Key Messages

• Please make sure to read the diary for upcoming school events.
• Details are listed below on scholarships that are available to become a teacher. If you’re interested, you should check it out!
• We have had numerous complaints from members of the community about people parking illegally during pick up and drop off. Please make sure that you are complying with basic road rules.
• Two weeks to go until our annual book parade!

Celebrations

• Thank you to everyone for helping making Education Week a success.
• Congratulations to our Junior and combined Senior/Performance band, both of whom finished in first place in their respective divisions of the Hawkesbury Eisteddfod.
• Congratulations to Nathan D on making the state finals of the OSIC.
• Year 6 camp was a great experience for all. Children were beautifully behaved and had a great time. Thank you to the teachers that made this possible.

Last week we celebrated my favourite week of the year, Public Education Week. This is a time where we take a moment to acknowledge all of the outstanding work that happens in classrooms each and every day. Many weeks of rehearsals culminate in polished dance and choir performances, many hours of writing and practice in front of the mirror culminates in quality public speaking presentations, while the band performances are a mix of both school based rehearsals and tutorials and many hours of practicing at home. But Education Week is about so much more than the extra-curricular. It is a chance to acknowledge each and every one of our students and their accomplishments in the classroom. Every single school day, students are striving to achieve their best. This could take the form of extending their knowledge into new areas, mastering a concept that had been proving difficult, or even failing at a given task. As the English polymath William Whewell famously said, “Every failure is a step towards success”.

As educators, our job is wide and varied. It is our mandate to ensure that students achieve their very best academically, whatever that looks like for each individual student. Similarly, we look for opportunities for students to showcase their individual gifts. This could be as musicians, singers, dancers, athletes, orators, scientists, mathematicians… the list is endless as our student’s talents are endless, and they are special and amazing in their own way. We have a mandate to develop our students beyond the curriculum and classroom, making them bold, making them resilient, making them curious, making them kind. We have a mandate to support their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. We have a mandate to support our children to become accomplished adults who thrive in an ever-changing world.

While this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we aim to achieve as teachers, all of these imperatives have one thing in common. None of them happen overnight. They take many repeated lessons, a lot of practice, a lot of feedback, a lot of growth… a lot of time.

This is why Education Week is my favourite week of the year. It is an opportunity to reflect on the little moments in time that all contribute towards that final goal. A time to celebrate our students, your children, and a time to celebrate learning.

On Monday, I got to join parents and members of the community in opening Education Week at Westpoint Blacktown, as our dance groups put on a show that was simply outstanding. This was the first time I had been able to see some of the performances, and I am always in awe at how creative our staff are with their choreography and costume design. The students are so incredibly talented, and it was wonderful to showcase that to all those in attendance. For me, my favourite moment was listening to the children before and after they performed. The excitement and nervous energy before they went on, followed by the sheer euphoria once they came off is hard to put into words.

The big day for us was our Open Day on Thursday, where we opened up our classroom doors and welcomed in parents, extended family and friends to celebrate our students and all of their accomplishments. I love watching as students dragged their visitors around the classroom to point out their artwork, their project, where they sit, where their books are kept… every little thing. It warms my heart to watch the enthusiasm with which they talk through what they’ve been doing and makes me chuckle when they correct their parents/grandparents for not doing things “the right way”. It is so precious to watch the children and family members work on a task together where they were able to do so. For those who were able to come along to the day, thank you. Coming to Open Day helps reinforce a message to your child: Education is important and what you do here matters. I know many people aren’t able to get away from work, and I know that you would reinforce this message in your own way. But those of you who were able to come, I hope that you enjoy that memory as much as your children did.

Open Day was also an opportunity for families to visit our annual Book Fair. Thank you to all of those who attended. By purchasing books, you are not only helping to support your child’s learning and foster a love of reading, but every purchase also put money back into the school. I am especially thankful to those who donated books to the library this year, as I am every year. Our library is so incredibly well resourced, and with 85 books donated this year this is even more true now than ever. Your donation increases the volume of books we have available to children, and many students over many years will benefit from your generosity. Thank you.

Aside from the picnic lunch, which is always fun, we were also able to hold our performing arts showcase. We are well known for our incredible performing arts program and it is little wonder based on the quality of performers on show. So many of our staff give up their time to make those groups successful and we are always appreciative of their efforts. Thank you to Mrs Chapman, Miss Chiu, Mrs Davidson,  Mrs Hutton, Miss Karadjov, Miss Priest, Mrs Pullinger, Miss Tobin, Miss Trenbath, Mrs Underwood, Mr Besre and Mrs Volpes.

