Dear families and community members,

I am truly excited to be back for the start of 2024. It’s going to be a fantastic year! I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful break over the summer and I hope our students are all ready for a year of learning. We have a great deal to share in this issue of Channels.

For our new families, Channels will be published each fortnight via Compass for our school community to see what our students have been learning, activities they have been participating in, and how our students are growing to become positive contributors in the broader community.

I have seen our students already on the front foot to make the most of their days at school. Our start has seen our students settle in very well. I envisage this positive start and attitude shown by our students will continue throughout this year.

School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) Framework

Over the past year, our dedicated staff, students, and families collaborated to develop a set of core values: Respect, Responsibility, and Community. These values serve as the foundation of our school community and guide our actions, interactions, and expectations.

In alignment with our commitment to fostering a positive and supportive learning environment, we have decided to enhance the way we acknowledge and celebrate positive student behaviour. SWPBS is a framework that will bring our school community together to develop a positive, safe, and supportive learning culture.

The goal of SWPBS is to provide intrinsic rewards for positive outcomes that parallels with our college values. Based on the contributions of our students, parents/ carers, and staff, we have created a succinct behaviour matrix listing positive behaviours relating to our college values of Respect, Responsibility, and Community.

Below is a visual of our the SWPBS behaviour matrix. Included here is also a pdf version for families to print and display at home.

We will be dedicating time to explicitly teach each of the expected behaviours.

These expectations will be communicated in a positive and clear manner, with specific examples displayed in various school settings to ensure clarity for all students.

College Values

For every ten positive behaviours exhibited, students will be recognised and celebrated for their continuous efforts. Our college values will support our students to embody our unique and vibrant community at Kyabram P-12 College.

We appreciate your ongoing support and collaboration in creating a school culture that values and celebrates positive behaviour. If you have any questions or would like more information about our SWPBS framework, please feel free to reach out to us.

Hello Night

It was an excellent opportunity for our families and staff to meet and see the learning environments of our students. Thank you to all who were able to attend.

Parent/ Student/ Teacher Interviews - Thursday 29 February

Later this term, there will be another opportunity for families to learn how their students are progressing at school. We will have our Parent/ Student/ Teacher Interviews on Thursday 29 February. Further details will be provided to families in our next issue of Channels.

Meet our College Staff Leaders

We have many familiar faces continuing in our leadership team this year along with some new faces and new roles.

Billy Barnes, Assistant Principal (Years P-6) will lead our Education Subcommittee of College Council.
Mitch Coombs, Assistant Principal (Years 7-12) will lead the Buildings & Grounds Subcommittee of College Council.
Jan Prior continues as Business Manager.
Madeline Halstead is new to our school and will lead our Applied Learning Leader at Years 10-12.
Bianca Reidy continues to oversee Inclusive Learning across Years P-12.
Doreen Smider remains as Learning Community Leader of Years P-2.
Shelley Leahy also remains as Learning Community Leader of Years 3-4.
Brad Mellington has moved from the senior school to become our Years 5-6 Learning Community Leader.
Anna Fitzgerald and Claire Bourke will co-lead the Years 7-8 Learning Community whilst Fiona Wallace takes up the Acting Principal role at Stanhope Primary School for Term 1.
Kerry Gannon is welcomed back from leave to be our Learning Community Leader at Years 9-10.
Louise Mellington is our Learning Community Leader at Years 11-12.
Rod Alley is welcomed to the college this year to join us as the Learning Specialist Coach at Years P-6.
Sonia Layton will continue as Learning Specialist Coach and work with our Years 7-12 teachers.
Kaitlyn Souter has taken on the role of Student Engagement Leader P-12. This role will see Kaitlyn lead a teach of staff to reinvigorate lunchtime activities, expand the student leadership program and allow students to have a greater say with their learning.
Natalie Parkinson continues as our Teaching and Learning Leader of Years P-6.
Rowena Morris also continues as our Teaching and Learning Leader of Years 7-12.
Karli Myers continues in her leadership role as Wellbeing Leader across Years P-12.

We greet our new and returning staff

We are lucky to have the following people join/ return to our school:

JOSH BERRY is a former student will be joining the ‘Gears for Careers’ Team at the College.
ROD ALLEY, our new Learning Specialist Coach (P-6) will join the Years 5-6 Learning Community. He is no stranger to our P-12 culture, a past staff member of Dawes Road PS.
MADELINE HALSTEAD, Applied Learning Leader, was with us in this space previously. She had moved to Bendigo for several years. We’re very lucky to have her back.
ARCHER GUINAN, Sports Assistant, is a keen supporter of ours. He completed several placements over the past year. A SEDA student who will work with us part time.
CHRIS FALVEY, a wealth of knowledge in Applied Learning and Digitech spaces, most recently from Nathalia.
GRACE JACKSON-KIGHTLY will join us in early March as our Mental Health Practitioner and will work within the Wellbeing Team.
REBECCA LARCOMBE joins us from Toolamba PS and will be a team member of the Learning Community at Years P-2.
KATE MATTHEWS is also welcomed back to join our 3/ 4 Learning Community and will teach P-2 Inquiry.
KATHERINE SINCLAIR-SMITH joins us from the sunshine state and will be part of the 7-9 Maths and Science Team.
THEMBA NDLOVU is welcomed from South Africa to teach Years 7-10 Maths and Science.
BRAD COLLIVER, an experienced electrician, is our most recent addition to staff teaching Years 7-10 Technology.
KERRY GANNON returns from family leave to teach Years 7-12 Health and PE as well as lead the Years 9-10 Learning Community.
CLAIRE WARREN also returns from family leave to teach instrumental music.
TESSA HUBBARD returns from family leave as well to teach Years 7-12 Science and Psychology.

We promote the value of community through building relationships with our families.

I encourage families to get to know their learning community teams and feel confident to contact the relevant staff as we progress throughout the year.

We have also announced and celebrated the appointments of our student House Captains. They were introduced at our P-6 and 7-12 assemblies. Their first task was running the House meetings in preparation for our Swimming Carnival.

We will share more information in our next issue on how everything went at these events.

Our New Buildings and Facilities

We are open! Our new buildings, being the Wellbeing Hub, Library, Canteen, Staffroom, and Administration, are all open and operational. We continue to have the temporary fencing up around some parts of the buildings whilst the paths and driveway at the front entrance are constructed, our students have adapted very well and are accessing the facilities as they need. We thank our students and our families for accommodating the final stages of external construction. The landscaping designs are being drafted and plans are commencing soon.

Being a proud Kyabram P-12 College student

What better way to start the year than to attend school each day, arriving on time and correctly equipped. We want to set our students up for success.

A great way for our students to demonstrate they want to be at our school is to wear the full school uniform correctly and proudly.

Being ready to learn means to walk into class, actively listen to the instructions and engage in the learning.

For any families that would like support with equipment and/ or uniform, I encourage them to contact our college to find our more information on what is available.

Mobile phones are to be kept in lockers or in bags so that they are not a distraction at all. Students have been reminded of our Mobile Phones Policy in assemblies.

Students learn when they are at school. Attendance is important. We ask our students to aim for at least 90 % attendance at school. For any absences, we encourage families to seek a medical certificate.

Travelling on the bus is also key for setting up and finishing up the school day.

Everyone wants to feel safe and even welcomed by others when travelling on the bus. Please ensure you are aware of the conditions of travelling on the bus both to and from school.

On behalf of the staff at Kyabram P-12 College, thank you for making our college your first choice to provide your child an excellent education. It is going to be a marvellous year.

Marina Walsh

Acting College Principal

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