From the Leadership Team
Julia Padgett, Deputy Principal
One of the special things about Kilvington is that we have a long continuum of education, with students from ELC to Year 12 all together on a single site.
A few weeks ago, we celebrated the Year 12 students’ final day at School while later that evening, the ELC children had their concert. Both events were significant in their own right, and it’s such a joy to be able to spend time with these groups during these moments of their school journey.
BUILDING CONNECTIONS ACROSS DIFFERENT YEAR LEVELS
Creating opportunities for students to get to know each other outside of their year levels is an area we are continuing to strengthen.
Each year, our ELC students participate in a buddy program where at the start of the year, the Year 5s visit and get to know and play together with them.
Throughout the year, the Year 5s select a picture book to read to their buddy, and then they work together to design a new front cover. They help the ELC students to write a short story of their own and publish it in a little book.
Our Year 6s have Prep buddies. This program is a highlight for the Year 6s, where they get to develop the character traits of leadership, humility and teamwork.
Together, the students make 'sheet cubbies' for reading sessions, draw portraits of each other and participate in other activities such as math tasks. Both Preps and Year 6s prepare congratulatory cards for their buddies on special occasions (for example, for 100 days of Prep or for the Frozen Jr production).
At Senior School, students have opportunities during House Assemblies to get to know their peers in other year levels. There are also numerous co-curricular opportunities, such as the School musical, sport and other groups where they can meet students with similar interests.
For 2023, we are looking to provide training for all our Year 10 students so that they can be involved in a more formal mentor program with the Year 7 students.
Finally, we completed our first Alumni Mentor Matching program in Term 3, where we connected past students with current Year 11 students. The program is based on matching current senior students with alumni to offer support with career choices, advising on life at university and assisting with networking opportunities. We will be launching the full program in 2023.
Providing opportunities to connect is an important part of the Kilvington community. We look forward to developing more opportunities for our students in the future.
Celebration Night
For the first time in two years, Celebration Night will be held in person at Robert Blackwood Hall. It will take place on Friday 25 November. This night celebrates a range of achievements in Years 4 to 12 and provides us with an opportunity to farewell our Year 12 cohort.
Families in ELC to Year 3 are welcome to attend. The night begins at 7.30pm, but we ask that everyone is seated by 7.25pm at the latest.
Tickets are complimentary and will be available for booking from Monday 14 November. The Celebration Night booking link will be emailed out to families on Monday morning. Stay tuned!
Staff news
Maddison Staude is joining us in the Junior School in 2023 as a Classroom Teacher. She is currently a teacher at Oatlands Primary School in Narre Warren. Maddison has a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education (Primary) from Monash University.
Paul Pellegrino will join us in the Junior School in 2023 as a Classroom Teacher. He is currently a teacher at McKinnon Primary School. Paul has a Bachelor of Education (Primary/Secondary) from La Trobe University.
We will farewell Junior School Teacher Michael Cirillo and Instrumental Music Teachers Gina Gataveckaite and Paul Coyle at the end of term. We thank these staff for their wonderful contribution to the School and wish them the very best in their new roles.
We will also farewell Senior Mathematics Teacher Terry Ymer and ELC Assistant Maxine Delaney at the end of Term 4 as they start their retirement. We thank them both for their valued contributions to the School and wish them all the best for the future.