Newsletter 28th June 2023

Principal's Message

Final Week of Term 2, Start of Term 3

Friday is the final day of Term 2.  We wish everyone a lovely and safe break.  Semester 2 starts for students on Tuesday 18^th July (staff are back for training the day before). There will be someone in the office in the morning only on Monday 17th July.

Vale Dave Mundy

As you will know, Dave Mundy passed away on Wednesday 14^th June.  A celebration of his life was held the following Wednesday (21^st June).  Many of you attended as did a number of the staff from KPS. 

In 2015 Dave Mundy founded Kensington Primary School’s (KPS) Fathers Group, the DUCKs. From this pioneering group, guided by the principles of The Fathering Project, Dave built a wonderful community of school dads and their kids who met for events – camp-outs, bushwalks, bike rides, bowls and astronomy evenings to name a few – often with over 200 attendees.

Kensington has a strong sense of community and this is, in no small part, because of Dave’s passion and efforts in creating and maintaining an active dads group at the school.  The DUCKS has contributed a lot to the school and its families.  Dave’s enthusiastic and compassionate leadership and organisation ensured that the experience of fathers was positive, and they have developed a sense of belonging and mutual support.  Because of his efforts, the DUCKs are still a thriving and active community, organised by his successors.

Dave’s involvement in KPS significantly enhanced both the school and the wider community, and hundreds of kids have benefitted from his sports coaching over the years. Dave was an all-round great bloke, and we are lucky to have had him in our community. In 2021 the school and DUCKs nominated him for a City of South Perth award, which he won.

Term 3 Library Staff

Mrs Rankin-Hume is on long service leave in Term 3.  She is being replaced by Naya Shah on Tuesday and Wednesday and Sarah Bird Boxall on Monday.  We wish Mrs Rankin-Hume a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing her back in Term 4.  We welcome Ms Bird Boxall and Ms Shah for the term.

Student Semester Reports

A link to your child’s semester reports was emailed out to you on Tuesday 27^th June.  Please remember to download it and save it in your computer files (or print it out) as the link is only active for four weeks.  This might be particularly important for parents of Year 5/6 students who start looking at scholarships and high school enrolments for 2024/5.  While we can send you another link later, it is an additional impost on our busy office staff.

Enrolling for Pre-primary and Kindergarten for 2024 Now Open

If your child will be four years old by 30 June 2024, you should enrol them in Kindergarten now.  Applications close on 21 July 2023.  Likewise, it is time to enrol you child in Pre-primary if they turn five by 30th June 2024.  Find out more by contacting the school or visiting education.wa.edu.au/enrol.

Pre-Primary applications have been sent home to current Kindy students. Once completed, please return these to the office. If your child will not be continuing to Pre-primary at Kensington Primary School, please let the office know.

Honours and Values awards

Honours and Values Awards

High School Scholarships

Special congratulations to the following Year 6 students who have received offers for selective high school programs in 2024:

Allie – Selective Academic Program at Perth Modern School

Sofia – Selective Ballet Program at John Curtin College of the Arts

Upcoming Events

Pyjama Day for Telethon Kids

Tomorrow the Student Council is having a Pyjama Day to raise funds for Telethon Kids.  Students are invited to wear their pyjamas to school that day for a gold coin donation.  Coins will be collected by the Student Council that day and donated to Telethon Kids.

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week occurs each year in the Term 2 school holidays, so we celebrate it in Term 3.  We have a number of activities planned for this day (Friday 28^th July).  We will start the day off with a smoking ceremony and dance display in the undercover area.  Students will also engage in a collaborative art project with a local Aboriginal artist throughout the day.  Additionally, classroom activities will include native food tasting, crafts and stories.  A Consent 2 Go note will be coming home soon.  The cost will be approx. $10 per student (PP- Year 6).

Cyber Safety Parent Workshop with Paul Litherland (2022 WA Australian of the Year)

Save the Date – Tuesday 4^th August 7-8:30pm

We have Paul Litherland from Surf Online Safe visiting the school on Tuesday 8^th August.  He will run workshops with the Year 5/6 students during the afternoon and a parent workshop between 7-8:30pm in the Music Room.  Thanks to the P&C for continuing to fund this event.  For parents, it is important to arm yourself with this knowledge to protect your children. Please join us for this vital and eye-opening presentation. If you attended this event last time (two years ago), please note that the information is ever changing, and you will receive new and updated information. You can book your seat through our SZapp calendar events by clicking on this event.

Kindy - School Holiday Health Screening

A letter went home to eligible Kindy 2 parents last week. Kindy 2 students (only) can book into the school holiday screening at the Vista Street Kindy site, for their School Entry Health Assessment.

Please phone 1300 749 869 for bookings and further information.

Bookings are available in Week 1 of the school holidays : Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th July only.

What's Been Going On At KPS

Speaking with Confidence

Over this term, all Year 6 students and volunteering Year 5 students took part in the annual KPS Speaking Champion competition. Students had to write, rehearse and perform a speech about a topic of their choosing in front of the S3 and S4 classes and teachers. A group were then selected to go through to the next round, where they presented their speech in front of Ms Jones, Mr Griffiths and Mr Powers.

