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Issue No. 9: 31 May 2019
Solving Real World Problems STEM is such an exciting area of investigation for the boys. They thoroughly enjoy the practical nature
of the subject and the opportunity to understand and explore more about the world. Working with a
passionate and knowledgeable educator, like David Collison enhances the reward for the boys.
Our Stage Three boys have been involved in some fascinating real world problem based
investigations recently. Through a learning challenge, sponsored by Liverpool Council and the NSW
Department of Education, the Year 5 boys have been involved in a design project of the new Western
Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and Aerotropolis. The boys are investigating and
answering some questions being faced by councillors, builders, architects, and designers involved in
the project, such as:
How would you build a sustainable airport?
Could Western Sydney Airport become the most connected place in Australia?
How will an airport of the future operate?
With 8 million people in Sydney (in the future) how should they live? What would their
houses be like? How would they move around? Where would they work?
How could the airport – and, in particular, the Aerotropolis – change this? What should form
part of it? How can we create 200,000 new jobs in the Western City?
When it opens in 2026, five million passengers each year are expected to use Western Sydney
Airport. How would you ensure the usage of the airport grew substantially? Where would
visitors stay?
The project involves the boys using the digital game Minecraft to creatively build with a variety of
different constructions in a 3D generated world. One of the concluding components of the challenge
includes developing a two-minute narrated video walkthrough hosted on Youtube.
Year Six has also been using technology to assist in their inquiry into natural disasters. Having
researched into the role that technology plays in current natural and man-made disasters, the boys
have focused their investigations into two main technologies - UAV (unmanned air vehicles) and
UGV (unmanned ground vehicles). The boys have constructed Lego robots to simulate rescue
scenarios using EV3 Lego kits. They have also been learning about drones and have coded Co-Drones
for ‘reconnaissance work’. This has involved building a controller and learning how to control the
drone.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” Proverbs
18:10
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Is it any wonder why they can’t wait to come to school each day?!
Chinese National Eisteddfod Competitions Over the past two weekends groups of
students from the Prep School have been
involved in the Chinese National Eisteddfod
Competition. This highly competitive event
requires children to recite poems or prose in
Mandarin in front of an audience and panel
of judges.
In the Non-Native Speaker Category, two
boys received special awards. Billy Dacey
was placed 3rd in the competition and
Michael Hashem was awarded a Distinction.
In the Native Speaker Category, Felson Ji
won 2nd place in the 7-9 years age group and
Alex Zhuang was awarded 3rd place in the
10-12 years age group. Two of our brave Kindergarten boys, Joseph Ngai and Archer Yee also
participated in front of the judges and audience, reciting four poems confidently and without error.
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Prep Musical information Many families will recall the wonderful musical production of The Lion King in 2017. Every two years,
the Prep School launches into a school musical available for Years 5 and 6 boys, and this year we will
be performing The Amazing Adventures of Superstan.
The production is a comical musical involving acting, singing and dancing roles, as well as back-stage
roles. Auditions are almost complete. Rehearsals will be ongoing throughout the remainder of this
Term and in Term 3, with the production taking place in Term 4 on 23-24 October.
The boys who have attended the auditions have thoroughly enjoyed the humorous jokes and upbeat
feel of the script and music. The production is being led by Mr Todhunter, Rev Tye, Ms Burrow and
Mrs Wilkins. I’m sure we’ll all look forward to viewing what these creative staff can conjure up with
the boys.
Join the Action of Trivia Night Tables are filling up for the upcoming Prep School Trivia Night to be held on Saturday 1 June. It
promises to be a great night of fun together with our theme for this year, Favourite Decade. We are
currently compiling auction items for the evening that will be available either on silent auction or
‘live’ during a brief spell in the quiz action.
Parents will be able to view and place some early bids on the terrific items up for auction. This also
means that those who may be unavailable for the evening, still have a chance to support this
important fund raising event for our boys.
