Newsletter 19th June 2024

Principal's Message

It has been very rewarding stepping in the principal role while Miss Jones is on Long Service Leave. A big thank you to Mrs Beasley who has been our Yr 3-6 deputy this Term. Mrs Beasley has done an outstanding job and we have been very fortunate to have her work with us for the term.

We welcome back Mr Mc Nerney to the deputy role in Term 3.

Final day of Term 2 is Friday 28th June. Students return Tuesday 16th July

We wish everyone a lovely safe break.

Student Semester Reports

A link to your child’s semester report will be emailed out to you next Tuesday (25th June).  Please remember to download it and save it in your computer files (or print it out) as the link is only active for 4 weeks.  This might be particularly important for parents of Year 5 students who start looking at scholarships and high school enrolments for 2025. 

Bike Shed

On Wednesday 26th June our bike shed will be dismantled. There will be a temporary bike enclosure installed near the drinking trough on the basketball courts. As this is a temporary structure, it would be a good idea for students to bring a lock for their bikes.

Sport News

Congratulations to Frederick S who has been selected to represent Western Australia in the 2024 Hockey 12s Boys Championship. This team will be competing at the School Sport Australian National Championships in Queensland in August.

Congratulations Freddie!

Keeping our School Safe

During the holiday period school premises are more vulnerable than usual to vandalism and damage by intruders and can become targets for a small number of offenders. The upcoming holiday period is from Saturday 29th June – Sunday 14th July 2024.

We would also like to let you know that there will be some works happening to the bike shed. 

If you are in the vicinity, please listen for unusual noises; look for suspicious vehicles parked at the school and notice if groups of children or teenagers are congregating around the school. Your involvement can really make a difference in preventing damage to our school. I urge you to report any suspicious activity immediately to:

SCHOOL WATCH – 1800 177 777 or

POLICE – 131 444

Student Council Fundraiser

On Friday 7th June students and staff dressed in their PJs to raise funds for Telephon Kids. We raised $620.70. Fantastic effort!

Thank you everyone for your support.

Kindergarten Families

During Term 3 and 4, Kindergarten group 1 will attend Wednesdays on odd weeks (1,3,5,7,8,9) and Kindergarten group 2 will attend Wednesdays on even weeks (2,4,6,8,10). 

Please see the calendar attached.  

Honours and Values Awards

Foyer Display - Room 3

We 'Gnome' Our Numbers

In Room 3, we have been learning all about numbers up to 100! We can identify the bigger and smaller numbers when comparing two numbers, odd and even numbers, and we can partition the numbers into tens and ones!

Have a close look at our gnome's beards...

What's Coming Up

Start of Term 3

 Children will return to school on Tuesday 16th July. The office will be open on Monday 15th July.

What's Been Happening

Excursion Year 3s

On Thursday, May 23^rd, the Year 3 cohort pulled on their adventure boots and headed to Caversham Wildlife Park for the day. The excursion allowed the students to further develop their understanding of Term 1’s Biological Sciences unit and get up close and personal with some of our native Australian wildlife. Some highlights of the day included , posing with wombats and koalas, holding a snake and watching the Farm Show, where students heard all about life on a farm with shearing and whip-cracking demonstrations. The day was a huge success and the students from all three classes could not stop talking about all the things they got to see and do. Here are some of their thoughts on the day:

"I liked seeing the kangaroos, the crocodiles and the snake. I had a really good day. It was the best excursion ever!" – Cora Clarke, Room 7.

“The excursion was very fun! I saw kangaroos that were so small I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I loved how the park looked after its animals and gave the kangaroos a resting space away from the people so they could have a break when they needed.” – Abby Christie, Room 8.

“It was a fantastic excursion!  My favourite thing was when I saw a joey jump into its mother’s pouch because that is a once in a lifetime thing to see.” – Harvey Taylor, Room 9.

