KNPS News 2019

Bushfire Emergency

In light of the bushfire situation last week and continuing, I would like to thank the community for your patience and flexibility as we navigate unforeseen and unknown territory. We have never had a catastrophic fire danger rating, so the management of this was no small feat for the department, coordinating schools right across the Sydney basin. The number of fires burning across the state is unprecedented and it is critical for the department and our school to get it right. I would like to assure the community that the safety of students, staff and the broader community is our highest priority when making decisions around school closures and when developing management plans. We have plans in place in the event of any emergency, including bushfires and regularly practice what to do in case of an emergency.

We will inform the community if there are any updates in this area. 

Working Bee

Thank you to the families who helped at the Working Bee we held a few weekends ago. We were able to move some sand down to the play equipment and clear an area along the fence of debris which had collected over the years. Another example of the community pulling together to improve our beautiful school. 

Parent Information Evening

During Week 1 we held the first of a series of workshops designed to inform the parent community about the approaches we take in teaching English and Mathematics at our school. The session during week 1 focused on English, with a Mathematics session being held later in the term. Next year we intend on holding a number of sessions designed to help parents support student understanding and skill development at home. We will give you some tips and tricks to help you complement what is being taught in the classroom. We hope that you are able to engage with these events. 

We hope you have a fantastic week. Be kind, be safe. until next time...

Mr Carter

Happy Birthday to the following students for the month of October and November:

October

21st - Astrid M                        30th - Gypsy J

26th - Alice W

November

9th - Oscar M                            20th - Cooper M

9th - Zoe M                                26th - Laykin C

16th - Lillian P

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

We have continued our work with GEMS (Getting Evidence Moving in Schools), a project looking at how schools are engaging with evidence-based teaching strategies and research, and how this affects teaching and learning activities and student performance. 

Our Literacy Consultant Justin Caban has visited twice this term to work with Mrs Burgess, Mrs Robinson and Mr Carter. We are busy researching best-practice/techniques when delivering modelled lessons.  This will assist the development of a consistent understanding and approach in all classrooms throughout the school. We will present our research findings and finished work at a conference for all schools involved in the GEMS project in Week 7. 

We are all very busy with the project, but very excited about our learning and the improvements we have made to our practice and processes across the school. We will keep you posted with our progress and experience at conference in Week 7. 

We will be holding a parent information session in Week 8 of Term 4 - Wednesday 4 December @ 7pm. Information will be presented to assist parents in understanding the Matematics Syllabus and how maths is taught to students at KNPS. 

Light refreshments will be provided (cuppa and biscuits) and we will have a staff member stay behind to look after students if you get stuck for a babysitter. 

This is a really important session if you are interested in how students learn Mathematics and what you can do to support this at home. 

This ORIGO 1 series of videos shows you how to create light bulb moments for your children. These videos take a mathematics concept and break it into pieces that are easy to understand and only take a minute to watch. Watching these videos will help you to understand how mathematics is taught at school, making it easier for you to teach your children at home. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1dmI5NtEac

In Week 4 Stage 2 and Stage 3 students travelled to the Windsor Basketball stadium to take part in the Small Schools' Basketball Gala Day.

Well, everyone was really excited when we got there. The day started off with a training session which got us stretched and ready for the full day ahead. We did some dribbling up and down the court and some running and stretching.

Then we got split into our teams and got ready for the first game. Both 5&6 teams started off with a win which started off our day with a bang. After that we got some games to relax and get ready for the competition later on.

With that break we got to watch the year 3&4 teams play, who also did really well during their games. After that we started our second games which both teams won again, and then we got another break. We got to eat some food and talk and just take some time to get our head straight.

Then was our final game, which we won. That game got a bit intense, but it was really fun. The other 5&6 team lost to a really hard team but they played a fantastic game. We got to sit down have a chat with the teacher who organised the day and we all said thank you and we were on our way,

I really enjoyed the day. I think everybody did and that was our Basketball Gala Day.  

By Olivia Lloyd 

Last Friday our Kindergarten class for 2020 visited the school for their first official visit. We have 14 students starting Kindergarten next year and they got to spend some time with their "Big School" teacher for 2020, Mrs Burgess. They had fun playing in the play corner, reading the The Very Hungry Caterpillar and completing some craft. All Kindy students had a fantastic time getting to know each other, spending time in their new classroom and engaging in their first lessons. 

Parents spent time with Mr Carter, Mrs Cobcroft, Mrs Benson (School Counsellor) and Mr Murison (P&C President) learning about what to expect next year for their children. I am sure they weren't too bored by Mr Carter's presentation!

A huge thank you to Mrs Burgess who organised the Kinder activities. We are very excited to have our newest KNPS students visit. It won't be too long now until they are here full time!

On Tuesday 22 October we were entertained by the Musica Viva group Wyniss. They travelled all the way from the remote Torres Strait Islands to teach us about childhood games and learning by observation. Each class had completed learning experiences and activities in class, in preparation for the performance. We thoroughly enjoyed the music and the games. Each child had made a firefly to use during one of the songs. It was definitely a sight to see when 80 sparkly fireflies were moving in time with the beautiful music.

Mrs Robinson

On Wednesday 30 October, Lucy and Oliver Baranowski joined Mrs Robinson at Richmond High School to learn how to write a personalised Acknowledgement of Country for our school. Using the knowledge of Aboriginal Education consultants, along with our knowledge of our school, we have written an excellent first draft. We look forward to refining this with staff and students and eventually presenting this at assemblies and official functions in the future. 

Mrs Robinson

Our Presentation Assembly for 2019 will be held on Tuesday 10 December 2019. We will hold the assembly at North Richmond Panthers and proceedings will begin at 6pm. 

We do not send out invitations to students receiving awards as we hope that all students will attend. This is a special ceremony celebrating the achievements of all students, not just those receiving awards.

We are looking forward to a fantastic evening of celebration. You are welcome to stay after the presentation for a meal at the bistro.