Kapunda Primary School Newsletter

Welcome back!

Welcome back to the start of the final school term for 2023. I would like to welcome those new families that have started at Kapunda Primary this term, we hope you enjoy your time with us. We commence Term 4 with 278 students, which includes 3 new students.

There are a number of events planned this term, which includes our Movie Night to be held on Friday 1st December. Information regarding the night has been communicated to families earlier in the week on our social media platforms. It looks to be a great night for our school community.

To assist teachers and optimise students learning we are seeking parents support in ensuring all students are at school before 8:50am. This will ensure students are ready to learn and participate when the learning of the day is being discussed. Last term you would have received an Attendance report for your child which many parents have commented about how they didn’t realise how many days their child had missed or how fantastic their child’s attendance had been.

If you ever have any questions about your child's learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to their class teacher. At Kapunda Primary School, we believe in the power of partnership with our parents and community. We are looking forward to an amazing term and can't wait to showcase all the fantastic learning experiences that will take place.

Road Safety

I would like to take this opportunity to remind families about road safety rules when coming to school and going home. Please utilise the crossing if you need to walk from the other side of Mildred Street  and remember that 25km/h speed limit applies within school zones, at children’s crossings when the lights are flashing and when passing a school bus that has stopped to pick up or drop off children.

Site Improvement Plan

We are at the point of are reviewing our progress and achievement against the goals and targets in our Site Improvement Plan, which will guide our 2024 goals. What the review has highlighted is we have a number of students who achieved outstanding levels of progress this year, in both writing and reading. There have been a number of students who have experienced significant growth in PAT Maths and Reading. This is hugely pleasing for us as staff as it validates the work we have all been doing. For the students, experiencing positive growth and achievement in reading leads to greater engagement in all areas of learning as well as their overall wellbeing.

Kindy transition visits

Our Kindy transition visits are about to start. The Kindy students will be visiting on Tuesday, commencing in Week 5, for three weeks. They will be on site from 9am -12pm. During the transition visits the current Receptions will go to the library/other classroom and continue with their learning with another teacher. Once the Kindy students leave they are able to return to their classroom. The current Reception children will have the opportunity to play with the Kindy students during recess.

38 students are enrolled to start Reception at the start of 2024, with an additional 10 students starting Mid-Year.

Staffing and class updates for 2024

Thank you to those parents/carers who took the time to provide information they thought was important when placing their child in a class for 2024. At this stage it looks like we will begin next year with 11 classes. We are continuing to monitor enrolments and over the next few weeks we will begin to look at classes and staffing for 2024.

Applications have closed for the Student Wellbeing position with a panel process to commence shortly. The panel process will take a few weeks to complete with an announcement of the successful candidate made before the end of the year.

2024 Materials and Services charges

Section 106A of the Education Act enables schools, in consultation with the school Governing Council/Community to set, collect and recover a Material and Services Charge. Attached in this newsletter is a written verification from the Chief Executive Officer in the form of a “Watermarked Notice”.

All Parents/Caregivers are invited to attend the School Governing Council Meeting on Tuesday 07/11/2023 at 6:30pm, at which the proposed Materials & Services Fees for 2024 are to be approved. Please see the copy of these fees in this newsletter. If you have any queries regarding this charge, please contact the school on 8566 2008. If you are unable to attend the Governing Council meeting, you are welcome to express your views in writing to the Chairperson, Megan McWaters at Kapunda Primary School.

Kind regards,

David Pitt

Principal

Please note that these dates are subject to change

Konnichiwa! My name is Emi Yoshida and I am an exchange teacher from Okayama prefecture, Japan. I worked in Blackwood Primary School and Blackwood High School for half a year, teaching Japanese language and culture. I will be spending another half a year here in Kapunda, working both in primary school as well as high school as an assistant Japanese teacher. Kapunda has beautiful nature and friendly people so I already love this place. I look forward to experiencing a real Aussie country life here in Kapaunda. Thank you. 

Last term in Maths the students in The Beehive learnt about multiplication and division. We did many hands on activities to help us gain new skills and understandings. By using hands on materials we could see the different groups come together as we were sharing out from a whole number (division) or could adequately skip count to create a whole number (multiplication).

This term students will be learning how to identify and name fractions. Students may come home and talk about the numerator, denominator or even the vinculum (the line that separates the numerator and denominator) in Maths. In English we are learning about poetry and have started paying particular attention to the work of CJ Dennis a South Australian poet. Students have started playing with alliteration in class.

Here are some sentences that have used the poetic device alliteration:

Frankie the filthy fly flicked feet for the filthy funny flies. - Levi

Billie the busy bee is busy buzzing on the bus on the way to Bobby Bees house. - Sophie

Billie is a very busy bee, he lives in a nest hanging on a tree. - Andy

Diane donkey drinks cotton candy delight. - Kade

Billie the busy bee brings black burnt toast. - Koa

Mrs Diane Donkey had a delightful drink from Dinner Diner. - Harper

Billy was a very busy bee he was buzzing loudly. - London

We all experience a range of emotions in our lives everyday – fear, disappointment, sadness, anger, happiness, hope etc. Children however, experience emotions before they can use words to describe them. It is up to us, as adults in their lives, to model, teach and encourage them to practice healthy emotional responses to everyday situations and events.

How can we help them?

• Tell your child that you love them no matter what - children can be happier and have a more positive outlook when they feel loved, safe and secure.
• Help them to develop the language - talk about emotions with your child. Read books and talk about the emotions of characters in the story or in TV shows e.g. “look at Bluey’s face, she looks sad”. Label the emotions you see them feeling, as well as the emotions of others around them (including yourself) e.g. “I am feeling upset that….” or “Grandma looks sad because….”. Talk about the physical signs they may be experiencing with their emotions e.g. “You look worried, have you got butterflies in your tummy?”
• Help your child to manage reactions – help children to notice early signs of strong emotions within themselves. Suggest ways that they can try to calm themselves down before it gets bigger e.g. breathing exercises (get them to show you how they do rollercoaster breathing at school) or ways they can react to strong emotions in a healthy way e.g. squeeze a cushion really hard when they are angry, ask for a hug when they are sad or clap their hands when they are excited.
• Encourage your child to try new things and solve problems – let them know that it’s ok to find things hard and that everyone makes mistakes. It’s ok to feel sad, angry, disappointed or frustrated, but it doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them. Praise your child when they have handled a tricky situation e.g. “I liked the way you waited until it was your turn” and encourage them to be kind to themselves e.g. “It’s ok that I can’t do this yet. I’ve done my best and will try again next time”.
• Role-model – students learn from their interactions with family and friends and by watching how others respond. Forgive your child if they make a mistake e.g. they drop and break a glass. Try to model self-regulation with your own emotional reactions, self-compassion by finding positive things to say about yourself in front of them and show compassion for your child when they are upset.
• Remember that it doesn’t always go to plan – tiredness, illness and changes to routine can all affect our ability and our children’s ability to regulate emotional reactions and behaviours. Be aware of these factors and be reasonable in the expectations you place on yourself and your children.
• Look after yourself – it is hard to look after the needs of others when your own needs are not being met.  If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, or you are struggling with your own mental health, parenting or relationships, remember to seek help for yourself.

If you would like any further information, I’m always happy to chat and help you to seek further support if need be.

Take care,

Ange