Kurrajong North News
Term 2, Week 10
Talented Athletes
Lego Robotics
Pyjama Fun
Principal's Report
Teaching and Learning
It was impressive to see so many students prepare and present speeches as part of the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition. Speaking in front of an audience can be a daunting thing if students are not exposed to doing so regularly. It was brilliant to see selected students from each class stand in front of the whole school and deliver informative and persuasive speeches with such confidence and passion.
Students had an unforgettable experience during our visit from Musica Viva group Da Vinci's Apprentice. They learned about instruments, scientific discoveries and the Renaissance period. Teachers were all so proud of how much background knowledge students were able to demonstrate. Thank you to Mrs Robinson for organising this fantastic event.
We love going outside of our school to experience the wider world and compete against other schools. In week 8, Stage 3 students competed in a Dodgeball competition run by Ty Sports at Richmond North Public School. Students had to work tactically as a team and finished the day as Hawkesbury champions! Well done Stage 3 students and thank you to Mrs Sewell for organising.
Impassioned Speeches
Musical Experience
Dodgeball Champions!
If you drove past our school sign in the last week, you might have noticed our message: Every School Day Matters... You + School = Success. Knowledge and skills are not mastered and moved on from in a day, but built up over successive days of repetition and practice. Missing school days for non-essential reasons (being sick is an essential reason) disrupts this process and has an adverse effect on learning and achievement.
A recent research review conducted by the NSW Department of Education concluded that students whose absence is less than 90% are educationally at risk. This equates to 5 days or more a term. Unfortunately 17% of our students currently fall into this category for the year to date.
95% + is the expected student attendance rate. Over half of our students are already reaching this goal which is outstanding. Congratulations to these students and their families, and KEEP IT UP!
In Term 3, we are going to start acknowledging students and families who attend school more than 95% of the time with a '95 Club Award' (no more than two days absent over the term) and a '98 Club Award' (no more than one day off over the term).
As reports went home yesterday, we have decided to try to capture the initial reactions of students, parents and teachers. As a school, we are required to have a school policy that reflect community expectations. As such, we will be surveying the school so that we can determine whether our reports currently do so. If you are a parent of a child currently enrolled at KNPS, please take a few minutes to complete the survey using the following link:
From the P&C
On another note, we are looking for parent volunteers to run the canteen at the Small Schools Athletics Carnivals on Tuesday 27 and/or Friday 30 July. Please get in touch with Duncan if you are able to help as this should be a significant fundraiser for our school.
Finally, from the school P&C, have a restful break and see you all next term.
Duncan
Assembly Award Winners - Week 6
K/1
Lincoln - for sharing his knowledge and understanding with others
Skye - for writing an excellent description of a monster
Riley - for blending phonemes together to read words smoothly
1/2
Jaxon - for successfully counting by tens off the decade when using the jump strategy
Elle - for always listening and making valuable contributions in class discussions
Billy - for using his phonics spelling strategy independently in his writing
3/4/5
Laykin - for displaying persistence when learning new concepts
Evans - for an amazing effort with Literacy Pro reading
Scarlett - for excellent improvement in all areas of learning, especially maths
5/6
Harry - for consistently being positive and always bringing happiness and joy to our classroom
William - for persevering with difficult maths concepts until understanding them to mastery
Fletcher - for including stunning examples of figurative language to enhance creative writing
Learning Disposition Awards - I am Persistent!
K/1 - Flynn
1/2 - Lawan
3/4/5 - Isabella
5/6 - Serana
Assembly Award Winners - Week 9
K/1
Pippa - for writing lots of camera words correctly
Ryder - for speedy recall of doubles facts in Maths
Jazmin - for excellent listening skills during story time
1/2
Hugo - for fantastic effort and results in Maths
Scarlett - for always working hard and bouncing back
Oliver - for using background knowledge to make inferences in literacy groups
3/4/5
Amelia - for beautiful handwriting
Drew - for fantastic effort and results in Maths
Hayden - for fantastic effort in Maths
5/6
Bessy - for using wonderful comprehension and interpretation skills when reading
Faith - for persevering during all learning tasks and having a stunning attitude towards her learning
Josephine - for contributing fantastic ideas and inferring answers during morning routine discussions
Learning Disposition Awards - I am Resourceful!
K/1 - James
1/2 - Alice
3/4/5 - Ben
5/6 - Noah
Student Reports
Athletics Carnival
This event was organised by the lovely Mrs Sewell. Some parents helped with the event and helped time the races. Mrs Cobcroft helped with the placements of races. This Carnival included high jump, discus, long jump, shotput and the running races. The races included the eight hundred metre, the two hundred metre and the one hundred metre races.
We also had Ty who did sport with us. The sports included dodgeball, soccer, dodgeball soccer, volleyball, hockey and tug of war. We had a beautiful sausage sizzle with drinks and snacks made by the lovely P&C. Everyone enjoyed all the events. The kids eight years and older competed, but the junior kids enjoyed their own little version of the day.
We also did our house chants – Tawnies, Bellbirds and Kookaburras. The chants were very loud and it was a very close win - but Bellbirds won! Everybody enjoyed the day and had an awesome time, with a well-earned rest at the end of the day.
By Alicia, Astrid and Jazmin (5/6)
One day, you will be the Year 6s at the transition day and you will see how much fun and excitement you will have on this journey! With trained high school students guiding you, you will learn all about what to expect at high school and also meet new friends.
There were exciting activities such as: cup competition stacking, learning peoples' names by not dropping the balloons, tarp game where you are using teamwork to move the mat over the other side while you can’t touch the ground, and the better and worse game where you have to vote on what is important and least important in a friendship. We can’t wait to see you there!
By Josephine and Serana
From the Library
Book Fair
Next term we will be holding a Book Fair during Education Week (Week 3, 26 - 30 July). The day for sales is still to be finalised but we would love to see lots of parents and grandparents on the day.
Mrs Vidgen
Upcoming events
13 July - Students resume school for Term 3
Week 1 - NAIDOC Week Celebrations
Week 3 - Education Week incl. Book Fair
27 July - Small Schools Athletics (Field Events)
30 July - Small Schools Athletics (Track Events)
3 August - Premier's Debating Challenge Round 4
5 August - P&C Meeting, 6:00pm