Wednesday, 14th December 2016

Presentation Day

I had the pleasure of seeing children from Kindergarten

to Year 6, being recognised for their academic,

sporting, citizenship and environmental achievements

on Tuesday and what a pleasure it was. It is so good to

celebrate the success of so many and acknowledge the

hard work of students at our school. It was also

wonderful hearing our band play, our junior choir sing

and Gracie Watkins share her amazing talk on

multiculturalism. The Aboriginal students dance and the

junior and senior dance groups were amazing and the

strings and recorders did a fantastic job. We have so

much to celebrate at our school with so many talented,

outstanding students.

I was also very impressed with the beautiful behaviour

of all our students in the audience. The day was

extremely hot but our students remained settled,

attentive and well-behaved. Congratulations to each

and every one of you.

Thank you to Mrs Mackay, for all of her hard work in

organising the presentation day and to the stage teams

for running each event so well. Great team work

everyone.

PBL Rewards Day

It was a fantastic PBL rewards day last Friday. The

children cashed in the ‘Craigies’ they received in

recognition for their behaviour throughout the term.

DATES TO REMEMBER Thu 15th Dec Christmas Assembly K-2 9:20am Year 6 Farewell 5:30pm Fri 16th Dec Year 6 Farewell Assembly - 9:15am in the Hall Last day for students

Everyone’s behaviour on the day was outstanding and

we were so pleased to see over 400 students being

recognised for their ongoing safe, respectful and

responsible behaviour.

Staffing News

As mentioned in our last newsletter, Karen Lane and

Barb Oldfield will be going on leave as of the end of this

year leading into retirement and we wish them both well

in the next chapter of their lives.

Miss Welch will also be leaving our school at the end of

this year to take up a well-deserved permanent position

at Swansea PS. Miss Welch is a dedicated, hard-

working and extremely caring teacher and has a

beautiful way about her, when speaking to and

encouraging our students. She has contributed to the

overall running of the school in many ways and was

always quick to offer her time to provide additional

opportunities for students. We will miss her very much

and wish her well as she takes up her permanent

position.

Mr Kevin McNally, our General Assistant, has also

taken leave in preparation for his retirement midway through next year. Kevin has worked hard at our

school, ensuring our learning environment and site has

been well maintained and safe. Geoff, who has been

working on Thursday and Friday over the last few

months, will be filling in for Kevin over the Christmas

break.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER Fri 27th Jan Staff return to school Mon 30th Year 1 to Year 6 students return to school Thu 2nd Feb Kindergarten students commence school

SAFE RESPECTFUL RESPONSIBLE

KanwalPublicSchoolABN41754895439CraigieAvenue,KanwalNSW2259

Phone: (02) 43923477Fax:(02)43931621Email:kanwal‐p.school@det.nsw.edu.auWeb:www.kanwal‐p.schools.nsw.edu.au

learning of students. As we implement the program

and review our results, we will keep our community

informed of our growth throughout 2017.

Student Leaders for 2017 and Captains

It was with great pleasure yesterday that we were able

to announce, at the presentation day, the student

leadership team for 2017. Our prefects, as voted in by

the students and staff, are Mia Delaforce, Noah

Sutton, Tayla Sewell, Tarsharn Smith, Sophie Lawson,

Brandon Ly, Brayden Huggins and Amber Herder. Our

captains are Amity Simmons and Brooklyne Rizzi. A

big congratulations to our incoming student leaders for

2017. We know you will all do an outstanding job of

leading the students at our school.

Canteen News

As mentioned at the presentation day assemblies, the

school will be taking over the running of the canteen

as of the beginning of the 2017 school year. The P&C

and Kerrie have done an amazing job in the past and

have built the ‘business’ to such a level that it has

grown beyond the resources and time available for

volunteers. Kerrie will continue to manage the canteen

during Term 1 while the merit selection process, as

required by the department, takes place for the

manager’s position.

Supporting Children with Autism - 14 Tips for

Christmas

1. Social Scripts are great to use at Christmas to

explain traditions, expectations (ie thank someone for

a present even if you already have it or you don’t like

it)

2. Children at schools give out cards to each other and

this is an important part of “friendships” in schools.

Help your child take part in card giving.

3. Use a Calender to indicate any changes in routines,

concerts, presentations, visitors, shopping, haircuts

etc.

4. Youtube can be a good place to look for Christmas

Traditions – ie look at Christmas Morning Routine,

Unwrapping Presents etc.

5. Christmas songs and carols make their appearance.

Find out the words if you don’t already know them –

make a little book for each carol or song and get your

child to help you illustrate it.

6. Buy a CD of Christmas songs and carols to play at

home and in the car.

7. Read stories about Santa. Explain the Christmas

tradition that Santa brings presents. Don’t forget to

We wish Kevin all the best in his retirement and thank

him for everything he has done for our school and our

students.

