Assistant Principal
Patrick Halpin
Assistant Principal
Student Scholarships
The Department of Education and Training are offering scholarships to families to help with the cost of education.
They are offered on:
- Financial needs or difficulties
- School results
- School and community activities the child participates in.
Click here for more information on the scholarships and how to apply.
November Reading
I came across a recent report published by the University of Notre Dame in Australia.
5 Action Areas are identified:
- Safety, security, love and belonging
- Healthy eating and drinking
- Active play
- Healthy sleep
- Positive screen time
I speak to children and parents everyday about screen time. The advice contained in this report is that electronic media for entertainment should be limited to no more than two hours per day. This includes watching television, YouTube, Netflix as well as gaming apps. Screen time should also be broken up by movement and human interaction.
I encourage every parent to have a read through the report in full – it is especially relevant now that the weather is improving and we have more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.
Snapshot Survey
We had 132 responses to last month’s snapshot survey on school attendance. Your feedback will be very helpful as the Wellbeing Team reviews our procedures in relation to attendance.
Over 90% of parents report that school has either ‘a lot’ or ‘100%’ impact on their children’s academic achievement, 89% for social/emotional development and 65% for physical development. This indicates that the parent community value schooling and are aware of the influence school has on the children’s overall development.
61% of respondents say that they would not allow their child to stay home if they didn’t feel like going and 36% would only allow it in extreme circumstances; 83% would at least consider allowing their child to stay home if they are feeling unwell.
The data for family holidays is a little less clear. There is a large number of families who would allow their children to miss school for a family holiday. There is a big argument for taking children on holidays and experiencing different cultures, extending a weekend to attend a family event that requires some travel, etc. I would like to acknowledge, however, that if students miss school for these reasons their academic progress, social development and emotional stability at school will be impacted. It is up to parents to decide how to balance these expectations and challenges but from a wellbeing point of view, I spend a significant amount of time supporting students through social challenges after they have missed time from school due to family holidays. In fact, my experience has shown me that if a child goes on a 2 week holiday, it takes them roughly 2 weeks to settle back to school. When a child travels for 6 weeks, it will take them up to 6 weeks to completely settle and catch up with their social groups again. This can be very difficult for children and families and should be considered as you begin to plan your activities for 2020.
I will do some more analysis of the data over the summer holidays, which will provide good baseline data as we begin our journey on improving attendance through 2020. I am grateful for the ideas that people provided and look forward to working with our new Student Leaders for Wellbeing on this important issue.
Stay Safe
As we approach the end of term and the school holidays, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very pleasant and safe summer break. This long break provides a great opportunity to spend time together as a family, enjoy the good weather and possibly get away for a holiday. However you spend the break, I hope you and your child(ren) get lots of rest and I look forward to seeing you all again at the end of January.
The very best of luck to all of our families who are moving to new school communities (be that other primary schools or the Year 6 students who are moving into secondary school). We hope it is a very successful transition for you all and look forward to hearing about your adventures.
Finally, to the staff of Kingswood: I want to remind you how amazing I think you are. Term 4 always provides us with a busy end to a busy year so I hope you have some time over the next few weeks to reflect on the wins you have had throughout 2019. We finish this year with almost 650 students who are a year older, a year wiser and a year more independent, resilient and ready to take on the challenges that life throws at us and you have contributed largely to that progress. I hope you have a lovely summer break and get some time to spend with your own children and families. To those who won’t be returning to Kingswood in 2020, I look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.