Principal

Aaron Cox

Principal

Welcome everyone to another school year. It sounds like the children enjoyed doing many things with their families over the holiday period and they have been busting at the seams to share their experiences with others.

2019 looks to be another exciting year for Kingswood. As we realign ourselves with providing the best education possible for our students, there will be new elements introduced throughout the year to build the capacity and decision making of our students. Luke Bennett will lead professional development for teachers to increase student voice, agency and leadership throughout the curriculum and the leadership of the school. Research clearly supports the notion that when students have empowerment over their learning, retention and application of those skills learned will be long-lasting. We are not in the game of having children recite facts for a test, only to be forgotten straight after. To ‘Lay the foundations for success’ children need to apply acquired skills, processes and strategies to all forms of learning.

We need to educate parents that this is not about reducing the workload for teachers, far from it. Providing an empowering learning environments for each individual learner takes time. There will be obvious hiccups along the way but having children participating in the development of their learning is extremely powerful. We will begin our journey this year with the introduction of some smaller initiatives and over the duration of our School Strategic Plan (2019-2022) we will build upon our successes, year after year.

If you have not had the opportunity to see the newly renovated library please drop in and have a look. From 2019 we are deliberately raising the profile of ‘The love of reading’. Timetables have been improved for all classes to come to the library for 50 minutes per week. The value of reading cannot be underestimated! Language acquisition, numeracy, science and in fact, all curriculum areas will be positively effected if students develop a love of reading. Look at reading as the spark that ignites learning and propels your child along the learning continuum. For these reasons children and families will be supported to promote reading at home. It’s amazing the influence parents have just by role-modelling reading different genres to their children.

Here are 5 easy helpful hints to support families:

Talk about the books you are reading. In the car, at the dinner table… a few positive mentions every now and then can make a big impact.
When you go to the library/bookstore to get books for kids, make sure you grab one for yourself. There might be times where most of these books go unfinished but young children still get the message that reading is something to look forward to doing.
Take reading material with you when you travel. I always have reading materials with me on planes or on other travels.
Get a magazine subscription for yourself. When the subscription arrives every month make a big deal about how excited you are and you will be letting your kids know that reading is worth getting excited about.
Ask for book gifts for yourself for holidays and birthdays.

I would like to welcome Tracy Skiba to the Principal Class Team. She comes to us from Toorak Primary School and has a wealth of knowledge and experience around literacy and wellbeing. Tracy is an experienced Assistant Principal and we look forward to her leading initiatives around the school. We have a number of other new staff around the school, Sarah Haig, Jacqueline Smedley, Neena Hunt, Katie Airey, Lucy Chesters & Jack O'Brien. Make sure you go and introduce yourself.

Finally, I would like to welcome everyone to our 2nd annual ‘Drinks on the Green’ on Thursday 21st February starting at 6.30pm. Last year was a real success and we look forward to an even bigger crowd attending this year. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to meet the Principal Class Team over an evening drink. It is a relaxing way to get to know your school leaders and for us to get to know you. This is a child free event due to alcohol being served. We hope to see you there.