We would also like to thank Mrs Brummell, Mrs Chaffer

and Mrs Schweikert who have been with us this year.

Mrs Brummell has been doing a wonderful job on Year

5 and has contributed her knowledge and experience to

the successful running of Stage 3. Mrs Chaffer and Mrs

Schweikert have been working across the school with

students who needed additional support in their

learning and for this term Mrs Chaffer has been

working on Year 2. Thank you to Mrs Brummell, Mrs

Chaffer and Mrs Schweikert for the hard work and

dedication you have shown to our students this year

and we wish you well in your future endeavours.

Several staff will be taking leave next year. Mrs Judy

Dane will be on leave for all of 2017. Mrs Lang will

return in 2017 for the first three days of term and will

then be on leave for the remainder of Term 1. Mrs

Coates will be on maternity leave and should be

returning in Term 3.

These staff changes mean there will be a few new

faces in the school at the start of 2017. In the first

newsletter for the year we will introduce our community

to our new staff and let everyone know which teacher

will be working on which year group. Though plans

have been drafted, there is always the possibility that

changes need to be made so nothing definite can be

presented at this point in time.

Early Action for Success

During 2017, our school has been successful in our

application to be involved in the Early Action for

Success self- funded program. Early Action for Success

is a key strategy for implementing the NSW

government's State Literacy and Numeracy Plan and

aims to improve students' literacy and numeracy skills

through a targeted approach in the early years of

schooling.

As of the beginning of 2017, our school will be

employing an instructional leader to work with our

teachers from Kindergarten to Year 3. The instructional

leader will play a key role in building staff skills and

knowledge in teaching and assessing literacy and

numeracy. They will also assist teachers to customise

and personalise interventions for individual students,

support our assessment processes to identify learning

needs and build our knowledge on responding to data

to target support. The instructional leader will also

provide high quality professional learning.

We are very excited to be a part of this program as it

has shown to make a significant difference to the

helping out in the work room. Thank you to each of you

for all of the additional time and effort you continually

put into our school. We couldn’t do it without you.  

Return to School in 2017

Teachers return to school on Friday, 27 January 2017.

Students in Years 1 to 6 return to school on

Monday, 30 January 2017.

Kindergarten students are involved in Best Start

assessments at the beginning of the year and parents

have been notified by a separate letter regarding

starting date and time.

Final Word

This is the last newsletter for 2016 and on behalf of the

staff I would like to thank our school community for your

ongoing support. I want to thank our dedicated and

professional team of workers from our teachers, to our

office staff, to the support staff and the cleaners. They

all do a wonderful job and provide an outstanding

education and environment for our students. To the

families who will be leaving us this year we say thank

you and wish you all the best for the future. We are

sure you will look back on your time at Kanwal Public

School with the fondest of memories.

To our students I say thank you for your wonderful

attitude towards learning, your caring natures and your

continual good behaviour. You make our school a great

place to be.

Finally, to our Year 6 students, we wish you every

success as you move on to the next exciting stage of

your lives. Remember to always do your best and to

look after one another, and don’t forget to come back to

say hello – no matter how old you are.

On behalf of the school, I wish everyone a merry

Christmas and a happy new year. Have an enjoyable,

relaxing and safe holiday.

Angela Crowe

Principal

Please report any suspicious behaviour during the holidays to school security on 1300 880 021.

mention that Santa is clever and can get into our

houses even though most of our houses don’t have

chimneys! Explain that we don’t have snow at

Christmas time because in Australia Christmas falls in

the summer.

8. Older children may start asking questions about

Santa. Check out my Facebook page (via google)

where we always have some great tips and ideas about

how to approach this sensitive issue

9. Make chains and other decorations with your child to

make your house look festive. If your child is old enough

they could make his own cards and simple presents.

Homemade wrapping paper – sheets of butchers’ paper

painted yellow, red and green, adds a lovely touch.

10. Cooking is a favourite activity for all children so

don’t forget to include making some Christmas cooking

on your to do list. Talking about what you think other

family members might like is an excellent way of

extending your child’s awareness of others and their

particular likes and dislikes.

11. To make sure that you child understands which

presents are for him or her, stick a small photo on the

gift tag instead of his/her name. Put a photo of the gift

giver on as well to truly add meaning for your child.

12. Take your child out at night to look at the Christmas

lights.

13. As Christmas is a time for families and friends, you

need to prepare your child for visitors, both expected

and unexpected. Explain to your child it is okay for him

or her to go to his room when people come; that you will

be pleased to see them if he feels like joining you. Also

remember to tell your visitors which greeting your child

prefers ie: that your child does not like to be hugged

and kissed and that he/she would rather just shake

hands or greet them from a distance.

Source: https://suelarkey.com.au

Uniforms

Lowes have informed me that a big order of our polo

shirts have arrived in store.

