KINGSWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOL

Quality Teaching in a Caring Environment

Term 2 Week 6 5 June 2013

Dear Parents / Caregivers Dates to Remember Term 2 Week 6 Newsletter Week 03/06/13 S3D Visit to Penrith HS 04/06/13 S3D UWS Lecturer Visit 05/06/13 ICAS Science Test 06/06/13 Breakfast Club 07/06/13 Scripture, Whole School Assembly Term 2 Week 7 10/06/13 Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday 12/06/13 Maths Olympiad 2 13/06/13 Breakfast Club 14/06/13 Scripture, Stage Assemblies Term 2 Week 8 17/06/13 ICAS Writing Test 18/06/13 ICAS Spelling Test 19/06/13 Year 6 Peer Support Training Day 20/06/13 Breakfast Club 21/06/13 Scripture, Whole School Assembly Important Information for Parents Interrelate Program This year Kingswood Public School will be hosting the Interrelate program for the schools in the Kingswood Learning Community. Interrelate provides high quality sexuality and relationship education programs for schools. Interrelate programs are interactive, family focused and presented in the context of caring relationships by fully trained and experienced educators. The evening program for parents and Years 3 to 6 students will be held at Kingswood Public School on Tuesday 25 June 2013. A flyer is attached with further information on the sessions. Please complete the form and return it to the office with the monies enclosed by Friday 21 June 2013. Staff Car Park We have had ongoing issues with parents using the staff car park to pick up and drop off their children. As a consequence the staff car park will be locked each afternoon at 2:30pm. The car park is out of bounds to students at all times. Please do not enter the staff car park under

any circumstances including walking your children through the car park. It is NOT a pedestrian thoroughfare. We are making every effort to keep all our students safe. Please assist us to do this. Thank you to all our parents who use the public car parks across from the school. We are also having issues with students not knowing who they are going home with in the afternoons and parents not notifying us when they are running late. Children become very distressed when a parent or caregiver is not at the school to collect them promptly at 3:00pm. Please ensure that you ring the office if you are going to be late to collect your children and/or there is a change of plans so that we can notify your children of these changes. Please also let your child/children know if there is a change for that day in regards to who is picking them up or where they are supposed to be. We would appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Keeping All Our Students Safe – Asthma Due to an update in the Administration of Prescribed Medication at School Policy, students with asthma need ready access to their reliever medication when an attack occurs. Parents are now required to complete a Request for Support at School of a Student’s Health Condition form. A letter and form will be sent home to all families next week. Please complete the form if your child/children have a medical condition or health care need that the school should be aware of. Where the student with asthma is young, or needs assistance to administer the asthma medication please indicate this on page 3 on the Request Administering Prescribed Medication to the Student form. Parents must also provide a spacer with the medication. If your child/children are capable of administering their medication, please ensure that they carry their asthma medication at all times. It is vitally important that parents complete and return the Request for Support at School of a Student’s Health Condition Form to the office as soon as possible. Keeping All Our Students Safe – Anaphylaxis The Department of Education and Communities has recently announced that all government schools will receive a general use adrenaline auto injector (an EpiPen) for their first aid kit. This does not replace the need for parents to continue to provide the school with an adrenaline auto injector and ASICA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis signed and dated by their doctor when their child has been diagnosed with anaphylaxis. Instead the general use adrenaline auto injector is intended for use if:

• An undiagnosed student has an anaphylactic reaction at school • There is a misfire of the adrenaline auto injector that has been prescribed for a

student • A student requires further adrenaline auto injector to be administered after his or

her own adrenaline auto injector has been administered. Please contact the office if you would like further information in relation to this matter. Dogs in the School Grounds The Companion Animals Act 1998 – Sect 14 states that dogs are prohibited from school grounds. Please do not bring your dogs into the school grounds as many students are frightened of dogs and we are trying to keep all students safe.

