Welcome to 2019

Welcome to the 2019 school year!

What a fabulous start we have had. Our Foundation students have made a terrific start to school life, and are now attending full days. We are so pleased to have them join our school community! Check out the photo wall in the main corridor so you can familiarise yourselves with our newest students!

Welcome also to Alex, Abraham,Bridget ,Philip, and Beau who also joined us this year (but not in Foundation). We are thrilled you have joined us and it is great to see you settling in so quickly and making friends. Great work!

I would also like to welcome three new staff members to our school:

Mrs Kathy Barley - has joined our Middle School team, teaching Middle B. Mrs Barley comes with extensive experience and a great skill set that complements the Middle School team perfectly. Welcome Kathy!
Mr Jacob Wright - is teaching Physical Education across the school. When he is not teaching PE, Mr Wright is teaching literacy and numeracy in the Senior School. A very flexible teacher! Great to have you on board Jacob!
Miss Ellen Morton - will be teaching here on Fridays. Every second week, Miss Morton will be teaching Senior A, and on alternate weeks she will be working across the school to make sure we are ready for an AMAZING school production later in the year. Looking forward to a great year Ellen!

Please join me in welcoming these people to our school. We have such a great community here!

Setting our Direction

Our staff and I have been working to set a clear direction for our school this year. In 2019 we will continue our work to improve student learning outcomes through promoting academic rigour in our classrooms and ensuring all teachers follow our Whole School Instructional Model in Literacy and Numeracy. We will also be furthering our work in School Wide Positive Behaviour Support, that we made such progress in last year, as we create positive climate for learning at KPS.

We will continue to strive to uphold our school motto - Be the Best You Can Be! - and will be setting, pursuing and maintaining high expectations of ourselves and our students.

I will be writing a little more each newsletter to keep you informed about the great work we are doing here at Kilsyth Primary School!

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

Last year we shared with parents the extensive work we were doing in establishing a School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support approach at KPS. Please take a moment to stop by the notice board in the corridor, next to our 'Be the Best You Can Be Tree' to familiarise yourself with this approach and the benefits for you and for your child.

The SWPBS approach is built upon our school values of EXCELLENCE, RESILIENCE and RESPECT. These are the cornerstone to the culture and climate we are striving for. We have developed a 'Behaviour Matrix' that outlines clearly the types of behaviours we as a school community expect to see if we are all demonstrating EXCELLENCE, RESILIENCE and RESPECT. The behaviours in the matrix were developed by our students and staff collaboratively. We work collaboratively in SWPBS.

The matrix describes the types of behaviours we expect to see in various places within our school. We have described the expectations in the YARD, the LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, when in the TOILETS and when we are MOVING AROUND inside. We have also described the expectations of SELF and working with OTHERS and the types of things we should ALWAYS be doing to show our values.

I realise this image may be too small to read here, however you are welcome to come and view fullsize versions on display around the school.

Appropriate Language at School

A focus for term one is working closely with our students to ensure we are all using appropriate language at school, and we would love your help.

Young people are sponges when it comes to language development. They repeat what they hear. We have to be very careful what they hear, and how they respond when they hear something inappropriate.

Can I please encourage you to have a conversation with your child about inappropriate language, such as swearing and using insults, and your expectations of them to use respectful language. We as a school staff will be extra vigilant about the type of language being used in the yard at our school. We will be reminding students of our high expectations about using RESPECTFUL language at all times. Students using inappropriate language will be asked to spend some time with a staff member discussing how they can use RESPECTFUL language.

We know that behaviour ignored is behaviour condoned. We do not condone bad language at KPS. We will not ignore it.

We do realise there are times when things 'slip out' of our mouths at the wrong time and we may not have used the best choice of words. A key strategy we are using to support our students when they see or hear something disrespectful is to STOP, WALK and TALK. I encourage you to please talk with your child at home about this routine and help them see that they have a power to act when the see disrespect. We as a community are able to set the expectations. Even the youngest members of our community can politely and assertively reinforce these expectations.

Get Online...

Are you on Sentral?

Much of our communication with parents regarding absences, permission slips, reporting on academic progress and other administrative matters is made through Sentral. If you are not yet actively using this service please contact the office for support in getting set up.

How about Flexibuzz?

We use flexibuzz for general reminders and key information parents need for day-to-day school matters. You will need to update which classes you receive flexibuzz notifications for.

Have you seen our website lately?

Our school website, www.kilsythps.vic.edu.au is actively maintained and provides parents with access to notices and school policies and range of useful links and info about our school.

Do you follow us on Facebook?

We regularly post about our celebrations and big events on our Facebook page. It's a great way to share with family and friends the wonderful things that happen at our school!

School Council Elections

We have a great school council here at Kilsyth Primary School. A group of commited parents, staff and community members who take on the responsibility of governing the school.

At the beginning of each year we call for nominations and hold an election for new School Council Members. The term for membership is 2 years. This year we have 2 parent positions open for nomination.

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

The most obvious way is to become involved is to vote in the elections. However, a ballot will only be held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant.

I encourage you to seriously consider standing for election as a member of the school council or encouraging another person to stand for election. You can read more about the process on the DET Website.

A notice board has been put up outside the General Office and has an overview of the process and nomination forms available for parents. The nomination forms can also be downloaded here:

School Council Election Timeline

Thursday 7/2/2019 -Notice of election and call for nominations
Friday 15/2/2019 - Closing date for nominations
Monday 18/2/2019 - list of candidates and nominators will be posted and Ballot papers distributed (if election required)
Monday 25/2/2019 - Ballot closes (if required)
Tuesday 26/2/2019 - Outcome announced

Getting to and from school - safely

So many of our students do a fantastic job at safely getting to and from school each day.

Thank you to those who arrive between 8.45am and 8.55am. You are here ready to learn when classes start promptly at 9am. Great job!

I know that many of our students walk to and from school each day. It is such great exercise to walk if you can, and the safest way to do that is to walk on the footpaths and cross at the supervised crossings.

There were a small number of incidents last year when students crossed the road at inappropriate and unsafe places. This caused some serious concern for drivers and other members of our community who are very worried about the safety of our students. I encourage all parents to remind your children about road safety rules.

Sometimes students arrive at our school well before 8.45am, or remain at school after 3.45pm. Our staff are on duty, supervising the yard, only between these times. Students are not supervised before 8.45am or after 3.45pm as staff are often involved in meetings or other activities at these times. Students should not be at school at these times unless they are with a parent or guardian, or participating in before or after school care with Camp Australia. I understand that from time to time situations arise and parents are unable to drop off or pick up their children within these times. If a student is unsupervised in the yard before 8.45am or after 3.45pm, they will be escorted to Camp Australia and will join the program for the day. Camp Australia will then contact parents to arrange payment for the supervision provided.

(BTW: It is a good idea to register with Camp Australia, just in case...

Families can register for free at https://pp.campaustralia.com.au/account/register-contacts)

Just a reminder that before and after school the area behind between the Main building, the Senior building and the Hall will be supervised. All other areas of the school will be out of bounds and students should remain in the supervised area unless under the care of a parent or guardian.

LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT YEAR!!

So many great things to come at KPS in 2019!!

Community Notices

Whats Happeneing