KNPS News 2019

In each newsletter we will be featuring examples of student work. The work that we showcase will highlight the amazing learning that students complete on a daily basis at KNPS. We have a strong focus on improvement and would like to share student progress with the school community.

Work will not always be perfectly edited or beautifully presented. We are not aiming to showcase "perfect" work, we are hoping to showcase improvement in individual students' learning. Learning is often messy and we celebrate that with students to ensure that they focus on achieving individual goals in a process of continual improvement.

In this edition we highlight the "William Whitehurst's Way" of adding two 3-digit numbers. Year 4 were learning to add hundreds numbers together and were investigating different strategies to complete the task. William came up with a visual method to complete the split strategy and taught the rest of the class how to complete their addition sums.

His method is as follows (as can be seen in the photo): 

200 + 600 = 800

40 + 30 = 70

7 + 1 = 8

800 + 70 + 8 = 878

The bonus with Will's method is that he can add these 3-digit numbers in his head! Clever thinking Will :-)

BEEP BEEP BEEP. We all had to wake up early so early that everyone else is asleep. We get dressed and do everything we normally do at 8am or 9am and not 5:30am! I get in the car still half asleep and we leave.

We get on the train, packed even though it’s the first stop. The train ride is long but it was worth it as when we got to halogen we greeted by one of our hosts DJ RAF and had a dance party. After that we had a dancer come in a dance for everyone. After that was the first speaker…

The Cotton On Foundation

Tim Diamond from the Cotton On Foundation was our first speaker and he told us all about what Cotton On does with all that money that it gets from the shops. Cotton On helps people in Africa who need schools, food, medication, water and homes. They have created schools all over Africa with thousands of students. They supply food and water and shelter for all the students and teachers.

Tasmin Janu

Next we had the Tasmin Janu. She is an author who wrote the children’s novel “Figgy in the World”.

Tasmin talked to us about her trip to Ghana which inspired her story Figgy in the world. She went to Ghana in her gap year. She lived there with the people of Ghana and lived the same way as everyone in Ghana. She met lots of people. She would have people knock on her door whenever something happened and the most interesting was when some little boys came to her house late at night and told her to come and look at the baby crocodile that they had found. She told them to let it go which they did, but she said it was a really Interesting experience…

Cate Campbell

Next was Cate Campbell, an Olympic swimmer who won a gold and a silver medal. She told us why she started swimming. When she was 9 and her sister Bronte was 7 she did swimming but she didn’t try hard at all. Bronte did. They had a competition where they would get medals. Cate got none but Bronte got many. Bronte would wear them around the house and the medals would clank when she would walk around. Cate was upset so she stole Bronte’s medals and hid them under her bed. Her mum found them soon after and had a talk to Cate. She talked to her about how Bronte deserves the medals and she should wear them around the house because she had earned them. She told Cate that she would have some if she tried harder. That was the moment she decided to become an Olympian. She tried hard right up until she was 15 and tried for the Olympics and got in. Every time from then on she has gotten in and I can’t wait to see her swim next year at the Olympic Games.

In the break between the speeches we went and got a photo with Cate and I got to hold her gold medal with Ariana.

Holly Ferling

The next speaker was Holly Ferling, a cricketer who talked a lot about us and what was going to happen next year. We are the big fish in the little pond and next year we will be the little wish in the huge pond. That huge pond is high school. She told us about her life and some of her big ponds she has gone to or she will go to. She also talked to us about some of her injuries and how they are hurdles and if you get over these hurdles you will get better. She talked to us about not giving up and about how she didn’t give up while she was injured and went back even though she has spent almost half of her time playing cricked injured. She talk about her past and how she would play on the boy’s team because there weren’t many girls who played cricket. She talked about how she would play with her brother and how he would bowl but he would hit too hard as he got older.

After that we went on a tram around the city until we got to our stop and then we got on the train and took the long journey back home. When we got back we went to our parents and went home! It was an amazing day.

By Laura

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

Evangeline B, Jackson L, Harper, Oliver J, Leila, Hayden C, James H and Annabelle E.

