Assistant Principal's report

National Volunteer Week

It's not an exaggeration to say that Kalinda Primary School would absolutely not be the same without the volunteers who make our community thrive. Parents who visit to help in the classroom (either regularly or as a one off special visit), family members who help in our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen, friends and family who attend working bees or pitch in for one off maintenance jobs, our absolutely amazing Parents and Friends Committee, or those who offer their skills in costume making, furniture moving, sport coaching...the list goes on and on. Thank you so much for the time that you give to our community, whether big or small. On a personal note I hope that volunteering your time is as rewarding and bucket-filling for you as it is for us! 

 'Experiencing' school at Kalinda

I've been reflecting lately on how lucky we are to boast an amazing staff of motivated, enthusiastic and creative educators who are continually working on ways to build the 'experience' of education beyond Maths and Literacy. There is so much quality teaching and learning that happens during class time, but our staff never hesitate to also broaden children's experiences with engaging community activities as well. 

We know from our work in this area that life experience plays a big part in a student's growth in Literacy and Numeracy (what is learning if it cannot be applied?!) and I'm so grateful that our staff are constantly looking for ways to bring our community together and engage students in interesting experiences. We have only had around 16 weeks at school and already we've had wonderful opportunities like Open Classrooms, Teddy Bear Picnic, excursions, Mother's Day Breakfast, buddy activities, family performing arts lessons, Hot Cross Bun morning tea, Inter-School Sport, incursions, special visitors, State School Spectacular rehearsals and much more more. Coming up this term we also have other excursions, special dress-up days, STEM expo, incursions and Grade 1/2 Grandparents afternoon to look forward to. 

Year 7 Parent survey 

We recently contacted all recent graduates and their families and have been so pleased to see so many students and parents contribute. Thank you for your responses. The survey will be open until 31st May and is providing us with great feedback to reflect on how we prepare our students for secondary school. 

Reporting to Parents

This article has been reprinted for your information.

In the last 18 months, we have successfully launched the use of the Continuum in Compass as a way of tracking student progress against the Victorian Curriculum. This means that at any time during the year, parents can log on and see what growth their child has made against specific curriculum areas. This continuum is updated for your child throughout the year, most commonly you will see the greatest changes made in Terms 2 and 4 when a lot of our summative assessment takes place. 

The Compass Continuum is found on your child's Compass page (via web browser not app) by following these steps: Profile --> Analytics --> Continuum --> Mathematics or English

This continuum is complemented by:

• Twice yearly Parent Teacher Interviews (end of Terms 1 and 3)
• Twice yearly written reports (end of Terms 2 and 4)
• A commitment to 'no surprises' - where teaching staff ensure they are in regular contact with families if there are any areas in which their child is making no or little progress.

With these systems now in place, together with our commitment to differentiated and targeted teaching, we will no longer be publishing Individual Education Plans (IEP) for students who are 12 months below or 18 months ahead of the expected curriculum level. The very specific and targeted information provided in the Continuum, together with the processes above - replaces the need for these documents. 

Students with significant learning concerns (especially those who are funded by DET under the Program for Students with Disability, or the Disability Inclusion program), will continue to receive a lengthier more targeted IEP that is co-created with parents and specialists.

Take care Kalinda, you matter to me. 

Lauren Hopkins

We are kind. We are resilient. We are respectful.