Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

WEEK 6, TERM 2, 2020

Principal’s Message COVID-19 was a disruption for nearly all industries earlier this year. As we see a lift in the restrictions, teachers and students are slowly heading back to school. Getting the students back in focus will remain key during this transitional phase. Thank you to all the parents and caregivers for your cooperation in working with the school during this very challenging time to provide a safe learning environment for your children whilst teaching and supporting the children. The teachers are really working hard to establish clear, but safe engagement and learning programs for the students. Primary focus this term:

Routines

We like to know what we’re doing, when and why. In partnership WE must create routines for the students and home. The students know what to expect. COVID-19 was quite a disruptive time for all students’ learning, so let us bring some normality back with school – home relations, by promoting learning as an essential part of everyday life. Sticking to a schedule is really key for letting students’ new found knowledge to really sink in.

Reports and Interviews To provide an update on progress and allow the opportunity to talk to the teachers about learning done online and in classrooms during Terms 1 & 2, teachers will contact parents and have a telephone interview. Information combined from these processes will form the basis for a summary half yearly report.

Kirrawee Kooee

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

Sick Students Please keep your children at home if they are displaying any cold or flu-like symptoms. We understand this is very difficult for parents as you return to work and as children begin to pick up the winter colds, but these regulations MUST be abided, for the safety and wellbeing of ALL students and the community. Pick up and Drop off Thank you to everyone for your cooperation in picking up and dropping off students. Please be aware that Sutherland Council rangers are monitoring the drop-off zones. Applications for Extended Leave It is a Department of Education requirement that any overseas holiday leave or travel within Australia in excess of 10 school days be applied for prior to your departure date. We also require a copy of an itinerary or ticket to go with the application. Please ask the office for a form. Dance Program Except for maintenance people, all non Department of Education staff are not allowed to enter a school. As a result until this restriction is lifted no dance training/learning will take place.

Selwyn Williams (Principal)

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

Week

1 April/May

27 28 29 30 1

2 May

4 5 6 7 8

3 May

11 12 13 14 15

4 May

18 19 20 21 22

5 May

25 26 27 28 29

6 June

1 2 3 4 5

7 June

8 *Queen’s Birthday

(Public Holiday)

9

Parent Teacher Interviews (telephone)

10

Parent Teacher Interviews (telephone)

11

Parent Teacher Interviews (telephone)

12

8 June

15 16 17 18 19

9 June

22 23 24 25 26

10 June/July

29 30 1 2 35

*Last Day Term 2 Students return Tuesday 21stJuly

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

EARLY STAGE 1 REPORT Welcome back! Kindergarten are happy to be back to normal and in our own classrooms, whilst maintaining safe practices. We have continued to explain how to maintain good hygiene and revisit hand washing procedures every day. It was so lovely to see so many happy, smiling faces upon our return to school. Kindergarten are enjoying seeing their friends, and teachers are excited to get back into routine!

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the support that we received, and for the fantastic work that you did with your children during the remote learning phase.

Please remember to send your child’s Note Folder in EVERY day to aid in home/school communication. Please send in Reading Folders on the days when you are ready for reading books to be changed. Word wall books should be returned EVERY Friday so that the teacher can assess sight word knowledge. Thank you for continuing to practise sight words, they are invaluable in reading development and the students that are doing this regularly will reap the rewards! Mrs Michelle Werner, Miss Nicole Wallin and Mrs Catherine Harris EARLY STAGE 1 TEACHERS

STAGE 1 REPORT Welcome back to school! Firstly a big thank you to everyone for their cooperation and effort with home schooling during these unusual times. We are very excited to have everyone back and to continue with our teaching and learning programs.

This Term we have been looking at changes in our world, with a focus on informative writing. The children have been producing some quality work throughout this unit. We have also been focusing on correct handwriting techniques with

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

our weekly handwriting lessons. Our fortnightly technology lessons have also started back with Mr Mahoney, who is teaching the children about coding. They will be exploring this throughout the term! Regards Stage 1 Teachers