To have a look at what’s on offer and to enter in the bidding please click here:
app.galabid.com/trivia2019
Peter Allison
Head of the Preparatory School
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Headmaster’s Distinctions
Term 2 Week 4-5
Pre-Kindergarten
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
DAVIDSON, Henry
TRAC, Hudson
MOORE, Charles x 2
PRAKASH, Krishang
ZHOU, Jaycob
CHEN, Carly
FARHAT, Ali x 2
HARPER, Lachlan
IERARDO, Franco
LUSTED, Zephyr
MARTIN, Lachlan x 4
MERCIECA, Hunter x 3
MUNAGALA, Sourish
BAWA, Shirane
CALABRO, James x 2
CHEN, Jason
GUO, Gary
HUANG, David
HUANG, William
LUSTED, River
MOORE, John x 2
ZHU, Eric
Kindergarten Year 2 Year 4 Year 6
ANDREWS, Liam
BHASKAR, Shuban
DIXIT, Mihir
DOUS, Lucas
KARAN, Roy
TRAN, Edward x 3
ANDREW, Lleyton
BARTLE, James x 2
DAVIS, Alexander
KEET, Dylan
PETER, Jacob
SANKAR, Arjun
ZHU, Jing
AIKMAN, William
BHATIA, Jai
GREGSON, William x 3
NGUYEN, Ryan x 4
SERGI, Rocco
STRONG, Levi
TIONG, Oliver
DAVEY-WEBB, Kieran x 2
IRWIN, Thomas
REED, Mercer x 2
SINGLA, Ishan
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National Boys’ Education Conference – Pupil Free Days Every two years, The King’s School hosts the National Boys’ Education Conference. This year the
conference will be held on Thursday, 6 and Friday, 7 June 2019. As all staff are involved in these
important Professional Development Days, these days will be Pupil Free days.
Could I please ask all parents to ensure that they have care organised for their sons on these two days.
Trivia Night I am looking forward to Saturday night. This evening is always such a good event where we are able
to socialise as a community and raise some money for the Fathers’ Association at the same time.
Thank you to all the organisers of this wonderful event.
Parent Masterclass Our next Parent Masterclass
will be presented by
Professor Lea Waters and is
titled Strength Based
Parenting. It will be held
this Thursday, 6 June at
7:00pm in Futter Hall.
Parenting is joyous, but also
overwhelming at times,
because of the stressful
influences that impact our
lives. Academic and social
media pressures, along with
the hectic pace of working
parents, affect the whole family.
Whilst the temptation is to pull our kids close to protect them, we can instead work with them to
ensure they are mentally strong, resilient and optimistic in their outlook to managing their
world.
In her presentation, Lea Waters will talk about the benefits of the science of Strength-Based
Parenting that through her published research, have shown in:
higher levels of achievement
increased levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem
reduced risk of depression and anxiety
better ways to cope with stress and adversity such as friendship issues and homework
challenges.
Lea will also share positive psychology tips that parents can use to cultivate their child’s
inherent strengths and then be able to use positive emotions to deal with difficult situation and
emotions.
DEPUTY HEAD
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Winter Sport Club Events At the end of the newsletter, you will find flyers for the Football and Rugby Clubs’ luncheons and the
Snowsports Family Night. These three clubs do a wonderful job of supporting the Prep School boys
and staff within their particular sports. I would encourage all parents that are involved in these sports
to support these fantastic clubs by attending these functions.
Upcoming Events
Week 6 Sunday, 2 June 2019
Monday, 3 June 2019 Write a Book in a Day Workshop - Tara
Year 2 Jump Rope for Heart - Northcross Hurricanes Demonstration
(1:40 pm)
Basketball Club Meeting Sports Centre (7:30 pm)
Tuesday, 4 June 2019 CIS Girls and Boys Touch Football Trials
Harrison House Compassion Walkathon
Rugby Club Meeting - Thomas Memorial Pavilion (7:30 pm)
Wednesday, 5 June 2019 Whole School Bands Concert [Year 3 Band, Year 3 Wind Ensemble,
and Concert Band] - Futter Hall (6:00 pm)
Thursday, 6 June 2019 NBEC - Pupil Free Day
Parent Masterclass - Futter Hall (7:00 pm)
Friday, 7 June 2019 NBEC - Pupil Free Day
Saturday, 8 June 2019 No Sport
Week 7 Sunday, 9 June 2019
Monday, 10 June 2019 Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend
Tuesday, 11 June 2019 Year 6 Canberra Excursion
Pre-K Parent/Teacher Interviews
Snowsports Club Meeting - Prep (7:00 pm)
Wednesday, 12 June
2019 Year 6 Canberra Excursion
Pre-K Parent/Teacher Interviews
King's Fest Meeting - Staff Centre (7:30 pm)
Football Club Meeting - Prep School (7:00 pm)
Thursday, 13 June 2019 Year 6 Canberra Excursion
Pre-K Parent/Teacher Interviews
CIS Cross Country
Friday, 14 June 2019 CIS Boys Softball
NSWJCL Chess - Round 5
Music Soiree – Horrocks Hall (4:00 pm)
Saturday, 15 June 2019 Winter Sport Round 6
Greg Blackman
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BIBLE FOCUS VALUE
FOCUS
LEADERSHIP AND
CHARACTER
FOCUS
UNIFORM
FOCUS
COMMUNITY
GATHERING
SOCIAL AND
EMOTIONAL
LEARNING
THEME
WEEK 5
The name of the
Lord is a strong
tower; the
righteous run into
it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10
WEEK 6
I can do all this
through Him who
gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13
HUMILITY
We do not
think more
highly of
ourselves
than we
ought.