Our band has had quite a busy fortnight, actually. Following on from Education Week, this week our junior and combined senior and concert bands travelled out to the Hawkesbury to compete in the annual Hawkesbury Eisteddfod. Our band program has always been exceptional, and this was a wonderful opportunity to see how it measures up against other schools from across the region. Our junior band did a phenomenal job, and their commitment to regular rehearsals and practicing at home paid off, being crowned champion of their section and winning first place! The combined senior and concert band had a tough task, with a much larger pool of competition. Like their junior counterparts, they were also able to win their section of the competition and walked away as champions! The bandmaster, Ms Jessica Ling, proudly spoke of the hard work of all involved in accomplishing this goal. This is a sentiment I can absolutely echo, and I wanted to congratulate everyone involved on this wonderful achievement. A huge thank you to Mrs Legaspi for her commitment in coordinating the event from a school perspective and Miss Leyshon for supporting the students on the day. There are so many moving parts that make the band successful, from our team of wonderful parent volunteers, to the tutors and conductors who get the very most out of our students. Thank you to you all for providing this wonderful opportunity for our students.

While on the subject of band, a huge congratulations to Nathan D who has been selected for the NSW state finals of the Oz Schools Instrumental Championship. We have seen first hand what a wonderful musician Nathan is and we are not surprised to hear that he is receiving higher honours as part of his musical journey. Well done Nathan!

Jumping from one exciting experience to another, late yesterday afternoon our Year 6 children returned from their Canberra camp. While their eyes may have been looking a little tired, the smiles were everywhere and students had an absolute blast. I did a quick straw pole with students about their highlight, and the first response was universally the trip to the snow. Some saw snow for the first time, while others had been before but never with friends… but NONE of the students had ever had the chance to pummel their teachers with snowballs- a task that they took to with an enthusiasm we could only dream of in a handwriting lesson. When pressed further on their second favourite part of camp, the answers were a bit more varied. Some enjoyed Questacon, others loved the War Memorial and the Australian Institute of Sport was another popular response. There were even a few students who loved being in parliament house. Who knows, perhaps we’ve inspired one of them to become our Prime Minister one day! Speaking with the bus drivers before they left, I said that they wouldn’t take a better group away all year. Upon their return, the bus drivers told me that I was right on the money. Their behaviour was excellent and they received compliments wherever they went for the manner in which they represented our school.

I want to thank the attending staff for making this trip possible. It is a big commitment for teachers to take time away from their own families and lives outside of school to essentially be on duty for three days straight. There is no overtime, and the teachers do this thanks to their own innate desire to provide opportunities and memories for our children. Nevertheless, I want to acknowledge their efforts in making this a wonderful experience for our students. I would also like to thank their families for sharing their loved ones with us for a few days (especially Maz who did a three day shift looking after a 7 month old). A huge thank you to Mrs Davidson, Mrs Hutton, Miss Kelly and Miss Marshall for giving up their time. The biggest thanks must go to Mr Starr, who did an exceptional job in organising a truly amazing camp, and all the time, effort and energy that went into making it a success. Thank you to you all. We have a wonderful Stage 3 team at KLPS and they shone brightly once again.

Camps, performances, changing lives through education… we are truly lucky to work in the profession that we do. The exciting news is that you can too! Four of our current members of staff are former students at KLPS, and I would encourage anyone with an interest in the profession to look into the opportunities available for parents and older siblings of current students.

Applications for the department’s future teacher scholarship programs are now open.

If you know a Year 12 student, pre-service teacher or career changer who is considering commencing or continuing an Initial Teacher Education degree in 2026, encourage them to apply.

Benefits

The scholarship programs offer a range of benefits and incentives, including financial support whilst studying and a permanent teaching position in a NSW public school upon successful completion of studies.

For a full list of benefits, visit Get paid to study.

Programs and eligibility

There are a number of programs for future teachers. Check the pages below to view the details and eligibility requirements for each scholarship.

• teach.Rural Scholarship – for future secondary or inclusive/special education teachers (K–12) in rural or remote NSW public schools.
• Teacher Education Scholarship – for future secondary teachers of high-demand subject areas or inclusive/special education teachers (K–12) in NSW public schools.
• Teacher Education Scholarship – Aboriginal – an identified scholarship for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, studying to become primary or secondary teachers in NSW public schools.
• Transition to Teaching Scholarship Program – for career changers and degree changers, who have completed a relevant recognised undergraduate degree, and who are interested in training as a secondary teacher in a high-demand subject area.

This week, all of our stage 3 students will be participating in the councils Empower program. A free initiative aimed at improving students understanding of the impact of graffiti and vandalism in our community. Sadly, we have some instances of vandalism and graffiti in our toilets of late, and I am hopeful that this program will reinforce the message that this behaviour is unacceptable.

Next week on Thursday 21st August is our annual Book Parade. I am always excited to see how creative some of our parents can be, and some of the costumes each year are out of this world. I know that the teachers all have something special planned. If you are available to come along and join in the fun, we would love to see you there.

It brings me no joy to end on this note, but we have received complaints from some of our neighbours and parents about cars parking illegally during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. When parking, please consider others. Do not park across driveways. I feel like this needs no further explanation. In terms of street corners, unless there is signage indicating otherwise, parents should not park within 10m of a corner. This a safety issue and prevents accidents. Parking too close to the corner limits line of sight for other motorists and makes it hard to come around corners. Parking rules in NSW can be found at the link below. Please make sure you adhere to these rules in the interests of safety and consideration for others.