Dear Karoo PS Community,

What a wonderful and supportive community we have at Karoo Primary School! It has been such a joy filled fortnight of celebrations and gratitude - from the excitement of our KPS Colour Run 2026, to taking time to appreciate and thank the mothers and special women in our lives, as well as our exceptional Education Support staff.

A heartfelt thank you to our entire school community for the way we continue to work together with such positivity, care, and generosity. It is this strong sense of connection that makes Karoo PS such a special place to learn, grow and thrive!

Communication @ Karoo PS

To continue to improve our connection with our school community, in 2025, we invited our school community to participate in a communication survey to gather valuable feedback about our communication pathways. The aim was to identify what is working well, and where we can improve.

In the survey, you told us:

🔹 You want communication that is clear, timely, and easy to access: Many families shared that they were checking multiple posts to stay up to date. Streamlining communication days and having clear subject lines, bullet points, and actions were identified as helpful improvements.

🔹 It’s not always clear what is important or requires action: Families noted that at times it can be difficult to identify key messages, due to repetition across posts or inconsistent timing.

🔹 Most families rely on Compass and Seesaw: These were identified as the primary platforms used regularly by families. Facebook and printed notes were used by some, but less consistently.

🔹 You’re not asking for more communication, just clearer communication: Overall, families expressed that they are not seeking more messages, but rather communication that is more consistent, streamlined, and predictable.

Therefore, in 2026 we have been working on:

📌 Clearer message structure:

We reviewed our weekly class posts and refined them to include consistent formatting and clear headings across the school. This communication commenced at the start of this year.
We are committing to continuing to refine our compass posts to include clear subject lines, dot points and any actions clearly outlined.
Launched Year Level Representatives and WhatApp groups to support between family communication, questions and information sharing.

📅 Improved consistency:

We are launching Tuesdays and Thursdays as our main designated Compass post days. Therefore, families can know to expect key updates on these days.

🎯 Focus on quality over quantity:

Our fortnightly newsletter is our central source of key school information. Families are encouraged to refer to this a primary communication pathway. As a result, we aim to reduce duplication of messages on separate Compass posts.

📲 Platform clarity:

We have reviewed all communication pathways across the school and developed the KPS Communication Overview outlining what platforms are used, why they are used, and when to expect information.
Please find the launch of the 'KPS Communication Overview' below for your reference.

Karoo PS Colour Run 2026

What an incredible afternoon at our KPS Colour Run! On Friday 1st May, our amazing students from Foundation to Grade 6, along with our wider school community, had an absolute blast taking part in this vibrant and exciting event. From colourful obstacle courses and bubbles to inflatable rings, pool noodles, powder stations, and even water sprays from a fire truck - the fun never stopped!

A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful school community for helping make this such a memorable experience for our students. Your enthusiasm, generosity, and support throughout our fundraising efforts have been truly overwhelming. Thanks to everyone’s contributions, we have now raised an incredible $20,996.31! WOW! What a fantastic achievement by our whole school community. This success is only possible when we work together. Thank you to our school community for believing in our wonderful school and what we are working on achieving together in creating a learning environment in which our students can thrive!

Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, donated, and supported this fantastic event. The Colour Run was a wonderful celebration of fun, teamwork, and community spirit, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. A HUGE congratulations to all of our prize winners and class incentive winners on their fantastic efforts!

To help commemorate the 2026 Colour Run, every Karoo Primary School student and staff member has received a special KPS Colour Run 2026 Shoe Charm - a wonderful keepsake to remember such an exciting and successful event.

We would also like to extend a warm thank you to our generous sponsors, Ray White Ferntree Gully and Mary Doyle, for their valued support of our school community. During the Colour Run, both Sam from Ray White and Mary hosted special competitions for our students to enjoy.

The winners of the Ray White canteen voucher competition will receive their prizes this week, and the winners of Mary Doyle’s “Guess the Lollies in the Jar” competition will be announced at our Open Afternoon Assembly on Wednesday 20th May at 2:50pm.

Mother's and Other's Celebration

Our Mother's and Other's Day event could not have happened without the support of our Karoo Parents Association (KPA) and support team. Therefore, I would like to warmly thank our volunteers who coordinated and ran our 'Mother's and Other's' stall last week.

Mother's and Other's Day Stall

Alison Thomason

Rhi Fogel

Lauren Byrdy

Elaine Harris

Sarah Elliott

Kara Fogel

Zoe Kusic

Serryn Byrant

Holly Gardner

I would also like to thank our KPA team and staff team who coordinated our Mother's and Other's breakfast event and morning in classrooms. Such a sensational morning!

Mother's and Other's Breakfast

Rhi Fogel

Nicole Shingles

Chris Shingles

Sarah Elliott

Rob Elliott

Alison Thomason

Bree Van Den Bosch

Carmen Nayagar

Mother's Day Morning Activities

Karla Markovic - coordinator

All staff in making the morning a special one!

Educational Support Appreciation Day @ Karoo PS

On Thursday 14th May, we proudly celebrated our incredible Educational Support Staff at Karoo Primary School. We are so grateful for the positive impact that they make across our school community and thank them deeply for all that they do!

Our students showed their appreciation by creating thoughtful handmade cards filled with kind messages and gratitude. Our ES Staff also enjoyed a special lunch, while the KPA generously provided beautiful gifts to thank them for the care, dedication and support they give our students every single day.

Education Week Celebrations - Next Week

We are looking forward to celebrating Education Week with an open afternoon, on Wednesday 20th May from 2:50 - 4:30pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to join us to celebrate World Maths Day at a whole school assembly and to visit your child's classrooms and see learning on show in our Maths Reflection journals.

On the evening of our Open Afternoon, we will also be holding our 2027 Foundation Discovery Night from 5-6pm. At this evening, we invite prospective 2027 Foundation families to come and discover our wonderful school. If you are or know families who are interested in discovering more about Karoo PS, please encourage them to contact the school to book their place.

I look forward to seeing you all around our sensational school.

Courtney Hoffmann

Principal

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