Principal's Report

Dear Families,

Welcome back to our final term of the year. It is hard to believe that we are heading towards the finish line of another school year. As the year has progressed the number of COVID_ 19 cases reported to us has significantly decreased. This is great news for our community of learners. We will continue our process of sending out notifications when the school is notified of a case.

All children have settled back into the swing of daily class routines, fun and friendships. It has been a pleasure to see our children’s’ smiling faces and our staff’s enthusiasm and commitment to providing the highest level of education possible for our students.

We have an action packed exciting term 4. This includes our intensive swimming programs for years prep, 1 and 2, and our year 3/4 students are off on camp.

We look forward to celebrating the end of primary years of schooling for our beautiful Year 6 students. We will ensure that it is a very special night for our students and families. Our

Year 6 Graduation will be held on Thursday 15 December.

This year I look forward to celebrating our Christmas Carols and picnic with all in our community, this will be held on Friday 16 December.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING RESULTS – ATTITUDES TO SCHOOL SURVEY

The results for our Attitudes To School Survey for students in Year 4, 5 and 6 have now been shared with schools. In the critical area of Health and Wellbeing feedback from our students indicates that our students are feeling connected to our school and their teachers. Students can name at least one adult in our school who they feel is there for them, no matter what (Advocate at school), and that they generally feel safe at our school, (Not Experiencing Bullying). This means there may be disagreements between children, one-off incidences but our children feel that incidences are dealt with and they are supported to restore relationships in a respectful and proactive way.

These results are feedback to us that the work we have undertaken as a staff in the area of WELLBEING is having a positive impact. Our wellbeing programs, lunchtime clubs, our work in strengthening School Wide Positive Behaviours has all contributed to these positive results. As the lead learner of the school I feel a sense of achievement and joy that our children feel safe and secure to be at their best. High levels of learning can only occur when students feel safe and supported.

NAPLAN: We have fabulous news to share regarding our NAPLAN results in NUMERACY. Our results for both Year 3 and Year 5 students in the Top 2 bands have exceeded both SIMILAR SCHOOLS and NETWORK SCHOOLS. This is to be celebrated and savoured by us all. Despite the challenges of COVID_19 our staff have remained committed to the goals we set in Numeracy. Our Annual Implementation Plan focussed on strengthening our curriculum documentation, instruction and assessment. In addition, our Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) supported 102 students in year 1-6 to Catch Up or Extend their learning in numeracy. Our TLI teachers routinely used data to plan for high quality lessons at the point of need. Our teachers across the school worked in Professional Learning Teams to look at data, develop assessment tasks and learn together supported by our Learning Specialists and PLT leaders.

I am super proud of our teachers and the work done to support our student learning and strengthen our results.

Parent Information Session On Supporting Children’s Wellbeing and Learning – Thursday October 20th 6:30-8:30pm – FREE

At Kismet Park Primary School, we work together as a community to “Build the Foundations for Success and Happiness” so our students can be responsible, informed citizens who make a positive contribution to our society. Our teachers and support staff regularly engage in professional development so that they can support our students to achieve this, and we recognise the need to support our parents and carers as valuable members of our school community. We have invited Dr. Ashleigh Moreland to run a workshop for our parents/carers in our school library focussing on supporting parents and carers in understanding what regulation is, and offer some practical things to implement to support children in their learning and overall wellbeing.

Our thoughts, actions and behaviours are driven by our nervous system, and our nervous system is like an antenna constantly scanning our environment for information. If our antenna is picking up any kind of perceived ‘threat’, our nervous system activates and triggers some kind of response to sustain our safety or survival. Some responses are healthy, and others can be dysfunctional or problematic.

In adults, some signs that our nervous system is activated might include sleep disturbances, changes in dietary habits (eating more or eating less, or craving foods high in sugar or salt), increased alcohol consumption, a shorter temper (snappy or reactive), addictions, and many other things.

In children, this might look like sleep disturbance or dietary signs, but also increased tantrums, defiance, attention seeking behaviour, ‘silliness’ or hyperactivity, separation anxiety, among other things. These make learning much more challenging for our children. We can support their learning by understanding how we can support their regulation.

In order to participate in this workshop please access the link and book in via the below button:

Click here to book

Please see below the flyer for the event and information about Dr. Ashleigh Moreland.

PREP ENROLMENTS FOR 2023

We continue to accept prep students. If you have a child in pre school or a child that is turning 5 before 30th April, 2022 please phone our office for an enrolment form and an appointment with me so that I can meet your child.

Foundation (Prep) transition dates

Thursday 24th November 9:30am – 11am

Thursday 1st December 9:30am -11am

Thursday 8th December 9:30am – 11am

Thursday 13 December 9.30-11am - Meet the Teacher

Thursday 15th December 9:30am – 11am – Meet your Buddy session

Step Up (Are you Ready)

Every year our students have an opportunity to transition into their next year level through spending time engaging in the learning environment for the year level they are entering.

Step Up provides an opportunity for our students to experience their forthcoming year level in a secure and supportive environment. Please note that for our vulnerable students, we will let those students know as early as possible who their teacher is so that they can start making those all important connections.

Tuesday 30 November 9.30am-11am
Tuesday 6 December 9:30am -11am
Friday 16 December - 11:30am-1.30pm - Meet the teacher

FORWARD PLANNING FOR 2023: We are now in the process of finalising our student numbers, staffing and programs for the 2023 school year. I am thanking you all in advance for your support as we go through this extensive process. I will communicate with all our community our staffing and programs for the 2023 school year in the coming weeks.

Finally, a huge congratulations to Macy Harvie and Ava Quarrel who have both been successful in securing a role in the stage show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat Australia.

We are sending our warmest wishes for a successful run!

Warmest Regards,

Kathy Cvitkovic

Principal (Acting)

‘Building the foundations for success and happiness’.