The day would not have been possible without so many supervisors. Thank you so much to all the staff who came along and to the parent helpers who gave up their time. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Speaking Champions

Over this term, all Year 6 students and some 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 Year 6 cohort 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, stressful and vulnerable, so getting up and giving it a go is a big achievement. Congratulations to the winners, Jessie from S2, and Jonah and Emmerson from S3, who all delivered incredible speeches. A special mention to the Year 5s who took part in the competition. They did an amazing job with their speech’s and should be proud of themselves for showing courage and performing so well in front of all the Year 6s.

Jonah and Emmerson will now go on to represent Kensington at the South Perth Speak with Confidence Awards next Wednesday at the South Perth Town Hall. We know they will do our school proud. Good luck!

Garden News

We love spending time in the garden!

S1 and S2 have been working hard in the garden this semester. It took weeks to get rid of all the weeds and prepare the garden beds.

Every fortnight, Curtin University volunteers come into the garden and help us with the work. We couldn’t have achieved what we have without them. Thank you, Curtin Volunteers!

About six weeks ago both classes started planting vegetables, herbs and flowers, and the results and progress have been amazing.

The photos prove the plants are growing at a spectacular speed. It’s been fascinating to watch the plants thrive. Our goal is for the flowers to attract the bees to pollinate the vegetables and fruits in our garden.

We plan to use the vegetables and fruits to cook in simple recipes. So far, we have planted sage, thyme, potatoes, beans, peas, kale, cabbage, bok choy, spaghetti squash, spring onions, beetroot, lettuce and carrots.

It has been disappointing when we come to school and discover that people have damaged or stolen the food we have planted. Please look, but don’t touch our garden.

We will soon be upgrading the frog pond with a new pond and plants. Please help us look after the pond by not throwing anything into the pond.

Music News

Excursion

On Wednesday July 24^th the Senior Choir will be visiting Penrhos College to watch the musical “Mamma Mia” This excursion is a reward for consistent good behaviour and effort at choir rehearsals.  It is an excellent opportunity for the students to experience quality singing, dancing, acting, and excellent orchestral playing.  There are professional costumes, backdrops, lighting and sound.  Please complete the Consent2Go and payment promptly as the excursion is in week 2 of Term 3.

Music Uniform

Early next term you will receive a Try Booking notification to pay for your child’s Music Uniform.  Please respond by the RSVP date.   Year 6 students should try on their white shirt from last year to see if it still fits.  There is a limited stock of second-hand shirts for $5 available from the Music Room.  First in best dressed.   Over the next few weeks your child will be fitted for a Music Uniform.  They will be packaged and distributed in August.

Sport News

Faction Cross Country

Well done to all students on their performance in the faction cross country last Friday. It was fantastic to see everyone giving maximum effort to complete the course no matter where they placed. Thanks to S3 and S4 for their assistance on the day. Many senior students ran the course multiple time helping and encouraging the younger students. Thanks to Ms Bernic for scoring and Bernadette for assisting. Thanks to all the Pre-service teachers for their assistance around the course.

Congratulations to our medallion winners: 

Year 6 champions – Elodie and Freddie, runners-up – Isabel and Alfie.

Year 5 champions – Bella and Maxwell, runners-up – Lara and Robbie.

Year 4 champions – Nevaeh and Cooper, runners-up – Imogen and Zander

Year 3 champions – Abigail and Orlando, runners-up – Guilia and Theodore.

Year 2 champions – Summer and Darcy, runners-up- Shiloh and Affan.

Year 1 champions – Layla and Johannes, runners-up - Hannah and Benen.

PP champions – Harlow and Santi, runners-up – Lily and Tom

Our runners who came 1 – 6 in Year 3 to 6 will represent Kensington in the Inter School Cross Country on Thursday 25^th July at Harold Rossiter.

 The final scores were: -

Congratulations Endeavour

Winter Carnival

On Thursday selected Year 5/6 students will participate in the winter carnival at Curtin University playing fields. We will have teams playing AFL, football, basketball, netball, and hockey.

Running Club

This term we have had up to 60 runners enjoying an early morning run, with a total of 100 students registered. Some days it has been very wet, and the enthusiastic runners still come and run!

