Dear Families,

The excitement is swirling within our community as we prepare for all our end of year big events. These include our KPPS Christmas Carols/Picnic and our Graduation. Our teachers and ES staff continue to work hard to ensure our students are well supported as they transition into their next year levels and experience what it is like with a new group of students. I am pleased to share that all our end of year plans including our staffing and school structures have now been finalised.

This week Mr. Glenn McConnell visited our school and announced to our staff that he will be officially retiring. I wish to sincerely thank Glenn for all of his work and efforts over many years in leading such a fabulous school community. Glenn has penned a message for all in our community. Please see Glenn’s message below:

Dear Kismet Students, Staff and Families,

It is with some mixed feelings that I write to inform you of my retirement from the role of Principal of Kismet Park. It is time to move on and spend more time with family, improve my much neglected golf swing and explore other adventures.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students, families and staff for making my time at Kismet such a rewarding and enjoyable experience over the past 27 years (time flies!). During that time many things have changed but the nature of the Kismet ‘family’ has remained a constant - the warm sense of community, the amazing students who are so keen to help, to learn and support one another and the dedicated staff who are so committed to providing their students with the best learning environment possible.

I leave with many cherished memories from my years in the classroom and time as leader of such a great community. While the countless school camps, much celebrated productions and ever popular PCA fetes provided so many fun times it is the everyday interactions with students, staff and families I will miss the most – the smiles of students greeting me at the beginning of the day, the excitement of students sharing something new they have learned and the sense of community and friendship.

I thank Kathy, Ciara and the staff for their great work in moving the school forward over the past year.

It has been a privilege to be part of the Kismet community over the past 27 years. To everyone, thank you very much. I wish the school and every member of the community all the best for the future.

Regards,

Glenn McConnell

Moving forward we will enter the 2023 school year with two Assistant Principals (Acting) reflective of DET’s Framework for Improving Student Outcomes 2.0 (FISO). The FISO framework 2.0 has been redesigned to place Learning and Wellbeing at the centre of school improvement and is a direct response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and advice from the profession. In line with these findings and after the in-depth school review we recently completed, I have appointed an additional Assistant Principal, Louisa Beckenham. Louisa will have the portfolio of the Learning area of the FISO 2.0 and Ciara Stewart will continue with the portfolio in the Wellbeing area.

Learning and Wellbeing have equal weighting in terms of ensuring our students grow up to be:

successful lifelong learners
happy, healthy, and resilient
active, informed members of just and sustainable communities.

I am confident that with two Assistant Principals working alongside me to support and guide the Learning and Wellbeing for our students and community that we will continue to strengthen the achievements of the past year. This is an exciting move for our students, staff, and community.

Class Structures for 2023 and staffing UPDATE

Our 2023 class structure has slightly changed after a relook at numbers in the year 5 and 6 classes. As a result we will put in place one year 5/6 composite class which will further reduce the numbers in those classrooms. The goal was always to maintain straight grades wherever possible. Our final model is below:

Preps - x3
Year 1 - x3
Year 2 – x4
Year 3 – x2
Year 4 – x2
Year 3/4 composite – x1
Year 5 – x3
Year 6 – x2
Year 5 /5 composite - x1

We are in the fortunate position at present (fingers crossed) that we have secured all our teachers for the 2023 school year. I am aware that there are movements across our region and state, with at present 2,000 teaching positions up for recruitment. I am grateful that we have experienced little movement with staff and that flows on positively to our students and wider community.

Staff Leaving Kismet Park Primary School:

I am sad to share that we have the following staff leaving our school:

Enza Teuber – (Education Support Staff) Enza will be retiring at the end of this 2022 school year. Enza has been with us for the last 15 years and she has made a real difference to many students. Enza is a compassionate, flexible and hard working staff member who truly listens to students. She has built strong relationships with our most vulnerable students through her compassion, care and enthusiasm for making a difference. I thank Enza whole heartedly for her impact and together with our staff and community wish her every happiness and joy in her retirement.

