SWPBS Celebration Day

It was a grey Thursday morning when they started strolling past my office window. The drizzle had stopped but the ground was still damp and the smell of rain remained. First it was Batman Billy confidently making his way through the crowd that caught my eye, then Josiah the Jester jogged on by. Bella in her Butterfly wings fluttered past and Maddy the Machine Operator made her way into the office. Mini-Mouse Mia and Kaylah the Kitten were there and I am pretty sure I spotted a Monkey Faced Mason in a Mario outfit. What was going on??? This was a mystery I had to get the bottom of. You see, I am a Detective. Daniel the Detective... and I was on the case.

My first clue was the Alien... turned out it was a student named Axl dressed up. Then I discovered that Janine wasn't really a Jellyfish, she was really a human in costume. That one almost had me stumped. Once I worked that Ethan didn't really play for Essendon, he was only dressed that way, I began to put the pieces together. But something just didn't quite fit. You see Jay was a Juggler, Lou was a Lollypop Lady and Rhonda was a Roadworker... they all made sense to me, but it wasn't until I worked out Alison wasn't a goose but an Angel that everything clicked into place.

Further investigation led me to discover there was a celebration going on at Kilsyth Primary School. Apparently they were celebrating 6000 positive acknowledgments at their school. That's a heap of excellence, resilience and respect being shown by these kids. But watta I know... I am just a two-bit detective working a case. I checked in with Ella the Easter Bunny and Aleisha and Arah who were both Artists and my suspicions were confirmed. Kilsyth Primary School was having a dress up day - a Dress in the First Letter of Your Name Day to be precise. That was why there were so many strange characters in town. And a great day was had by all.

Case closed.

Universal Screening

Three times a year we undertake universal screening to ensure we are meeting the basic needs of every single one of our students. Just like a doctor checks our blood check almost every visit (just to see if we are at risk of any underlying or undiagnosed issues), a universal screener is a carefully designed tool that checks in on students to see if there are any underlying areas where there may be a risk of students not making expected growth. These screeners highlight for us which students should be making expected growth with our usual, Tier 1 universal practices, and which might require additional Tier 2 supports. This is a key strategy in our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support approach.

We use two main screeners at KPS. They are research based and provide valuable evidence to inform our teachers' planning.

Acadience Literacy and Numeracy screener: This screener provides a clear indication of a student's capacity in essential literacy and numeracy skills at their expected level, and the areas they may need targeted support to ensure maximum growth. Based on an extensively researched approach, original known as Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and coming from the University of Oregon in the USA, Acadience is an resource for our teachers to use to monitor key skills in literacy and numeracy.

Acadience Reading screens for Phonemic Awareness, Phonics skills, Accuracy and Fluency skills, Comprehension, and Vocabulary levels.
Acadience Maths screens a students capacity for Number Identification, Quantity Discrimination, Computation skills, and Concept Application and Problem Solving.

Social, Academic, and Emotional Behaviour Risk Screener (SAEBRS): The SAEBRS tool takes in both student and teacher perspectives to provide an insight into areas in which students might need additional support in their social, academic or emotional behaviours. We use this to provide additional support for our students through our Tier 1 universal SWPBS lessons, and guiding our targeted, Tier 2 additional supports for certain groups of students.

Social - Our new Wellbeing based ES team member Lou Gooding, is using the data gathered by SAEBRS to identify students who need additional supports to access and engage at a social level at school. She is working with students both in class and in the yard to support them to connect with and collaborate with their peers, develop friendships and build improved connections to school and their learning. This is more outward focused work, supporting students in understanding and getting along with others.
Academic - Our classroom based ES team draw on the SAEBRS data to identify students who benefit from targeted support in the classroom to access and engage with the curriculum. Rather than identifying content based areas, this focuses on learning behaviours such as managing distractions and productiveness during learning time.
Emotional - The emotional area of SAEBRS provides data to inform Olivia Liddicoat, our Student Wellbeing Officer and Counsellor, and supports her meeting the emotional needs. This work has more of an inward focus and supports students in understanding themselves and navigating their own feelings and responses.

Kilsyth Primary School is a Smoking and Vaping Free Zone

A reminder to all parents that Kilsyth Primary School is a smoke and vape free zone. There is no smoking or vaping on, or within 4m of, our school property. That includes the carpark at the front of the school, even on the carwash side, the carpark at the rear of school,and the paddock next to our carpark.

Whilst we encourage parents to be social and spend time chatting and 'hanging out' in the carpark, and around the school areas, at pick up and drop off time, there is to be no smoking or vaping whatsoever on school property. This ban extends to school events and parents attending excursions, and at all times, even outside of school hours.

Parents, carers, schools, and community all play an important role in protecting children and young people from, and educating them about, the harmful effects of smoking and vaping.

Research from the Royal Children’s Hospital shows many parents and carers are not aware of the harmful effects or how their views about smoking and vaping can impact the likelihood of a young person taking up smoking or vaping.

The Department of Education has developed resources to help you learn more about the health risks of smoking and vaping. The resources include advice about how to talk to children and young people about vaping, and where to get support. To access the resources, go to https://www.vic.gov.au/smoking-and-vaping-advice-parents

You can also view this video on smoking and vaping from experts at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne for health advice and tips for starting a conversation with young people.

PUBLIC HOLIDAY AND PUPIL FREE DAY

A reminder that

Monday 11th June

is a Public Holiday

and

Tuesday 12th June

is a Pupil Free Day

to allow teachers time

for professional learning.

Have a lovely long weekend

Daniel

Community Notices