Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Thank you working with us during another term full of events, activities, and learning. When we work together, we reap the rewards of student learning and improved outcomes together.

Staffing Update

It has been another busy term of moving parts for students with staffing. We recently welcomed new staff members Jasmin Dykstra and Alana Lazzarini. Jasmin is teaching English (Y7-9) and Year 9 Global Citizenship. She has taken on most of Fiona Wallace’s classes whilst Fiona continues to be the Acting Principal at Stanhope Primary School. Fiona will be at Stanhope for the rest of this year.

With the larger classes at Years 7 and 8 this term, Alana is supporting these classes during various practical classes including Physical Education, Science, and Technology.

With Fiona leaving, this has provided the opportunity for Renee Howell to step into the role of Acting Learning Community Leader at Years 7 and 8, which in turn resulted in picking up a Year 7 Science class. Claire Bourke moved to coordinate the Year 9 students. With Claire’s move to Year 9 Coordination, Jasmin Dykstra is teaching Year 9 Global Citizenship, as mentioned previously.

At the end of last week, Friday 13 September, we wished Ria Boutcher all the best as she takes family leave. She will be dearly missed by our students and staff alike. We look forward to hearing from Ria and upon her return in late 2025.

Another staff member we will sadly see depart at the end of this term is our Youth Worker, Tony Greely. Tony and his family will be moving to the Northern Territory for a new experience and an exciting opportunity. Tony will continue to work with students in a school setting in wellbeing. Tony will also be missed greatly by all our Kyabram P-12 College. We wish him the very best with it all.

We have had several casual relief teachers (CRTs) who have worked closely with our teachers to deliver purposeful and targeted curriculum to our students. We will see more CRTs join us in Term 4 to ensure we can continue to cater to our students and develop a viable curriculum.

School Review

This term, we commenced our preparation for our School Review. Each school holds their review every four years. Our college will be running its review in early Term 4 where will hear from students, parents/ carers, and staff about many aspects of the school. Our Reviewer has been allocated, our Challenge Partners selected, and we will be asking parents and carers to also take part.

Recently, our staff participated in a workshop where they were presented with key datasets relating to our School Strategic Plan and then they identified their top highlights over the past four years. This was a wonderful session to witness. Having only joined the college at the beginning of last year, it was terrific to hear the numerous highlights they were able to quickly and easily recall. Our parents and carers had their opportunity to see the data as well and then they told us what they believe are our highlights. Whilst we didn’t have many parents and carers present for the session, we believe you will agree with the list they selected.

Four our review, we are allowed to list a maximum of four highlights for the past four years. To enable us to include as much as we could, some themes were combined. Our four highlights for 2021 – 2024 are:

1. Camps

This includes year level camps and subject-specific camps each year across P-12, such as Year 11 Tertiary Experience Camp, Outdoor Education Camps, Duke of Edinburgh Camp, Year 7 Orientation Camp, Year 8 Camp, Year 5/ 6 Canberra Camp, Year 3/ 4 Melbourne Camp, just to name a few!

2. Extended transition programs

Strong transition going into Prep, from Year 6 into 7, and into the Senior Years. These include Prep Playtime, Year 6 Yard Pass Initiative, Flying Start Program for Years 7-11 moving into the following year, additional transition days to support any students that need it on top of our end of year transition program, multiple days at each year level in P-6 during Term 4, and Post-Compulsory Transitions.

3. Community Events

Where our students supported and/ or worked with our local community such as KCLC Community Garden, Annual ANZAC Day, and Lone Pine and Remembrance Day Services, Year 3-6 Community Connection projects, and the Run for Rochy/ Splash and Dash Colour Run.

4. Whole College Events, Wellbeing Support and Connection, and Disability Inclusion Program.

We cater to our students’ needs and provide support. This has included our Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Breakfasts and Stalls, Years 3-12 Swimming Carnival, Years P-12 Athletics Carnival, our new Wellbeing and Inclusion Hub, Capital Works Project, Whole College Wellbeing and Inclusion Days (e.g., Inclusion and Diversity Day, R U OK? Day, Bravehearts Day, Superhero Day, etc.).

