Aaron Cox

Principal

Christmas Message

As 2022 draws to a close, I reflect back on the incredible year that we’ve had here at Kingswood. We’ve seen many successes, including our four-year review in which Kingswood was identified as a school that not only knew where it was going, we were lauded for our high-performance. Additionally, at Kingswood we saw children return back to school for the first full year of uninterrupted learning. At the beginning of the year our children struggled to re-adjust to school structures and high expectations for learning. However, throughout the year, our children positively responded to all aspects of school life including building their own stamina for learning.

If we look back on our greatest achievement in 2022, it would be the way our teachers and support staff worked tirelessly to provide our children a high-quality education under extreme duress. The academic results of our children support this.

I have no qualms in the saying that Kingswood is a great place to be, and that it is definitely laying the foundations for success for each and every single student. I look forward to 2023 with great anticipation and expectation for what will be achieved next year.

Until then, I wish every single student and their family a very merry Christmas. Our children deserve the holiday coming, they have earned it. Please make sure you take time to collectively celebrate as a family everything that you’ve achieved this year and if I was to personally notice one thing in particular to highlight, it would be that our children are actually more capable than what we give credit.

I hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday period and we will see you all at the beginning of the 2023 school year.

Departing or Staff Taking Leave - A place to shine

I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff that will be leaving us or taking leave from next week. Janet McLean, Kate Wheeler, Mithuna Chadeyras, Lisa Devereaux (family leave), Katie Bennett (family leave), Carlie Botha, Louise Slann, Kelly Young, Natalie Selisher (12 months leave) and Marina Kallinikos (12 months leave). Thank you everyone for your genuine contributions to make Kingswood a better place than when you started. I would like to give a special thank you to Janet McLean who has been a part of the fabric of Kingswood for many, many years. Janet was my team leader when I first came to Kingswood in 2007. Janet is a huge advocate for children and was renowned for being tough but fair. We could all learn so much from Janet’s approach to education and children. Janet would never say no and was always there for the kids. We wish Janet well during the next phase of her retirement.

Departing Families - Connected to community

Year 6 Families

Thank you so much so being a part of our school community. We wish you all the best moving forward. Each and every family will be missed. Our departing families in no particular order are: HOREJSI, SMITH, BROWN, ALLAN, BROOKS, FERRY, HRISTOGLOU, BERENYI, CARROLL, DONOGHUE, HILL, VIEUSSEUX, SCHNEEBERGER, KEYS, DIEP, HUYNH, MURPHY, MURRAY, BARAN, CHAU, DONSEN, JANDHYALA, TRAN, ESHWARA, TAYLOR, BARRETT, CHINTHAKUNTA, LIN, SINGH, LOK, WATTON, DANIEL and HUYNH families.

Departing Families from Other Year Levels

We say goodbye to the following families from across the rest of the school: CHANG, CHISANGO, LOKESH, LU, SANDHU, BALACHANDAR, TAN, PHAM and LAY families. We wish you all well in your new school environments.

Summer Projects - Connected to community

There are a number of projects occurring over the holidays including the installation of new girl toilets in Unit D, painting the exterior of Units E, F, G, H and I. There are other maintenance jobs scheduled, but they will all be weather dependant.

Transition Day - We are here for the students

Our 2023 transition day was a huge success. The buzz around the school was electric. Every child was able to find at least one positive about their new class and teacher. The enthusiasm and engagement in all areas of the school was evident. This bodes well for Kingswood having a fabulous year in 2023. Over the holiday break remember to re-enforce the positives about their upcoming year. Children are very perceptive at reading any anxiety that you may be experiencing so make sure you remain positive as well.

Voluntary School Payments Make a Massive Difference - We are here for the students

Parent voluntary payments are extremely important to Kingswood’s baseline budget and therefore my ability to deliver programs that go above and beyond the Education States promise of a basic education. Kingswood does nothing in its simplest form and we are renowned for going above and beyond for our students. Voluntary payments directly impact on what is prioritised in our yearly budget. Tutoring, student wellbeing initiatives, Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program, school first aid officer, onsite child counsellor, student adjustment support teacher are just a few of the additional programs we have in place at Kingswood.

Community Messages

Young Engineers

Pet Adoption

Soccer

Springvale Indoor Sports

Team Kids

Mentone Girls Secondary College

Foster A Child

Family Life

Entertainment

Art Smart

Yoga