Curtis Mayall – Year 5B Curtis will be moving to Sunbury Secondary College where he will teach VCE Humanities/Geography. Curtis is a trained secondary teacher, and his passion is teaching humanities and although sad for us, I am happy that Curtis will fulfil his ambition. In addition, I know that some of our students will go to Sunbury Secondary and they will once more experience Mr Mayell’s teaching. Curtis has been with us for the past year and in that short time he has made a tremendous impact with his group of learners in year 5. Curtis worked hard to establish himself as a trusted, well respected, and enthusiastic teacher. Curtis has provided an outstanding learning environment for his students and challenged all students to do their very best. I wish Curtis every success and I know that he will continue to make a difference.

Chevie Beasley – Year 2B Chevie will be moving on to Preston Primary School next year. Chevie is making the move to Preston Primary School to cut back on travel time. Chevie came to us from Sunbury Primary School and she quickly established herself as a dedicated, caring and enthusiastic teacher. Chevie goes to great lengths to ensure the needs of her students are met through her careful planning and implementation of support plans and individual learning plans. In addition Chevie contributed to our learning community through her efforts on our School Council. I wish Chevie the very best for her future career and I know that she will continue to make a positive impact.

Alexander Devereux: 2C Alex will be moving to Taylors Lakes Primary School in 2023. Originally Alex came to us from Tarneit Secondary College on a Family Leave position therefore his role was a short-term role. Alex has made a positive contribution to his group of students with his quiet and caring manner. He planned in collaboration for the needs of his students and worked with others to ensure the needs of his students were met. I wish Alex the very best for his future career and I know that he will continue to make a positive impact.

My sincere apologies for not including Kelli Gemmola in last week's INewsletter as a staff member who will not be returning to us in 2023. Kelli will be returning to her career in entertainment producing. Kelli will spend the 2023 school year mostly working within the cruise ship industry producing stand up comedy. Kelli came to us as a mature age graduate in 2021 and has worked diligently to establish herself as a caring and hard working teacher of our Japanese program. Kelli has worked in collaboration with Michele Anderson this year to ensure our students receive an authentic and engaging Japanese program. Kelli formed strong relationships with students across the school through her open and friendly demeanour and worked collaboratively with her specialist team to ensure student engagement was high. I wish Kelli every success in her career as a comedy producer and thank her for all of her efforts.

Andrea Smajila – (Education Support Staff) Andrea is taking the year off on leave to pursue other passions, she will work in the field of animal assisted therapy for the 2023 school year. Andrea has worked with many of our students, and she has always been flexible, taken initiative and shown great care. Andrea’s support of students is to be commended and I thank her for all of her efforts.

Specialist Programs for 2023 - UPDATE

I can confirm that Michelle Tabone will be our Visual Arts teacher in 2023. Michelle is a dedicated teacher with a passion for Visual Arts and I know that she will deliver a high-quality Visual Arts program for our students in 2023.

Please note that I will share with our community all other information relating to teachers and their areas/grades before the end of the school year.

Students arriving to school – Times

Thank you to all families who are following our start times for when students arrive at school. It is critical that we have our community’s support in terms of the times our students arrive to school. This is because it can become a safety issue if the times are not adhered to. Our school yard is actively supervised from 8:35am. Students therefore need to arrive to school from 8:35am NOT before this time please.

Classroom rolls are taken at 8:55am and if students arrive to school later than this time, parents/carers MUST please walk them in to our office area and sign students in, (children cannot sign themselves in).

Their Care

A friendly reminder regarding our new OHSC Their Care. Parents/carers are required to please contact Their Care directly to organise holiday care for 2023, the phone number is 1300072410. Their Care begin their holiday program from Monday January 9th, 2023.

As we head into the final two weeks of the term I wish all our families the very best.

Warmest Regards,

Kathy Cvitkovic

Principal (Acting)

‘Building the foundations for success and happiness’.

Spotlight on our Learners - Years 1 and 2