School News

Superhero    Lila     27th March 2023

Last week, Lila received the award for Excellence.

Lila displays excellence in every aspect of her school day, whether it is getting ready to learn for the school day, working hard to complete her goals or just being a friendly and amazing student.

She continuously amazes her teacher with her willingness to improve and her strong work ethic, which allows her to achieve very highly in all areas of the curriculum, and she does all of this with a great big smile on her face.

Lila has an amazing ability to stay in her learning bubble and not get distracted by anything or anyone. She is also an amazing story writer, who can entertain her class with beautifully written but very funny stories. 

Lila also has the neatest handwriting of any grade three student EVER, and although sometimes she writes so small it’s hard for her teacher to see she will achieve her goal of earning a pen licence very soon.

Finally, Lila is an amazing joke teller, who cracks her class and her teacher up every Friday with her hilarious gags!

Congratulations Lila, we hope you had a great week! 

Superhero    Charlotte     3rd April 2023

This week Charlotte has received the award for our school values of Persistence and Respect. This Superhero is a quiet achiever and she often ‘fly's under the radar’, however her hard work and terrific attitude needs to be celebrated.

In the classroom, Charlotte always tries her best when given a challenge. She is very focused during class lessons and aims to achieve her personal best in all subjects. She does this by asking questions and taking pride in her work being done right the first time and making sure it’s neat too.

Her effort never goes unnoticed, and she sets a great example to others (in her Grade 1/2 class)!

Although Charlotte can be quiet; she has a fun, silly side which her classmates and peers all enjoy. Her kind, caring nature makes her easy to get along with, and she very rarely complains; even when things don’t go her way.

Charlotte has only just started Grade 1 but has already made a big impact with her hard-working attitude and thoughtful nature.

Congratulations Charlotte, we hope you had a great week! 

Classroom Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving classroom awards: 

Lettie, Sonny, Levi, Emily, Annabell, Clancy, Charlotte, Theresa, Max, Charlotte, Declan, Huon, Jem, Oscar, Freya, Evie, Dacey, Rio, Abbie, Isaac, Angus, Cooper, Bella, Lila, Matari, Lola, Poppy, Saoirse.

Music Award

Congratulations to Saoirse for receiving the award in music.

Swimming Program - Updated Schedule

Unfortunately, due to staff shortages at the Aquatic Centre there has been a major reorganisation of our swimming timetable. 

Please see the updated schedule below.

Working Bee

Please check in and complete the OHS Induction prior to commencing.

‘Hoodie Up’ for Autism Day

On Wednesday the 5th of April, KPS held our own ‘Hoodie Up’ for Autism Day. Hoodie Up is a campaign to show understanding, acceptance, and support for the Autistic community. 

An amazing $410 was raised by our students. What a fantastic effort!

Walk/Ride to School Day 24th March 2023

Mother Nature smiled down on us and the weather was good, allowing many students and families to walk, ride or scoot their way to school. There were many more wheels in the bike racks than usual, which was wonderful to see. Well done to all students and families that made a change to how they usually get to school. Where possible, try to keep this up! Specialized Bicycles donated helmets for a winner per grade level and the following students were lucky to have their name pulled out of the prize draw.

Prep- Leroy 

Grade 1- Finn 

Grade 2- Aiden 

Grade 3- Imogen 

Grade 4- Thomas 

Grade 5- Charlotte 

Grade 6- Bentley 

A big thanks to Specialized for the prizes.

Sustainability News

KPS is a River Detective School and that means that every month we test the water quality of the Campaspe River, down near Piper Street. On the 17th of March, the Gardening and Sustainability group tested a water sample. 

The 5 tests that we did were, 

• PH which measures the acidity and alkalinity in the water, 
• electrical conductivity, which measures the salt level, 
• turbidity, which is the clarity of the water, 
• temperature and
• reactive phosphorous, which measures the amount of phosphorous, a natural occurring nutrient caused by matter breaking down. 

These are the results of our town’s river.

• PH- 7 -Excellent
• Electrical conductivity- 22.3 – Excellent
• Turbidity- 8- Excellent
• Temperature – 12 degrees
• Reactive Phosphorus – 0.2 – Very Good

Usually, the Campaspe River measures excellent to very good in all water tests and it did once again. Here is a snapshot of the results.

Specialist' News

Art

Music

Choir

The choir performed the “Dum Dum” song at assembly on Monday. The song consisted of 13 different body percussion routines and two key changes! It was so much fun, and of course we are so very grateful for our wonderful accompanist Mary Potton for volunteering her time and expertise.  The choir is very full so if anyone does want to join they will have to speak to me first. If students also wish to leave choir, they speak to me also. 

Instrumental Lesson

It has been a wonderful term for the 60 students that learn an instrument at the school.  They are all making wonderful progress. Congratulations to Brielle who played her violin beautifully t last week’s assembly. 

We have some instrumental spots available and you can contact the teacher directly:

Guitar: Aaron Moar : aaronmoar@infinitesound.com.au (5 spots available)

Violin: Henry Vyhnal : henryvyhnal@gmail.com (3 spots available)

Trumpet/Clarinet/Flute: Sue Morris: smorris@shckyneton.catholic.edu.au (4 spots available) 

Keyboard: full

Ukulele: I hope to have a teacher next term.

