Issue No. 3: March 1 2019
Responsible risk taking through the camps program
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
French writer Andre Gide
It’s easier to operate within our comfort zones rather than feel the discomfort that comes when we
stretch the boundaries. This is just as true for a child as it is for an adult. At King’s, we strive to
provide an environment where the boys are urged to stretch their boundaries, to experience situations
where they need to take risks within a safe and supportive community.
Risk taking has been one of the PYP Learner Profiles in focus within the Primary School over the past
few weeks. The IB learner profile describes risk takers as people who “approach uncertainty with
forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and
innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenge and change.”
At the Prep we help our boys to understand that in life we need to take risks to explore possibilities;
to discover new information about the world around us; to learn more about ourselves and to develop
more self-confidence by overcoming challenges. Not all risks are sensible and responsible. Some risks
can place ourselves and others in unsafe situations. However, if we are open to learning from our
mistakes, and we are able to use what we already know to make wise decisions then we approach
new challenges with greater confidence and clarity.
Within our classrooms and our outdoor programs, teachers look for opportunities to encourage
students to take greater risks with their learning, to stretch the boundaries into those zones that can
sometimes bring a sense of discomfort. It is only by gently being encouraged to take on greater
challenge that growth occurs and boundaries are expanded. I encourage parents to support the
endeavours of the school and look for opportunities in the home where calculated risk taking can be
experienced and discussed.
The outdoor education camp program is an important strategy used by staff to encourage students to
understand about responsible risk taking. Each camp places boys into new environments where they
undertake both individual and group challenges which test physical boundaries. This week all boys
from Years 3 to 6 spent some days out in different locations involved in a range of activities
coordinated by Anglican Youthworks.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others” 1 Peter 4:10
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The Year 3 boys enjoyed a two day, overnight experience in the Blue
Mountains. The boys enjoyed field trips into bushland locations learning
about early indigenous communities living in the area, participating in
bush cooking, bike education, building catapults, and abseiling.
For the Year 4 boys, the Royal National Park was the perfect location for
their outdoor adventures. Alongside the Christian education sessions,
the boys enjoyed participating in bush navigation activities, pool rafting,
fishing, a low ropes course, exploration of the mangrove area and bush
survival skills.
The Year 5 camp was also located in the Royal National Park at another
Youth Works site known as Deer Park. After an early morning Bible discovery session, the students
participated in a range of outdoor activities designed to provide physical challenge and the
development of team work. The activities included sailing, abseiling, rock climbing, pool rafting,
archery and canoeing. The afternoon waterslide activities were a real highlight for many of the boys.
Our Year 6 boys ventured to a new location for King’s at Toukley on the Central Coast. Much of the
activity for the senior boys revolved around beach activities with instruction provided in surfing and
paddle boarding. The boys participated in a range of initiative building group challenges and quad
biking, alongside the Christian Discovery sessions.
There’s no doubt, these camps are fun! However, the camping program also enhances relationship
building amongst the boys, improves self-esteem and self-efficacy, improves socialisation skills and
facilitates group bonding and co-operation. These opportunities also reduce the formality of the
relationships between students and staff and allows for the development of closer relationships that
can transfer with positive results in the classroom. For our new students to King’s this year, it was a
great way to build and strengthen relationships with their new peer group.
Prep School Swimming Carnival The cooler, wetter weather moved in for this year’s annual Prep School Swimming carnival held last
week. This called for a change in arrangements which meant that not all boys could be together on the
pool deck to contribute to the usually strong House spirit that surrounds competitors at previous
carnivals.
However, the day still heralded some stunning performances in the pool, including the breaking of a
1990 Open relay record time of 2.30.83 with a new record time of 2.17.72 shattering the old record by
some 13 seconds. The boys achieving the new mark included James Napoli, Luke Fleet, Lucas
Ivankovic and Monty Basten from Stiles House.
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By afternoon, the conditions had improved and all classes were able to head down to the pool to
watch the final events including the relays which promoted enthusiastic chants and tremendous
House spirit.
Our thanks are extended to Darren Lawrenson, the Director of Sport, Brett Pickup, our new PDHPE
teacher and Lisa Sayer, the Sports Administrator who assisted behind the scenes in all the
organisation for the day.
