Inside this issue

Positive Parent Meeting.……………2

Joy Project…….......……….....………..3

P.E.A.R.L.S……...……..……....…….….4

Student Leaders….………... ........... 5

Student Wellbeing ...................... 6

Sport News ................................. 10

Nihongo News ........................... 11

Disability Awareness ................... 12

Diary Dates……………………………….14

Tuesday 3rd March 2015

Term 1 Issue 2

KPPS NEWS

Email:

dl.0996_admin@schools.sa.edu.au

Website:

www.kidmanpkps.sa.edu.au

On Thursday 26th of February, P1, P2, P3 and P4 went to the Clipsal 500 as an

excursion for their studies in class (Math & Literacy). While we were there

some of us found examples of advertisements like slogans in food shops and

other stores. All the classes went at 9:00am Thursday. All groups were

equipped with maps and timetables to help them find stores and activities like

races and other events. The most eye catching event of the day was the concert

at which JUSTICE CREW and Nathanial performed. Some events that all

students enjoyed were the BMX bikes and the motorbikes stunt jumping, super

trucks, family fun zone rides and the Army Reserve right next to the concert.

For some children at the Clipsal it was a bit too loud but they still had fun!

We hope we get to go to this event next year too!

By Carla and Shainel

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Well done to the group of parents who joined us for our Parent Meeting last Thursday evening.

We all packed into the PEARL Room for a night of learning and discussion. Desy Pantelos outlined

the core elements of the Joy Project, the new Positive Education program taking over our school.

The group learnt about giving compliments, having a ‘car wash’ and much more. We saw

examples of work from our students and learnt why creating a ‘school of joy’ is critical to the

social and emotional wellbeing of our students.

Especially when we consider –

14 – 18% of young South Australians suffer from mental illness

At least 54,000 young people have mental health issues

$10.6 billion is spent annually (in Australia) treating 12 – 25 year olds

Loss in productivity due to mental illness during adolescence is $25 billion

The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the #1 cause of disability by

2030

NOTES SENT HOME:

Year 7 Zip Jacket order

forms (Yr7 students

only) - due back no

later than Friday 13th

March. 2015 Soccer Forms

Positive Parent Meeting

2

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.

Blaise Pascal

The Joy Project is just as concerned about the strengths of students

versus the traditional psychology approach of weaknesses and building

the best things in life (not just repairing the worst). We aim to make our

students lives fulfilling and to develop interventions that increase

wellbeing not just decrease misery.

Through the work of Amanda Gore we are learning :

How to discover your joy and share it with others

To create experiences which engage people, changes attitudes and

behaviours to get positive results

How people can reconnect to their energy and emotional layers that

drive performance, innovation, relationships, engagement and

creativity

3

HIGHLIGHTING OUR

STRENGTHS At the meeting Karen

provided an informative

presentation on our

success achieving our

2014 Site Learning Plan.

Especially in the areas of

literacy, meeting the

needs of students with

learning difficulties, the

development of our new

unit planning tools and

the collection of data to

improve learning out-

comes for all.

SHARING THE MESSAGE

Feedback on both presentations was so positive both Desy and Karen will

share the presentations again at an afternoon parent meeting. Details will

be shared next week.

GOVERNING COUNCIL

Congratulations to the following Governing Council members:

Continuing members for 2015 Governing Council are: Giosi Marshman,

Caroline Paterson, Maria Gianquitto, Simone Vivian, Michael Koster,

Sandra Golledge, Freedom Nash, Sean Connors, Michael Balin, Tony

Coppola, Dannielle Icke, Gloria Debba and Naomi Noakes.

KPPS EASTER RAFFLE

This year the fundraising committee will be holding an

Easter raffle and are seeking donations for the prize

baskets. Your donations can reach us by being placed

in the lunch baskets in your child’s classroom (the same

way you would place a lunch order) Thankyou for your

support.

POSITIVE EDUCATION ASSISTS REAL LIFE SKILLS (PEARLS)

In the PEARLS room we have been discussing how important it is to

be a part of the “classroom and school community”. We need to

care about and take care of each other. Giving compliments is an

example of caring and taking care.

The students have been focussing on Giving and Receiving compliments which

encourages students to think of the feelings of others. Often compliments will

cause children to smile and feel joy.

The students explained how the giving and receiving of compliments improves

the climate of the classroom and school, by making others feel good about

themselves.

The students were involved in various activities which included writing

compliments on photographs and making webs of compliments.

