100 Days of Prep
Our Foundation students recently celebrated their 100th day of school, and what a magical milestone it was. The day was filled with laughter, excitement, and creativity as the children proudly showed off their imaginative costumes which reflected their 100 year old self. It was heartwarming to see how fully they embraced the celebration and we thank parents who attended their ceremony in the afternoon. We are so proud of how much they have learned and grown already in their first year of school.

Parent-Teacher Interviews
A big thank you to all the families who made time to attend our parent-teacher interviews on Monday. It was wonderful to see such strong engagement from our school community, with so many meaningful conversations taking place between parents and teachers. These discussions play a vital role in supporting each child’s learning journey and building strong school-home partnerships.

New Gymnasium Update
We are thrilled to announce that our brand-new gym is set to be officially handed over to the school on August 31^st. This exciting new facility will include a full-size basketball court, modern change rooms, a dedicated classroom space, and a canteen.

In addition to the indoor facilities, the concrete has been poured for two outdoor basketball courts, with top coating and line markings to be completed in the near future. A new grassed area near the staff car park is also in development, creating even more space for students to play and enjoy outdoor activities.

Athletics Day
Our much-anticipated Athletics Day is just around the corner, taking place on Monday, August 11^th. We are looking forward to a fantastic day filled with energy, enthusiasm, and plenty of fun as students participate in a variety of sporting events. This day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate teamwork,
effort, and school spirit. If any parents are available to help out on the day, we would greatly appreciate your support.  Students are encouraged to come dressed in their House Colours for this event. If not wearing House colours students will need to be in school uniform. Please contact the school office if you are interested in assisting.

Student-Free Day – September 5th
Just a friendly reminder that Friday, September 5th will be a student-free day. While students enjoy a break from the classroom, our staff will be engaging in valuable professional learning and visiting other schools as part of our ongoing professional development.

School Concert
We are incredibly excited to announce that our Whole School Concert will take place on September 15th in our brand-new gymnasium, starting at 5.00pm. This special event will showcase the talents and creativity of our students, and we can’t wait to see them shine on stage. A huge thank you to Ellyn Maykan for her hard work and dedication in organising this concert—it promises to be a memorable evening for all involved.
We will notify you soon about the purchase of tickets for this event.

Swimming Lessons
In the final week of this term, our Year 2 to Year 5 students will be participating in swimming lessons. These lessons provide a valuable opportunity to develop water safety skills and build confidence in the pool. We are pleased to offer the lessons free of charge, with a small payment required to cover the cost of bus transport to and from the venue.

Dear Parents and Carers,

At Kuyim Primary School we value the diversity. We are proud of our diversity and welcoming all our students and community into our school.

Celebrating the diversity of our community makes us stronger, kinder and more innovative. We are committed to making sure that students from all backgrounds feel accepted, supported, and able to learn.

We teach all students according to our school REACH values and teach the Respectful Relationships framework. This includes education around diversity and inclusion.

To achieve our values and aims, everyone at Kuyim Primary School plays an important role.

Each week, we remind our students of our REACH values of and the importance of using these in everything we do.

To help us make Kuyim Primary School a place where everyone feels welcome, respected, and supported, we encourage you to speak to your child about these values, as well as the importance of:

-             understanding that we celebrate diversity and multicultural inclusion

-             understanding the importance of everyone at school being treated with respect.

For more information, please see Racism: talking with children and teens, Raising Children Network.

We expect families to also display our school values when dealing with other members of our school community.

Kind regards,

Zania Cope

On Wednesday the 30th of July, the Foundation students celebrated 100 Days of School.

We had a special dress up day, where students and staff dressed up as 100-year-olds!


We had a whole day of activities themed around the number 100. We explored what schools, toys and clothes looked like 100 years ago, practiced counting to 100, wrote about what we would buy if we had $100 and guessed how many rolls of a dice it would take to count to 100.

We also took a tour of the school, showing off our amazing ‘old people walks’ and saying ‘hello’ to all of the students.

The students then each received a certificate in a Ceremony with our Assistant Principal, Ms Davis, to commemorate their first 100 days of school.

Well done to all the Foundation students on their achievements over their first 100 days of school!

We’ve had a fantastic start to Term 3 in our brand-new classroom! The students have settled in beautifully and are making the most of the fresh space - it’s already buzzing with curiosity and creativity.

