KNPS News 2019

The work that we would like to showcase in this newsletter is actually work that was completed last year. Ariana and Laura were offered the opportunity to enter two competitions - Time to Write and Write Along. Both of these competitions encouraged students to write short stories and/or poems, with the opportunity for the writing to be published in a book, if the writing was selected. A number of students entered the competition from KNPS and Ariana and Laura were successful with their entires. Well done! 

Ariana has written a short story about a rescue. Emma, a student now in high school, inspired her to write the story. Emma knew that Ariana liked the series The Famous Five, and suggested she base her story on this popular series and enter the competition. She did and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Laura entered a story and poem. The poem is about a trip to the dentist if you are particularly terrified about having sharp instruments inserted into your mouth. Laura insists she isn't terrified of going to the dentist, but can imagine someone who would be.  

Laura's story is about a girl called Alice (from wonderland) who had her wand stolen by the King of Hearts. It is an adaptation of the classic Alice from Wonderland. However, in this story she is a few years older.

All three pieces of writing are exceptional and showcase the talent both of these girls display. We are very proud of their learning, achievements and obvious love of storytelling. Well done, girls!

(If you click on the image it will enlarge. Otherwise, we have included a PDF of the work at the bottom of the newsletter)

Happy Birthday to the following students for the month of May:

3rd - Kai T                                    22nd - Jorja J

5th - Iona K                                 22nd - Jazmin CH

7th - Diyanah A                          23rd - Matilda K  

8th - Ryan M                               31st - Ben F

Happy Birthday to the following students for the month of June:

8th - Ariana B                             19th - Lochlan W

9th - Nyssa H                              20th - Bonny M

11th - Katherine B                      20th - Drew O

14th - Sienna M                          22nd - Jaden M

14th - Harry B                             24th - Mikayla B

16th - Rachel K                            30th - Tylah M

We hope you all have had, or are going to have amazing Birthday, with loads of love and presents! 

Research has consistently demonstrated that teachers are the largest in school factor affecting student learning outcomes. This is why our school continually invests in the professional learning of staff as a priority. Last year we spent nearly double our allocated funding on Professional Learning and this year we are forecast to spend more than that. This ensures that teaching staff have a deep understanding of how students learn best and are equipped to employ the best teaching methods, in order to ensure positive student outcomes. All staff are committed to improving their practice so that every student is achieving their best, every single day, in all areas of the curriculum.

This term we have continued to focus on English teaching, in particular reading instruction. Staff are continuing to learn about, and implement Synthetic Phonics lessons to target reading instruction in the early years. We have developed Scope and Sequence documents to support the systematic teaching of phonics across the school and we are already seeing positive results in spelling and reading. In conjunction with phonics instruction, teachers have also developed an understanding of Direct Instruction, a teaching style aimed at providing instruction that is systematic and sequential, breaking learning into discrete, achievable chunks, with students only moving on when they develop a solid understanding of the concept being taught. To help us achieve this, we have been working closely with a teacher educator, Justin Caban. This term Justin visited our school to provide demonstration lessons in each classroom, showing best-practice teaching in phonics and direct instruction. Staff from Faulconbridge Public School also attended the day to share in the learning experience. 

Staff are also consolidating understanding of Visible Learning practices and how to provide feedback to students that is timely and provides explicit instructions to students about how to move their learning forward. This included a full day's training at Penrith on day 1 of  this term. As a part of this training we were introduced to the idea of Learning Dispositions and have decided to take a whole school approach and implement the teaching of Learning Dispositions in all classrooms. 

The term 'learning dispositions', sometimes called 'habits of mind' or 'dispositions to learning', refer to the way in which learners engage in and relate to the learning process. Learning dispositions affect how students approach learning and therefore the outcomes of their learning.

Different research identifies different dispositions but there is consensus about the importance of the learning dispositions furthering skills, engagement and deep understanding.

Development of these dispositions is fundamental for students to develop an awareness of the way they learn and establish future-focused attitudes to learning, critical if they are to be able to become lifelong learners.

As as school we have decided to focus on the following 8 learning Dispositions to focus on across the school: 

Open-minded, flexible, risk-taker, resourceful, patient and persistent, ubiquitous learner and reflective. These dispositions will be explicitly taught to students, starting in term 3. Watch this space, you will be hearing more about the Learning Dispositions over the coming weeks. 

Staff and students would like to thank the P&C for their organisation and fundraising which has allowed us to upgrade our PA system and re-design the retaining wall at the front of the school to create a bus bay for students. 

The New PA System is much louder and has sound directed to where it is needed. Sound has been directed away from neighbouring properties and ensures that notices, bells and alarms are heard clearly around the school. 

Our new bus bay, built by the amazing Colin Buckett, has provided students with a place to wait for Kiss and Drop, OOSH and bus travel home in the afternoons. A shelter will soon be placed over the top of the Bus Bay,  creating an area safe from the sun and rain. A huge thank you to Colin Buckett, who organised for the sandstone sleepers and donated his time to install the sandstone and create our amazing bus bay area. 

None of this would have been possible without the fundraising efforts of the P&C and donations form the community. We are very lucky to have the support of an amazing community. Thank you, everyone! 

