From the Principal

 Dear Karoo PS Community, 

KPS BBQ @ Scoresby Bunnings - Thank you!

A huge thank you to our School Council Fundraising Team – Krista Di Iorio, Kristy Boyd, Sue Baxter and Vanessa Fernando for organising our Bunnings BBQ event. That thanks is extended to Steve Boyd, Mick Purnell, Scott Bednarz, Nicole Shingles, Jacob Kowalewski, Peta Phillips, Sarah Dobson, Alison Thomason, Daniel Trinnick, Daniel Di Iorio and Max Williams (Liberal Candidate for Rowville) for giving up their time to help cook and serve on the day.  It was also great to have our community visit during the day and support us! We are incredibly proud of our Karoo community!

2026 Government Schools Principals Conference

In Week 6, Peta Phillips, Hugh McLaughlin and I attended the two day State Principals’ Conference last week, where we participated in a range of thought provoking seminars and workshops focused on contemporary educational leadership and practice.  The conference featured presentations from leading educational experts, including Dr Carl Hendrick, who explored Bridging the Knowing–Doing Gap: Leading Evidence-Informed Practice in Victorian Schools, and Dr Nathaniel Swain, who presented Coherent Systems for VTLM 2.0 Success: Leading the Shift from Personal Pedagogies to Shared Excellence. We also attended workshops showcasing innovative practices from schools across Victoria and the work they are undertaking to improve student outcomes.  

A key focus of the conference was the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) 2.0. This revised framework outlines the evidence informed principles that underpin high quality teaching and learning across Victorian schools. It places a strong emphasis on understanding how students learn and using this evidence to inform effective teaching practice.

VTLM 2.0 provides a clear and streamlined framework built around two key components:

1. Elements of Learning – describing the process of human learning, drawing on evidence from cognitive science, neuroscience and educational psychology. 

2. Elements of Teaching – highlighting the evidence based practices that most effectively support student learning, including planning, enabling learning, explicit teaching and supported application.

The conference reinforced the importance of aligning our teaching practices with the growing body of evidence about how students learn best and provided valuable insights to support ongoing improvement in teaching and learning across our school.  It was a fantastic opportunity to engage in further learning from renowned leaders in education and participate in evidence-based professional learning and networking with colleagues.  It was inspiring and validated the hard work and emphasis on improvement that we have as a school. 

KPS School Uniform Reminder

As we move further into the winter months, this is a timely reminder of the importance of wearing the correct school uniform and taking pride in representing our wonderful school, Karoo Primary School.

Our school uniform helps foster a strong sense of belonging and school pride and we appreciate families’ support in ensuring students arrive at school dressed appropriately each day.

A few key reminders:

• Students are expected to wear the approved Karoo Primary School uniform, including school jumpers, jackets and beanies.
• Shoulder-length or longer hair should be tied back for safety and hygiene reasons.
• Hair accessories should be in school colours.
• Non-uniform beanies are not able to be worn at school. Therefore, students wearing non-uniform beanies will be asked to remove them while they are at school.
• Uniform items should be clean, in good repair and clearly labelled with your child’s name.

If your child has misplaced a uniform item, named items will be returned to your child through their classroom teacher. Any unnamed items will be placed in Lost Property. Families are welcome to check Lost Property when Assembly occurs on Friday afternoons.

Thank you for your continued support in helping our students wear their uniform with pride and represent Karoo Primary School positively within our community.

Staffing Updates 

We are delighted to welcome Ms Brooke Kennedy to 3SG for the remainder of the year. Ms Kennedy is incredibly excited to be stepping into 3SG and has many strengths that she will bring to the class. She has spent time in the Year 3 classrooms and knows the students of 3SG well.  Due to her time working at Karoo PS, Ms Kennedy has developed a sound understanding of our teaching, learning and wellbeing practices and looks forward to working with the Year 3 students and team.

End of Term Dismissal

The last day of Term 2 is Friday 26th June. School finishes at 2.30pm. OSHC will be available from that time for those booked in.  Term 3 - The first day back of school for Term 3 is Monday 13th July.

I look forward to seeing you all around our sensational school.

Courtney Hoffmann

 Principal