Big W Penrith Donation Thank you to Mr Jeff Zieba, Manager Big W Penrith Store, for the very generous donation of teaching resources. Big W’s supplier, Parragon Publishing has kindly supplied 10 boxes of Bright Sparks teaching resources covering many areas of the school curriculum. These resources include flash cards with basic words, pictures and numbers which will be used to assist our students in Early Stage 1 and those students who have recently arrived in our country with very limited or no English. We really appreciate the generosity of local businesses such as Big W Penrith and Parragon Publishing for their wonderful donation and thank them for their kind support. Woolworths’ Earn & Learn Community Program The school will again be participating in the Woolworths’ Earn & Learn Community Program this year. From Monday 8 April Woolworths Earn and Learn Points can be collected from checkout operators and placed on the Woolworths’ Earn & Learn Points Sheet. There’ll be one point for every $10 spent. Once completed, the sheets can be placed in the Collection Box in the office or at your local Woolworths located at Southlands Woolworths South Penrith. We thank you for supporting this program. Donation Bin State Wide Services Australia has delivered a donation bin to the school. The main objective of State Wide Services Australia is to aid and assist third world countries by supplying second hand clothing and textiles. The school will receive a donation from the company to have the bin on the school site. The following will be accepted: second hand wearable clothing, handbags; backpacks – all bags, belts (ladies, children and men’s; shoes, thongs, sandals; jackets and jumpers; sheeting and pillowslips – flannelette and cotton; ties/socks; soft toys (small, no more than 30cm tall); children’s clothing; all undergarments (ladies, men’s, children’s); towels, face washers and hand towels. Please do not put the following into the bin or bags for collection: wet, damp or mouldy textiles; excessively dirty or stained garments; material remnants less than 20cm square; no pillows or quilts; plastic wear, bric a brac, glass or sharp objects; books or hard toys. The bin will be at the school for a trial period. If dumping of unwanted goods that are not accepted occurs, the bin will be removed. The school will still be collecting for Stewart House each year. Breakfast Club Real Life Church is be holding a Breakfast Club each Thursday morning this year. Cereal and milk will be served from 8:30am to 8:50am under the shade shelter in front of the Old Hall. Breakfast is an important start to the day and gets children ready to work and learn at school. I would like to thank Real Life Church for providing this service to our school. General Permission to Publish A note has been sent home in regards to general permission to publish. Please read the note and return it completed and signed to your class teacher as soon as possible if you have not already done so. School Website The school has a fabulous website that parents can access for further information about the school including permission notes and the school newsletter. Thank you to Mrs Fox who maintains the website.The website address is http://www.kingswood-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Excursion Notes A new Department of Education and Training Excursion Policy has come into effect. Please note we will no longer be able to accept handwritten notes or verbal permission. A school permission note must be completed for each excursion and or special event. Are Your Contact Details Current? Please let the office know in person or in writing if your contact details have changed. If your child is sick or we need to contact you for any reason, it can be really difficult if the numbers are not current. Thank you to all those parents who have informed us of any changes. Stage 1 & Stage 1 Students – Change of Clothes If your child is in Early Stage 1 or Stage 1 could you please ensure that you have a change of underpants and shorts in your child’s bag in case of a toileting accident. We have a very limited supply available at school and we would appreciate your support in this matter. Early Arrivals, Starting Late and Absence Notes Please be aware the morning duty begins at 8:30am. Students are not supervised before this time. Please do not send your children to school before this time. If children need to be dropped off early, please organise before school care. A number of students are arriving late at school. Please ensure that your child/children arrive on time each day. The morning session is prime learning time for students and students need to be here for the start of the first lesson each morning. If your child/children are absent, a note needs to be sent in to their class teacher. Please be aware that rolls are legal documents and children need to attend school each day. If your child is going to be absent for more than 15 days to go overseas, a general exemption form needs to be completed and approved by regional office before they go on leave. These forms are available at the office. Voluntary Contribution Each year families are asked to pay a voluntary contribution. The voluntary contribution is $30 per child or $50 per family. This money will go towards the purchase of Interactive White Boards and resources for classrooms. This note has been sent home with students. P&C - Making a Vital Contribution to Our School Our next P&C Meeting will be held on 23 July at 2:00pm in the staffroom. All parents are welcome to attend. Norma Petrocco Principal