Dear Parent/Guardian/Carer/Students and Staff,

Congratulations to all our students on receiving their weekly Kilberry C.A.R.E.S Values awards. Keep up the fabulous work team. Please find below some updates of items set for this Term. There is lots going on!

Annual Report to School Community 2023

Please refer to Compass for KVPS's Annual Report to School Community for year 2023. This provides a comprehensive summary of school aspects for last year across multiple areas. This was presented and endorsed at school council and it has just been endorsed by DET also. Please note 2024 (current year) is published next year based on DET process.

School Saving Bonus-2025

You may have seen the recent announcement of the School Saving Bonus, as part of the Victorian Budget 2024/25. This one-off support will include $400 for each eligible student to help families cover the costs of school uniforms and activities in 2025. It will be available to parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025. Cash will not be paid directly to individuals or families. Instead, families will receive the bonus as credits on their school accounts that will help meet the costs of your children’s activities and uniforms. Please refer to the compass note sent out earlier in the term for more information.

Educational Support Day-Recognising our great support Staff

On Thursday 16th of June we celebrated the official State 'Education Support' Staff Day over cake and tea. Our ES staff always do a tremendous job assisting our students reach their full potential. We recognise the hard work you provide to make students thrive at KVPS. THANK-YOU!

Curriculum Day and Staff Development

On Curriculum Day our staff engaged in a full day of learning to improve our practices around reporting as well as use compass to develop and communicate the final report. Ms Spalding led the sessions for most of day and was supported by Ms Rivett, Ms Salter and PLC leaders. Our staff were provided with an opportunity to apply their learning. Our staff are continuing to learn more about compass to deliver this.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Matrix

It is so exciting to see that our school has really hit the ground running in implementing our School Wide Positive Behaviour Matrix. The matrix is visible to all students and staff in the classrooms and will be put around the school as well. Mr P is also in the process of developing a parent handbook with relevant information about SWPS. Watch this space.

School-wide positive behaviour support (SWPBS) is a framework that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures.

SWPBS assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.

When SWPBS is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:

increased respectful and positive behaviour
increased time focused on instruction
improved social-emotional wellbeing
positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance.

Please refer to compass for more information.

Zones of Regulation

At KVPS, we are using the Zones of Regulation throughout the school. We teach our students good coping and regulation strategies so they can help themselves when they experience anxiety and stress. In the classroom, sometimes children panic when faced with a tricky learning problem or challenge. By teaching them how to cope with these feelings they are able to tackle learning challenges and build better resilience so they don’t give up easily when faced with difficulty. We have attached some information on Compass about the Zones of Regulation so that you are aware of the language we are using and are able to support any discussions about this at home.

Using the Zones of Regulation as a framework, we aim to help children to:

• Recognise when they are in the different Zones and learn how to change or stay in the Zone they are in.

• Increase their emotional vocabulary so they can explain how they are feeling.

• Recognise when other people are in different Zones, thus developing better empathy.

• Develop an insight into what might make them move into the different Zones.

• Understand that emotions, sensory experiences such as lack of sleep or hunger and their environment might influence which Zone they are in.

• Develop problem-solving skills and resilience

Further information and examples of our Zones of Regulation classroom spaces has been shared on compass.

Attitudes to School Survey 2024

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of their school.The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. Families have been sent more information in relation to AtoSS via compass.

New Enrolment Process

All schools are now using the Department's Digital Enrolment Process called VicSchools. The portal is now OPEN to submit an application for 2025. Please see our school website to gain access to instructions on how to complete this process. If you need technical assistance book in an appointment our front office staff and they will assist.