Principal’s Message Week 7

Dear Parents and Carers

Community

Thank you to the parents/carers who did such wonderful work on the Kindergarten and Pre-Primary playgrounds on Sunday. Mr Dewar, our gardener/handyman, will now pressure spray the wooden aspects of the following the scraping and sanding that was done on the weekend. Following Part 2 of the Busy Bee next weekend, our K and P playgrounds and the bench seats beneath the trees near the library, will be looking fabulous.

As we approach the end of another school year, I would like to sincerely thank those in our community who volunteer their time in a variety of ways; helping in classrooms and in the canteen, being a class rep, assisting at sporting events, Arts events and excursions, and supporting P&C initiatives such as cake stalls and other fundraising events; Board membership and most recently via busy bees. Out of school hours, our families also support each other by cooking meals, cleaning, gardening, painting and helping others to move house. This ‘service for others’ has been a strong and proud feature of the Kapinara community for many years. It brings cohesion and sense of belonging to everyone; which positively impacts the health and wellbeing of children and the adults in their lives.

I am also very proud of the initiative being undertaken by our Year 5 students, who have identified three groups within the Perth community who would benefit from their expression of ‘Kindness, Consideration and Service for Others’ – the homeless, refugee families and those affected by domestic violence. Please support the students in gathering items that will be packaged and offered to those in need. Thank you. :) 

Planning for 2019

As I have done in the past, I invite you to let me know if there is any information that you believe is likely to impact significantly on your child’s learning and/or wellbeing next year. I assure you that many hours of thought, care and collaboration go into establishing class groups. Notwithstanding this, if you wish to make me aware of any additional information pertaining specifically to your child, please contact me either through the school office, or via email or phone no later than Tuesday 27 November. This does not include requests for a specific teacher. Please contact me directly rather than your child’s teacher. It may be that I need to make last minute changes to classes and this is the only way of ensuring I have all the information I require.

School Board – Open Meeting

From the beginning of next year, there will be a vacancy for two new Board members. We are very grateful that people have previously shown an interest in becoming a Board member. The Board focuses on the strategic direction of the school, while the P & C focuses on fundraising. We will be holding an Open Meeting on Monday 26 November at 6:00pm and invite you to join us. This might be a good opportunity to see how the Board works and/or to gain a snapshot of matters that are discussed at Board meetings.

National School Opinion Surveys

These surveys (one each for students, parents and staff) must be completed bi-annually, however several of our Business Plan targets are based on specific survey items and we therefore complete them annually. The data from the student surveys (completed by students in Years 5 and 6) will be considered at the open Board meeting next Monday. The student survey included nationally mandated items and Kapinara-specific items. The parent survey includes both also. The Kapinara-specific items enable us to gauge how the parent community feels about a range of programs and policy directions at Kapinara, and we aim to ensure it can be completed within a few minutes. This informs decisions we make at school and Board levels. I therefore seek your support in completing the survey. The more responses we receive the more meaning we can attach to the data. The survey will be emailed to families tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to hit those radio buttons.

Year 6 Fair

Our Year 6 students have planned and prepared for the fair, primarily within the learning contexts of Economics and Design and Technologies. They have designed and trialled a range of activities which will be available from 9:00am – 12:15pm next Wednesday, 28 November 2018. Activities and items for purchase range in price from $1:00 – $4:00. There will also be a sausage sizzle available via pre-order (please see order form attached).

I look forward to seeing some of you at our assembly on Friday, hosted by 5/6S and 5/6D.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth Blackwell

 

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