4

If you’re lucky enough to be different, don’t ever change. Taylor Swift

Some examples of what the students wrote about receiving compliments:

Receiving compliments makes me feel accepted because it lightens my mood - Ethan

Receiving compliments makes me feel good about myself and that some-one cares about me -

Angela

Receiving compliments makes me feel a little more confident inside and special in my own

way - Olivia

PEA

RLS

RO

OM

5

STUDENTS LEADING THE WAY! Congratulations to the following students on being elected as our leaders

for 2015.

LEADERS Ella S George R

DEPUTIES Ellie M Aiden D

Once again we had a terrific group of students applying to be a leader.

Applications were outstanding and speeches were fantastic. It was a

tough job for students to then vote for the appropriate leaders.

The group have hit the ground running and are already busy organising

assemblies, the Kidmanathon and other activities as promised in their

speeches.

STUD

ENT LEA

DER

S Kidmanathon Reminder [Notice from Student Leaders] This term we have the Kidmanathon. This year’s theme will be sports. So

we are calling the Kidmanathon the Sportyathon. Please tell your children

to dress up as their favourite sports player or team. All hats need to be

worn and we will supply sunscreen at the school

George R

6

Student Wellbeing at KPPS At Kidman Park Primary School we believe it is imperative that all students are explicitly taught

“Social Skills” to help them make positive choices for their future Wellbeing.

Our Social Skills program has been developed with a focus around our school values of Respect,

Responsible, Achieve and Care.

Each value is then divided up further into sub-headings, explaining, teaching and demonstrating

each of the values in greater detail.

Throughout the year the Primary Years students are taught the Child Protection curriculum which is

a requirement by DECD. This curriculum covers the following topics:

The right to be safe Relationships

Recognising and reporting abuse Protective Strategies

Circle Time in the Primary Years

Circle Time is a structured framework for group

interaction that is intended to support communication

skills, personal and social development, resilience and

create a supportive class and yard environment.

Circle Time activities develop individual, paired, small

group and whole class skills. Many of these

activities / scenarios are presented

through classroom discussion.

Through focusing on important issues, children can make better choices for themselves to improve

their class and yard resilience. Circle Time enhances the skill needed in healthy relationships,

which addresses bullying and increases confidence in communication. We believe it is an integral

part of our school environment.

All classes will be participating in weekly circle Time sessions. There is a structured framework

with activities that all staff can follow, so that we have consistency across the whole school. We

believe positive feelings promote self-esteem, reduce stress and increase engagement with

learning.

In teaching the above programs we believe we are empowering children to make safe choices for

themselves, others and in the wider community.

Peter Georgeopoulos

U1 students worked with their buddies.

We traced around our body. Then the

buddies used the computer to write all the

things we are grateful for. We took our

bodies home. At home we are going to

record each day what we are grateful for.

Room 8 has been exploring about gratitude. We made a

‘Gratitude Quilt’ to share what we are grateful for in our lives.

Gratitude makes us feel happy and joyful. STU

DEN

T W

ELLB

EIN

G

7

STUD

ENT W

ELLBEIN

G

LC2—As part of our theme of Fairy Tales, we read the story of Cinderella. We talked about how the fairy godmother makes Cinderella happy by helping her go to the ball. Then we used our PODD communication books to finish the sentence, “ If I had a fairy godmother….” with something that would make us happy. Hedieh said, “I would be fast”, Nina and Hanieh would have a party, Moti said, “I would go home”, Katerina would ask for her mum and Finni said, “I would go and see Charlie and Lola”.

P3 students brainstormed important features about our class, and the different ways it functions. These key features were then further developed with another brainstorm. The aspects identified included: Joy, Creativity, Growth Mindset, Problem Solving, Teamwork, Friendship, Initiative and Independence.

P4 and U6 are buddies this year. We meet every Friday

morning and do lots of fun activities together. One

activity we did was making a friendship quilt.

With our buddy we had to think of the types of

qualities we would want our friends to have. We then

each got a patch to write on and decorate.

Some of the qualities we came up with were:

A friend is caring and helpful.

A friend is kind and loving.

A friend is loyal.

A friend is fun.

A friend includes others.

We all hope that you have a great year making new

friends.

U4 and U5

In Foundation we have been discussing what

joy and happiness means. During circle time we

each shared things that make us happy. We

had so much fun performing for the first time at

assembly. It was great to see so many people

joined in with us to sing ‘If you’re happy and

you know it’.

As part of our work on being joyful in Room 7 we

looked at making TRUST superheroes. Children

had to come up with synonyms for trust and then

write a sentence about someone they trusted.

We also made cubes which had the following

sentence starters: I get a lot of joy when….. I

hope I have…….. Laughing helps me…… I am

grateful when……. Being generous to me

means…….

