Principal's Message to the School Community
Dear Parents / Caregivers / Guardians,
Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. The survey, offered by the Department of Education, is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.
Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. The department will use the results from the survey for research purposes and to improve outcomes for students.
The survey will be conducted online and only takes 20 minutes to complete. It can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.
The survey is available in English and 10 other languages: Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. If you require assistance in another language, resources may be available for you. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school if you require assistance in another language.
The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 18 August to Friday 19 September 2025.
To complete the survey, simply:
1. Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.
https://research.orima.com/parent
2. Select the School and Campus name below.
School Name: Kyneton Primary School
Campus Name: Kyneton Primary School
3. Enter the School PIN below.
PIN: 701800
4. When complete, please click on the ‘Submit’ button at the end of the survey to submit your answers.Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity. PLEASE NOTE: Only one parent / caregiver / guardian from your household is invited to complete the survey on behalf of the student’s family.
To protect your responses, please DO NOT share the survey link and PIN with others, or on a public website, forum or similar.
Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential
The survey is conducted anonymously, and it is important to our school that you complete the survey as honestly as possible.
ORIMA Research, a private research company, is conducting this survey on behalf of the Department of Education. ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has not been and will not be provided with the contact details, names or any other personal identifying information about the parents / caregivers / guardians invited to complete the survey.
The department, the survey supplier (ORIMA Research) and the school can never personally identify you, or see your responses linked with the PIN.
The department and ORIMA protect your responses in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic). ORIMA Research also adheres to the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021, as well as relevant State and Territory legislation. For more information, please visit ORIMA’s Privacy Policy here: http://www.orima.com.au/home/privacy-policy and the department’s Schools' Privacy Policy here: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx.
Questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any general queries about the survey. For specific technical or participation-related queries, you may also contact the department or the supplier administering the survey, ORIMA Research.
Should you have any technical queries regarding the survey, or questions regarding the privacy and confidentiality of your survey responses, please do not hesitate to contact ORIMA Research on 1800 654 585 (toll-free during business hours), or by email: pos@orima.com.
Should you have any participation or survey-related queries, please contact the school, or the department by email: school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au
School Council President’s Report – July meeting
Dear KPS Community,
Last we held another productive School Council meeting. Here are the highlights.
Teaching & Learning
We were pleased to hear that our school is making strong progress with its Annual Implementation Plan (AIP). The Department’s SEIL (Senior Education Improvement Leader) is satisfied with the direction we’re heading, and formal feedback is expected soon.
KPS has also begun auditing its practices against the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0), with staff consultations scheduled. VTLM 2.0 was developed by the Department of Education in collaboration with the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), and is informed by the experience of school leaders and practitioners, along with effective practices already in place across many Victorian schools. Although implementation is not required until 2028, KPS is proactively aiming to begin the transition by the end of this year.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN results were also shared, showing strong outcomes for Year 3 and consistent performance across Year 5. Please see Mr Rayner’s Compass item from this week, or this week’s school newsletter for further details. Data analysis continues to play a vital role in tracking student progress and ensuring alignment between teacher judgments and NAPLAN.
Staffing & Enrolments
Prep enrolments are tracking well for 2026, with a typical surge expected in Term 3. Based on current numbers, and a larger-than-average outgoing Year 6 cohort, we may move from 14 to 13 classes next year.
We also welcomed the news that Catherine Perch-Neilsen has joined the Year 5 team, job-sharing with Bron Mac.
Student Reports and Parent–Teacher Interviews
At the time of our meeting, 31 Semester One school reports remained unopened. The school will continue to follow up to ensure every family has accessed their child’s report.
In response to feedback from last year’s parent survey, this week’s Parent–Teacher Interview sessions were extended to 15 minutes each, allowing for more in-depth conversations between families and teachers.
Finance Update
The school is currently operating at a financial deficit, which is not unusual for schools. A Strategic Financial Advisor from the Department recently visited the school and will return next week. The Advisor has helped identify some key factors that will assist in reducing the deficit. Importantly, the school will also be eligible to apply for a Deficit Deferral, allowing the amount to be repaid to the Department over a four-year period.
Council also approved the 2025 Master Budget and Equity Budget, along with the purchase of a smart payment reader through Commonwealth Bank. This reader will be used by the school office and Parents & Friends at events to reduce queues—so hopefully, less waiting next time you're supporting a KPS cake stall or sausage sizzle!
Parents & Friends
A huge thank you to the Parents & Friends team for their incredible dedication. We’re looking forward to upcoming events including the August 10 working bee, the Father’s/Carers Day Stall, supporting the school production, and the return of Trivia Night in Term 4.
Funds raised through P&F activities will support:
- Ensuring all Grade 3-6 families can attend and enjoy the school production
- New outdoor seating for the Mobok garden in partnership with the Rotary Club and Men’s Shed
- KPS-branded outdoor marquees
- “Jiggy” seats for classrooms
Buildings & Grounds
It was great to hear that the new drainage system on the oval is performing well after recent heavy rains. A few other upgrades are also being explored, including weather protection outside the Prep classrooms.
Work is also progressing on plans to prepare the space between the kindergarten carpark and Mobok buildings for a new open classroom garden.
Sustainability Initiatives
A new Green Award will soon be introduced at assemblies to recognise students modelling sustainable behaviours. A student-led Green Team is also in the works to lead clean-ups, support better waste sorting, and help raise awareness around sustainability.
Plans are being finalised for Nude Food Month, with a focus on reducing packaging waste, and there’s interest in signing up for National Tree Day planting in 2026.
Canteen Update
Sales of healthy food options continue to rise, while hot chocolates remain a popular treat during winter. However, sales of sushi and dim sims have dipped slightly.
Camps Survey
We reviewed draft survey questions designed to gather insights from the school community to support future planning of camps. The survey will be distributed to families shortly.
Should you ever want to contact School Council please feel free to get in touch with me via katy.mcgrath@education.vic.gov.au, or catch me in the playground for a chat.
As always, thank you for being part of our engaged and supportive school community.
Katy McGrath
School Council President