Some words from the Acting Principal

Dear Karoo PS Community, 

It is with great excitement and honour that I write this publication of our newsletter.  As the selection process of the next Principal of Karoo Primary School has concluded, last Thursday my appointment to the position was shared with our school community.  I thank you all for your trust in my appointment and I look forward to working alongside you to build upon the strengths of our school to enhance the opportunities for our students and our school community.  

In Term 2, I look forward to hosting a 'Meet the Principal' morning and afternoon tea, so that you all have the opportunity to get to know me further.  Further details regarding these events will be shared early next term.

2025 – School Review

On Wednesday the 5th, 12th and 19th of March Karoo PS engaged in our 2025 School Review.  A School Review occurs every four years and is a rigorous process to analyse the effectiveness of the School Strategic Plan (SSP).  It is an opportunity to reflect on our school’s progress and performance, and to identify the most important goals for Karoo Primary School to work on within our next Strategic Plan (2025-2029). A School Review is facilitated by a School Review Panel, which consists of an external reviewer, two challenge partners (e.g. Principals from other schools), School Council President (Serryn Bryant) and a School Council Representative (Jess Thompson) and our school’s Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL).  In addition to classroom observations and meetings with the school leadership team, feedback is gathered from the whole school community including students, teachers and parents to ensure that a comprehensive review is achieved.

The outcome of the review has been very positive.  The review panel reported that feedback from staff and parents was that the school was in the best place that it has ever been.  However, key areas were identified as next steps for our school to continue its improvement journey.  These areas focused on meeting student point of need, extension opportunities, continuing to improve consistent teacher practice and whole school approaches to Teaching & Learning and Wellbeing. 

I would like to pass on a heartfelt thank you to all members of our school community who were able to share feedback about what Karoo PS is doing well and identify how we can improve further to support the needs of our students and community.  Our Reviewer, who has facilitated over 60 reviews, commented that it was one of the largest parent participation feedback group sessions that he had been part of, which demonstrates the positive community engagement we have at Karoo PS. 

The next steps in the review process are:

• The reviewer reviews the goals, targets and Key Improvement Strategies (KIS) identified by the review panel and presents a Strategic Plan report back to the school’s leadership team.
• The school leadership team reviews the report and makes recommendations for adjustments, as required, to ensure the Strategic Plan report reflects the key next steps of the school.
• The reviewed Strategic Plan report is shared with the Department of Education for final approval.
• The school receives the final Strategic Plan and begins to implement by developing the Schools Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) for 2025 (Semester 2).

Once the school's Strategic Plan and 2025 Annual Implementation Plan has been finalised it will be shared with school council and our school community.  

Bunnings BBQ - Thankyou to our Sensational Volunteers!

A fun day was had by all at the Scoresby Bunnings BBQ fundraising event on Sunday the 23rd of March! Thank you to all our parents and staff members who volunteered their time to make the day such as success!  The team was able to raise approx. $2000 in profit and it was great to see a number of new families volunteer to support the school.  

A heartful thank you to Sarah Elliott, for her organisation of the day and to Jess Thompson, for her support to store and bring the supplies throughout the day.  A huge thank you to Max Byrdy, Sarah Dowler, Alison Thomason, Tom Pearce, Scott Bednarz, Jacob Kowalewski, Tom Eunson, Andy Lim, Tammy Culpitt, Chris Wilcock, Lin Zhang, Madusanka Kande Arachchilalage, Jordan Fogel and to our staff Michelle Davies, Simone Vitas, Karen Sexton and Sue Baxter for volunteering their time to cook up a storm, organise the bread supplies and operate sales!  Your time is appreciated immensely - Well done team!!

School Council Updates

Our 2025 School Council met for the first time this week to set the scene for 2025 by electing the School Council office bearers and subcommittee members. As a result, we welcome and congratulate our following school council members on their positions.

President: Serryn Bryant

Vice President: Vanessa Fernando

Secretary: Paul Barrett

Treasurer: John Savinos

School Council Members: 

Parent Members: Tammy Culpitt, Sarah Elliott, Jess Thompson, Krista Di Orio, Danielle Coniglione, Luke Michaels

Staff Members: Simone Vitas, Josh Edwards, Peta Phillips, Clare McCandlish

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tony Khouri for his service and contribution to our school council, as due to unforeseen circumstances Tony has needed to step down from school council this year.  Tony's support, dedication and advocacy for our school has been unwavering and appreciated immensely.  We look forward to continuing to work with him to support our school through alternate avenues.  

Foundation 2026

2026 Foundation tours have commenced for prospective parents.  We hold tours on Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings and on Saturdays once a month. Our first Saturday tour is on the 26th of April.  The School Captains have begun being part of the tours, with great excitement and will continue to play an active role throughout the process.  

Karoo PS has also attended a number of Childcare and Kindergarten open days for Goodstart at Murrindal, Liberty Ave and Ferntree Gully (Saturday the 29th March).  These are opportunities to share the advantages that families will have access to at Karoo PS, as well as building our relationships with our local childcare centres and kindergartens.

The Online Enrolment System for Foundation 2026 – Student Insight – will open on the 22nd of April, from which families will be able to apply for their chosen primary school.

Road Safety

It has come to the attention of the school that road safety during pick up and drop off time is concerning to our school community.

Therefore, to ensure the safety of our students and families please ensure the following: 

• Cars parked in the 2-minute parking bays are present for the allocated time (designed for 'drop and go' only).
• Roundabouts are used to turn around on Karoo Rd, and cars not to make U turns near the crossing, over the single white line.

Thank you for your continued support in ensuring the safety of our community.

I hope that you have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you round our beautiful school and on our last day, Friday the 4th April, for our Easter Bonnet Parade and Mrs. Danielle Heatley's Farewell!

Kind Regards, 

Courtney Hoffmann

Acting Principal