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Issue No. 8: 17 May 2019
Teaching and Engaging Generation iGen The digital world continues to evolve at a rapid rate. Keeping up with advancements in technology
and the associated implications is a challenge in all professions. It’s an area that was the focus for a
staff professional learning event with schools from the North West Region recently. Joining with
teaching staff from Abbotsleigh, Barker College, Knox Grammar, Wahroonga Prep, Tara, Arden and
Highfields, the Prep teachers enjoyed an afternoon and evening of learning from technology and
development expert, Dr Kristy Goodwin.
A former classroom teacher, Kristy is a wonderful communicator who skilfully translates current
research into practice for the school and home environment. In her presentation Kristy challenged
teachers to examine what we can do to cater, compensate and control the digital environment for the
children in our care.
In her presentation of the current research, Kristy outlined the displacement effect of technology on
children in the nature of their relationships, the level of boredom being experienced that has an
impact on their creative expression, the quality and quantity of sleep, physical movement and
outdoor creative play. Various statistics were shared with one, in particular, that I found alarming.
The current average screen time for a child between the ages of 5 and 12 years is now 32 hours a week.
The impact of such a digital focus on developmental milestones such as gross motor and fine motor,
relational skills and wellbeing was highlighted.
The presentation also examined the positive impacts that digital learning is having on engagement
with tasks, instantaneous feedback, and efficient access, analysis and manipulation of knowledge for
strategic purposes. A number of powerful learning apps were examined which illuminated how
technology could transform learning in classrooms. Time was also given to teachers from different
schools to share at their tables on other powerful ways that they were using technology in their
classrooms and how they were managing some of the challenges presented by Kristy.
The need for children to have scheduled “greentime” in their daily routine was discussed. This is an
area for focus at The King’s School as we look to develop our Outdoor Education Program as part of
our focus on character development. In the next week’s Herald article, I will be outlining details on
the new Outdoor Education Program that we have implemented from the start of this term at the
Prep.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: “For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard
by which you will be judged.” Matthew 7:2
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NAPLAN testing and assessment at King’s The students in Year 3 and Year 5 began their national testing program known as NAPLAN this
week. The first of the tests was in writing. The remainder of the assessments will be completed next
week.
Participation in this program of assessments is compulsory for all children in Australian schools who
are in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The data gained from these assessments provides useful comparative
information for parents and the school on the academic performance of our students against the
Australian school population. This information is helpful in placing alongside our other school based
data, to help inform the school on individual student performance and help guide curriculum and
professional development decisions for the school going forward. However, it is important that we
understand that these tests are examined within their context.
These assessments are only one form of data gathered on one occasion during the year. The NAPLAN
assessment scenario is much more confronting for students than other integrated assessment tasks
that have been embedded within the classroom learning. The test techniques and pressures are unlike
those that are normally experienced within the classroom. Teachers use a number of measures to track
student growth and performance, and the NAPLAN data should be considered alongside these other
measures.
This year is the first year that the boys have completed these assessments online. There were a few
technical hitches experienced at the ACARA end in the writing assessment, but the boys managed
these difficulties. There has been considerable conjecture about the implications of the transfer from
pencil and paper testing to an online testing format. It will be interesting to examine the impact within
our own school context when the results are released later in the year.
Prep School Trivia Night – Saturday 1 June The Prep School Trivia Night will be held on Saturday 1 June and promises to be a great night of fun
as a Prep community. This year the theme is your favourite decade and provides lots of scope for
parents to dress up as their favourite celebrity, sportsperson, world figure, music legend or group, or
just come in fancy dress connected to a particular decade.
The Fathers’ Association Committee are eager to make the event particularly appealing with
opportunities to purchase a range of great merchandise and ‘experiences’ that will be auctioned on
the evening. The funds from the sale of auction items on the night go to sponsoring resources for the
boys of the Preparatory School.
If you are able to donate an item, please contact your year level FA Committee Member, or Vice
President, Gavin Cook on 0419 749 803 or at [email protected]
To book single tickets or tables of tickets, please click the following link
https://www.trybooking.com/BCFJW
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Dads’ Evening at The Cedars The Dads’ Evening at The Cedars occurred this week and provided a terrific opportunity for the
fathers to meet with others from different year levels, enjoy conversation and hear from our special
guest speaker Rosemary Abrahams, the Chairman of The Council of The King’s School. Rosemary
shared about her fascinating globe-trotting life as the wife of the Trade Commissioner for Australia,
posted in a range of international settings. Maintaining the roles of a mother and educator throughout
her time abroad, Rosemary wove into her presentation helpful parenting advice that she has learnt
through her different roles as a mother, grandmother and school leader. There was an opportunity to
ask questions and discuss the new School Strategic Plan released to the King’s Community recently.