We are
equal in the
sight of
God, our
creator.
BE
HUMBLE
RECONCILIATION
WEEK
Reconciliation is
about strengthening
relationships between
the wider Australian
community and
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander
peoples for the benefit
of all Australians.
We tie our
own
shoelaces in
(Years 1 - 6).
We do not
expect
adults or
friends to do
this for us.
HOUSEMEETING
WEEK 5
Attention, At Ease,
seating positions,
greetings and Christian
Values linked to the
weekly Bible verses - 10
minutes.
House Identity,
leadership roles, war
cry – 5 minutes
SEL Social and
Emotional Learning
themes - 20 minutes
Celebration of student
successes – 10 minutes.
Organisation – 10 min.
RECONCILIATION
THEME
Our indigenous
people value the
land and are
mindful of caring
for the land.
Mindfulness
activities.
Belinda Baxter
DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS
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Writing at School Children experiment with writing long before they start school. Their early squiggles and drawings
are the beginning of writing. Looking at books provides a powerful model of what writing looks like
because children learn that squiggles on a page convey a message.
Children learn to write by writing. In our classrooms, students are encouraged to select topics that
express their ideas and interests. It is difficult (sometimes impossible) to write about unfamiliar topics
or topics that are irrelevant to our life experiences. That is why teachers spend a lot of time discussing
ideas and ‘setting the scene’ for a writing task.
After we select a topic and gather ideas, students write a first draft; this is where they can write and
freely express their ideas. Children need many opportunities to express their thoughts and ideas in
writing without being concerned about the mechanics of writing such as spelling, punctuation and
grammar. At this stage, worrying about spelling, punctuation and grammar can hinder their styles,
expressions and exploration of words that best communicate their ideas. Teachers try to respond to
the ideas of the writer – for example, asking: Where did you get your idea? What is going to happen next?
Read me your lead sentence again because that really had me interested in your story. What is going to happen
to your main character?
If the draft writing is to be shared with a wider audience, the next stage is to proofread for spelling,
punctuation and grammatical mistakes. Not all writing needs to be edited; children need to be
encouraged to write for enjoyment and play with words.
Handwriting is a surface feature of writing and children benefit from opportunities to write and draw
with a variety of pens, textas, paint, chalk and ‘fancy’ pencils. When it comes to publishing, children
often publish on the computer or in a variety of other ways such as a poster, alphabet books,
dioramas, or chapter books.
Work that comes home from school may not have every spelling error corrected, every grammatical
mistake rectified or punctuation inserted. It is important to talk with your children about the purpose
of the work and what they learned, rather than emphasise the errors. Ask ‘tell me questions’ such
as: ‘Tell me about this work …’ ‘Tell me how you did this …’ ‘Tell me what you liked about this activity.’
Sonia Weston
DIRECTOR OF LEARNING
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Prep School Musical Year 5 & 6 Auditions Thank you to the parents who have already volunteered to help with the production. If any other
parents, family members and wider community members are able to support our production by
helping with costumes, by sourcing particular items or sewing and creating costumes, please contact
Mr Todhunter via [email protected]
Last Friday, our 2019 Snowsports Captain was announced. I would like to congratulate Edward Selig
and Edward Woodhouse-Bedak, who will Co-Captain the Snowsports Preparatory Team for the 2019
Winter Season. Both boys have played a significant role in our Team over the past few years, with
Edward Selig dominating the Alpine disciplines and Edward Woodhouse-Bedak taking Cross
Country to the next level. We feel that with their combined skills they will lead our Snowsports
Preparatory Team to greatness this winter and hopefully some big wins.
To celebrate our upcoming winter season, we will be hosting a Snowsports social night on Saturday,
22 June in the Senior School Sports Centre.
This is going to be a great event and we would like to invite all Preparatory families to come and join
us. Even if you have never skied and are not participating in this year’s team, we would love for you
to come and see what Snowsports is all about and meet some new faces.
We have a great line up of things to do on the evening to keep everyone entertained. We will have ski
simulators from “Off Piste”. “Off Piste” is Sydney’s exclusive indoor ski and snowboard simulators
training facility. If a ski simulator is not your thing, we will also be showing the latest Warren Miller
movie Line of Descent. Warren Miller has become the leading brand in producing and directing ski and
snowboarding movies for many years and they are guaranteed to keep you entertained.
Please see the flyer below with more information and details on how to book. We look forward to
seeing you all on the evening.
Mandy Guinness
MIC Prep & Tudor House Snowsports
Enrichment - Drama
Snowsports
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