I am saddened to have to write this newsletter in a school with very few children today due to the most recent lockdown. I hope that you and your families are staying safe during this time and that we will be able to see everyone again should schools be opened again next Wednesday.

As usual, I have great confidence in our staff to provide a remote and flexible learning arrangement that offers flexibility for families whilst retaining continuity of learning for all of our students. I ask for your support to ensure that all students participate in remote learning throughout this period and complete the tasks set by the teacher. As always, please contact me (david.king@education.vic.gov.au 9360 0777) or Cameron (cameron.andrews@education.vic.gov.au) if you need any support during this time.

School Review

We conducted the first day of the school review process yesterday. The day was a chance to reflect on our progress against the targets in our strategic plan, celebrate our achievements and begin to identify areas of future growth for our school.

The review is conducted by a panel that includes external principals, our Senior Education Improvement Leader, and our school team, including Victoria Reynolds, our School Council President. The first day is spent analysing and interpreting key data sets, visiting classrooms and conducting student focus groups.

The day was largely a cause for celebration of the progress that our school has made. Some of the highlights that were determined by the panel include the positive climate for learning within the school and the implementation of our school KEFAR values as well as the significant improvement in the learning growth and achievement of our students in the areas of literacy and numeracy. We are really proud of the achievements of our school over this period of time and were pleased to see these areas highlighted through this process.

The review continues on the 29th of July and I look forward to providing you with further updates.

Curriculum Day

As you are aware, Monday was a pupil free day and our staff were engaged in professional learning centred on further developing our teachers' skills and knowledge of effective practices when teaching writing. The day was led by our Leading Teacher (Amy McFarlane) and our Learning Specialist (Ainsley Gravatt) and was a highly productive, engaging and important day as we work toward further improving our student achievement and growth in writing.

Term 3 Events

There are a number of important community and school events planned for Term 3, such as camps, excursions, Book Week and Parents & Friends events like the upcoming Trivia Night. Unfortunately with the uncertainty caused by the current restrictions, we will again need to be flexible with these events and modify, postpone or, worst-case, cancel based on current guidelines to ensure the safety of our community. We will provide specific advice and communication about each event as soon as we are able.

Well, this is certainly not the beginning of the term that we all hoped for. Please remember that if you are concerned about your wellbeing or that of your child to contact the school to see how we can support you.

Take care,

David

KEFAR Achievement Awards