School News

School Photo Day

Our school photo day is booked for Thursday 12th March 2026. Information regarding online ordering of photos will be sent out soon.

2026 Swimming Program

Swimming program information has been sent home this week to our students in Years 1-6 regarding our 2026 swimming program which starts on the 23rd February 2026.

Please ensure you return the completed Swimming Assessment form and complete payment and consent on Compass by the due date on your form. 

Foundation students will participate in the swimming program in Term 2 and further information will follow closer to the date for these families.

See timetable below

Meet the Teacher Chats

Our 2026 Meet the Teacher Chats with classroom teachers will take place on Wednesday 18th February. 

Meet the Teacher Chats are an opportunity for you to have a chat with your child's teacher and discuss student goals in Term One, students are encouraged to also be present.

These meetings will be for 10 minutes and will be held in your child’s studio commencing at 12:10 pm until 6:00 pm. Bookings can be made in Compass under Conferences.

School will finish at 11:40am for all students at Kyneton Primary School on this day. Buses will not be running at this early time so bus travellers will need to make other arrangements. 

If you have any queries, please contact your child’s teacher or the office.

If you have a matter you would like to discuss with a specialist teacher, please email that teacher to arrange a booking time –

ART – Nathan MOUNTFORD – Nathan.Mountford@education.vic.gov.au          

FRENCH – Sherry VARGA – Sherry.Varga@education.vic.gov.au

MUSIC – Polly CHRISTIE – Polly.Christie@education.vic.gov.au

PHYSICAL EDUCATION – Kirk ANSTEE – Kirk.Anstee@education.vic.gov.au

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications 

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amounts this year are $400 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child. 

If you have previously applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. 

If you would like to apply for the first time, please complete the attached form or call the office to request a form.

Please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible. A copy of the form is attached below. We will require a copy of your valid health care card with the application.

Art News

Volunteers needed for our Canteen & Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club is a great way to get involved with the School Community. This is only possible when we have enough volunteers to help run it. So, we are asking grandparents, older siblings, dads and mums in the KPS Community. This years aim is to have Breakfast Club running 5 days a week.

This would require you be at the School Canteen at 8.30am. We have two volunteers each shift, who help prepare the toast (vegemite, butter and honey) ready for 8.45am when the gates open. We continue to serve until 8.55am or when the toast runs out. It is then just a quick clean-up for the Canteen. You are finished between 9am and 9.15am depending on how busy it is.

One Volunteer is needed to pick up the donated bread from Baker’s Delight on certain shifts prior to 8.30am. Please let me know if you are able to assist with this.

Let me know if you are available one day a week, one day a fortnight or even just once a month. We have a small group of Volunteers who will help next week but we still need more to run Breakfast Club efficiently. Once we have everyone available, we will start a roster from Week 4.

We are also looking for Canteen Volunteers to help with Lunch orders on a Thursday and Friday. I have created a sign-up sheet before for Term 1 below. 

Volunteers are required to hold a valid Working With Childrens Check (WWCC) and will need to present this and complete a 5 min OHS induction with office staff. This needs to be done once a year and prior to your 1st Volunteer shift in the Canteen.

If you don’t have a WWCC, they are free and easy to apply for. You just need to register as a Volunteer. Click on the link below.

Regards

Sarah Lockhart

Canteen Manager

Music News

Instrumental Music Program

Our instrumental music program at KPS offers an excellent opportunity for students in Years 2–6 to learn from highly experienced teachers.

Students can choose from a variety of instruments, including guitar, violin, ukulele, voice, keyboard, trumpet, clarinet, and flute.

Spots are available for all instruments, though guitar and keyboard placements tend to fill up quickly. Please refer to the below information letter sent via Compass for details. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at polly.christie@education.vic.gov.au.

Ms Polly Christie

Music Teacher (M,T,W,Th)

Kyneton Primary School

2026 Parent Payments

Thank you to the families who have paid the $150 Parent Payment for 2026.

