We acknowledge the Dharawal people, the Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, learn and play. We thank them for caring for the environment. We would like to pay our respects to Elders past and present, for they hold the knowledge, culture and traditions that we value in our school. Let us all recognise the continuation of culture and connection that Aboriginal people have to Country.
A MESSAGE FROM MS PHILLIPS
Welcome back! Between getting to know our new students and starting new projects, it is difficult to believe we are at the end of Week 6 already.
In the coming weeks, classroom teachers will be busy developing Personalised Learning and Support Plans (PLaSPs) for our students with additional learning and support needs. Teachers have used the past few weeks to assess the individual education needs of students and can now start developing well-informed plans. As parents, you may be contacted by your child’s class teacher to discuss identified learning and support needs for your child. PLaSPs will be communicated to parents from Week 8 of this term. If you have any questions regarding your child’s PLaSP, our Parent-Teacher Interviews in Week 10 of this term will provide you an opportunity to discuss the plan with your child’s teacher.
We have some exciting projects planned for Kearns Public School in 2023 and I look forward to sharing these with you throughout the term. Thank you for supporting our students and staff in what has been a very busy start to the year.
Ms Phillips
APCI
Dear Families,
Welcome back to our existing and new families. I hope everyone had a relaxing break and is ready for a great year. My name is Mrs Renée Turner, and I am the Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction (APCI) at Kearns Public School. This is a permanent position where my explicit focus is on leading our school with evidence-based teaching and assessment practices to improve student outcomes. My role supports strong instructional leadership, coordinate professional learning for teachers, monitor student outcomes, and support families to be key partners in learning.
Our Staff Development Days consisted of professional learning with a focus on the teaching and learning cycle. This provided staff the opportunity to embed consistent school-wide practices for assessment to monitor, plan and report on student learning across the curriculum. This term has been both busy and productive, with all the classes already fully energised and focused on their learning. I had the wonderful opportunity to work with our new Kindergarten students conducting the Best Start Assessment and spending time during quality literacy blocks in Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Term 1 will have a lot of things happening, such as NAPLAN for our Year 3 and Year 5 students. When I say that NAPLAN is a “big event”, I really mean that it will impact on our normal timetable. For the students in those years, it will just be four normal days with a different type of assessment happening at some stage. Information about NAPLAN will be sent to relevant families in the next few weeks. There are lots of events and procedures that we will inform you of by Skoolbag, but for now I just want to say how excited I am to have your children back with us and I look forward to working with you all throughout the year.
Mrs Renée Turner - Assistant Principal, Curriculum & Instruction
KINDERGARTEN - YEAR 2
What an amazing start to 2023 it has been! I would like to welcome all students and their families back to school for 2023, and extend a warm welcome to our new students and their families. I hope you enjoy a fantastic year of learning, playing, and making memories.
Our beautiful Kindergarten students have settled in splendidly into ‘big school’. They have been busy making new friends, engaging in a range of learning experiences and counting how many days they have been at school for - they cannot wait to reach the magic 100th day!
This year, our K-2 teachers and students are engaging in the new K-2 English and Mathematics curriculum. The new curriculum will give students more time to focus on key learning areas so that they can acquire a deeper understanding of central concepts. Students have been exploring and learning through rich texts, analysing vocabulary, and engaging in a range of writing experiences, while also investigating in mathematics through hands on and concrete materials to find links to other mathematics concepts.
K-2 students have been loving their weekly gymnastics sessions and their coaches from Fit Futures. During this time, we get to stretch our legs, develop our locomotor skills and land in stances that represents a star, a pencil or even a motorbike!
Every student has shown resilience and determination and we are so very proud of them.
Mrs Mann
YEARS 3-6
Our primary students have had a wonderful start to Term 1. They have shown resilience with staff changes and have worked hard with a variety of teachers. All classes have taken part in PBL lessons, refreshing their knowledge of what it means to be safe, respectful learners. I have been especially impressed seeing our senior students mentor their younger peers in the playground. By showing themselves as strong role models, they have supported others to follow school expectations, whilst having fun along the way. Some of our Year 6 boys even took the time to play a modified basketball game with a Kindergarten student, which was wonderful to see.
Although we have only been back at school a short time, primary students have had a variety of opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities. Competitive swimmers had an opportunity to attend our swimming carnival, where students participated in races and displayed excellent sportsmanship. Trials for League Tag and Cricket were held in the lead up to our first summer Gala Day in Week 6. Those participating in school sport took part in a skills clinic based on throwing, catching and striking. We are looking forward to a wonderful term of sport.
