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THE KING’S SCHOOL PREPARATORY SCHOOL
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Issue No. 4 – 16 March, 2018
Using Mentor Texts to Support the Teaching of Writing
This year the Prep staff are reviewing and redeveloping our writing program across the Prep School.
Led by our Director of Curriculum, Sonia Weston, the staff have been working in year level teams to
continue the work first started with AIS Consultant, Sue Pike, in exploring how we can incorporate
more strategic use of mentor texts in guiding the writing process.
A mentor text is any piece of writing that can be used to teach a writer about particular aspects of a
writer’s craft. It could be an entire piece of work, such as a picture book; or a small extract from a
chapter book. The best mentor texts are those that can be utilised for a number of purposes illustrating
elements of structure, language use, phrasing, mood and tone created, characterisation and so on.
As summarised by researcher and author of the teaching of writing, Katie Wood Ray, all texts have the
potential to provide educational value if they are used effectively. “All texts are demonstrations of
some writer’s decisions about word choice, voice, or perspective. All texts are demonstrations of some
genre potential … Every single text is a whole chunk of curriculum potential.”
As parents, the choices of literature you guide your child to read can be helpful in exposing your
children to a diverse range of quality texts that can be instructive for their writing. In sharing the
reading experience with your son, you might choose to highlight particular language choices made by
an author that helps to evoke particular emotion or reference some inferred meaning. By gently having
a conversation about these elements whilst enjoying the flow of the passage, children can benefit from
identifying how authors are using their craft successfully in their writing, acting as a model for their
own writing.
Year Level Dinners – Saturday 17 March
Parents will have received communication from their Fathers’ Association year level representatives
about the arrangements for the Year Dinners to be held on Saturday 17 March. It is a terrific way to get
to know other parents in your year level and build relationships. Developing friendships amongst
parents during the many years that the boys are at King’s makes the journey so much more rewarding
for parents. Many of these friendships endure beyond the schooling years.
Bookings can be made through the Trybooking link sent to parents from their FA representatives. If
any further assistance is required, please contact Heather Mallett on hmallett@kings.edu.au.
Art Show and King’s Fest 2018 – 22 and 23 September
The annual King’s Art Show and King’s Fest festival activities are a highlight on the School calendar. It
is a time were the whole Prep School community gather together over a weekend in a common cause to
have some fun together, whilst raising funds for valuable resourcing for the boys. It’s also an
opportunity to showcase King’s to the broader Sydney community.
This year’s festival weekend will be held later in the year, over the last weekend of the term, 22-23
September.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “To accomplish great things, we must not only dream, but act” Bill Blackman
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PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
The move has been made to enable families involved with Snowsports commitments to be able to be involved. The later date also means that there shouldn’t be any interference with school or club sports winter season commitments. We ask that all Prep parents put the dates in their calendars now, as we rely on all our families to support this major community undertaking. IPSHA Swimming results The Prep School sent a strong team of competitors to the recent IPSHA Swimming Carnival held at the Homebush Aquatic Centre. All the boys are to be congratulated for representing us with great pride and determination. The following boys move through to the next level at the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Swimming Championships: 12 Years 4x50m Freestyle Relay (James Gauci, Charles Williamson, Lucas Ivankovic, James Napoli) 9 Years 50m Freestyle – Christopher Montana 10 years 50m Freestyle – Matthew Thompson 10 Years 50m Butterfly – Joshua Jia 11 Years 50m Breaststroke – James Napoli 12 Years 50m Butterfly – Charles Williamson AFL Representation for the State Carnival Last week trials were held for the AFL Combined Independent Schools (CIS) team selection. I’m thrilled to announce that Cooper McGlashan was successful in gaining a position on the team. This means that Cooper will play for the NSWCIS team in the NSWPSSA State tournament that will be held in Bateman’s Bay in May. CIS Football Representation Congratulations also to William Friend who was successful in gaining a position on the IPSHA football team. The competition will be played in Term 2. Prep Cross Country Carnival Not many schools can host a three kilometre cross country event on their own grounds, but this was the case this week as the Prep School Cross Country Carnival saw all boys from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6 running over the beautiful grounds of the School. In front of an enthusiastic crowd of parents and staff, the boys produced their best efforts over the challenging course. The photos below highlight some of the action. Page 2 PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
Congratulations to all competitors and to our Age Champions and Runner Ups listed below.
