From Daniel and Anna

Principal and Assistant Principal

What an absolutely delightful start to the year we have had here at Kilsyth Primary School this year.  Our students have quickly settled into their routines and are totally focused on their core business of learning in the classroom.  The structure and support our staff  provide, and the wonderful positive attitude of our students, has made the past week smooth and productive.  We are looking forward to a year of maximising growth for every child.

 

New Faces in 2024...

 

You will see a few new faces around our school this year as, once again, our team grows and changes.  Please welcome to our KPS community...

Andy Cameron - Teacher.  Mr Cameron has joined our Middle School teaching team this year.  He comes to us with a wealth of experience in meeting the social, academic and behavioural learning needs of students and we are looking forward to his contribution to our teaching and learning program.  In just a single week Mr Cameron has settled in well and is already a valued member of our team.  Great to have you onboard Andy!

 

Amy Thompson - Ed Support.  Amy has joined our Ed Support team and will be working with students in classrooms across the school.  Amy's positive approach and supportive manner has seen her quickly build a strong rapport with staff and students alike.  Welcome Amy!

 

 

Olivia Liddicoat - School Wellbeing Officer.  Whilst technically not a new member of our team, Olivia is taking on a new role in our school.  After completing her studies last year, Olivia joined us as a counsellor for our students.  This year we have broadened her role to incorporate a more extensive, whole-school wellbeing element.  Olivia will be engaging with parents and students, arranging recess clubs and parent activities, overseeing our Breakfast Club and will be a key contact for you if you or child is needing any form of wellbeing support.  It's great to have you on the team Olivia!

 

Linda Westgarth - Acting Business Manager.  Linda will be with us for a short period of time as we finalise our planning for a new business manager.  Stop by and say "Hi!" to Linda has she peeks out from behind her desk in the school office.  We are anticipating Linda will be with us for the next six weeks and we hope to have a new, permanent business manager in place for Term 2.

 

 

Location, Location, Location... 

 

... or a change is as good as a holiday.  At the end of 2023 we relocated learning areas across the school and we have hit the ground running in new learning spaces for 2024. 

  • Seniors are now located in Rooms 1, 2, 3 & 4 (at the top end of the Main building).
  • Juniors and Foundation have settled in beautifully in the BER 
  • Our Targeted Learning Intervention room has moved to the BER
  • Science has moved to Room 5.

We have also introduced Digital Technologies as a new specialist subject this year with our students taking on Coding this semester and looking to Robotics and 3D printing in the future. 

 

The school is looking wonderful and I encourage you to take some time to stop by and have a good look around.  Why not plan to spend some time looking around when you come in for our 3-Way Conferences next week.

 

3-Way Conferences - Getting to Know You

 

This year we are reworking our Parent/Teacher Interview approach to incorporate more active student input.  We will be holding what are known as "3-Way Conferences".  A 3-Way Conference acknowledges the most important participants in the learning process - student, teacher and parent and actively involves all three in reflecting on student progress and setting future goals/targets.

 

It is important that students and parents both attend the conference.

 

We will hold a 3-Way conference each term, the first of which will be next week.  To book your time with your child's teacher please use the Sentral Parent Portal.

 

Speaking of  Sentral Parent Portal...

It is very important that all parents have access to Sentral and have notifications set to "On" on their phone.  We regularly use Sentral to share important information through this App and will be reducing the number of hard copy notices and emails coming home this year.  The majority of our communication will be through the Sentral Parent Portal. 

 

If you have any issues at all accessing Sentral, please stop by the office and we can help you out.

 

Once again this year we will be reporting your child's progress and achievement continuously throughout the year via Sentral.  We are continually improving our communication in this area, providing parents with photographs or screenshots of student work samples when providing feedback and sharing detailed reports of Essential Assessment tasks.  If you have any questions at all about how we will be providing feedback on your child's learning this year please speak to your child's teacher.