A word from the Principal

I hope that families enjoyed the Easter Break, it certainty felt like we were able to have an extra long break with Easter at the beginning and the pupil free day backing onto ANZAC day at the end.  The Autumn mornings have certainty hit though with crisp cold mornings and sunny days which have filled the courtyard with the leaves from our beautiful trees!  It always brings a smile to my face to see the children throwing the leaves in the air and enjoying the change in seasons! Thankyou to our Student Voice leaders who led us through our ANZAC commemoration in our Assembly last week.  It highlighted the significance of the day as students across the school learnt and honoured the sacrifices of the serving members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. 

Website Update

Over the last term we have been updating the Staff profiles on our website.  You will have seen a year level featured in our newsletters each fortnight as well. Make yourself a cuppa and learn more about our dedicated and passionate staff.  We are very proud and fortunate to have the team we do here at Karoo! 

Pupil Free Day -  Restorative Practices

The staff started Term 2 with a reflective day with Sheila Bollard from REAL SCHOOLS. The focus was building on our Restorative Practices across Karoo and we spent the morning revisiting our restorative mindset and participated in some reflection on our current practice. We recapped the Restorative Practice framework and it provided time for us to articulate the explicit reasons why and how we are restorative. The afternoon was spent collaboratively developing a Student Engagement Plan which will be part of our whole school documents moving forward.  Please pop in your diary our Term 3 PEPS (Parent Education Partnership Series) on August 9th which will be a night for parents with the focus on Building a Resilient Child.  This night will also be presented by Sheila Bollard - an expert educator from REAL SCHOOLS. 

Born to Soar

We were thrilled to begin our partnership with Born to Soar last week.  The 3-6 Entersoar program commenced on Thursday with 8 Karoo students and 4 students from other schools with the 2 teachers.  They had a day filled with amazing experiences, even dissecting an animal brain!! We are very proud of the 3 students who ventured over to Box Hill for the F-2 program.  It is not too late to enquire and enrol for Term 3 which will hopefully then be able to be run at Karoo too. 

Education Week Showcase Open Night - Wednesday 17th May 5:30pm - 6:30pm 

The teachers have been working hard preparing for the Education Week Open Night in a couple of weeks.  This night is a wonderful opportunity for you to come and see the teaching and learning across the whole school.  All of our Specialists will be showcasing their programs and you will even be able to join in with your children for the activities they participate in during the day.  Let your children show you how the green screen works in Media or learn some new words in Mandarin.  You will also be able to learn about the whole school Wellbeing initiatives and maybe even meet Archie our Wellbeing Dog. Everyone is welcome so please pop the date in your calendar now and feel free to invite family along! 

Mothers Day Stall and Celebration

The Mother’s Day stall will be held on Monday 8th May and Tuesday 9th May. The KPA will be providing a range of amazing gifts to celebrate the mums and special women at Karoo. Students are to bring along some money to choose a special gift for their Mum, Grandma, or Auntie! Don’t forget to bring money in a wallet or zip lock bag to keep it safe on the day as well as a bag to take home the gifts. The gifts range in price from $1.00 - $4.00. 

We are also looking forward to celebrating Mothers Day afternoon in the classrooms on Monday 15th May, followed by an afternoon tea in the courtyard.  It will be lovely to come together and celebrate our amazing Mums, Grandma's and Aunties! 

Have a wonderful week, 

Danielle Heatley

Principal