Peter Allison
Head of the Preparatory School
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Headmaster’s Distinctions
Term 2 Week 1-3
Pre-Kindergarten
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
ABAWI, Christian
BATTY, Nicholas
CHAMOUN, Kian
CHIN, Nicholas
HODGES, Austin
MORRISON, Oliver
ZHANG, Tayden
COOPER, Joshua
DAVIDSON, Tom
DOBRY, Xavier
MORRISON, Charlie
SONG, Elison x 2
TALWAR, Rayaansh
DIB, Rami
IJAZ, Ayan
LE CLAIRE, Sebastian
LUSTED, Zephyr x 2
MARTIN, Lachlan x 2
MYATT, Tex x 2
NAGARSEKAR, Aroosh
RAWERI, Aarav
WHEAT, Jack
APPLEROTH, Chase
DEAN, Toby
LUSTED, River
MCDONALD, Finn
Kindergarten Year 2 Year 4 Year 6
AMARASINGHE, Jaith
ANDREW, Liam
CURTIN, Jack
HUANG, Oscar
KARNICK, Rayan
KWOK, Clarence
LEUNG, Austin
LIU, Wilson
MAI, Raymond
NGAI, Joseph
PARASHAR, Nabhya
RACE, Jake
RAWERI, Aryan
WALLIS, James
ZHAO, Luxiao
ATAI, Lucas x 2
EDIRISINGHE, Ronan x 2
KEET, Dylan
KOCIC, Marko x 2
PETER, Jacob
YEUNG, Jayden x 2
ZHANG, Ethan
ZHATAI, Lucas x 2
CAO, Anton
COOK, Lachlan x 3
GUPTA, Rohan
KIM, Kiju
KNIPPERS, Willem
STRONG, Levi
WEBSTER, Jack
ARMSTRONG, Ethan x 3
HAYEK, Ben
KAMDAR, Riyaan x 2
LEE-KOKSAL, Riley
SAIYED, Ayman
SINGLA, Ishan
Page 5 PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 8: 17 May 2019
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.
NAPLAN I would like to remind all families in Years Three and Five of the NAPLAN arrangements for 2019.
King’s will be using the online platform this year. The tests will be held on:
Year 3 Year 5
Method Date Method Date
Writing Pen and Paper (must
be completed in the
first two days)
Tuesday, 14 May 2019 Online (must be
completed in the
first two days)
Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Reading Online Tuesday, 21 May 2019 Online Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Conventions
of Language
Online Wednesday, 22 May
2019
Online Wednesday, 22 May
2019
Numeracy Online Thursday, 23 May 2019 Online Thursday, 23 May 2019
Catch-ups Writing Wednesday, 15 May
2019
Writing Wednesday, 15 May
2019
Catch-ups All tests, except
Writing
Friday, 24 May 2019 All tests, except
Writing
Friday, 24 May 2019
Trivia Night Baskets All families should have received an email/flyer outlining the date (Saturday, 1 June) and theme
(Favourite decade – celebrity, sportsperson, world figure, music legend) for this year’s Trivia Night.
One of the favourite parts of the evening is the Silent Auction. Some of the best-selling items of this
auction each year are the Year Baskets. Donations may be given to the Class Mothers, who have again
kindly offered to put the baskets together. The class basket themes are:
Pre Kindy - Travel, sports and games
Kindy - For the garden
Year 1 - For Dads
Year 2 - For the home
Year 3 - For the bar/cellar
Year 4 - For the kids
Year 5 - Pamper a Mum
Year 6 - Without the kids
Please contact your Class Mothers for more details on how to donate.