Running Club will recommence Week 2 of next term. Tuesday (running track) and Friday (oval) morning from 8.00am – 8.30am. New runners always welcome. Parents of Kindy and Pre-primary parents must attend with their child. Active kids learn better!

Library News

P & C News

Bike Shed

The wait is almost over! Work on the bike shed extension is scheduled to occur over the school holidays.  The new and improved bike shed will be twice as big as the current bike shed, whilst also incorporating a storage shed (goodbye sea container!) and a containers for change area.  The bike shed and containers for change will both be accessible directly off Fourth Ave so no more lugging those cans into the quadrangle.  We'll let everyone know the proposed construction timeline following a meeting next week. 

Uniform Shop

An agreement has been signed with the third party to take over the running of the uniform shop from Term 3.  This will result in the following changes:

- All new uniforms will be purchased through the third party.  Their store is open 6 days a week and online ordering is available.

- The P&C will continue to operate the on-site uniform shop for 2nd hand uniforms only. This will not be every Thursday.  Opening days, dates and times will be communicated closer to Term 3.

- Current orders are being resolved this week.  If you have placed an online order, we appreciate your patience. Stock will be delivered, and refunds processed in the coming days.  Please note that we cannot pass your order on to the third party - your money will be returned, and you will need to order directly from them when they come online.

- We are working with the third party to have all current stock lines fully available at the time of handover.  Final details and dates are currently being resolved.  Once this is finalised and the third party is ready to go, all details will be passed on.

Naturescape

The old bush poles that used to hold up the netting in the naturescape area have been recently taken down for safety reasons as the poles have continued to deteriorate.

The P&C engaged a nature play consultant earlier this year who has visited the site and will be presenting a concept to the school next week for both the old naturescape area and the pre-primary areas.  We are still very much at the start of this journey, but the P&C intends for this to be the next major project following the completion of the bike shed.  Further details will be revealed in the future.

Wishlist Items

The 2022 wish list items continue to be actioned.  Visitors to the school recently may have noticed the upgrading of the pre-primary sand pit, and the addition of the P&C noticeboard to the wall behind the office.  Future P&C notices will be put up in this space

DUCKs Dads & Kids Paper Planes and Pizza event, Sat. 20 July 2024, 2pm

Save The Date

Hi Dads, 

We have a DUCKs Dads and Kids - Paper Planes and Pizza event coming up after the school holidays at 2pm Saturday 20 July 2024. Location: To be confirm

This is targeted at Dads and Kids. Father-figures are welcome too.
Please save the date and look out for the RSVP link to follow. Other details to follow.

Keep up the great work dads. We look forward to seeing you there. 

Thanks,

Conrad Slee - DUCKs
DUCKS.KPS@gmail.com

Uniform Online Orders

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.

Containers for Change

Community News

School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI)

To boost education opportunities and narrow the digital divide, the Australian Government is providing up to 30,000 eligible families with no internet at home a free National Broadband Network (NBN) service. Originally a 12-month commitment, the initiative has been extended meaning:

• The period in which a family can nominate to receive a free service is up to 31 December 2024.
• The duration of free services will continue until 31 December 2025 for all existing and new families.

What is the eligibility criteria for the initiative?

To be eligible, a family must:

• Have a child living at home that is enrolled in an Australian school.
• Have no active broadband service over the NBN network.
• Live in a premise where they can access a standard NBN service.
• Not have had an active NBN service during the previous 14 days.

Families can directly contact the National Referral Centre to have their eligibility assessed or be referred by a participating nominating organisation.

Free Parent workshops

Workshops this term include:

• Healthy screentime habits (pre-schoolers and primary schoolers)
• Expressing feelings without aggression (pre-schoolers)
• Making and keeping friends (10-16 years)
• Raising competent teenagers (10-16 years)
• The power of positive parenting (under 12 years)
• Promoting self-esteem (pre-schoolers, primary schoolers and teens)
• Learning to separate (toddlers and pre-schoolers)
• Fear-Less: Supporting children with anxiety (6-14 years)
• Learning to use the toilet (toddlers and pre-schoolers)