child can receive their icy pole next Monday.
What's Been Going On At KPS
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to those students who completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge this year. All students who completed the challenge to read 12 books from 5 May – 9 September have received a certificate. Students across the state logged more than 300,000 books!
The certificate awardees from Kensington Primary were:
Daniel B Lewis P May T-M Elliot O Caiden W Max G Inari F Winter C | Ella R Jacob A Ashur M Freddie S Lara N Leva T-M Chester H |
Upcoming Events
Stationery Donations
As your child starts to bring home their school supplies from this year, you may find some supplies that you don’t need any more. If that is the case, then we have a box outside the staffroom where you can place those supplies, which we will then send off to a charity (Starting Over Support) next year, for families who are experiencing domestic crisis and who now lack the resources for their children to start school with their school supplies (pencils, rulers, erasers, sharpeners etc) ready. Any donations would be gratefully accepted.
Starting Over Support
If you wish to support this charity further, please see the attached flyer.
Foyer Display
Room 1 - Noongar Seasons
Over the last few weeks the children in Room 1 have been studying the weather, it's effects on us, and also learning about the Noongar Seasons and how they link to the land we live on.
When in class we viewed articles discussing the six Noongar seasons. We also investigated the reasons behind the seasons and what occurs during each one and how they relate to the twelve months of our calendar year. We hope you enjoy our display.
Sports News
Jump Jam
Thank you to our jam team- Mackenzie, Evita, Isabel, Charlotte, Stella, Amy, Ava, Inari and Katya, who have committed to rehearsing once a week for the whole year in order to successfully lead the school in our jump jam sessions. Fantastic effort girls!
Sport Monitors
Thank you to our sport monitors who daily put equipment out and in and make sure balls are pumped up and ready to use. It has been a huge job throughout the year and you are done it magnificently and without complaint.
Sporting Schools
Thanks to sporting schools funding the Year 3’s have completed a 6-week Bike education course. They have learnt many aspects of safe riding. Year 1 – 6 have participated in tennis sessions with the assistance of a coach from Breakpoint tennis. Tennis skills are improving, it is a great sport to know how to play as it can be played across generations and all over the world.
Running Club
Our last running club for the year was held yesterday with a run and breakfast. This year we have averaged 40 – 50 runners each session. Well done runners. Thank you to our parent helpers and in particular Mel, Tina and Nick. Tina and Nick have completed their last running session at Kensington, they have been assisting weekly for many years. Your input has been greatly appreciated by everyone. All the best to our Year 6 contingent of runners and we hope you continue running in high school. Keep running over the holidays and we will recommence Term 2 next year.
Spinning Plates
There are a limited number of spinning plates available for sale. They are $5.00. Please see Mrs Stanford in the PE office if you would like one.
Congratulations!
Soren A- a student in Year 1 recently participated in the West Australian State Championships for Wrestling. Soren won his division of the championships and received a gold medal. We believe that Soren is the youngest to have every achieved this level. The front office ladies have taken a photo of Soren with his medal.
Japanese News
Japanese Exchange – Hosts Wanted
We have some Japanese students visiting WA and our school next year. Are you interested and willing to host a student for a week at your home? It is a great cultural exchange opportunity. If you are willing and able to host a student, please send in your expression of interest to our Japanese Language teacher, Margo Whittle (Whittle sensei). See the attached flyer for more details.
School Board
School Board Open Meeting
The final School Board meeting will be held on Monday 5th December. All are welcome to attend and see what the Board is all about. They will review what they have been doing this year. The meeting will start at 5:30pm in the staffroom.
P & C News
P&C fundraising update
Quiz on December 9th
We're now only 1 week away from the quiz night, and super excited about what we have in store for you!
Over 200 people have signed up already but there are still tables/individual tickets available and we'd love to see them sold, please get behind the P&C - it's a great social get-together and a fun start to the festive season- will be a cracker of a night!