Well done to all the students who took part. Public speaking can be extremely difficult and stressful and makes you feel quite vulnerable, so getting up and giving it a go is a big achievement. Congratulations to the winners, Hugo Petersen and Harriet Flaherty.

Harriet and Hugo represented Kensington at the South Perth Speak with Confidence Awards this morning at the South Perth Town Hall. They both performed very well and represented our school with pride.

Winners: Harriet Flaherty (Year 6) and Hugo Petersen (Year 6).

Finalists: Sara Martin (Year 6), James Bourn (Year 6), Joe Docherty (Year 6)  and Isobel Young (Year 5).

Planting with the City of South Perth

Students from Rooms 2 and 8 buddied up with students from S1 and S2 to plant out the school garden beds near the office and behind the Music Room.  The gardeners from the City of South Perth provided 200 seedlings and plants for this activity along with garden equipment and guidance from Luke.  Thanks to Micheline and her team for all their support.  Next term we will do some more work with the City of South Perth (Micheline and her team) to address the erosion of the slope from the oval to the main grounds and continue planting along the oval.

Student Voice Forum

On 9^th May the Student Council met with representatives from each Year 1-6 classroom.  They asked the student for feedback on what they liked about the school, what they didn’t like, any new ideas to improve the school and any ideas for charities we could support as a school (giving back to the wider community). In the last three newsletters we reported the responses to the first three questions.  In this newsletter we are reporting their ideas for fundraising for charities. 

Foyer Display - Room 3

The Year 1 students in Room 3 have been exploring all the things people need to be healthy. They began their study by discussing fruit and vegetables and why they are important to include in our diet.

First, the students learnt about all the different ways fruit and vegetables help our bodies grow, learn and play. Then they planned, made and ate their delicious Food Faces! Finally, they made posters that explained why it is important to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. Well done, Room 3!

Sports News

Winter Carnival

Last Thursday selected Year 5/6 students competed in the winter carnival. We had a fun day. The basketball team came 4^th, hockey 2^nd, AFL 2^nd, soccer 3^rd and the netball team won the shield when they came 1^st.

The overall shield was won by Lathlain; we came 2^nd 2 points behind the leaders. Well done Kensington for your effort on the day and for showing fantastic sportsmanship in all sports whether you won, lost, or drew.

Thanks to parents Mel, Amy and Janet who have assisted with senior sport throughout the term preparing our teams for the winter carnival. Thanks to our staff Miss Fravi, Miss Chatfield, Mr Powers, Mr Griffiths and parents Leanne and Amy for coaching teams at the carnival.  Thanks also go to Mrs Stanford for organising our involvement.

Running Club

Running Club will recommence on the first Tuesday of next term. (There is no running club on this Friday). Keep running over the holidays in preparation for the cross-country carnival next term. This term we have had 98 students sign up for running club. We had another lovely rainbow over our running club this week.

Cross Country

Proposed Faction Cross Country Program Friday July 21, 2023.

The course maps and timetable of events are on the sport notice board outside the staffroom.

Parents are welcome to attend but please keep off the course and do not run with your child.

 Medallions and ribbons will be presented after each event.

The Faction shield and winners of the events will be presented in the UCA at 2.50pm.

An event will not commence before the allocated time but may be later than the set time.

Pre-service Teacher.

Thanks to Miss Mackenzie King who has been assisting Mrs Stanford in the PE program for the last five weeks.

P & C News

DUCKs Hills Family Bushwalk - Sat. 5 August 2023

KPS Dads and Families are invited to join a morning bushwalk at Lesmurdie Falls in Mundy Regional Park in the Perth hills, about 22 km east of Kensington (30 minute drive).

Please RSVP via this link:

CLICK HERE

This bushwalk will cater for both younger and older kids. The upper falls has an accessible path suited to strollers and wheelchairs.

Further details are available by clicking the link. 

For those who knew Dave Mundy, I would encourage you to come along and join the walk in memory of the amazing work he did over the years by starting DUCKs in 2016, supporting so many dads and kids from  KPS and beyond in the community.

For any questions please contact: DUCKS.KPS@gmail.com

Conrad Slee - DUCKs

Dads United for the Children of Kensington

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

Online workshop with Early Childhood Psychologists: Supporting a child diagnosed with ADHD

The Early Childhood Psychologists are running online workshops during term 3 for families.  Families do not need to register.  You are welcome to share the information and Webex link with your families.

Date: 23 August 2023, 8-10pm

Blurb: Being a parent brings joys and challenges.  But parents of children diagnosed with ADHD can face special challenges.  They may need to learn extra ways of supporting their children.  They may feel frustrated if their parenting strategies don’t seem to work.  Too high expectations can lead to conflict and disappointment.  This workshop will provide you with some suggestions to help you support your child.

Link:
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Reds Volleyball

Reds would like to invite junior athletes to the Reds Kids School Holiday Camp for learning the skills and game play for the sport of volleyball. The Reds Kids Volleyball Holiday Clinic will offer fun and inclusive volleyball learning for students in year 2-6 over two action packed mornings.