In P2 our well-being unit has centred around starting the year with a positive, can-do attitude and learning about the power of mindsets. WE have explored the differences of the ‘fixed’ mindset vs the ‘growth’ mindset. Growth mindsets enable us to approach our learning in a positive way and improve our skills and self-belief. To demonstrate our understanding of growth and fixed mind-sets, students created Role Plays which

demonstrated a scenario and people using a fixed mindset and growth mindset. Students had a good time watching their peers act and also guess which kind of mindset the actors were acting out. Our positive start and learning of positive work-habits and choices has prepared us for a year of learning as a group! P1 believes that we are all connected in many ways. We used scrabble letters to connect ourselves together. We all have abilities and we all need to discover our strengths and support each other to be successful. We also shared about disability awareness.

Room 11 listen to different uplifting songs to boost our

mood at the beginning and the end of the day and

sometimes just for a Joy moment and body movement

break. This mix is a compilation of our favourite tunes

which the students voted for, learned to sing and they

then created the choreography of our boogie moves.

Students in Room 12 have been

giving other students gratitude

pebbles when they are grateful for

something another student has done.

Students keep a tally of their

gratitude pebbles and keep a record

on the Tally Chart.

Students used hot air balloons to create

their individual, class, community and

home goals. Hot air balloons were

chosen because students wanted to soar

into the sky with their goals. STU

DEN

T W

ELLB

EIN

G

9

Over the past couple of weeks Room 9 has been making gratitude posters. These posters represent gratitude. First we looked at sayings from the internet, the sayings gave us ideas to use on our posters. We wrote the sayings on a word document and put the sayings in a shape. Then we could choose from images from google or take a picture at home. Then we printed our posters and decorated them with pencils. By Caitlin: Over the last few weeks in Room 9 we have been working on the KPPS safe school hub. The way we did it was we each got a sheet that on the side had places in our school like canteen, hall etc. and at the top it had our school values. We thought of things to write in each box then we got into groups and shared our ideas. Then as a class we took the best ideas and typed it on the computer. Room 10 and U2 work together each Friday. We work on activities with our buddies together like getting to know each other. One of the activities was to look at ourselves individually and then find all the things we had in common.

STUD

ENT W

ELLBEIN

G

SOCCER All interested players should have received a notice via their class teacher. Please fill in and return with payment as soon as possible. Also return the form and let us know if you have decided not to play this year. If you haven't received a notice please collect one from the front office immediately. NETBALL The season is running smoothly for all our 4 teams. And our under 13 girls have offered to help coach our under 9s this Thursday at lunch time in the hall. Thanks girls. CRICKET Our 2 kanga cricket teams finally beat the heat and managed to hit off their season last Saturday. TEEBALL The forecast is looking good for a start to our teeball season this Friday. WTBC have also raised the cancellation temperature to 35 degrees or above. Keep an eye on the forecast - 34 degrees or below and we will play. FOOTBALL Notices out in the next week or two to interested players combining with Lockleys North Primary School.

Terry Ahern Sport Coordinator

SPORTS RESULTS Netball

19/02/15

U11A Kidman Park Bulldogs 10

U11 B Kidman Park Sapphires 0

The girls played a really great game with a couple of new players on the team, the team work

was great! Goals scored by Erin K 2, Sienna M 3, Jazmine B 2, Jade H 1, Faith M 2

26/02/15

U11A Kidman Park Bulldogs 6

Nazareth Black 6

What a nail biting game, well done girls (well done to Jessica and Abbey for their first goals)

the team work was amazing!

26/02/15

U13

KPPS 2

Nazareth Gold 11

Great defence, great goal shooting and fantastic team work.

Kanga Cricket

Kidman Blue played St Francis on Saturday 28th. The scores are Kidman 9/52 St Francis 7/92.

Great effort put in by all of the team for their first game and special mention to James S who

batted well. A fantastic first game effort. Some standout fielding by all the team.

Kidman White 116

Tennison Woods 62

Great first game by everyone. All players managed to hit at least one 4. Some brilliant big

hitting from Jem and great bowling from Dale. Well done boys!

SPO

RTS

NEW

S

11

こんにちはKonnichiwa,

It has been a very busy start to the year in the Japanese classes as I

familiarise myself with all my new students, along with celebrating the

various festivals and activities that occur in the Japanese New Year calendar.

In 5 weeks the students have celebrated Setsubun

(bean throwing ceremony) that welcomes all the

good spirits into our Japanese classroom. You might

have heard the younger students belting out, ”Oni wa

Soto, Fuku wa Uchi”. Bad things out and only good

feelings in.