The Age Champions results are recorded below:
U 9 Champion Harry Fleet
U 9 Runner Up Sebastian Le Claire
U 10 Champion Lucas Hay
U10 Runner Up Finn McDonald
U 11 Champion Joshua Jia
U 11 Runner Up Matthew Thompson
U 12 Champion Roy Ma
U 12 Runner Up James Napoli
Congratulations to Thomas House who finished the day as the champion House for the carnival.
Year Dinners – Saturday 16 March
Parents should have received information from Fathers’ Association Representatives in their year
group about the Year Dinner to be held on Saturday 16 March. This is a terrific opportunity to meet
parents from across the year group and enjoy building connections and relationships with others.
Parents are encouraged to join a great evening and book tickets on line through the Trybooking link
shared by year level FA Representatives.
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Headmaster’s Distinctions
Term 1 Week 1-5
Peter Allison
Head of the Preparatory School
Fathers’ Association Year Dinners The first major social event for the Prep community, organised by the Fathers’ Association, is the Year
Dinners. The dinners will be held on Saturday, 16 March. The Fathers’ Association has booked a
restaurant for each year group and more information will be forwarded to parents in the near future.
This evening is a great night and a wonderful way to meet the parents of boys in your son’s year
group and I encourage all parents to attend.
Year 3-6 Camps The Year 3-6 boys had their camps this week. The camps provide a wonderful opportunity for the
boys to bond with each other, especially with our new boys. It also provided new experiences that
push some boys out of their comfort zone, which helps build resilience. I attended the Year 6 Camp
and there were a number of boys who were apprehensive about trying some of the activities, but they
“had a go” and to their surprise, they loved it.
I want to sincerely thank all the staff that attended the camps and were away from their families for
the two or three days.
Pre-Kindergarten
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
GUPTA, Vihaan
MORRISON, Charlie
FLEET, Harry x 2
GIANG, Arthur
JAYASURIYA, Keshon
MARTIN, Lachlan
RACE, Bodie
SALGADO, Saviru
SINGH, Arjan
Kindergarten Year 2 Year 4 Year 6
FODOR, William x 2
LEUNG, Austin
NGAI, Joseph
ROY, Karan
ZHAO, Luxiao
FODOR, Thomas x 3
INDRAJIT, Ariya x 2
AIKMAN, William
CAO, Anton
DOHNT, Lex
GREGSON, William x 2
KNIPPERS, Willem
NGUYEN, Ryan x 2
SAWHNEY, Ryan x 4
WEBSTER, Jack
ZLATANOVIC, Luke x 2
DEPUTY HEAD
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Prep School Dads v Senior School Dads Cricket Game
One of the annual fixtures on the School calendar is the Prep School Dads v Senior School Dads
Cricket Game. We play two 20-20 games on the White Oval and it is a very popular event for those
involved. The games takes place on Sunday, 17 March from 9:30am on the White Oval. The Prep
School Dads Cricket Captain, Mr David Guazzarotto, would like to invite any interested dads to
contact him for more details and to express interest in playing –
[email protected] or 0414 415 645.
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Road Safety and Parking at the Preparatory School
I have written to all parents this week about the Turning Circle, road safety in the Prep School and
driving across and parking on the Gowan Brae lawn. I ask all parents to read this letter and follow the
guidelines outlined to ensure the safety of the boys and parents and to make the process of collecting
boys as smooth as possible.
Upcoming Events
Week 6 Sunday, 3 March 2019
Monday, 4 March 2019
Tuesday, 5 March 2019 IPSHA Swimming Carnival
Indigenous Performance – Year 3
Snowsports Club Meeting - Prep (7:00 pm)
Rugby Club Meeting - Thomas Memorial Pavilion (7:30 pm)
Wednesday, 6 March
2019 King's Fest Meeting (7:30 pm)
Football Club Parents' Information Night - Thomas Memorial Pavilion
(7:00 pm)
Thursday, 7 March 2019 Dalleywater Auxiliary - Lower Dalleywater Centre (8:25 - 10:25 am)
Friday, 8 March 2019 CIS AFL Trials
Old Buffers Cricket game
Music Soiree 3 - Strings
ISDA Debating - Home
Saturday, 9 March 2019 Summer Sport Round 5
Prep School Tour (9:30 am)
Week 7 Sunday, 10 March 2019
Monday, 11 March 2019 Composer in Residence(Paul Jarman) working with Year 6
King's Bullying Awareness Week
Cricket Club Meeting - Harrisford Room (7:00 pm)
Tuesday, 12 March 2019 Composer in Residence(Paul Jarman) working with Year 6
TKSOBU Meeting (7:00 pm)
Wednesday, 13 March
2019 Literacy and PYP Seminar – Lower Dalleywater Centre (7:30 am)
Composer in Residence (Paul Jarman) working with Year 6
Football Club Committee Meeting - Thomas Memorial Pavilion
(7:00pm)
Thursday, 14 March
2019 Author in Residence (Tim Harris) working with Year 5
Headgear Presentation to Year 3 boys by Senior School 1st XV
Football presentation to Year 3 boys by Senior School 1st XI
Staff Meeting (3:30 pm)
Friday, 15 March 2019 National Bullying Awareness Day
Cricket Club Lunch - Parramatta Park Royal
Music Soiree
ISDA Debating - Home
Saturday, 16 March 2019 Summer Sport Round 6
Prep School Year Dinners
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RESILIENCE
A poignant message on the boatshed wall at
Deer Park on the southern shore of the Port
Hacking River, where Years 4 and 5 enjoyed
camp this week, reminded us all that life is not
best lived with ease. Resilience development is
a complex journey, best scaffolded with
understanding adults. Our boys were taken out
of their comfort zones in a number of activities.
