Kenmore State School eNewsletter

Tue 4 Mar	Parent-Teacher Conversations 3:15 - 4:15pm
Thu 6 Mar	Year 3-6 Assembly
	Parent-Teacher Conversations 3:30pm - 8:00pm
Wed 12 Mar	NAPLAN Year 3 and 5 (Writing)
Thu 13 Mar	NAPLAN Year 3 and 5 (Reading)
	Prep - 2 Assembly
Fri 14 Mar	NAPLAN Year 3 and 5 (Conventions of Language)
	KSHS Excursion The Little Mermaid Years 5 & 6
Mon 17 Mar	NAPLAN Year 3 and 5 (Numeracy)
Wed 19 Mar	Last Week of Swimming
Thu 20 Mar	Year 3-6 Assembly
Fri 21 Mar	Pullenvale Environmental Education Centre Excursion - 2D and 1B
Wed 26 Mar	Solar Buddies Incursion - Year 5 and 6 (Amos Hall)
Thu 27 Mar	Prep - 2 Assembly
Fri 28 Mar	Pullenvale Environmental Education Centre Excursion - 1S and 1C

Dear Kenmore families,

As we continue our historical review of the school, in readiness for our 125th anniversary, we’d love you to have a go with your child at putting these pictures in order from the oldest to the most recent. And as you do, think and talk about what clues you are using to do it.

Kenmore State School – Over the Years

The fashion and hairstyles in the 1930s photo, along with the workplace health and safety attitude, are clear giveaways! And who knew school photos were still in black and white in the 1970s?

P-2 are studying family history and the local area. Sort your family photos from oldest to most recent and challenge your children to see what’s stayed the same or changed over time.

Years 3 and 4 are exploring migration to Australia and how events shaped our country. This year, we’re focusing on World War I and ANZAC Day, learning how different cultures commemorate this important day.

Years 5 and 6 are researching personal stories from history, using firsthand sources to uncover how people felt about social changes. If you have family stories linked to early settlement, gold rushes, world wars, women’s roles, or immigration, share them to make the learning more meaningful.

We hope you enjoy discussing these ideas with your children and watching them learn how to research. If they ask difficult questions, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know. How could we find out?”

Teaching Excellence: Training & Development

Our school is proud to be a training hub for the Reading to Learn methodology, which supports all students in succeeding at reading and writing across the curriculum. This week, we commenced the post-graduate level course with Dr David Rose (Sydney University), welcoming 55 teachers from 10 Queensland schools, including new staff at Kenmore.

Dr Rose’s Reading to Learn (R2L) pedagogy is a post-graduate program in Systemic Functional Linguistics and Genre-Based Pedagogy. This program teaches language and literacy through authentic texts, focusing on scaffolding students’ skills from guided learning to independent application.

The professional development program involves significant new knowledge for teachers, as well as planning, pedagogy, and assessment skills that will be developed and refined over time.

We would like to congratulate the following teachers for completing the first half of the program: Lily Wolf, Jessica O’Keefe, Tegan Streeter, Cass Williams, Vicki Johnson, and Paddy Behan.

Community Connections: Administration Team

As our families would appreciate, schools are busy places. While schools are ultimately responsible for delivering education, they are also large-scale centres with all the business demands that come with organisations and facilities of significant size. With 530 students, 350 families, and 60 staff, the school office serves as a consistent point of contact. The school operations, managed by our Office Administration Team, contribute to a welcoming atmosphere where everyone feels supported. They also work closely with the Leadership Team to manage the business operations of the school.

Our Administration Team includes Mrs Rachel Dalton and Mrs Sue Brotherton, with support from Mrs Robyn Charlton. We are also delighted to welcome our newest members: Mrs Douglas, who is with us on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Mr Hallet, who is here from Wednesday to Friday. Their additions strengthen our team and further enhance the service we provide.

The school's Administration Team can be contacted through the school office at 3327 2444 or by email at admin@kenmoress.eq.edu.au.

P & C Update for 2025

Last week, our P & C met for the Annual General Meeting (AGM), a time when we say thank you for their invaluable contributions to our school.

