Assistant Principal
Aaron Cox
Assistant Principal
What an extremely busy time it has been! I am only now starting to come to terms with the fact that I am back in the office and able to do my job rather than being on the road living off an iPhone. Having said that, the learning and growth of students who travelled with us to Japan is evident. I would like to share some of my insights from the Japan trip.
Obvious Differences Between Japanese and Australian Children
We have all heard of the helicopter parent, the lawn mower parent and now supposedly there is the bonsai parent. The bonsai parents, although good intentioned, stifle a child’s growth and clips their branches and leaves to ensure they do not become too independent and grown up. The complete opposite of this was on full display for us in Japan, perceptions of safety and an unwavering belief in a sense of community drives student independence. All students find their own way to school. They walk and they travel by public transport for up to an hour from 9 years of age. It is frowned upon by the community for a parent to pick their child up from school in a car. It is considered lazy. In fact, no parent does that.
There is a belief that in the event of trouble any house or any adult is there to protect/help you. Everyone has time to recognise a stranger and say hello. The resilience and preparedness Japanese primary students have for school and life in general is vastly different to that in Australia. I asked a parent outside the school we visited why she didn’t go to the classroom with her child. She looked at me strangely as if answering a silly questions and said “It is important for my child to learn to be responsible for herself at school. If I carry her bag or set her up for the day, what am I teaching her?”
I know our education systems are vastly different but I can see how prepared Japanese students are to tackle challenges in life and I just wish our students could be that prepared for what lies before them. Andrew Fuller's data from the Australian Youth Resilience Survey clearly demonstrates a lack of resilience by students across the country. At some point, as a society, we need to step up and honestly look at what effect our actions and role modelling are having on our children.
I would like to profusely thank Mr. Kato for his tireless work in putting the Japan tours together. The planning and bureaucratic red-tape to make the tours a reality for Kingswood can not be understated. Many schools find it all too hard today and are stopping their trips. This is a credit to Mr. Kato for his work and Mrs. Cosentino for her vision. Thank you also to Mr. Halpin for stepping into the role of Acting Principal during our absence.
Beauty and the Beast
I am pleased to welcome back Miss Emma Costabile to the role of production choreographer. She joins us now for Terms 2 and 3 for our ‘Beauty and the Beast’ production. Students will attend a dance lesson every week until our production in September.
Parent Reporting Feedback
I would like to thank all those parents that participated in our Reporting Feedback forum. It was easily one of the best turnouts in recent times for a subject that is obviously close to peoples’ hearts. I have taken the data and suggestions provided and these will help us develop a reporting system that meets our school needs. Teachers have also provided their feedback and students will be given their opportunity before the end of term. Whilst we would like to keep everyone happy, we understand this is not possible. The system that we choose will be the best fit for the majority of the school community. We will also endeavour not to make changes within the first 24-36 months to allow time for immersion. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the reporting cycle and documentation after this initial implementation period.
Semester One, reports will go live on 29th June at 2.30pm
Staff Professional Development
Six staff memebers have just returned from a self-funded ICT conference in Sydney. We heard from Carol Dweck and Gregory Chamitoff who is a real life astronaut, who we intend to invite to our ICT conference in 2018. Our School Improvement Team (SIT) has also visited other primary schools to see examples of best practice. All classroom teachers will participate in further THRASS (Teaching Handwriting Reading and Spelling Skills) training over two weeks of twilight sessions. Thank you to staff for staying back on each of these nights beyond what is expected. These professional development sessions are just further evidence that teachers here at Kingswood are constantly donating additional time, effort and money to ensure the needs of our children are met. As our school values say - We are here for the students.
Kiss and Go Zone
After two years of education by the school it still appears some parents are lining up to enter the pick up zone in front of the school. Despite these good intentions you will be fined if you place your foot on the brake in a designated bus zone. It does not matter that you lining up. You have two choices: either loop around again or park further down the street. Whilst on this issue we and Kingston council are receiving multiple complaints from frustrated school community members about people regularly sitting for more than two minutes or leaving cars to go collect children, at the expense of the ‘kiss and go’ working effectively. This behaviour will only ensure more frequent visits from council rangers and fines being issued. Please feel free to report misuse of the ‘kiss and go’ zone to Kingston council as they are the only ones who can enforce the law.