DEPUTY HEAD
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Upcoming Events
Week 4 Sunday, 19 May 2019 Band Workshop Weekend (School Based) (Year 3 Band, Year 3 Wind
Ensemble, and Concert Band)
Monday, 20 May 2019 Prep Fathers' Association Committee Meeting - Staff Centre (7:30 pm)
Tuesday, 21 May 2019 Pre-K visiting Tara for a Performance
Wednesday, 22 May
2019 CIS Rugby League Trials
Simultaneous Storytime - Two Alpaccas included (Pre-K to Year 1)
Year 5 Prospective Family Information Evening Lower Dalleywater
Centre (6:00 pm)
Thursday, 23 May 2019
Friday, 24 May 2019 NSWJCL Chess - Round 3
Music Soiree – Horrocks Hall (4:00 pm)
Saturday, 25 May 2019 Winter Sport Round 4
Week 5 Sunday, 26 May 2019
Monday, 27 May 2019 Reconciliation Week
Y3-6 House Meeting (11:50 am)
Tuesday, 28 May 2019 CIS Rugby Union Trials 1 and 2
Piano Soiree – Horrocks Hall (4:00 pm)
Wednesday, 29 May
2019 CIS Rugby Union Trial 3
Thursday, 30 May 2019 DaVinci Decathlon - Knox Grammar School
Friday, 31 May 2019 Pre-K Biggest Morning Tea – Kingsbridge (9:00 am)
ISDA Debating – Quarters (TBC)
NSWJCL Chess - Round 4
Saturday, 1 June 2019 Winter Sport Round 5
Prep Fathers’ Association Trivia Night
Greg Blackman
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SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PLAN WEEKS 3 AND 4
BIBLE VERSES VALUE FOCUS LEADERSHIP AND
CHARACTER
FOCUS
UNIFORM
FOCUS
COMMUNITY
GATHERING
SOCIAL AND
EMOTIONAL
LEARNING
THEME
WEEK 3
For you will be
treated as you treat
others. The
standard you use in
judging is the
standard by which
you will be judged.
Matthew 7:2
WEEK 4
In all things I have
shown you that by
working hard in
this way we must
help the weak and
remember the
words of the Lord
Jesus, how he
himself said, ‘It is
more blessed to
give than to
receive.’
Acts 20:35
COMPASSION
We are kind, gentle,
and generous.
We care for others
and we stand up for
others.
BE
COMPASSIONATE
COMPASSION
A King’s boy looks
after his schoolmates
by using words that
build up, not words
that put down.
A King’s boy is an
upstander who
supports others being
hurt or bullied
If my friend
has lost a
piece of
clothing or
equipment, I
will offer to
help him find
it.
HOUSEMEETING
WEEK 3
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
Being mindful
is being in the
present.
We can practice
mindfulness by
concentrating
on our
breathing.
When we are
mindful we can
care better for
others and
show
compassion.
I share our SEL plan with families so that we can partner in this important area of development. Families are
encouraged to discuss the areas above.
Belinda Baxter
DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS
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NAPLAN
Why do we do NAPLAN?
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and
numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in
Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, conventions of
language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The assessment provides parents and
schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process - it does not replace
ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. NAPLAN also provides schools,
education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working
and whether young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes in literacy and
numeracy.
What is assessed?
NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through our regular
teaching and learning programs. All government and non-government education authorities have
contributed to the development of NAPLAN materials. In 2019 most students across Australia will sit
NAPLAN online. Feedback in the first year of NAPLAN Online showed that students engaged well
with online assessments. One of the main benefits of NAPLAN Online is tailored (or adaptive) testing,
where the test automatically adapts to a student’s test performance. The test presents questions of
higher or lower complexity, depending on a student’s performance. Adaptive testing is designed to
assess a wider range of student abilities and to measure student achievement more precisely. Your
son should not be concerned if he finds questions more challenging than usual; he may be taking a
more complex test pathway. A student’s overall NAPLAN score is based on the number and
complexity of questions they answer correctly.
NAPLAN Online is not a test of keyboard skills. There are variations in how fast and well a student
can type – just as there are variations in how fast and well a student can write by hand. Year 3
students will complete the writing test on paper and Year 5 students will complete the writing test on
their laptops.
To get an idea of what the online assessment looks like, visit the public demonstration site at
nap.edu.au
How can I help my son prepare?
Help your son prepare by reassuring him that NAPLAN is just one part of his school program, and by
reminding him on the day to simply try his best. Teachers have ensured the boys are familiar with the
types of questions in the tests. All our boys have taken part in practice tests and are familiar with the
online system used to administer the test. Most importantly, make sure your son maintains his usual
routine of adequate sleep and good nutrition.