These funds are used for:

• Curriculum Contributions – items and activities that students use, or participate in, to access the Curriculum
• Other Contributions – for non-curriculum items and activities such as memberships, subscriptions to programs and affiliations.
• Extra Curricular Items – the Kyneton Primary School Yearbook

If you would like to pay for these please use one of the following methods -

• Compass portal
• EFT - at the office or by phone
• Cash - at the office
• Direct Bank Transfer - BSB 063-000 Account No 14033609 - use your child’s name as the reference
• BPay - contact the school office for your personalised identification details
• Centrepay - use of this method is available to recipients of Centrelink payments

Please do not hesitate to contact the office for more information or for any other query you may have.

Full Parent Payment information is attached below:

Medical Information and Medication Requirements

If your child requires medication at school, a medication authority form needs to be completed and medication to be brought to the office to be stored safely. A first aid officer will be assigned to administer the medication. Students should not carry medication in their school bags. 

Please inform the office if there are any changes to your child’s medical needs so the appropriate paperwork can be completed and procedures put in place to care for your child

Uniform Ordering   

Uniform can be purchased in-store from Lowes in Lansell Square in Kangaroo Flat. Orders can also be placed online at www.lowes.com.au. Please see the pricelist below

Students Arriving Late

Students arriving late to school should come to the office, accompanied by an adult, and sign in either on the Compass Kiosk or in the late book.  They will then be issued a late pass to take to class and their arrival at school will be updated on the roll.  This will avoid parents/guardians receiving notification that their child is not at school when they have arrived late.

Early Collection of Students from School

We understand that there are many reasons why you might need to collect students from school early, however, we ask that you please keep these to a minimum where possible.

Our school PA system works by buildings so when an announcement is made it will be heard throughout the whole building and the closest relocatable classroom. These announcements are very disruptive especially when some days announcements are being made on numerous occasions within short periods. These disruptions have an impact on student learning.

We ask for your assistance with some strategies to assist with this matter:

• Email the teacher and the office early in the day with the time you will be collecting your child/ren so we can, hopefully, have them waiting at the office for you.
• When possible, collect your child just before recess (11 – 11:40am) or lunchtime (1:40 – 2:20pm) rather than during the middle of class times.
• Announcements for collecting children will not be made during class time. If you need to collect your child during class time please come to the office to sign your child/ren out as an early departure and then go to the classroom to collect them.

We understand there can be emergency situations, however, we hope you will give your support and enable all children to receive as much learning as possible.

School Gates and Opening Times

Our school gates open at 8:45am each day with classes commencing at 9am. School grounds can be accessed via the Edgecombe St pedestrian gate, the kindergarten ramp and the back gate at the bottom of our basketball courts. Please DO NOT use the staff car park or stairs to access the school

Accessing Compass

Compass is our main way of communicating with our families. It is important that parents access the Parental Portal in Compass at https://kynetonps.vic.jdlf.com.au  

Using our parent portal will enable you to –

• View up-to-date class and school attendance information
• Approve or enter upcoming or past absences for your son/daughter
• Update your registered email and mobile number (used for SMS alters)
• Access information regarding upcoming events and news
• Access your child’s Semester Reports
• Book your Parent/Student/Teacher conferences

We encourage families to download the Compass App and to enable notification to ensure you receive all communications.

Please click on the “Welcome to Compass” booklets for further assistance or contact the office.

Carpark Safety

We would like to address some important safety concerns regarding carpark use, and we kindly ask for your cooperation.

Kindergarten Carpark

Please do not park in the kindergarten carpark. This carpark is reserved exclusively for kindergarten families. If you have both kindergarten and school-aged children and need to park there, please ensure you use the ramp to access the school grounds.

Please also note that the large gate at the end of the kindergarten car park and the school is locked and should not be used to access the school — children should not be lifted over the gate under any circumstances.

School Carpark

The school carpark has vehicles moving in and out throughout the day. For safety reasons, we ask that pedestrians do not use the stairs near the flag poles and then walk through the carpark as a shortcut. The designated ramp or steps are to be used when entering or exiting the school.

Thank you for your support in helping keep all members of our school and kindergarten community safe.

Annual Privacy Reminder for our School Community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy can be viewed here and on our website and describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. 

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Dari
• Gujarati
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese