14th October 2024 Ethan

This week our Superhero is receiving the award for our school value of Pride and Responsibility. Although arguably this person also demonstrates many other values.

Ethan takes pride and is responsible the moment he walks through the school gates. His classmates and teachers agree that he is also:

Responsible – taking great care of his belongings and school equipment. he is always prepared to share and contribute to class discussions.

Reflective – never rushing through his work and taking time to reflect and learn.

Dedicated – to his friends and dedicated to learning.

Ethan is always very Helpful to other students and his teacher.

A Grade 2 student, he is naturally Curious and Inquisitive. Ethan is eager to learn and asks lots of questions to enhance his learning.

Ethan is naturally very Inclusive and Caring. In the classroom this Superhero is always ready and super-willing to come to the aid of anyone who needs it, whether that person be is a classmate or teacher. Ethan often just seems to know that someone could do with a friendly word or a bit of encouragement. He makes others feel good by congratulating them on their efforts.

Ethan is a super-fun person to have in the class. He loves a joke and each morning enters Studio 3 with a smile from ear to ear, a small fury dinosaur or blue and gold parrot.

Congratulations Ethan, we hope you've had a fantastic week.

Classroom Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving classroom awards: Errol, Thristan, Beau, Hunter, Liam, Storm, Max, Emily, Billy, Mason, Clara, Shivani, Austen.

Year 3/4 News

Edible Garden Update

Last Term during our Edible Garden unit for MAPPEN, the Grade 3 and 4 students made newspaper pots. Many of our seeds have sprouted into various herb, vegetable and edible flower seedlings.

The gardens we planted outside of the Bunjil Studios are also thriving.

Working Bee - Sunday 27th October

Our next working bee is Sunday October 27 from 10am to 2pm. Our working bees are a fun opportunity to create and maintain our school gardens and outdoor learning and play spaces. They are a fantastic chance to meet and socialise with other members of the school community. A barbeque lunch is provided by the P&F to feed the hungry workers. Children are welcome on the understanding that you take full responsibility for their supervision and wellbeing. Spring has sprung and everything is growing rapidly. So there will be plenty of weeding to be done. We will also revisit the orchard to plant a lemon tree. It will be the perfect time to plant citrus so I’ll give a quick talk on how you might plant one of your own and get it to thrive in your garden.

The upcoming working bee will also include some of the following tasks:

Weeding garden beds
Tidying up plants
Topping up soil in some areas
Building a small retaining wall
Re-distributing the soft fall in the playground areas
Investigating the drainage problem in the sand pit.

The school has a limited number of tools, so please bring along any of your own that you are happy to use. Wheelbarrows, shovels and garden forks, weeding tubs, trowels, secateurs and the like are all very handy. Don’t forget your gardening gloves and anything else you need to stay safe and comfortable.

See you there!

Duncan Cocking

Volunteer Working Bee Coordinator

Regional Athletics

On Monday 14th October four students travelled to Bendigo to represent our school at the School Sport Victoria, Loddon Mallee Regional Athletics Day. The students had progressed to this stage after winning their events at the District level and placing in the top two at the Division Championships. Congratulations to Matilda, Clyde, Evie and Alyssa for making it through to the Regional Championships and then performing so well up against the best young athletes from the region. All four students achieved personal bests and improved on their distances/times from the District and Division level. Special mention to Alyssa for her podium finish in the Shot Put with a 3rd place.

Matilda – Girls 12/13 Shot Put - 7th / 6.81m

Clyde – Boys 12/13 200m – 6th / 30.44 s

Evie – Girls 12/13 High Jump – 6th / 1.25m

Alyssa – Girls 11 Shot Put - 3rd / 8.67m & Girls 11 Discus - 6th / 17.18m

School Saving Bonus

The Department of Education will soon be sending out information directly to families regarding the 2025 School Saving Bonus. Please ensure we have your current email address on our system by this Friday 18th October as this is where this information will be sent.

Updates to your contact information can be made on Compass or by emailing us at kyneton.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

Students who are already enrolled at Kyneton Primary School do not need to complete a new enrolment form for 2025 to receive the bonus.

Celebrate with your community this Children’s Week

Children's Week is a national celebration. It recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children. The event takes place in October every year, with thousands of Victorian children taking part in the festivities. For more information, please use the link below.

Children's Week | vic.gov.au (www.vic.gov.au)

Melbourne / Kyneton Cup Week

Please note the following student free days during Melbourne / Kyneton Cup week:

Monday 4th November – Normal school day

Tuesday 5th November – Melbourne Cup Day – Student Free Day

Wednesday 6th November – Kyneton Cup Public Holiday – No students or staff at school on this day.

Hats required in Term 4

A reminder that students are required to wear a sun smart hat during break times in Term 1 and Term 4. Caps are not permitted.

KPS hats can be purchased from the office for $12.

Colour Run - Slime the Principal/Teachers

Are you keen to see our Principal/Teachers with slime all over them!

For every $20 raised for the Colour Run, you will receive a ticket in the draw to slime one of our school leadership team - Mr Rayner + Mrs Arnephy + Mrs Thompson + Mrs Giusti + Mrs Dickie - e.g. $20 = 1 ticket / $100 = 5 tickets.

We will draw 5 students to do the honours. The draw will take place at assembly on Monday, November 11th.

So jump online, create a profile page at www.australianfundraising.com.au, and start fundraising today!

Happy Fundraising!

Ride to School Fridays

This term we are planning a Ride to School Day every Friday. If there is an option for your child to ride, walk or scooter some or all of the way to school on Fridays, that would be fantastic. The extra physical activity will be great for the health of our students and the reduction in car travel will be great for our environment. We are also hoping that riding each Friday will be a social event that families enjoy and look forward to.

We completely understand that traveling to school by bike or on foot is not an option for many families but hope that those families that can be involved enjoy it.

Thanks and best wishes,

The Gardening and Sustainability Team

Canteen Help Required

Thursdays and Fridays are by far the busiest canteen days and to ensure our students can get their lunch on time we rely heavily on our amazing volunteers. It also helps create a great school community. Many of our long term Volunteers are no longer able to help.

You can become a regular volunteer or just help out just once. Every bit helps. I have created a sign up sheet which makes it really easy for you to see what days and times we need volunteers.

If you can help please sign up here volunteersignup.org/9QBEX.

Volunteers will need to have a valid Working with Childrens Check and complete a quick OHS induction at the office. If you only have an hour free on a Thursday or Friday contact me directly with what day you can help.

The children at KPS always love seeing Parents, Grandparents or Older Sibling helping. It also helps create a great school community.

Cheers

Sarah Lockhart

Canteen Manager

sarah.lockhart2@education.vic.gov.au

New Parent Support Group - Children with Disability/Neurodiversity

The Parents and Friends Committee would like to welcome parents and carers of KPS kids with disability/neurodiversity to a new discussion and support group. ‘All Kids Can’ will have its first meet-up this coming Sunday 13 October at 10:30 am. Come along to connect with other parents, and be a part of setting up a new group to promote inclusion and celebration of our kids. Parents only at this stage, we’d like this to be a place where parents can speak frankly about their experiences. We can experiment with different times and days of the week as we appreciate it can be difficult to find kid-free time and each family’s schedule will be different.

Please send an email to kpsakc@gmail.com for further details.

Thanks

Georgia (on behalf of the Parents and Friends)

Volunteers at KPS

It is great to see so many family volunteers helping out in various ways here at school.

Department of Education policy requires all volunteers at KPS to complete an induction prior to coming onsite. This also includes excursion volunteers. This includes having a current Working With Children's Check (WWCC), completing a confidentiality document and OHS induction. For volunteers that are not parents of current students we also need emergency contact details. Applying for a Working With Children's Check is free for volunteers and can be completed online here:

This documentation is available at the office and only take 5-10 minutes to complete. Once inducted volunteers can sign in and out at the office kiosk each time they visit.

Thank you for your assistance with this.

School Gates and Opening Times

In the morning all gates will be open for access to the school site at 8:45 as this is when under industrial arrangements 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 – 4.00. 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.

Uniform Ordering

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.

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.

Community News

A few messages from our community

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