SCHOOL LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Last Tuesday evening we held our 2023 Information Night. This was an opportunity for the Grade 5 and 6 students and parents from our local area to come and hear about our school, see samples of work from classes at KSC and have a look around our buildings. It was a tremendous turn-out from our local parents and students and there was a great atmosphere around the school all evening. It was fantastic to see so many excited faces from our Grade 5 and Grade 6 students who now can’t wait to get to secondary college. We are looking forward to welcoming you again as part of our Kick Start Confidence program – a three-day program at the end of term three where our local Grade 6 students will immerse themselves in high school life for the last three days of term. This is always another great opportunity for these students to develop confidence and become more comfortable in our setting.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind our parents and students about a couple of school rules and processes.

In 2019 the Victorian Department of Education issued a rule to all schools across the state banning the use of mobile phones while at school. As part of this, all mobile phones are required to be locked securely from the first bell to the last bell of the day. This rule was brought in following very clear advice and research around the impact of excessive use of mobile phones at school on the mental health and wellbeing of students, the impact on learning and the potential for cyber-bullying and other harm. We have recently seen an increase in the prevalence of mobile phones around the school during the school day and would like to remind students that if they have their mobile phone out during the school day, a teacher will ask for it to be handed over and it will be placed in the General Office until the end of the day. Students can then collect their phone from the General Office to take home. We understand that a very small number of students have extenuating circumstances which require them to have their phone with them throughout the day, and we encourage you to speak with your sub school leader if you feel that this applies to you. We also want to make sure that students can contact home through the day if this is necessary. Students can always attend the relevant sub school office if they feel they need to contact home during the day. 

Also, when parents are dropping students at school after the school day has started, we require parents to come in and sign students in at the General Office. To properly record student attendance, we need to have parent approval and/or a reason recorded in Compass. 

We thank all students and parents for their co-operation with both of these issues.