In Term 4, as part of our whole school review, our college will participate in five days of interviews, observations and discussions. A team of visitors will be asking our parents/ carers, students and staff for their feedback. I ask all parents and carers to note the following dates and encourage participation in the review. The five days will run on the following dates:

Week 2

Monday 14/10/2024

Validation Day

- Nine classes across the college (P-12) that will randomly be selected to be observed.

- A focus group meeting will be run with a sample of students from Years 11 and 12.

Week 2

Friday 18/10/2024

Field Day 1

- We ask for parents and carers across P-12 to join us for a focus group discussion.

- P-6 classes will be observed.

- P-6 focus groups will run in Learning Communities.

- A sample of Literacy & Numeracy blocks (P-6) will be observed.

Week 5

Wednesday 06/11/2024

Field Day 2

- Focus groups with teachers of each Y7-12 Learning Areas will operate.

- Discussions had about how we operate in the Senior Years and Careers/ Pathways.

Week 6

Monday 11/11/2024

Field Day 3

- Various English and Mathematics classes will be observed across Y7-10.

- We will run student focus groups at Y7-8 and Y9-10.

Week 6

Tuesday 12/11/2024

Panel Day

- This will be the final day where we will discuss where we are at currently.

- We will then look to identify areas of focus, develop goals, and set target for the next four years. These will then inform our new four-year School Strategic Plan.

If you would like to participate in our Parent/ Carers Focus group on Friday 18 October, please email kyabram.p12@education.vic.gov.au or call 5851 2100 and speak to Janine. The session will go for about one hour in the morning. I encourage you to attend.

Representing Kyabram P-12 College – Our Uniform

We have been very impressed by our students and families with how students have correctly worn their uniforms. We have reached out to families that need support with their uniform and believe we have provided items of clothing that their students need.

In Term 4, we will see the return of students wearing hats outside again. As a SunSmart school, we expect all students to wear their hats each time they go outside. If you would like support with getting a new hat and/ or any other item of uniform, please contact the college on 5851 2100.

We will also be reviewing our college uniform. We have started by asking our students to complete a short survey about the uniform. They have been asked about what aspects of the uniform they think is comfortable and uncomfortable/ impractical as well as whether they feel the uniform is flexible enough with the weather conditions throughout the year. Finally, they were asked for their suggestions for the future. We will be asking parents and carers for their opinions and feedback in early Term 4.

We will have another uniform blitz at the beginning of Term 4. I would like to remind our students to please ensure you wear your uniform correctly. Be proud to be a Kyabram P-12 College student.

Lots more events!

It has been a terrific term filled with events and activities for our students, especially over the past two weeks. Some highlights include:

We had R U OK? Day on Thursday 12 September, a great day had by all with activities for young and old, including a dance off and dodgeball, and a free sausage sizzle to cap it off. You will see further information about R U OK? Day later in this issue of Channels. I’m sure you will enjoy the photos. Thank you to Ms Karli Myers and the Wellbeing Team for their work in running the day. Any day is a good day to ask are you okay.

As our Year 12 students finish off final assessments, they had a fun, theme week last week where they had something different each day such as crazy hair, crazy socks, and dress up as a staff member. They also had a netball game against the staff on Wednesday 11 September. The Staff versus Students Netball started with a very fast pace by our staff in the first quarter. Our student came back strong in the second quarter. The result at the end was close seeing the staff hold the win. Well done to all involved and thank you to Ms Ali Farrell, along with others, for her work in supporting and preparing the week for the students.

Interschool Athletics ran on Monday 9 September for our secondary students and on Monday 16 September for our primary students. Lots of students involved and excellent participation by all. Thank you to the team of staff that supported these events.

Practice exams for our Year 12 students who are sitting exams at the end of this year took place this week. It is very timely to have these practice exams prior to the holidays to give students a good idea of how it will be at the end of the year. Focus on timing and building the stamina would have been rehearsed throughout the year, yet this was a focused three days of exams which replicated the real program. The students were also able to work through the solutions to questions in the last couple of days to help with their knowledge base as they move into this two-week break from classes. It will be a great opportunity to focus on their strengths and areas for improvement.

On behalf of the college, thank you for your ongoing support and participation with the college. All the best over the two-week break from classes.

Marina Walsh

College Principal

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