Tickets are $15 per personhttps://www.trybooking.com/CCZET
If you are on the fence or a little shy, don't be! We have a great quiz master, heaps of beer, great local wines, and soft drinks for sale ...oh and there's also a card raffle with a prize pool upwards of $400, just in time for Chrissy!!
This year's dress-up theme is movies/TV shows and there will be prizes for best dressed. Looking forward to seeing you there!!
End-of-year disco
The disco is this Friday, 2nd December in the undercover area. Looks like it will be a warm day so don't forget your water bottles.
The cost is $2 and includes a free icy pole. Bring pocket money as there'll be lollies, popcorn and juice for sale!
Kindy - Yr 2 starts at 4pm and Years 3-6 commence at 5:15 till 6.30pm sharp!
Wear your best dancing gear and come and hear some of the truly awful song requests made by the kids. Please don't blame the DJ!
Icy Poles
Icy Poles are back for Term 4. Don't forget those gold coins every Friday!
Finally, as the year draws to a close we also want to say a massive thanks to the people/classes that have donated either their time or prizes (or both) to help us with our fundraisers. Please reach out if you'd like to get involved in any of the events or fundraising in general!
DUCKs Wrap-up 2022
We would like to say thank you to all the KPS Dads and Families for a fantastic year and for their support of our DUCKs events in 2022. We had many successful events including our Ride along the Swan River, Indoor Climbing at The Rockface, Ellis Brook Valley Hike in the hills and WA Museum Visit. Of course the highlight of the DUCKs calendar was the Campout and Silent Disco on 11 November, which had 292 people attend at last count. The Campout was a huge success and the kids loved it. We have had a lot of positive feedback and ideas for next year.
Your involvement has been the key to our success and we have been proud to support our dads and school in doing the important work of supporting our kids. DUCKs is a member of The Fathering Project and we are all about focussing on the importance of fathering in the lives of children. We appreciate the kind support we receive from Kensington Primary School with the DUCKs program, including the kind words we receive from teachers and staff, and the support of our P&C.
Justin Nicholls and I have been busy this year bringing these DUCKs events to you and we are planning to also start some dads-only catch-ups in 2023. We really appreciate all the dads that have been involved and volunteered their time at events throughout the year. We look forward to an active DUCKs program in 2023.
We wish you the very best for your summer school holiday break and hope that you have some fun things planned for the kids.
Please email us with any further 2022 feedback and 2023 ideas to: DUCKS.KPS@gmail.com
For further ideas on how to best support your children, consider some of the podcasts and videos on the Fathering Channel: https://thefatheringproject.org/fathering-channel/
All the best,
Conrad Slee and Justin Nicholls
Containers for Change
We have a wheely bin and a wool bale in the quadrangle where you can deposit containers, help the environment and fundraise for the school all at once. We hope, with sufficient support from everyone, to expand this program.
Community News
Seabird Rescue
Western Australian Seabird Rescue will be having a pop-up stall Sunday 4th December at Lake Douglas by the Wesley Rowing Club from 9am-1pm along the South Perth Foreshore.
Come have a chat and meet the amazing volunteers that rescue and rehabilitate injured seabirds.
Find out how you can help our native birds, become a volunteer or donate to Western Australian Seabird Rescue.
Kickstart your summer with the UWA Kids Holiday Program!
Summer Holidays: Mon 19 December – Fri 27 January
With a focus on participation and having a good time, the UWA Kids Sport Holiday Program is excellent for introducing kids aged 5-12 to new sports in a friendly, non-competitive environment and for keeping them active and happy during the school holidays!
At the UWA Kids Sport Holiday Program, we aim to provide children with a highly supportive environment which nurtures a healthy lifestyle, positive social interactions, introduction to leadership qualities, development of motor skills and the concepts of sportsmanship and respect of others. Plus, we offer exposure to The University of Western Australia - a world Top 100 university.
This summer program will be based in one location at the UWA campus, taking advantage of the beautiful university grounds.Registrations are now open. Places are strictly limited - enrol online before they're all gone!