The school was also very lucky to receive an excellent student trumpet gifted to us by the Macedon Ranges Music Collective. 

Classroom Music

Grade 3-6

It all about the 12 bar Blues this term, playing it on the keyboard and writing a song about something “blue”…like not getting your favourite ice cream or the state of our school oval!  If you have a keyboard at home, you may be treated to a little 12 bar blues concert!

P-2

Congratulations to our amazing new preps. They have settled into the music room so well and sing and move beautifully to the music.  Lovely grade 1-2 have been learning all about the beat and the rhythm.  I have also been doing some extra Kodaly early music training and have been enjoying sharing new activities and ways of teaching.   

Music happenings out and about

The Kyneton Street band is open to new players of all ages, especially marimba and horn players! If you are interested email Andy: arharp2002@yahoo.com.au

I am teaching at a family music camp this Easter, if you’re interested in finding out more about the two family music camps: https://www.rosesgapmusiccamp.org.au/Turramurra-Folk-Music-Camp

Ms Polly’s Comfy Cloud relaxation: sometimes in music class I do a guided relaxation for the students, and I have one on my YouTube channel if you would like to access it: https://youtu.be/__vWIiDnpI4

Happy holidays everyone,

Ms Polly

French

The Year 5 and 6 students finished their Café unit by presenting their plays.  They wrote a café scene with a complaining customer and learned how to describe food items (e.g. too salty).  They had a great time with the costumes and the props while building their pronunciation and communication skills.

The Year 3 and 4 students have been learning about different strategies they can use to activate their whole brain when learning.  Some of the strategies are card games, dances, songs, stories and choral speaking and gesturing. All useful tools when there are so many French words to remember! 

The Year 1 and 2 students have been learning about families and nature.  They have played games, wrote books and made a paper collage with ‘les animaux d’Australie’. They learned that many French words are written the same in English (e.g., le koala) but are pronounced differently. Try to spot the 5 animals hidden in their camping scenes.

The preps have sung, danced and played their way through their first term of French.  They finished the term with fun and games outside to use the action words they have been learning. All the P-2 students enjoyed the French ‘activity stops’ on the playground.

Well done to all the KPS students for a great Term 1.

PE

It’s been a busy term one in PE. Our junior students have been practising their fundamental motor skills including balancing, catching, under-arm throwing and dribbling. Senior students have been developing their skills through Touch Football, Netball and Basketball, including participating in clinics run by Basketball Victoria. Our 5/6 students have competed at inter-school sports in Tennis, L awn Bowls, Cricket, T-Ball and Volleyball and visited the State Netball Centre to take part in the Train Like a Vixen program. Our school cross country trials were run, and selected students will compete at Hanging Rock in the first week of Term 2. 

Confirmed Chickenpox Case

We have received notification of a confirmed case of Chickenpox at Kyneton Primary School. This is an isolated case at this stage, but we need to inform our community of the following symptoms:

• low-grade fever
• general discomfort, illness or lack of wellbeing (malaise)
• intensely itchy skin rash — appears as small blisters surrounded by irregularly-shaped patches of inflamed skin. The blisters first form on the body and later on the head and limbs. They usually burst and develop crusts after about five days
• ulcers may develop in certain areas

Chickenpox is infectious 2 days prior to the onset of the rash until the blisters have all crusted into scabs. Children are not to attend school until all blisters have dried. This is usually at least 5 days after the rash appears in unimmunised children, but may be less in previously immunised children.Pregnant women and newborn babies should not be exposed to people with chickenpox.

See the link below for more information. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/chickenpox

Community Information Session

Pesky Plastics Art Competition

Students of all ages are invited to participate in this Term one competition. You can create any kind of artwork, but it must include at least one piece of single-use plastic to show the impact plastic has on our environment. Artwork can be but not limited to a wall art, collage, assemblage. 

Maximum sizing for the artwork 60cmWx 60cmH x 4cmD. Artwork can be mailed to PO Box 151, Kyneton 3444 or dropped off at a MRSC Customer Service Centre by the 6th of April 2023 with a brief description of the piece and how it relates to the impact of single -use plastic. Art pieces will be on display at the Discovery Centre at Hanging Rock Reserve.

Winners will receive a worm farm or a compost bin to take home. Please see the attachment for more information. 

Please email the Gardening and Sustainability teacher megan.matthews@education.vic.gov.au with a photo to be included in the school newsletter.

Small Jars Needed 

We are needing small jars for the well-being room for some activities. If you have any, could you please send them along to the office?

Thank you

Michelle Thompson

School Gates and Opening Times

Just a few reminders and potentially new information for our new families. In the morning all gates will be open for access to the school site at 8:45 as this is when staff supervision in the yard commences. No students are allowed onsite until this time. 

In the afternoon all gates will be open at 3:15 for access to the school site. Access to the office during the school day is via the pedestrian gate on Edgecombe St.