Over the past year alone, our P & C has supported the school by:

Procuring new student laptops.
• Contributing to the Bibu Outlook and ongoing library upgrade.
• Sponsoring Masterstrokes to work with our PE teacher to implement the Water Safety and Swimming movement program, benefiting both students and families.
• Generously funding projects aimed at enhancing student and staff wellbeing.
• Bringing families together for community events such as discos and Trivia Night.

It's essential to recognise that behind these achievements lies a dedicated team of volunteers who collaborate to support the educational experience for our students. Thank you to the 2024 Executive team for their dedication and assistance to our school community.

In particular, we say thank you to Melanie Herman for the role she has played as P & C Vice-President for the last few years. While she transitions out of the Executive team, Melanie will continue to make an impact through her ongoing involvement in the P & C and School Council. We are grateful for all that Melanie has done and will continue to do.

We welcome the 2025 P & C Executive Team, which includes:
Aynsley Johnson, President; Dan Beaman, Vice-President; Breanna Thompson, Secretary; Kristy Robertson, Treasurer.

We look forward to working alongside each of you in the coming year to continue supporting our school community. Thank you to everyone for your continued efforts, dedication, and contributions.

NAPLAN 2025

NAPLAN tests will be held from Wednesday 12 March-Monday 17 March. NAPLAN is a nationwide measure through which parents, teachers and schools can determine how well young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning. NAPLAN assesses skills that students are learning at school.

Students, teachers and parents now have the opportunity to take Demonstration Tests on the NAP website using the Online National Assessment Platform. Students will be provided with opportunities to access these practice tests in their classrooms.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Ingrid

Parent Teacher Conversations

We are looking forward to connecting with our families next week during our parent-teacher conversations to discuss your child progress as well as their transition into the new school year. These conversations are an important component of ongoing home-school communication and play an important role in fostering positive relationships with our families.

There are some limited spots still available for next week. Please see details and booking link below.

Date: Thursday 6^th March (some additional time slots are also available throughout the week).

Time: 3:30pm – 8:00pm

Venue: Your child’s classroom

Mode: In person (TEAMS, or via phone are also an option if required, please make your selection when booking)

Bookings close Sunday 2^nd March

https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/kzkuu

NAPLAN 2025

Our Year 3 and 5 students will participate in NAPLAN in week 7 of this term. NAPLAN is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.

Students have had the opportunity in class to explore the public demonstration site to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and functionalities of the online tests. Students and families are welcome to continue exploring at home using the following link NAPLAN Public Demonstration Site.

2025 Dates

Wednesday 12^th

Thursday 13^th

Friday 14^th

Monday 17^th

Writing

Reading

Conventions of Language

Numeracy

Our Year 3 and 5 teachers will be happy to answer any further questions or concerns at our upcoming parent-teacher conversations next week.

You can also find additional information in the NAPLAN website.

https://nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers

Awards will be presented at Senior Assembly 2:30pm Thursday 6th March

3C	SOW	Lisette O	Coming to school every day with a bright smile and beautiful manners
	3Rs	Maverick M	Taking on feedback and working hard to give his best
3D	SOW	Indi G	For having a positive attitude to every task
	3Rs	Mark S	By taking responsibility for his learning by posing thoughtful questions
3O	SOW	Luca B	For sharing his creative narrative writing ideas to show not tell character feelings.
	3Rs	Ollie P	By being a fantastic role model, showing kindness, responsibility and enthusiasm in his learning.
4S	SOW	Lewis S	Settling into the routines at his new school so well & giving things a go.
	3Rs	Daniel G	For being so responsible at play breaks picking up a lot of rubbish.
5A	SOW	Belle C	For interesting contributions to HASS discussions.
	3Rs	Leo K	Working in a self-regulated manner during group and partner work.
5S	SOW	Rory S	For creative contributions during our English rewrites. Well done!
	3Rs	Andrew E	Showing initiative in class and following directions quickly.
6D	SOW	Jed J	Enthusiasm and willingness to share in class discussions.
	3Rs	Estelle C	Showing respect to peers and teachers alike
6B	SOW	Devanshi R	Leading by example in the classroom
	3Rs	Tony L	Showing respect to his peers

Invoices

The following invoices have been emailed to parents / caregivers for activities. Information will have been sent home prior to the generation of an invoice.