U 8/9 Champion Max Fader
U 8/9 Runner Up William Ford
U 10 Champion Cenk Elve
U10 Runner Up Connor Durbidge
U 11 Champion Lucas Ivankovic
U 11 Runner Up Christopher Baissari
U 12 Champion Orlando Smith
U 12 Runner Up Jett Myatt
Peter Allison
Head of the Preparatory School
Headmaster’s Distinctions
Term 1
Weeks 6 & 7
Pre-Kindergarten Year 1 Year 3 Year 5
CHOW, Richie x 2 CHEMERYS, Timothy ASSABGY, Marc
JABLONSKI, Jan FORD, William
McKEVITH, Oscar GHOSH, Advik
MEZHER, Joseph GHOSH, Aryan x 2
PRASATH, Aadav GUPTA, Rohan
KNIPPERS, Willem
MONTANA, Christopher
MUTSUDDY-BARUA, Neil
NGUYEN, Ryan
ZHAO, Lucas x 3
Kindergarten Year 2 Year 4 Year 6
QUACH, Jayden CURTIN, Thomas x 2 BALL, Alexander CHEMERYS, Daniel
SONG, Elison GIANG, Arthur HAY, Lucas MYATT, Jett
HANNA, Harry MARTIN, Michael x2 ZHANG, Alex
KANAGARATNAM, McMASTER, William x 3 ZHANG, Nelson
Aiden MEDIATI, Jonathan ZHU, Ethan
MUNAGALA, Sourish
WHEAT, Jack
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PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
DEPUTY HEAD
Important Dates
With Easter happening during Term time this year there are some important dates which you should be
aware.
Monday March 26
o 3-Way Conference Fortnight commences (ends 6-4-18)
Thursday 29 March
o No School for boys
o Staff PD Day
Friday 30 March (Good Friday)
o Public Holiday
Monday 2 April (Easter Monday)
o Public Holiday
Thursday 12 April Term One Concludes
Uniform at School Events
I would like to remind parents that when the boys attend a School function outside of School hours, such
as the Senior School Musical, all boys should be dressed in full School uniform. For Year 3-6 boys this is
their Number One uniform (white shirt) and blazer; K-2 boys should wear their blue shirt and blazer.
Three-way Conferences
All parents should have received a note today providing information on these conferences. The
conferences will commence the week beginning Monday, 26th March to Friday, 6th April 2018. Both you
and your child should attend the conference. Boys should wear their School uniform. Each conference
is scheduled for 15 minutes, so it is important that parents and students are punctual for their allocated
time.
We use an online booking system that allows you to book the most suitable time available with class
teacher/s. Please use the instructions provided in the letter to book your interview time/s. This letter also
explains how to recover passswords to the parent portal. Please feel free to contact me
(gbb@kings.edu.au) if further information is required.
Fathers’ Association Year Dinners
Each year, the Fathers’ Association holds a number of community events to strengthen our wonderful
School community. The first of these is on Saturday evening and we have had a wonderful response to
this year’s Year Dinners. These dinners are a great way for parents to have a relaxed evening with other
parents from their year group and their son’s class teacher. Thank you to the Fathers’ Association Year
Representatives and Class Mums for all their hard work in organising the dinners. I hope everyone has a
great night.
Years 3-6 Winter Sport Trials
Our last round of Summer sport for Term One is this week. We then turn our attention to Winter Sport
and we will be holding trials on Saturday 24th March.
Could I please remind parents that all rugby boys will need mouthguards for these trials and Football
players will need shin guards. Please ensure you have these before Saturday, 24th March.
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PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
Upcoming Events
Week 8 Sunday, 18 March 2018
Monday, 19 March 2018 Author in Residence – Year 5 - Tim Harris
Prep Fathers' Association Committee Meeting (7:30 pm)
Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Thursday, 22 March 2018 NSW CIS Swimming Carnival
Friday, 23 March 2018 ISDA Debating Rd 5
Music Soiree – Horrocks Hall (4:00 pm)
Saturday, 24 March 2018 Rugby and Football Trials (8:30 am -12:00 noon)
Week 9 Sunday, 25 March 2018
Monday, 26 March 2018 3-Way Conference Fortnight commences (ends 6-4-18)
Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Thursday, 29 March 2018 Staff PD Day – No School for boys
Friday, 30 March 2018 Good Friday
Saturday, 31 March 2018 Easter Saturday
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PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS
PEARLS OF WISDOM FROM THE NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERS’ DAY
On Monday this week Jonathan Todhunter and I
accompanied 14 boys to the International Convention
Centre at Darling Harbour for the annual Halogen
National Young Leaders’ Day. Some 4,500 students
were in attendance and the atmosphere was exciting
and expectant. Here, guest speakers presented
provocations, life experiences, hopes, ideas and insights
on leadership. The first speaker John Coutis, shared his
amazing story of overcoming physical adversity,
Lauren Cheatle, shared her experiences as a cricketer in
the Sydney Sixes, Harrison Craig, winner of The Voice
gave an inspirational talk on perseverance and finally
Matt Cosgrove, author and illustrator shared his journey to success.