The organisation of school events is a valuable, yet time consuming task for teachers. We love providing the additional opportunities for students, however we are asking for your support to ensure that these events run smoothly and safely for all involved. 

A significant cause of concern when organising events is late payments. This has a huge effect on the organisation of events and can impact on the safety and overall smooth running of events. Late payments, or non-return of notes can cause issues in the following areas:

1. WHS issues - teachers are responsible for student safety when we leave the school. This requires staff to ensure that students with allergies, anaphylaxis and other special needs are considered and planned for during all school events. If payments/notes are returned late it can be extremely difficult for staff to adequately plan for the safety of all students, particularly if payments and permission notes are received on the day of an excursion.

2. Cost increases - often, the school is charged per student for bus travel and gate entry. If the number of students attending an event changes, costs can vary significantly. If we have a large number of students not return notes, or pull out of an event at the last minute, costs are then passed on to other students, making the total cost greater for those participating. 

We understand that it is hard to always stay on top of payments, and we are by no means asking for perfection, however if you are able to send notes and/or money in on time it would be greatly appreciated and would support teaching staff to adequately plan exciting activities for our students. 

Your understanding and support is greatly appreciated. 

Congratulations to our school team for their magnificent achievements at the Small Schools’ Cross Country on Friday 10 May. Everyone tried their very best with 5 students achieving District entry. Those students were: Oliver J, Matilda K, Ethan L, Charli O and Jaden M. What an amazing effort to make the Small Schools team. 

We would like to thank Miss Stephenson for all of her work organising students for the day and in the lead up. A lot of work goes into these events and it is certainly appreciated.   

On Friday 24 May our 5 District competitors competed at Cattai Recreational Park. We would like to congratulate all 5 students who attended. Results are as follows: Matilda 27th, Charli 32nd, Ethan 7th and Oli 10th. Unfortunately Jaden was sick on the day and could not compete.

As Ethan finished in the top 8, this means that he will now go on to compete at the Regional Cross Country on Wednesday 12 June, 2019. We would also like to congratulate Oli for his placing as this means he is the 2nd reserve for this carnival. Well done to all students, you have made us very proud. 

It's that time of year again! Teachers are madly writing student reports and preparing for interviews. We have made a small change in the way reports are written this semester and are looking for feedback on the comments provided to parents. In an effort to make the comments provided to families easier to understand we have limited all comments apart from the general comment to 4 sentences. With the first two sentences aimed at highlighting areas within each Key Learning Area where students are demonstrating strength. The last two sentences will be written to provide parents information about areas of growth in the particular Key Leaning Area. The general comment will be used to highlight social development, work habits and any other areas not covered in the Key Learning Areas. If you require further information, or clarification about the comments we encourage you to raise this with your child's teacher at interview time. We will also put out a survey at the end of the process to gauge the community's response. 

Interviews have been arranged for the last two weeks of this term. A note will be coming home this week indicating the process to book a time with your child's teacher. We will once again use the Sentral booking system, through the parent portal. You should have used the system last year to book a date for interviews, meaning that you already have a login and password. If you have forgotten your password or login, the process to recover these is included in the letter to be sent home.

If you have any enquiries, please contact the school office. 

We have 2020 vision at the moment (I couldn't resist the pun!), which means we are looking at school numbers and planning for the coming year. I know it seems early, however the department requires anticipated enrolments early in term 3 and we like to be as accurate as possible. 

If you have a child starting next year, could you please contact the office and request an enrolment form and return this to the school as soon as possible. If you know of any students in the local area who have not yet submitted their enrolment forms, could you please ask them also. 

We are attempting to  be as organised as possible. Thanks for your support.  

On Wednesday, Year 5 students travelled by bus to Colo High School with other feeder primary schools to participate in a Gala Day organised by Colo and Penrith Valley High School teachers. This is the second stage of the Learning to Lead, Premier’s Sporting Challenge Sports Leadership Program.

Last term, KNPS students and students from the two high schools headed up to Bilpin to teach our students Soccer and Rugby League skills in preparation for the Gala Day as part of Stage 1 of this program.

The Gala Day last week consisted of sports skills and initiative games led by teachers and students in AFL, NRL, Touch Football, Soccer and Netball. KNPS students had an absolute blast, mixing with the other feeder school students and being taught by High School students. Not only did they get to develop their sporting prowess, but the social opportunities and familiarisation with Colo High School was an added bonus. 

Once again, thank you to Miss Stephenson for taking our Year 5 students to Colo High School. We are so lucky that our school is a part of so many wonderful experiences, both here in the Hawkesbury and outside. 

This month's P&C Meeting will be held tomorrow night (Thursday 6 June) at 6.30pm. We normally have a teacher stay back for the meeting and offer a child minding service. Unfortunately, no teachers are available this Thursday. Students are still welcome, they will just be a part of the meeting. 

We would love to see as many people as possible attend the meeting. Don't worry, you won't be roped in to doing loads of jobs, but it is a nice opportunity to engage with the parent body and the school to keep abreast of what is happening regarding your child's education. 

See you tomorrow night :-)