“We think our new learning space is better than the old one because it’s smaller and we have less cleaning to do” – Vihaan

“I like it because it’s quieter here and we don’t get interrupted” - Surkhab

As part of our new Inquiry topic, “Where in the World Are We?”, we’ve created a vibrant Wonder Wall filled with our big questions about Australia and its neighbouring countries. Last week, we explored some of Australia’s most famous natural and manmade landmarks, and we’re working towards an exciting project where we’ll create models of our favourite ones!

In English, we’ve moved on from last term’s much-loved novel Runt and have dived into the captivating story The Wild Robot. We read together daily, and the students are really connecting with the characters - it's a highlight of our literacy block.

“The book and movie were great! I loved how confident Annie was.” – Audrey

In Maths, we’re focusing on mastering our times tables, and the class is loving the challenge of 'Blast Off' - a timed activity where students test themselves on all multiplication facts up to 12. Each week, they strive to beat their personal best, and their enthusiasm is sky-high!

“I like how you have to think fast in Blast Off.” – Aviraj

Book Week
Book Week will officially begin on August 18th, and we have a week of exciting activities planned to celebrate our love of reading. We will be hosting a Book Fair where students can browse and buy a range of books to take home and enjoy. On Friday, August 22nd, students are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. It’s always a highlight of the week. Please note that our whole-school assembly on this day will begin earlier than usual, at 2:15 PM, with a Book Parade for us all to share our love of books.

Did you know one of the best ways to help your child with their mathematical development is to promote conversation at home? Mathematical talk every day is just as fundamental as reading with your child each day. Looking for maths in activities at home is a great way to start, such as asking your child to help with measuring for cooking or looking for shapes in the environment around you. The Victorian Government has many useful resources to support you with this at home.

Advice from DET Numeracy Guide:

• be positive about their numeracy experiences and praise effort and perseverance.
• let your child know that everyone can be successful.
• seize everyday opportunities to capitalise on numeracy development.
• involve your child in numeracy-related activities.
• describe what you are doing in situations that involve maths.
• explain why you make certain numeracy choices.
• explore numeracy with your child.
• learn alongside your child and encourage a sharing of numeracy ideas and thoughts.

Sleep

While we know sleep is essential for good health, research shows that many children and young people are not getting enough sleep on school nights. This can affect thinking, concentration, memory, reaction times and mood.

Research shows about 12% of primary school-aged children, a quarter of 12- to 15-year-olds and half of 16- to 17-year-olds don’t get enough sleep on school nights. The recommended amount of time to sleep for primary school-aged children is 9 to 11 hours. For teenagers, it’s 8 to 10 hours.

Signs that your child is not getting enough sleep can include:

• low mood and irritability during social interactions
• reluctance or arguing about getting off devices and going to bed
• falling asleep during the day
• difficulties waking up for school and sleeping in late on weekends to catch up
• changes to communicating or interacting at home.

You can help your child to improve their sleep by:

• establishing a regular sleep pattern and consistent bedtime routine
• supporting them to avoid using electronic devices such as smartphones, iPads before going to bed and in bed. Avoid storing electronic devices in bedrooms.
• encouraging your child to exercise and spend time outside in daylight, steering clear of vigorous activity in the hour before sleep
• encouraging them to wind down and relax before going to bed.

If your child is still having trouble sleeping, has persistent problems with low mood, excessive daytime sleepiness, restlessness in bed, severe snoring or wakening unrefreshed, despite getting adequate length sleep, they should see a doctor. For more information on sleep health, you can refer to:

• Sleep tips for children and Facts about sleep for parents and school staff, from the Sleep Health Foundation https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/sleep-tips-for-children.html

https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/facts-about-sleep-for-parents-and-school-staff.html

• Why sleep is so important, from the Kids Helpline’s. https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/why-sleep-so-important#:~:text=It%20gives%20you%20energy%20to,some%2C%208%20hours%20is%20enough!
• Sleep explained, from the Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/sleep

Days to remember

A message from your Coordinator

Dear families.

We kicked off this term with exciting learning experiences, starting with road safety rules and signs to help children understand the importance of staying safe in their community. Building on this, we explored the value of money-discussing smart spending, saving habits and making thoughtful choices. This term also brought festive cheer as children immersed themselves in the joy of Christmas in July. We also celebrated National Tree Day by exploring the importance of trees and ways we can care for our environment.

We warmly encourage families to be part of our learning journey. If you have any feedback, ideas or would like to share your skills and knowledge we would love to hear from you. We would be delighted to organise an incursion to inspire and engage our learners.

Activities coming up

• Science Week 11-15 August
• Book Week 18-22 August.
• Create your own story Book 1-29 August. Children will have the exciting opportunity to create their own stories. Selected stories may even be published.