The new ramp/path between the school and the kindergarten is now operational.Access to the school grounds using the ramp is between the hours of 8:45 – 3:40. On either side of these hours, the bottom of the ramp will be chained off. Access outside of these hours needs to be arranged through the school office or a staff member by calling 5422 1855.A reminder to all members of the school community the staff car park is not to be used to walk between the school and the kindergarten for safety reasons. Now that the ramp/path is operational the pedestrian gate next to the car park gates should be used following the path, crossing the road in front of the boom gate using the marked pedestrian crossing and then down the ramp.

* Please do not access the school site at any time via the staff car park for safety

 reasons.

* Please do not park in the kinder carpark unless it is your kinder day and you are a kinder family.

Parent Payments

Thank you to the families who have paid the $130 Parent Payment.

These funds are used for – 

• Curriculum Contributions – items and activities that students use, or participate in, to access the Curriculum.
• Other Contributions – for non-curriculum items and activities such as memberships, subscriptions to programs and affiliations.
• Extra Curricular Items – the Kyneton Primary School Yearbook

If you would still like to pay for these please use one of the following methods -

• EFT - at the office or by phone
• Cash - at the office
• Direct Bank Transfer - BSB 063-000 Account No 14033609 - use your child’s name as the reference
• BPay - contact the school office for your personalised identification details
• Centrepay - use of this method is available to recipients of Centrelink payments

Please do not hesitate to contact the office for more information or for any other query you may have.

2023 Uniform          

School uniforms are available for purchase online direct from A Plus Schoolwear  www.aplusschoolwear.com.au

When ordering uniforms please put the studio number of your child for easier delivery.  

Once uniforms arrive at school they will be sent home with your child.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications 

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child. 

If you have previously applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. 

If you would like to apply for the first time, please complete the attached form or call the office to request a form.

Please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible. A copy of the form is attached below. 

We will require a copy of your valid health care card with the application.

Contact Details

There are times when we will need to contact you during a school day. It is important we have your most up to date contact details on file.

Please update these on Compass or email the school at kyneton.ps@education.vic.gov.au so we can update our records. Please include parent/carers’ name, address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details.

Student Attendance

If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence, by logging your child’s absence using our school’s Parental Portal in Compass.

Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.

Victorian government schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained. It is a DET requirement that we have a reason for each child's absence.

This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.

The Kyneton Primary School Attendance Policy which outlines the school’s processes and procedures for monitoring, recording and following-up of student absences is available on our website www.kynetonprimaryschool.com.au 

Students Arriving Late

Students arriving late to school should come to the office, accompanied by an adult, and sign in either on the Compass Kiosk or in the late book.  They will then be issued a late pass to take to class and their arrival at school will be updated on the roll.  This will avoid parents/guardians receiving notification that their child is not at school when they have arrived late.

Accessing Compass

Compass is our main way of communicating with our families. It is important that parents access the Parental Portal in Compass at https://kynetonps.vic.jdlf.com.au  

Using our parent portal will enable you to –

• View up-to-date class and school attendance information
• Approve or enter upcoming or past absences for your son/daughter
• Update your registered email and mobile number (used for SMS alters)
• Access information regarding upcoming events and news
• Access your child’s Semester Reports
• Book your Parent/Student/Teacher conferences

We encourage families to download the Compass App and to enable notification to ensure you receive all communications.

Please click on the “Welcome to Compass” booklets for further assistance or contact the office.

COVID-19 Reminder

The latest COVID-19 Advice for schools.  Below is a summary of the most important pieces of information.

COVIDSafe measures for schools 

COVIDSafe measures have changed but all Victorian government schools are required to continue to implement important practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Schools must continue to take the important steps of ensuring air purifiers are in use, external ventilation is maximised, good personal hygiene is encouraged and face masks continue to be made available for staff, students and visitors who wish to wear them. 

Rapid antigen testing

It is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff:

• If you have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
• If you are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
• If you are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19.

The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians should report their positive RAT result to the Department of Health online, or by calling 1800 675 398.Students (or their parents) should also report a positive result to their school, either through the COVID Test portal or by phone or written notification. 

Face masks 

Current advice from the Victorian government is available at Face masks.

Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.

Additionally, the Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for at least 7 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.

Infection prevention and control

All staff, students and visitors to schools should practise good hand hygiene, particularly on arrival to school, before and after eating, after blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing or using the toilet. Staff should direct or supervise young students where required.

Managing a confirmed case of COVID-19 in schools

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive to COVID-19 report that result to their employer, school and household.Where a student or staff member is identified as a positive case, the following steps should be taken:

 Identification and Notification

1. Parents/carers should complete the Student COVID-19 COVID Test Portal if a student tests positive to COVID-19 (via a PCR or rapid antigen test). Where a parent/carer informs the school by phone or written notification.
2. Students who report a positive result are recommended to isolate for a minimum of 5 days and not attend school until their symptoms have resolved. Students who isolate as a result of a positive COVID-19 test should be supported in the same way as students with an extended absence due to illness or injury, with learning materials provided to support their continued learning.
3. There is no longer a requirement for principals to inform the school community of a positive case associated with the school.