If you are unsure whether you have outstanding fees, please contact Admin on office@kenmoress.eq.edu.au.

Activity Details – extra curricular	$
Strings program – participation	80.00
Strings program – participation and hire of instrument	220.00
District swimming	5.00
Futsal competition	50.00
Upcoming – curricular
Mathletics subscription – for those who didn’t purchase through backpack website	15.00
Band program – participation	80.00
Band program – participation and hire of instrument	220.00

The School's preferred methods of payment are as follows:

BPoint
EFT
Bank transfer (BSB: 064 152 A/c: 00090154)

If you are a fee-paying international student, no payment is required for curricular activities.

If you would like to enter into a payment plan with the School or have any queries about your student account, please don't hesitate to contact Rachel Dalton, Business Manager on office@kenmoress.eq.edu.au.

In Germany, many people enjoy one of the long traditions of the time leading up to Easter - eating fish AND …. eating Berliner donuts!

So, Frau Raben and the KSS Tuckshop have come up with a really yummy menu for Thursday, 27 March (that’s Week 9) to experience German food.

On the menu will be:

First break: Fischbrötchen – a crumbed fish filet with optional mayo, gherkin and red onion on a German Kaiser roll. The Fischbrötchen is really popular street food in Northern Germany near the sea, in cities such as Hamburg and Kiel.

Second break: Berliner donuts. They are big raspberry jam-filled donuts with a few different names, depending on which part of Germany you are in. In central Germany they’re called Kreppel, in the Capital City Berlin, they are called Berliner Pfannkuchen, but in southern Germany you call them Krapfen.

The buns and donuts are baked fresh for us from King of Cakes, so are sure to be lecker (yummy!)

Orders on Qkr! until Sunday, 23rd March.

Please email Frau Raben lcrab10@eq.edu.au if you have any questions, or contact P&C President Debbie via ksspcom@outlook.com if you can help out in the tuckshop that day.

Enjoy your meal! Guten Appetit!

The school has registered all students with the ebook digital library!

Please see “Getting started with SORA” instructions below. Students should sign in with their MIS ID. If student is unsure of their MIS ID then please contact class teacher or Mrs Caskie in the library gcask1@eq.edu.au

See you @ the library

P&C Events Calendar = Term 1
Event	Date/Time	Location	Fundraising Purpose	Volunteers Needed
P&C General Meeting	Thursday 20^thMarch 7 pm	Library	N/A
German Food Day	27 May – Please ensure your orders are placed on or before the 24^{th of} May 4 pm!	Tuckshop	Readers for the Library	Two to three parents are required please e-mail pandc@kenmoress.eq.edu.au if you are able to volunteer.
Disco	Thursday 3^rd April Junior 5:00 pm Seniors 6:30 pm	Amos Hall	TBC	Sign Up Here
Save the Date

The P&C would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who attended the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 20^thof February. A special thank you to the newly elected executive members: President Aynsley Johnson, Vice President Dan Beaman, Secretary Bree Thompson, and Treasurer Kristy Robertson.

For over a century, our Parents and Citizens (P&C) Association has been dedicated to supporting the children of our school through various fundraising initiatives. This year, we are proud to announce our contributions of $60,000 to the school community, including $20,000 towards Masterstroke to assist with swimming lessons and $30,000 for the purchasing of laptops. In addition, the budget includes $60,000 towards school projects.

For those interested in joining the P&C Association, membership application forms are available from the Secretary and can be submitted prior to the commencement of the meeting.

Fundraising

It’s DISCO TIME!

Get ready to dance the night away at our upcoming P&C Student Disco!
On Thursday 3^rd April 2025, join us for an evening of music, fun, competitions and prizes as we raise funds to support the schools Ablution Block Renovations.
Last disco we raised almost $4,000 and have set the challenge to see that increase even further for 2025.