STAGE 2 REPORT

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

Welcome back to KPS to all Stage 2 students and families! It’s safe to say we are all so excited and happy to be back together in our classes and enjoying each other’s company at school once again. There has been a lot to catch up on and share. We have learnt a lot about the importance of hand washing and the appropriate procedures. As teachers, we are so thankful for all the work the students have completed during the period of home learning. It was a steep learning curve for all of us and a big adjustment to so much typing and working so heavily within an online world. All the Stage 2 teachers think everyone has done a truly amazing job and have also settled back into our routines so smoothly. Back at school we are continuing with our informative writing. We have learnt the structure and grammatical features and are busy researching a variety of topics in each class, including 17th century explorers and Australia. We will use this research to write detailed information reports, which is linked to our theme learning for the term, ‘Into the Unknown’. We are studying how changes over time affect our lives and the Age of Exploration. In Mathematics, we are revising some concepts including place value and addition and subtraction. We are also studying our multiplicative understandings and relationships to learn our multiplication facts, division facts and fractions. We engaged with the National Simultaneous Story Time for 2020 in Week 5, which included the reading of Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas. We have also been enjoying Fit Future lessons, which involve developing athletic skills where students will learn to run efficiently, throw for distance and jump higher and further. Please note Year 4 families: The OC application process will be open from next week and there is additional information about this in the newsletter. Year 4 students have received a note about this as well. We look forward to a fun, engaging and productive second half of Term 2 together! Mrs Fulmer, Mr Morgan, Ms Tucci, Mr Culkin and Mrs Newman.

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

STAGE 3 REPORT Stage Three has returned to Term 2 focussed and eager to learn. We’ve been impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and engagement and have loved being back in the classroom with everyone. Just a reminder that Parent Teacher Interviews are taking place via phone next week on Tuesday 9th, Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th June. Bookings close this Friday 5th June at 4pm. The purpose of these interviews is to gauge feedback from parents about how their child engaged the remote learning process, to discuss any concerns and determine future learning goals. A template is provided on the reverse of the note for parents to make any notes they wish to discuss before the interview and it is recommended to have this note handy for the phone call. Just a reminder also that the call will come from a private number at the time allocated for interview. Stage Three students are in the process of collecting materials/constructing their diorama. These dioramas depict an event that has shaped Australia’s past. It has been a wonderful unit of work looking at Australia’s past and discussing our indigenous perspectives as we learn about colonial Australia. In line with our unit of work on Colonial Australia Stage Three classes are just beginning ‘The Gold Game’. In the gold game each student is given a set amount of ‘pounds’ to start the game and then they can choose to gold pan, shop, assay their gold etc as we move through the game. There will be many highs and many lows as the students experience the ups and downs of life on the goldfields. Fines will be issued, licences required to be sighted at various times throughout the day, virtual influenza and mud slides that affect gold yields are all in store. As part of gold game the students record their daily activities in a journal entry each day as they immerse themselves in life in the 1850’s in Australia. As we near the end of term and find the ban still in place for excursions. We are unfortunately unable to have our Bathurst excursion in week 9 as planned. We are hopeful that we might be able to reschedule for Term 3 if excursions are allowed and a date available. If this is the case we would send a new expression of interest to our families, stay tuned for additional information. Stage Three photos have been rescheduled for Thursday 24th September (Term 3 Week 10). A note will be sent to families closer to the date with details for uniform etc. All of the Stage Three team and staff at KPS would like to pass on our warm congratulations to Mr Patrick Morgan and his wife Alex on the healthy arrival of their beautiful baby girl, Elsie Morgan. We wish Patrick and Alex all the very best as they begin their exciting journey into parenthood. Stage Three Teachers

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

SUPPORT UNIT REPORT Hello and welcome back to all our wonderful families whom we have missed over the past few months! We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your hard work and dedication over the ‘Remote Learning’ period. We have settled back into our classroom routines and are looking forward to continuing our learning programs within our classes.

Changes to the opportunity class placement test process for 2020

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

Year 4 students

The 2021 Year 5 opportunity class placement process was put on hold in April 2020 due to the COVID-19

situation.

We now have a revised and simplified timeline for the OC placement process to ensure that students and

families can have certainty about their placement as soon as possible.

The changes include:

A new date for online applications. Parents must apply between 9 June and 26 June 2020. Late

applications cannot be accepted.

A new test date – Wednesday 16 September 2020.

To ensure fair and consistent assessment of students across New South Wales, students will be offered places

based only on their test results this year – there will be no school assessment scores.

There will also be no opportunity for appeals given the tight timeframes.

For further detailed information I encourage you to visit

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

Kirrawee Kooee Term 2, Week 6

Kirrawee Public School, Bath Rd, Kirrawee

NSW, 2232

Ph. (02) 95214514

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