Welcome to week 3! We have got off to a very busy start to the term. Already this term our students have been involved in: Anzac Day, Zone Cross Country, PSSA Friday sport, PSSA knockout sport days, KHS Year 7 Parent Information night, Check –In assessments for years 4 and 6, Tell Them from Me Survey, Start truck dance and signing choir rehearsals, Parent/Teacher interviews and the whole school Athletics Carnival. WOW, we certainly have got back into the groove of being an active, engaging and dynamic school.
It is really pleasing to see our parent community back in school and participating in school events where possible. We now live in a world where we are being safe with physical distancing, hand washing and staying home if unwell. I can’t thank parents enough for your patience and support with this ongoing process. The current need for QR code and site sign in is for contract tracing (QR code) and for knowing who is on site and for what purpose (DoE sign-in).
As I drop into classrooms throughout the week it is so pleasing to see students completely engaged in high quality literacy and numeracy lessons. Learning to read is the most important educational outcome of primary education. Reading is a complex process that builds on oral language facility, and encompasses both specific skill development (phonemic and decoding strategies) and the use of comprehension strategies. The precise ways in which these processes combine need to be explicitly taught to children each and every day all throughout primary school. Our Instructional Leader, Intervention teachers and Learning and Support Team teachers are heavily involved with classroom teachers ensuring that each and every child has these opportunities. The ‘Big Six’ of reading instruction include: oral language skills, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. More about these throughout our ongoing Newsletters.
Attendance is vital for students to learn, grow and retain knowledge. Good attendance means that every student is at school, on time, every day and ready for learning. If your child is unwell, they need to stay home. At KSPS, we have a large number of students who are coming late to school each day. The first bell goes at 8:55am, this is when students make their way to class, line up and move into the room for lessons to commence at 9am. Students need to be at school before the 8:55am bell. When your child misses just…10 minutes a day, this equals 50 minutes of learning a week, which is nearly 1 ½ weeks per year. When they miss 20 minutes a day, this equals 1 hour and 40 minutes of learning a week, which is nearly 2 ½ weeks per year.
A reminder to Yr 3 & Yr 5 students that NAPLAN tests are occurring next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Please see the link for further parent information. NAPLAN Parent Support
Parent / Teacher Interviews are currently underway. Thank you to all those parents and carers who have taken the time to book an appointment with their child’s class teacher. Teachers endeavour to be on time and stick to the allotted time schedule. If you are late to an interview, another time may have to be made as often other parents are waiting.
Clothing and lost property…… we are starting to have a large collection of jumpers and hats again. Our year 6 leadership student team has endeavoured to return these to students today, that is, all the items with names on them. As the cooler days are now upon us, please remind your child to place their jumpers and other items into their bag so that they are safe and accessible for their own use.
School vision: KSPS is a school of excellence demonstrating outstanding school culture and educational success for all. What does this mean? For us excellence, school culture, educational success for all are our drivers in all aspects of our work at Kotara South. It starts with getting it right on the small things, like simple and clear systems and processes across the school. It means making provisions for all learners so that they may become confident, creative lifelong learners who are active and informed citizens of our community.
Susan Maxworthy - Principal
Your child will need to log on to the PRC website with their user name and password they use at school. It will be first name.last name e.g. jane.smith, some children have a number as well e.g. jane.smith3
If you are unsure I am happy that your child asks me to write it on a post it and send it home with the borrowed PRC books.
Happy reading
Mrs Harvey - Librarian
Last Friday was the Zone Cross Country Carnival at Stevenson Park in Mayfield. It was a fantastic event with all our students competing well, demonstrating excellent sportsmanship and having fun! It was great to watch everyone race and cheer everyone on. Congratulations to Spencer (5th 10yr boys), Flynn (1st 11yr boys), Reed 2nd 11yr boys), Billy (2nd 11yr Boys), Archie (3rd 12yr boys) and Sarah (4th 12yr Girls) who have been selected to represent KSPS and Newcastle City Zone at the Regional Cross Country Carnival to be held on Friday 28th May at Tocal.
Kotara South Public School provides a supportive learning community where students are valued and encouraged to reach their full potential.
Strive to Achieve