The disco is one of the students’ favourite events of the year and one of our committee’s most successful fundraising opportunities to support our school community.
Given this is a community connection event, parents/caregivers will be required to remain on-site for the duration of the Disco (drop and go not permitted) so come along for a BBQ, drink and catch up with other families while the students create lasting memories (and epic dance moves) inside Amos Hall.

Get your tickets from Monday 24^th Feb via the Qkr app or the Uniform Shop.
Ticket sales will CLOSE from 2 pm on Tuesday 1^st April.

Please note, some last-minute ticket sales may be available on the night however not all food items will be available due to pre-ordering requirements. Don’t miss out and GRAB YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Disco and OSHC:

Children attending OSHC the day of the Disco will need to be signed out by a parent/caregiver before attending the Disco. OSHC staff are not available to support children attending the Disco.

Dual Disco Families:

Where families have children attending both the Junior and Senior Disco alternating, the school library will be set up with a movie for any children who have siblings attending the Disco. All non-school aged children must be supervised by an adult.

Volunteering - we also have some great volunteering opportunities across the evening for those interested. As always, we appreciate as little or as much time as you can spare. It’s a great way to meet other families and contribute towards your community in a purposeful way. You can help with anything from BBQ duties, ticket sales, burger making, coloured hair spraying, grounds supervision or more.
For more info please follow the link for volunteering here.

We encourage any parent or caregiver with any questions to contact the P&C Executive Team at pandc@kenmoress.eq.edu.au.

I had the privilege of taking the student leaders to Halogen this year. It was very inspiring to see the students so engaged. There were a few valuable insights I took away from this Leadership Day too.

Leaders Listen Deeply: Her Excellency Ms Sam Mostyn, the new Governor General of Australia spoke about her new role and what she believes is essential to a good leader. A lot of her time is spent connecting with everyday Australians and she believes that listening deeply is one of the most important things for leaders to do. I found it encouraging to know that her primary desire is to listen and share the insights of everyday Australians with the Prime Minister. Our democratic process can be incredibly powerful. I was also deeply encouraged because the student leaders have already expressed a desire to do this.

Leaders Persist: Dayne Zorko, former captain and current superstar of the Brisbane Lions, shared his story about how he got into this team. The level of resilience and persistence Dayne showed to get into this team was astounding. I often look at professional athletes and feel inspired by what our bodies can achieve. What inspired me, listening to Dayne, was the sheer level of grit and determination that an athlete needs to possess. His advice was to focus on your goals, especially when times are hard, you have an injury or you don't achieve what you want, to keep focus, plan and try again. The level of commitment and dedication to his dreams is inspiring.

Leaders Overcome: I found Kasey Rainbow's (an artist and author) honesty and vulnerability encouraging. She teared up at the start of her session, and admitted it was hard for her to speak to so many people. The students broke out clapping in support. She took a breath and composed herself. She then proceeded to tell us about why she had said yes and a bit of her story. She wanted to encourage a young generation. What I took away from her session was how powerful it can be to overcome your barriers. Giving that presentation was not easy for her, but she did it and that fact alone was inspiring. We should be gentle with ourselves when we have obstacles to overcome but that shouldn't inhibit us from saying yes to things that are scary or intimating. Success comes by putting yourself out there. Everyone is special! If we share with others we can inspire, encourage, and support them too.

Leaders Fall Forward: Todd Hazelwood, a Supercars driver spoke about how surviving the tough days is so important. That you sometimes need to get creative to achieve your dreams. In an industry that needs a lot of financial backing Todd's family didn't have enough to get him to the professional level. He became his own fundraising champion. As someone who needs to fundraise, I found comfort in the fact I have so little to attain in comparison to what he had to fundraise! If you would like to donate to the Chaplaincy service, please send me an email and I can forward you the link.

Have a great week,

Chappy Astrid

Please note, out of hours programs are run by private external companies. Please contact the company directly if you have any questions regarding the program, enrolment, attendance, supervision or payment.

Thank you
Kenmore State School
Administration