Kapunda Primary School Newsletter

Here we are at the end of a very busy term. Students have been able to engage in a variety of fun activities including swimming and Sports Day.

Parent /Teacher Interviews have also been a part of week 11. If you were unable to meet with your child’s teacher, they will be contacting you to arrange a time for early in term 2. The opportunity to meet and discuss supports the building of strong relationships that will enable us all to work together for the best possible outcomes for our children.

Swimming was a great success and we appreciate the great organisation by Kelly Buckby at Gawler Aquatic Centre. The work that Kelly does takes a significant amount of pressure of school staff and ensures that lessons operate as smoothly as possible. We were also extremely fortunate with the weather.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Middle and upper primary teachers have transferred their Spelling program over to the DfE Spelling and Morphology Scope and Sequence. Students are enjoying the extra layer of having a deeper understanding of the origins of words and how the English language has evolved and being able to identify the connections that exist between words through having this knowledge.

Teachers have started planning with the new SA Curriculum. The SA Curriculum aligns with the Australian Curriculum and is designed to provide a comprehensive and balanced education for students from Reception to Year 12. It focuses on developing essential skills and knowledge across various learning areas, with more connection to South Australia’s context. 

The Public Education Strategy identifies four Areas of Impact that schools should focus on to develop our children and young people into strong learners. Schools have been asked to select one of these areas to embed into our Site Learning planning. As a staff, we have identified that much of what we already do is leading toward developing Effective Learners. By focusing on building deeper understandings of what makes an effective learner, we are connecting the strong teaching and learning already in place with further strategies to enhance skill development in our students. One key domain identified is Metacognition and Self-regulation. Teachers have been planning and implementing metacognitive strategies into the teaching and learning program.

Metacognition is the awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes. It involves thinking about how we think, learn, and solve problems. Learning does not only occur in school; home is an extremely important and familiar environment that can help develop these transferable skills. Below are some strategies to support your child’s metacognitive development:

1. Encourage Reflection: Ask children to think about what they learned and how they learned it. Questions like "What was easy or difficult about this task?" can help.
2. Model Thinking Aloud: Demonstrate how to approach a problem by thinking out loud. This shows children how to plan, monitor, and evaluate their thinking.
3. Set Goals: Help children set specific, achievable goals for their learning. Discuss steps needed to reach these goals and how to track progress.
4. Teach Problem-Solving Skills: Encourage children to break down tasks into smaller steps and think about different ways to approach a problem.
5. Use Checklists: Create checklists for tasks to help children plan and monitor their work. This can improve organisation and focus.
6. Discuss Mistakes: Talk about mistakes as learning opportunities. Discuss what went wrong and how to approach the task differently next time.

BUILDING WORKS

We are partway through the replacement of roofs, ceilings, verandas, and gutters on our transportable buildings. This has added an extra layer to the busy school environment but will be worth the inconvenience.

Plans are moving forward for the upgrade of the education house to enable KOSHC to relocate into this much nicer and more suitable space. We will keep you updated as we progress. If you believe you may be able to help at any stage during the process, please don’t hesitate to call and have a chat with Sharon or Louise. Alternatively, you can talk with our Governing Council Chairperson, Jarred Tilley, or one of the other Governing Council members. As we move forward, there will be gardens to establish, fences to pull down, painting, and numerous other jobs we probably haven’t thought of yet.

We wish the children a happy and safe break and hope that you are all able to manage some downtime over the Easter and Anzac Day holidays.

Thank you

Sharon, Kerry and Dan

Our Class Assembly's are held in the School Gym. They start at 2.30pm.

The Wellbeing Assembly's are run by Mr Ryan and are held in the School Gym. They start at 2.45pm. 

Please note that these dates are subject to change

Dear Families,

The Premier’s Reading Challenge has now commenced for 2025. 

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program that was introduced by the Premier in 2004 to:

• Encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading
• Improve literacy levels.

The Challenge requires students to read 12 books between the beginning of the school year and early September.  Students will read 8 books from the Challenge booklist and 4 books of their own choice.

Challenge forms have been sent to classrooms for distribution.  If you child misplaces their form or has any questions about the Challenge, please ask them to pop into the Library to see me.

Thank you,

Davina Holthouse

Great opportunity to supplement your income if on a pension or semi-retired.

We are in desparate need for relief bus drivers.

With possibility of full time work in a year or two.

At present we have four departmental buses which we are very fortunate to still have.

We need to be able to get drivers as if we can not supply drivers the department will take the buses and put in contractors.  If we lost our department buses the  impact on the  school and students is huge.  It would stop most sporting activities, any excursions etc, as at present we can use the buses without a cost to us other than paying the bus driver for these.  If our buses were taken away and contracts did the routes, all excursions, sports, etc would probably not be able to happen as to use a contractor bus it is at least $1000 a day for any excursions and more.

We have four different bus routes for our school with department buses.

Approximately 15 hours a week, Monday to Friday.  7.30am till 8.30am  -  3.00 till 4.30pm.

Employment is on a casual claim paid basis.  Additional hours available if willing to drive for school excursions.  This is paid separately by the school.

Requirements :-

Miniumum license required is MR.  The driver will need accreditation, this entails WWCC, Full  Medical, national police check and relevant driver license.

If interested please contact Kaye Clancy ( Bus Coordinator) Kapunda High School.   Email :-  kaye.clancy848@schools.sa.edu.au.  Phone (08) 8566 2203.   Please if anyone knows of someone who might be interested please past this information onto them.