We ended Term 3 with a fabulous week of fun - Possum Magic, Disco and Tennis Family Fun Day!
Our K-2 students had a wonderful day at the Shoalhaven library and Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre to see Possum Magic in the last week of term! We got to see some historical footage and maps of Kangaroo Valley at the library, sing songs and read books about some of our favourite animals in KV. We were lucky to have front row seats for Possum Magic at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre and the special effects were absolutely amazing!
Oh what a night… at our end of Term Disco! There were lots of laughs, an abundance of food and the best dance moves, not just from our students but also great to see so many of our parents join us for a dance at the end of our disco. A special thanks to DJ Tino for the tunes and all our teachers and support staff for making the disco so much fun, particularly Mr Steele and Mr Latham who went all out with their costumes.
We had perfect weather, lots of keen parents and heaps of smiling kids for the final day of Term 3 to enjoy the Rally as One Tennis Family Fun Day, funded by the Australian Tennis Foundation supporting communities affected by bushfires. Thank you to Kate Hole for running the Tennis Program each Friday throughout Term 3 and for organising the Family Fun Day. We would also like to thank the Kangaroo Valley Rural Fire Brigade for supporting our event, allowing us to use their undercover space.
Thanks to Jan for helping run activities and to Trevor, Bruce, Jonathan and Angela for cooking up a storm and feeding us all after a big night at the disco!
2024 Staff Planning
Over the school holiday period, Mr Bill Field, Director Educational Leadership for the Shoalhaven Principals Network confirmed that Mr Andrew Smee will continue to take leave from the Principal role in 2024 and I have been offered another year as the Relieving Principal at Kangaroo Valley Public School. I look forward to another year at KVPS and with my role now confirmed, I am able to commence planning for 2024, initially to confirm enrolment numbers, class structures, student placement and then matching teachers to our intended classes for 2024.
If you are moving or intend to enrol elsewhere for 2024 please contact me by the end of Week 2 so that I can make adjustments to our class structures and student placement before announcing in the upcoming newsletters. I know this is often an anxious wait not just for our students but for our teachers too as they await announcements about 2024.
School Administrative Officer Position
After 28 years, Mrs Margo Dryden has made the very difficult decision to retire at the end of the year from her role of School Administrative Officer after taking leave this year from her permanent position. We would like to thank Mrs Dryden for her many years of service to Kangaroo Valley Public School supporting our students, teachers and families. Thank you Mrs Dryden!
As a result of Mrs Dryden’s pending retirement, the DoE will begin the process to fill the position permanently to commence in Term 1, 2024. The part time position will be advertised on the I Work for NSW Website this week. Interested applicants need to complete an application online and enquiries can be directed to jennifer.arnott3@det.nsw.edu.au
Check in Assessment Results - Year 6
Congratulations to our Year 6 students who completed their Check in Assessments at the end of last term. They worked hard to achieve fantastic results which were released over the holiday period, where our students achieved well above the NSW state and similar schools average in reading, writing and numeracy. A great effort!
Bushfires
With the Bushfire season approaching, we have recently updated our Bushfire Response Plan. When the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) declares a Catastrophic Fire Danger rating, Category 1 and 2 schools will be directed by the department to proactively temporarily cease school operations for the next day. Kangaroo Valley Public School is deemed a Category 1 school and as such, if a catastrophic day is announced, the school will be closed at short notice. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide minimal supervision on these days as students and staff are not allowed to be onsite.
To ensure we are able to contact you in the event of an unexpected school closure, please ensure we have your preferred email address and phone number to contact you.
School Security
Unfortunately, our school was broken into during the school holiday period which has been reported to the police. As a result, our school will now have regular security patrols particularly over the weekends and during the school holiday period. If you see anything suspicious on school grounds after hours, please contact the School Security Unit on 1300 88 00 21. We appreciate the support of the community to keep our school secure.
Tell Them From Me Survey
Our school is participating in the Tell Them From Me Survey. It's an anonymous survey that gives valuable feedback to inform our school priorities and future directions which are reflected in our School Improvement Plan (SIP)
Please take the time to complete our survey before the closing date Friday 3rd November.
http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/kvps
Hats, Drink Bottles, Tick Repellent and Sunscreen
Please remember a hat and water bottle for school each day for sport, break times and outdoor learning. We have a number of drink bottles at school in lost property without names, so please have a look to see if one belongs to your child.
We encourage everyone to apply sunscreen as part of their getting ready for school routine each day. We have sunscreen at school for students to use, however, if your child has sensitive skin, please ensure you pack some sunscreen for school to reapply throughout the day. We also recommend students wear tick repellant.
Check-in Assessments
Year 3, 4 and 5 students will be completing reading and numeracy check-in assessments between Weeks 1 to 4 in Term 4.
There is no time limit for the assessments so students can work at their own pace to answer the questions. The aim of the assessment is to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy to tailor teaching specifically to student needs. The results are available for teachers soon after completing the assessments. As part of our School Improvement Plan, we are working on specific areas to improve student growth from Years 3-5.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will be hosted by 3/4G on Wednesday 1st November starting at 2:30pm. All parents and grandparents are welcome to join us to see class items.
Illawarra Environmental Education Centre - Killalea Excursion
On Friday 13th October our whole school will be heading to the Illawarra Environmental Education Centre at Killalea as part of our Science and Geography units. Students will need to meet under the COLA at 8:15am for an early departure of 8:30am. Students need to bring their hat, water bottle, lunch, recess. The online permission note is available in School Bytes.
Folk Festival Update
Headlining Folk Festival performer Luke O'Shea and up and coming country/folk performer Felicity O'Dowd will be visiting our school to perform for our students from 2-3pm on Friday 20th October.
On Saturday, 21st October from 10:30-11am we will then have a number of students performing individual, small group and one whole school song, Lean on Me for all students K-6 to join in for. There will be setup time from 10:10 so I’ll ask all students to meet Mr Gorman at the Marquee no later than 10am. Miss Arnott will be at the Osborne Park gate, providing a stamp for free entry for performing students and their parents.
We won't be wearing school uniforms for this performance so students can wear something colourful!
School Bytes App
Last Term, we made the decision to invest in the My Family Hand App to assist parents as the team at School Bytes advised us that they were a while away from releasing their App. Over the School Holiday Break, School Bytes have released their App where parents can easily access the following from the App's Dashboard:
Finance - Make payments
Payment History - Check what you have already paid for
Activities - Provide permission for activities
Forms - Complete an Application for extended leave, early leaver form, change of details form, permission to publish forms as required
Documents - View the latest canteen menu and uniform shop price list
Attendance - View your child’s attendance
School News - Access the Weekly Newsletter link
Calendar - View events that are coming up
My Family Hand App is still great for providing reminders and alerts about things coming up if you wish to continue using it.
Have a great start to Term 4!
Jen Arnott
Relieving Principal