This was a good thing.
I share with you recent research conducted by
Fuller and Wicking with Resilient Youth
Australia, on resilience of boys and young men
in Australia. The areas of risk and vulnerability
cannot be understated in terms of mental
wellbeing and emotional good health, as well as
classic success factors in school and at home.
Over 18,000 males from Year 3 to Year 12 were
surveyed.
The areas of strength determined for young
Australian boys are their connectedness to the
adults in their lives and the understanding of
boundaries and expectations. A strong sense of belonging to families and schools was identified as a
strength. This sense of belonging is significant in terms of risk factors and antidotes to violence, drug
abuse and self-harm.
The challenges for boys and young men include building a personal set of values, a strong sense of
personal identity and engagement in learning. Resilience levels were determined from this research as
only 39% with excellent or good levels. This is not a good thing.
Michael McQueen, in Raising Resilient Kids, Building Inner Strengths and Character into Tomorrow’s
Leaders, asserts that one of the most common questions expressed with regards to contemporary child
raising is, ‘Have we raised children who are just too soft?’ He states that children have been and are
being raised who lack the skills and character to persist despite setback, failure, disappointment or
criticism. That is, children who lack resilience.
Resilience is defined as:
The ability to stand firm despite challenges, setbacks and delays
The ability to be undeterred by external circumstances and events
The ability to rebound
DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS
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Our children need space and
opportunity to take risks, make
mistakes, and cope with the
consequences. You may know of the
terms ‘bubble wrapped children’ and
‘helicopter parenting’. Those parents,
who in good faith, do a disservice to
their children by not allowing healthy
social and emotional growth to occur,
are in fact thwarting their children’s
development. Time is wisely invested
in essential agreements about growing
strong, being prepared, hanging
tough, bouncing back, and emerging
renewed.
The harnessing and development of resilience, ie the ability to recover from adversity and move on, is
high on our agenda in the engagement and pastoral care of our boys. In order to promote resilience, a
team approach is imperative. We are very able and available to work with families in this area and
have had significant success in assisting parents to both model and facilitate resilience for their boys.
The School climate plays a significant role in the development and application of social and emotional
wellbeing and a flourishing student. A systematic whole school approach best achieves these
outcomes. As Director of Students, I chair the Wellbeing and Character Development team with
Housemasters - Annie Reuben, Patrick Ell, Jordy Wickham and Jo Usher, Counsellor David Hegarty
and Associate Chaplain Stuart Tye. Here we engage in strategic planning to promote the values of the
School, the attributes of the Learner Profile, resilience, and Christian character. We talk about our
boys, those who are struggling as well as those who are flourishing, and determine paths of support.
Along with the Executive and teaching staff, we cast our net wide, and resilience of boys is an area of
particular focus. Traditionally it has been referred to as bouncing back, but we prefer to promote a
bouncing forward. We saw this at camp; boys who took risks, failed sometimes, succeeded
sometimes, bounced forward.
It is our goal to facilitate social and emotional wellbeing, and resilience in partnership with families.
This requires explicit, consistent and systematic delivery of common goals embedded in curriculum
and daily practice. This is an exciting and essential journey. I am happy to meet and speak with
parents who have any concerns, or who require support in this regard.
Best case scenario is that we are all in the same boat, heading safely into port, with the wind having
whipped up a bumpy and exciting ride.
