Principal's Report
Rosemary Cosentino
A message from the Principal
WELCOME BACK
As this is our first newsletter for Term 3, I extend a warm welcome back to staff, students and parents. Term 3 is jam packed with wonderful learning opportunities to cultivate a great teaching and learning environment.
PARENT OPINION SURVEY
WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK
Kingswood is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The survey is offered every year by the Department and is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents. The survey assists our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of school climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future planning and improvement strategies. The survey is online and only takes 15 minutes to complete. You can access the survey via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile. This is a change to previous years where parents responded to a paper questionnaire.
If you have been selected to participate in the 2017 Parent Opinion Survey we encourage you to take the time to complete the survey as honestly as possible. Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential. A survey link will be emailed to selected participants on Monday 7th August.
Staff and School Council discuss survey results, which will contribute to the future management and organisation of our school. Last year and for the past few years, our results when compared to other schools in the state, have been disappointing. In fact, our school results indicate that in some aspects of the school we are in the low 25 percentile and below the state average. These results do not correlate with the Student or Staff Opinion surveys, where in both cases, we are in the top 80-95% of the state. Our enrolments indicated that we are the preferred school in the Dingley Village. I ask why any parent would want to send their child to a school perceived to be in the low 25 percentile of the state. I know I would not send my grandchildren to a school that rates so poorly. As the principal of this school for the past 13 years, I have seen it grow and develop into the school that it is today: Kingswood is a great school that builds the foundation that makes a positive difference in the life of each student.
Our facilities are great, we have a vast selection of programs for the students, academic results are above the state, and our teachers are dedicated and want what is best for their students. So why do our results show that we are in the lowest quartile when compared to other schools in the state? One possible explanation is that when we look closely at the data, the majority of parents have responded with a five, on a scale of one to seven. A five is an above average score. When we compare our parents’ perceptions with all schools in Victoria, parents from other schools rated the same response in the high 6’s or 7’s. If we deserve a low response then tell us, if we deserve a high response then tell us too, but do not sit in the middle. Even the above average score (5) drags the results down.
Last year we used the survey results to plan for a stronger emphasis on community engagement by establishing a community engagement task force. This task force has developed a strategic plan exploring how we can better inform, consult, involve and collaborate with our community. We regularly seek feedback from parents via short surveys; we encourage two-way communication between staff and parents, and we take parents’ concerns seriously. We are also reviewing our reporting system by conducting staff, student and parent forums. Next year the school will have a new reporting system that we believe will better meet the needs of our parents.
2016 survey results can be seen in the following document.
Q & A WITH THE PRINCIPAL
At Kingswood we engage our community. A strong partnership between home and school delivers the best schooling experience for the students, parents and teachers.
Our next Q & A forum is on Monday 28th August at 7:00pm. It is an opportunity for parents to ask questions and to hear an update from the principal class; our focus is a review of the 1:1 Ipad program and if time permits, we will look at the Student Opinion and Resilience survey results.
Protocols for the forum include the following:
- Questions submitted in writing no later than 4:00pm on Friday 25th August.
- Questions can be emailed to Rosemary Cosentino via Compass or sent to the school office
CURRICULUM DAY
FRIDAY AUGUST 11th – NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Parents please note that students will not attend school on Friday August 11th. This can be an opportunity of having a long weekend with the family. On Curriculum Day, Kingswood is hosting a state-wide STEAM Conference. Our team of forward thinking teachers have planned an exciting and innovative program for 2017; the conference highlights our school facilities and innovative programs.
CONDOLENCES
We were saddened to hear about the passing of Lucie Hill’s mother last week. Lucie is our school library technician, as well as being a past parent of Kingswood (Stefanie, Andrew and Michael). Condolences to the family.