A big thank you to our office staff

This time of year is particularly busy for everyone in

schools but none more so than our office staff. Since

Merrile’s retirement in Term 3, Tara has been relieving

in the SAM position while getting her head around the

new LMBR program. She has worked very hard to

ensure everything has been just right and has often

been back late at school, beyond her paid working

hours to complete all her work. To support her, Annette

and Alisha have taken on extra work and Deb has been

Safety and security during the school holidays.

Aboriginal Assembly of Excellence

On Friday 2 December, 24 Aboriginal students travelled to Wyong High School to participate in the NGARA AECG

Assembly of Excellence. This annual assembly recognises Aboriginal students who have achieved excellence across

the following categories: Academic Excellence, Outstanding Attendance, Cultural Leadership, Sporting Excellence,

Student Leadership and Improved application to learning.

Congratulations to our 5 award winners.

Our Aboriginal Performance Group presented a dance at the assembly, ‘Whale Dance’. It was a fantastic

performance that impressed the audience.

Ten students from Kanwal sang in the NGARA Koori Choir. This choir is made up of about 70 Aboriginal students

from schools across the area. Congratulations to our dancers and singers, your performances were inspiring and

reflected the hard work and dedication you displayed in rehearsals.

Thank you to Mrs Coates, Mr Powell and Mrs Fraser for all your efforts.

Mrs McKenzie

PBL Rewards Day! On Friday 9 December 2016 Kanwal Public School celebrated their final PBL Rewards Day for the year. There

were 433 students that participated in the Rewards Day. Students had the opportunity to cash in their Craigies

which they earn for being safe, respectful and responsible in the playground.

There were a variety of events for the students to participate in including; a water activity on the oval, a treasure

hunt around the school, sport at Kanwal Oval, Ipad and computer session, a daytime disco, scooter riding, art,

cooking, mufti, crazy hair and breakfast with the Principal Congratulations to all the students who participated in

the PBL Rewards Day, it is an outstanding achievement!

4 Trudgeon are very proud of their fabulous pieces of

art titled “Norah Head”. These artworks were made

possible thanks to our staff member Mrs Tracey’s

wonderful artistic ability. Mrs Tracey spent many art

lessons patiently showing us how to mix colours and

ways to apply the paint using our hands as well as paintbrushes

of different sizes. We also discussed perspective and texture.

Thank you Mrs Tracey

Congratulations to these wonderful readers!

Infants 100 nights 150 nights Chelsea Brophy Coby Battese Charli Doak

200 nights Garry Jones Aaron Robbins

250 nights Taj Goodman Hunter Horne Angus Hutchison Sophie McNaughton Lachlan Peachley Luke Sewell

Primary 50 nights Macy Willis

250 nights Thomas Alderson Kaitlyn Wall

Congratulations!

67 students from Kindergarten to Year 6 achieved 300 nights of reading and enjoyed their special morning tea on Monday.

 

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE – It’s NOT ok TO STAY AWAY

Students should only miss school for genuine illness

or for serious domestic reasons. Students are in-

volved in learning experiences right up to the last

day of school and it is important they attend.

After love and care the most important thing that

we as parents can give our kids is an EDUCATION.

Every day a child is away, they are losing a learning

experience. Over time missing school leaves big

gaps in their learning. They want to spend less and

less time at school and they influence younger broth-

ers and sisters. Allowing your child to stay home be-

comes the easy way out. If you require support in

saying ‘No’ to your child on their attendance or any

other issue please contact someone at the school.

We can work together to make a difference to your

child’s future.

Be on time. Be at school. Right up to the

last day. That’s the rule!

ATTENDANCE

KANWAL PUBLIC SCHOOL ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION

Bus Passenger

Safety

Never distract the bus driver from their important task of

driving the bus. Stay seated with your bag on your lap and your

back against the seat.

SUMMER HOLIDAY FUN – COMING SOON

Get ready for a ‘Sensational Summer’ of fun! Summer Holiday Club is coming to your school and it is going to be

one of our greatest holidays yet.

Here are just some of the feature theme days coming up:

At the movies

SING (PG) The movie event of the Summer is here. We're off to meet Dapper Koala Buster Moon and see the

world's greatest singing competition!

Science Spectacular

Interactive Science Session - Bubble, Bubble, POP! Mini Scientists get ready, it's time to experiment! With a take-

home Science notebook.

Flying Hole in One

Frisbee Golf Course - Will you be first to score a flying hole in one? A colourful and wildly fun indoor obstacle course

awaits and we're ready to score! Plus, you’ll get your own take-home Frisbee!

Inside Out Nesting Dolls - Design and take-home your masterpieces. Will it be a footy team? A music band? The

choice is yours!

Program Details

To find out more about what’s on at our

Holiday Club program on site and to book visit

www.campaustralia.com.au/holidayclubs

We look forward to seeing you and your family soon.

From The Team at Camp Australia.