Belinda Baxter
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TAKING ACTION IN THE HOME: BEING A PYP PARENT AND
FAMILY
The IB learner profile is at the core of the PYP, infusing and shaping all
parts of our curriculum framework. PYP students aim to develop these
ten attributes as they move through the school. Here at King’s we refer to
the Learner Profile daily with our students and we encourage student
action by linking the IB Learner Profile to classroom units and activities. The Learner Profile helps us
develop internationally-minded young people, a concept at the very heart of the PYP.
However, student action can be encouraged, identified and celebrated in the home with your family,
by focusing on the IB learner profile. The table below shows some examples of action in the home.
IB LEARNER PROFILE EXAMPLES OF ACTION IN THE HOME
COMMUNICATOR Engaging in respectful conversations with your child
RISK-TAKER Encouraging your child to try new activities and face challenges
PRINCIPLED Being consistent and modelling family beliefs and values
THINKER Asking your child deep questions – get to the ‘why?’
OPEN-MINDED Exposing your child to a variety of cultural experiences and viewpoints
BALANCED Discussing the importance of balance in diet, play, exercise, sleep and work
REFLECTIVE Taking the time to look back on mistakes and successes
Discussing learning each day
CARING Taking on tasks around the home to help each other
INQUIRER Learning alongside your child, asking critical questions and encouraging
curiosity
KNOWLEDGEABLE Finding items/objects/articles linked to current inquiry units
Date for the diary
I encourage you to attend the Parent Education Seminar next Wednesday morning, 13 March. This is
an opportunity to find out about our teaching and learning in the Prep, specifically looking at how we
teach boys to read. It is relevant for parents in all year groups. Please RSVP directly to me:
Sonia Weston
PYP Coordinator, Director of Learning
DIRECTOR OF LEARNING
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Swimming Attire
Please note that the school uniform shop (Braeside) only sell speedo style swimmers for boys at the
Prep School. Any boy who has been selected into the school swimming team receive a special pair of
‘Jammer’ swimmers by Mr Lawrenson.
Grammar St Ives Football Cup:
On Saturday 23 March, King’s will be competing in the Grammar St Ives Football Cup. All boys from
Year 3-6 playing football this year are eligible to trial for one of these teams. Trials are being held on
Thursday mornings on the Price fields, commencing at 7:30 am.
Armidale Tour Rugby Training:
Training for boys interested in the Armidale Rugby Tour is being held on Thursday mornings on
Price 1 commencing at 7:15am.
Darren Lawrenson
Director of Sport
Preparatory School ISDA Debating News Debating is not just telling people that what you think, what you feel or what you know is true and
correct. Debating is also listening very carefully to the other side of the argument and engaging with
the Opposition’s points through rebuttal. This is what the Year 6 King’s ISDA Junior Debating Team
did well last Friday evening at Round 1 of the ISDA Debating Competition, as they debated against
some very fine speakers from SCEGGS Darlinghurst. The result was a win for King’s as they
rigorously defended their case against the statement, ‘that homework has no value’. Congratulations to
the team on a successful start to the season!
Fiona Khoo
Year 1 Teacher & Prep School Debating Coordinator
Steggles Broiler Meat Bird Competition – Royal Easter Show On 19 February, fourteen Year 6 boys travelled to the
Showground at Homebush to pick up the Steggles
Broiler Birds for the Royal Easter Show Competition in
April. The boys returned to King’s with fourteen day
old chicks ready to feed, water, weigh and fatten up
over the next eight weeks. The boys are tasked with
looking after the chickens and getting them ready for
the competition, along with collating the data and
creating a PowerPoint presentation.
We are looking forward to keeping you up to date on
their growth and progress. Regular updates will be
available on iLearn.
ENRICHMENT
DIRECTOR OF SPORT
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Ag Club – Year 5 boys Monday afternoon We have had a wonderful start to our Year 5 Ag Club this year. Over
35 boys expressed interest in joining Ag Club, so they have been
divided into groups and they will participate throughout the year.
Our focus this term will be building up the nutritional content in our
garden beds, planting some vegetables and herbs and of course,
looking after our 14 Prep chickens.
Thank you to all the boys who have shown interest and a willingness
to get dirty and work hard in the heat with the shovels and
wheelbarrows. Our Prep Agriculture iLearn page be updated regularly with photos and information.
Mrs J Wickham
Prep Agriculture
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