The older students have been looking at

the art of the Kamishibai, (the traditional

Japanese way of telling folktales) and

they are presently in the process of

writing and illustrating their own Folktale.

On a sad note we only have Hiroko Sensei here for one more week as she

prepares for her journey back to Japan. She has worked with Belinda Sensei

and the students for 5 months and she will be really missed by all, as her

insights, enthusiasm and support she has given to Belinda, myself and

students has been outstanding. I have had the pleasure of working with

Hiroko Sensei for only 5 weeks and in that short time it’s evident she has

grown very attached to the students, staff and school community. I wish her

all the success when she resumes her teaching in Japan and I’m sure she will

be back one day to say ‘Gidday’.

So Hiroko Sensei many thanks, safe journey home and mata ai masho, (let’s

meet again).

さようならSayonara

Carmichael Sensei

Nihongo News NIH

ON

GO

NEW

S

12

Kids with disabilities are people who deserve to be treated with respect and care. They can

go through lots of stress and frustration. There would be lots of frustration because their

bodies are unable to do things that able bodies can easily do, without help. They would also

have trouble getting into wheel chairs / walkers. People with disabilities have difficulties

doing things such as not being able to communicate. They can feel frustrated or annoyed

when people don’t understand what they are trying to say. These kids can express their

frustrations differently like throwing things. Most days the kids go through a struggle and

have to rely on others. Inside them there is a happy spot where they are excited about new

things that doesn’t focus on the disability.

We didn’t realize how much effort it takes to do most every day things and that supporting

equipment is hard to walk in and use. It takes kids with a disability longer to do an everyday

life routine. We didn’t realize how hard it is to move around in a leg brace. Bending is a lot

harder than we thought. We can’t imagine going through the obstacle course with both

legs in braces. You can’t bend or sit or jump or stand up without a struggle. It would be so

hard to manage that frustration. We need to keep kids with a disability going and give

them a positive mindset.

Kids with disabilities have to concentrate very hard with whatever they are doing and it can

take a long time to process things. This can be tiring. Loud sudden noises can scare and

confuse students and even cause them to choke if they are eating.

We did an activity where we experienced sensory overload and realized how difficult it

must be to in a noisy environment.

DIS

AB

ILIT

Y A

WA

REN

ESS

by

P1

13

DISA

BILITY A

WA

REN

ESS by P

1

We can support kids with disabilities by

having more patience and make sure to have

a clear, quiet walkway for them in corridors

and when they leave from assemblies. Let

them go in first at assemblies and let them

leave first and talk to them if they have to

wait. When we are in the unit or passing

through it is important to be quiet and

respectful, especially when the students are

eating.

We can support kids with disabilities by making them

feel welcome, smile and say hello and let them join in

as many things as we can. Kids with disabilities feel

things and have opinions so include them in

decisions. They want to be around kids their own age

and share experiences. Communicate using the pod if

they need help. It’s frustrating when you can’t talk to

someone about your problems so help them have a

voice. Motivate them when they are doing something

that is hard. Find out what they can do and do

activities around their strengths so that they can feel

successful and happy. When someone is trying hard

and laughing, it makes you happy too!

We can also help by raising more awareness about

disabilities, including campaigns to help raise money

to support with equipment.

The Disabilities Awareness sessions were worthwhile because they were fun and we got to

experience how the students in the Learning Centre felt and communicated. We were able

to see the world through their eyes and learned that the children in the Learning Centre can

understand but are not always able to respond. It gave us a better perspective of how these

children feel and how they struggle with some things we find easy.

WEEK / DATE DAY / TIME EVENT

TERM 1

6 3rd March Tuesday Newsletter

6th March Friday LC to swimming

7 8th March Monday Adelaide Cup Public Holiday

10th March Tuesday 2.15pm Assembly—hosted by Room 11

10th March Tuesday KPPS Update

13th March Friday LC to swimming

8 17th March Tuesday KPPS Update

18th March Wednesday 9.15am Open Morning Tour

19th March Thursday 7.00pm Governing Council

20th March Friday Harmony Day

9 24th March Tuesday 2.15pm Assembly—hosted by U2

24th March Tuesday KPPS Update

25th March Wednesday Christian Options Program

EY 9.00am

PY 9.30am

27th March Friday LC to swimming

28th March Saturday Saturday School (Working Bee)

10 31st March Tuesday School Photo Day

31st March Tuesday Newsletter

2nd April Thursday KIDMANATHON

3rd April Friday Good Friday

11 6th April Monday Easter Monday

10th April Friday 2.10pm Last day of term 1, 2.10pm Finish

DIARY DATES

DON’T FORGET:

Monday 9th March

PUBLIC HOLIDAY