Our Green Team has recently been formed and students attended their first meeting with Mrs Matthews. Plans are underway to support recycling systems at school and to continue working on our existing gardens. Some students are demonstrating a keen interest in gardening and have helped with removing weeds and caring for garden beds around the school.
The upcoming year will allow for further opportunities for students to fully engage in school life. We look forward to sharing these moments with our families.
Ms Woods
LIBRARY
There are lots of exciting changes in store for the library this year! Last year, the library underwent a major refurbishment in terms of new furniture and shelving. This was a lengthy process that required many staff members to support. Outdated and damaged resources were removed from the collection to make way for new books. We are excited to announce that we are now ready for borrowing!
Some students still have overdue books from last year. Over the coming weeks, overdue notices will be issued. Please look carefully at home for any resources with a Kearns Public School barcode. If items cannot be found, the replacement cost will need to be paid before the student can borrow again. It is expensive to replace lost books from the library collection, so your support in retrieving lost items is greatly appreciated.
Borrowing days for this term will be on Wednesday and Thursday. Please ensure your child has a labelled library bag so they can borrow each week. With so many wonderful new books, we would love to see our students sharing in the joy that reading brings. We will be providing opportunities for students to join the Premier’s Reading Challenge this year, and borrowing from the library will really support students in achieving this goal.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will also be inviting our senior students to support as library monitors. More information to follow soon.
Happy reading!
READING IN KINDERGARTEN
If your family has been a part of Kearns PS for some time, you will notice some changes in how we teach reading. It’s an exciting time to be in education as we align our instruction with the new English syllabus and the Science of Reading. Decades of research has determined that reading occurs in a very specific way in the brain. It does not occur naturally the way speech does. We aim to share snippets of information that will help you support your child at home. The links below will take you to two videos that show parents how to help their children in pronouncing consonant and vowel phonemes.
The following link is to the Decodable Readers Australia website where you can access many resources including videos to support you and your child’s reading development.
NAPLAN
Students in Years 3 and 5 will engage in the NAPLAN assessments in Term 1, between 15 and 27 March 2023, Week 8 and 9. The assessments include writing, reading, language conventions and numeracy.
Students, parents and carers are invited to use the public demonstration tests to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and related functionalities available in the online NAPLAN assessment. You can access the public demonstration site via the link below:
https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site
Please remember that this is just one test on one day and that there are so many more aspects of learning for your child. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the NAPLAN Online assessments further, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher.
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
In Week 10 this term, we will be conducting parent teacher interviews.
This is a short 10-minute meeting to establish further connection with your child’s teacher and where initial teacher observations can be shared and future learning goals discussed. Please look out for the notification which will have the link for you to book your interview time online.
COMMUNITY VOICE
From time to time, the school invites families to share thoughts on a range of matters that arise. We do this through surveys, usually sent out in a SkoolBag notification. So far this year, we have asked for feedback on parent engagement.
The link can be found below should you wish to share your thoughts.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_4tG0SeaMdhxSzP_rh9hAJdA7XXd85N7CQy-6-9HgPM/edit
SCRIPTURE
Scripture will start in Week 7. If at any time you wish for your child to change their scripture placement/preference, please send a note in to your child's class teacher or to the office, so that we can update your records and your child can attend the correct scripture/non-scripture location.
KINDERGARTEN 2024
Our school is now taking enrolments for Kindergarten 2024. If you have a child who will be starting school next year, please contact the school office who can support you with this process. Families can now enrol their child at any time online.
Enrolment link:
https://ehub.enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/schoolenrolment/?schoolCode=4593
ATTENDANCE
Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.
The Education Act 1990 requires that parents ensure their children of compulsory school age are enrolled at, and regularly attend, school or are registered with the NSW Education and Standards Authority for home schooling. Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students.
Any family wishing to take five or more school days of extended leave (for travel purposes) should contact our school and complete the relevant paperwork. A certificate will be completed by the school and provided to the family, prior to their trip. This certificate can be used, whilst on your trip, should you ever be requested by authorities.
Please note that this is an expectation from the NSW Department of Education. It is important to also note that requests should be made, where possible, well in advance of the leave occurring, to ensure that all paperwork can be completed.
BEHAVIOUR CODE FOR STUDENTS
Did you know that there is a behaviour code for students in NSW Public Schools? The behaviour code for students sets the expectations of all NSW public school students to ensure safe, supportive and respectful schools. It is underpinned by the standards of Respect, Safety and Engagement.
Follow this link to read the behaviour code NSW behaviour code for students
BULLYING
NSW public schools work to provide safe, inclusive, and respectful learning communities that promote student wellbeing. Anti-bullying programs and initiatives form an integral part in creating a safe, inclusive and respectful learning community at Kearns Public School.