The boys took notes and gathered some pearls of wisdom for inspiration moving ahead. I share some of
their reflections below. Families are encouraged to talk with their children about the following –
If you do not challenge yourself, you are not going to change.
Know what is your choice. Know what is right, know what is wrong.
Develop goals with direction, purpose and strength.
Never turn your back on a challenge.
You have to make some tough decisions and sacrifices.
Learn from your mistakes.
Helping others will surely pay off.
Have fun with what you are doing.
Keep striving forward in life.
Stay positive.
Find your passion.
People are important.
Believe in yourself.
No matter what your challenge is, you can live your dream.
Find your passion and engage with it over and over.
Say what you mean, mean what you say.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Find the inner strength to go on.
You cannot control what others do but you can control what you do.
You will always make mistakes, but you can always learn from them.
An important aspect of leadership is selflessness; you will sacrifice for others.
Do what you love.
Do not let fear stop what you want to do.
Listen to feedback.
Your perspective counts.
Surround yourself with good support.
Your life is a story.
Belinda Baxter
bsb@kings.edu.au
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PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
DIRECTOR OF LEARNING
Three-Way Conferences
During Week 9, you will have the opportunity to participate in three-way conferences.
This is an opportunity for students, parents and teachers to review progress so far
and to set some new goals for the year.
Why three-way conferences?
Three-way conferences give students the opportunity to describe, demonstrate
and show evidence of their learning. They get the chance to communicate to
parents their own sense of achievement and progress, showing and explaining
how they feel they have worked towards their goals. Professor John Hattie
identifies student self-reporting as the most significant indicator linked to raised
student achievement. (Hattie, Horizons and whirlpools: The well-travelled pathway of
national standards, 2009) Through three-way conferences, our boys can share their learning journey and
goals with their parents.
What does the PYP say?
Three-way conferences involve the student, parents and teacher. Students
discuss their learning and understanding with their parents and teacher,
who are responsible for supporting the student through this process.
Students are responsible for reflecting upon work samples they have
chosen to share, that have been previously selected with guidance and
support from the teacher. The work samples could be published writing,
art works, assessments or just everyday pieces of work. The student,
parents and teacher collaborate to establish and identify the student’s
strengths and areas for improvement. This may lead to the setting of new
goals. (Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international
primary education, 2009)
After your conference
Take some time to celebrate your son’s learning journey so far. Have a
chat at home about his social, academic and cocurricular goals and talk
about how you can support him to achieve them. This is a good time to
make a link between behaviour and learning – how can he make small
changes that can help him reach his goals?
Sonia Weston
Director of Learning/PYP Coordinator
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PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
LOTE - Mandarin IPSHA Languages Meeting On 7th March, the King’s Prep School hosted the first 2018 IPSHA Languages Meeting in the Mandarin classroom. The objectives of the meeting were for creating a chance to meet other language teachers f r o m N S W I P S H A s c h o o l s , with the possibility of sharing good practice, practical innovations and personal insights into language teaching and learning. Mr Peter Allison spoke to the group about encouraging our students’ understanding of cultural differences to develop empathy, as well as enhancing understanding of their own culture. At the teach meet session, the teachers presented on how they integrate language teaching with other subjects. Mrs Miao Jiang from The King’s School presented on how to integrate music and language, and using cultural related videos to engage students’ learning success. Other teachers also presented ideas and projects on integrating languages with PE, Science and Art, by involving the classroom teachers and working on the unit to tick the outcomes on the subjects at the same time. It was a truly inspiring and productive meeting. Mrs Miao Jiang LOTE Mandarin Teacher Page 8 PREP NEWSLETTER ISSUE 4: 16 March, 2018
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