Sonia Weston
DIRECTOR OF LEARNING
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During the first week of Term 2, Oliver Wu from 6Mc sat his AmusA
Cello Examination. With two examiners present, Oliver had to
perform four large scale works for cello along with answering deep
general knowledge questions relating to the music that he was
playing. I am delighted to inform the community that Oliver was
successful in passing his AMusA, and is now a proud owner of a
Performance Diploma. It must be noted, that traditionally, students
would take their Associateship Diplomas at the end of the first year of
university. For Oliver to achieve this high level of performance in
Year 6, is certainly very exciting for his future musical development.
Hearty congratulations also must go to Minah Choe, King’s Cello
Tutor, who supported Oliver in his preparation for this examination.
John, his brother also attained his performance diploma in the Prep
School.
BAND WEEK Some final information for the upcoming band weekend that is taking place this coming Saturday
afternoon and Sunday.
Boys are reminded to check before leaving home that they have with them their instruments,
music, water bottle and any food to get them through the sessions.
School uniform is not required to be worn and boys are free to wear clothes that they would
normally wear at weekends.
Numerous external tutors are working with us on Saturday and Sunday and we would
appreciate parents reminding boys that usual King’s Boy behaviours are expected throughout
the weekend.
Saturday times are 1:30-5:30pm
Sunday times are 8:30am -1:30pm
We are all really looking forward to this weekend of music-making. Time for boys to learn with
experienced tutors is often squeezed into the rush of a School day and this weekend will allow for
deep learning to take place, over a sustained period of time.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either Mr Crocker or Mr Todhunter.
Prep School Musical Year 5 & 6 Auditions This week, all boys in Years 5 and
6 will have received a letter
relating to our production of
‘Superstan’, that will take place in
Term 4. Copies of this letter may
also be found on ilearn. We are
very keen to hear of any parents,
family members and wider
community members who will be willing to support our production by helping with costumes by
sourcing particular items or sewing and creating costumes. Please contact Mr Todhunter via
[email protected] to register your interest.
MUSIC
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SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL – Primary School Days On Wednesday, May 1 a group of Year 5 and 6 boys headed to the Parramatta Riverside Theatre for
the Sydney Writers’ Festival. At the Theatre, authors Katherine Rundell, R. A. Spratt, Megan
McDonald and Oliver Phommavanh shared their knowledge and interesting stories of how they have
been successful with their writing. Overall, this was a very successful day and all of the boys took a
lot away from the experience and had a lot of fun. Below are some reflections and highlights from the
day. Ethan Armstrong and James Napoli
At the Sydney Writers’ Festival, I learnt that playing video games actually help us write stories
because in video games, you are inside your own world. People can also inspire you to write books,
and sometimes they might even be your own parents! Bob Zhu
We learnt that unique ideas are better than ordinary ideas and that we should always carry notepads
and record inspirations that we may not remember later. Ryan Rahimi and Austen Wong
I enjoyed when Megan McDonald explained to us how inspiration for her novels came to her. She
talked about how insignificant things such as a band aid with a picture of the globe on it, can be a
whole theme for a book. Kasen Heiskanen
We learnt that combining true and fictional aspects of our lives has the potential to make a great story.
We also learnt that that when you get stuck writing a certain part of your story, skipping to the next
paragraph and coming back to it later can help too. Oscar Parsons and Zach Huynh
We learnt that different things can inspire your stories and give you different ideas. Oliver
Phommavanh’s started his writing career because his parents always embarrassed him. Oliver
thought this was an amazing idea and wrote his first book, ‘Thai-Riffic.’ Toby Cheung and Henry
Wang
Not long now until we hit the slopes. To celebrate our upcoming Winter Season, we will be hosting a
Snowsports Social Night on Saturday, 22 June, after the Home Coming Game (from 4:45pm) in the
Senior School Sports Centre.This is going to be a great event and I would like to invite all Prep
Families to come and join us. Even if you have never skied and are not on our Snowsports Team, I
would love for you to come and see what Snowsports is all about and meet some new Prep faces.
We have a great line up of things to do on the evening to keep everyone entertained. We have Ski
simulators from Off Piste; Sydney’s exclusive indoor Ski and Snowboard simulators training facility.
If a Ski Simulator is not your thing we have a Warren Miller movie “Line of Descent” playing. Warren
Miller has been producing and directing Ski and Snowboarding movies for many years and they are
guaranteed to keep you entertained.
Please see flyer below with more information and details on how to book. I look forward to seeing
you all on the evening.
Enrichment
Snowsports
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