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

Assembly Award Winners - Week 8 and 10

Staff have continued to develop understanding of the Visible Learning research and the impact that this learning will have on students. We have developed 7 Learning Dispositions which will be taught explicitly to students during Terms 2, 3 and 4. The seven dispositions are: Open-Minded, Flexible, Risk-Taker, Resourceful, Patient and Persistent, Ubiquitous Learner and Reflective. 

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.

Staff have also taken part in a combined school staff meeting session, which was the first of five sessions to be undertaken during 2019. Staff from Kurrajong North Public School, Kurrajong East Public School and Bilpin Public School will work collaboratively on a number of projects to develop the capacity of all teachers across the three schools. Everyone is already excited about the prospects of this collaboration and we will keep you updated as the year progresses. 

Please click on the following link to be connected to the Sentral Calendar. This is where you will find important dates for events that are happening around the school. We keep this calendar as updated as possible and is your best option for seeing what is happening across the school. 

You will need a Family Access Key to access the site of the first time. If you require one, please contact the office and one will be generated for you. If you have forgotten your password, click the link below and press "forgot password". 

https://knps.sentral.com.au/portal/login

A number of families have had issues when applying for bus travel applications this year. This is due to the fact that most families live too close to the school to access free transport. However, as there are no suitable walkways to the school, all families are able to get access to free bus travel due to student safety.

When you apply for your bus pass you will be declined as a default setting. This is most likely because you live too close to the school. Once this occurs, you simply appeal the decision sighting that there are no suitable safe walkways to the school. I have also typed a letter from the school supporting all appeals based on safe access to the school. If you require this letter, please contact Gayle in the office and we will supply you with a copy to attach as part of your appeal. All families to date have been successful with their appeal and the process has not taken more than a few days. 

Students need a new bus application when moving into Year 3 and Year 7.

If you require further assistance, please contact the office and we can assist you with any questions you may have. 

It is my pleasure to inform you that Sarah Stephenson has been appointed as a permanent teacher at Kurrajong North Public School after a successful merit selection process. Sarah has been teaching temporarily at our school for many years now and thoroughly deserves her appointment as a permanent member of staff at the school. Sarah’s appointment ensures that class structures remain the same for the remainder of 2019.

THE CAVE

Swimming deep down,

I can’t hear a sound.

With one mistake

I could be the caves new bait.

My oxygen tank sits heavy on my back

And then I hear a crack,

My head fills with stress

As my oxygen tank feels less.

My body stops

And my heart takes a big drop,

Falling down slowly,

Colour fades away.

I don’t want to stay.

I don’t want to end.

Please someone give me a hand.

Olivia

As the snow dribbles down,

My head starts to pound

As life falls from below me. 

I look and I see.

I start to shiver,

start to quiver,

when suddenly I see stairs

as I’m thinking no one cares

As my eyes fill with water

I remember my daughter,

Near the sides of hills.  

When pressure fills,

once I get to the top

it will begin. 

The war lays within. 

Mikayla

Next week I will head into Hyde Park with our 5 school leaders to participate in the RSL and Schools Remember Anzac Commemoration Service. 

The Service is conducted in collaboration with Catholic Schools NSW and the Association of Independent Schools of NSW who, along with the NSW Department of Education and the Returned and Services League of Australia (NSW Branch), in a coordinated approach to support students to participate in the Service.

ANZAC Day is a significant day on the Australian national calendar and it is important for schools to acknowledge and participate in commemorative services. 

An ANZAC Service will also be conducted at school with representatives from the RSL attending to talk to students at the service and in class about the importance of remembering our service women and men. The school service will be conducted on Thursday 11 April at 10.00am. All parents and visitors are welcome.

Our Easter Hat Parade will be held next week on the last day of term, Friday 12 April 10.30am.  Parents, family and friends are more than welcome to attend the parade. We have invited local pre-schools to attend the service and would love for younger brothers and sisters attending to join in on the parade also. We usually have a special visitor attend (if he's not too busy getting eggs ready) and a BBQ has been organised by the canteen for our picnic lunch after the parade. If you haven't already, could you please fill out the Google Form to indicate the number of sausage sandwiches required for your family. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZ8qHEOU1-7c3rYyeO8XQXHlAsUMTG-ZAv7tdsflPj3O9L6g/viewform?usp=sf_link