WHAT IS BULLYING?
Bullying is defined by 3 key features:
● it involves a misuse of power in a relationship
● it is intentional, ongoing and repeated
● it involves behaviour that can cause harm
Bullying may include overt behaviour, such as verbal and physical bullying or may be covert, such as social exclusion or spreading rumours. Bullying can also happen online and is known as cyberbullying.
Please reach out to your child’s teacher should you have any concerns regarding bullying. For more information visit the Department's Anti-bullying page.
HEALTH CARE PLANS
Please ensure that the school is provided with a health care plan for any students that have anaphylaxis, allergy, asthma, epilepsy or other high-risk conditions.
ALLERGY AWARE
Please be aware that there are students in our school with allergies to nuts. We ask that you avoid packing nut products, in particular peanuts and peanut butter in your child’s lunch. Thank you for your support.
HIGH POTENTIAL AND GIFTED STUDENTS
Our staff nurture the many different strengths and talents of all our students. One constant that applies to every single student and underpins our vision is a culture of high expectations. We know that our community want the very best for our students and our staff have high expectations of themselves and of their students.
Through our implementation of the DoE’s High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) policy, we are committed to ensuring that all students, regardless of their background or personal circumstances, achieve maximum growth through their schooling, including those who may already be demonstrating high achievement, talent or giftedness across one or more domains (social-emotional, creative, physical and intellectual).
Definitions (as outlined in the HPGE policy):
High potential students are those whose potential exceeds that of students of the same age. They may benefit from an enriched or extended curriculum and learning opportunities beyond the typical level of their peers.
Gifted students are those whose potential significantly exceeds that of students of the same age. They typically develop talent and achieve mastery notably faster than their age peers.
Highly gifted students are those whose potential vastly exceeds that of their age peers. Highly gifted students may require specific and significant curriculum adjustments to meet their learning and wellbeing needs.
In our classrooms teachers collaborate to program learning activities and assessments designed for identifying gifted students and providing “high ceiling” learning experiences to challenge and engage them. Students will be taught how to set learning goals. Students are active in their learning rather than passive recipients of learning. Teachers use a wide range of strategies to identify high potential and giftedness. They then develop, design and teach differentiated learning programs and provide experiences that meet the advanced learning needs of students. Parents are encouraged to reach out to their classroom teacher to discuss their child’s needs.
WELLBEING
Each year on returning to school several students and their families often request information around building a positive mindset, developing resilience and promoting wellbeing. At Kearns Public School we embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of each child and we are certainly proud of all students and their individual achievements in all areas of learning academically, emotionally, and socially.
We are committed to providing safe and supportive learning environments that respect and value diversity that are also free from violence, discrimination, harassment, and vilification. We know that the research shows the supportive environment schools provide can have a lasting impact on both the educational and lifelong outcomes for students. The department have put together a range of useful resources for parents and carers to support themselves and their children.
Below are some additional resource links from a variety of support services that may be useful.
For general health
● Health direct is a provider of trusted, free health information and advice and is supported by the government.
For calming the mind
● Smiling Mind - A web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators to help bring mindfulness into your life.
● Headspace - A web and app-based mindfulness app.
● Stop Breathe & Think - An app that allows you to check in with your emotions, and recommends short guided meditations, yoga and acupressure videos, tuned to how you feel.
● Calm - An app for mindfulness and meditation to bring more clarity, joy and peace to your daily life.
● Colorfy - Colouring therapy for adults on your mobile.
● Pacifica - Daily tools for stress, anxiety, and depression alongside a supportive community.
TED Talks for parents
● Why we all need to practice emotional first aid - Guy Winch
● There's no shame in taking care of your mental health - Sangu Delle
If you feel comfortable reaching out to talk with someone, below are some additional supports that may also be useful:
● 7 Cups of Tea - Find someone to talk to: 7 Cups of Tea provides online therapy and free counselling.
● The Better Access initiative provides better access to mental health practitioners through Medicare. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive Medicare benefits for up to 10 individual consultations with a mental health professional in a calendar year. For more details head to Beyond Blue or the Better access to mental health care factsheet.
We understand that exploring professional help in person might not be the best option for you, so below we’ve listed some alternatives:
● Have a conversation with friends or family members
● Call Lifeline if you require crisis support - 13 11 14
● If you’re under 25 you can use eheadspace for online and telephone supports - 1800 650 890
● Call the Beyondblue support service - 1300 22 4636
● Visit Head to Health to explore a range of digital mental health resources
