Dear Families,

The last few weeks have been full of activity for our students and school community. Our School Review has come to a successful end, and we have set our new goals for the next four years. Once the goals are shared with staff, I will communicate these goals with our school community.

As the term draws to a close it is important that we continue with our routines and high expectations so that we can finish the term successfully. Thank-you to all our parents/carers who continue to set clear expectations and routines for their children so that children can arrive at school prepared for learning.

Parent Information Session On Supporting Children’s Wellbeing and Learning – Thursday October 20th 6:30-8:30pm – FREE

At Kismet Park Primary School, we work together as a community to “Build the Foundations for Success and Happiness” so our students can be responsible, informed citizens who make a positive contribution to our society. Our teachers and support staff regularly engage in professional development so that they can support our students to achieve this, and we recognise the need to support our parents and carers as valuable members of our school community. We have invited Dr. Ashleigh Moreland to run a workshop for our parents/carers in our school library focussing on supporting parents and carers in understanding what regulation is, and offer some practical things to implement to support children in their learning and overall wellbeing.

Our thoughts, actions and behaviours are driven by our nervous system, and our nervous system is like an antenna constantly scanning our environment for information. If our antenna is picking up any kind of perceived ‘threat’, our nervous system activates and triggers some kind of response to sustain our safety or survival. Some responses are healthy, and others can be dysfunctional or problematic.

In adults, some signs that our nervous system is activated might include sleep disturbances, changes in dietary habits (eating more or eating less, or craving foods high in sugar or salt), increased alcohol consumption, a shorter temper (snappy or reactive), addictions, and many other things.

In children, this might look like sleep disturbance or dietary signs, but also increased tantrums, defiance, attention seeking behaviour, ‘silliness’ or hyperactivity, separation anxiety, among other things. These make learning much more challenging for our children. We can support their learning by understanding how we can support their regulation.

In order to participate in this workshop please access the link and book in via the below button:

Please see below the flyer for the event and information about Dr. Ashleigh Moreland.

Planning Week

All teams have been provided with time in the school day to plan for teaching and learning Term 4. Teams were supported by our Learning Specialists and Team Leaders to ensure that planning reflected Essential Learnings and that key priority areas were addressed in the planning.

Minister For Education Visit on Friday 2nd September

Last Friday our Minister for Education the Honourable Natalie Hutchins and our local MP Josh Bull visited our classrooms and officially opened our newly resurfaced oval. Minister Natalie and Josh Bull were very impressed with the learning and teaching they observed in our classrooms. They observed high levels of engagement and learning in the following classrooms/programs:

4A Donna Matthews
Prep A Louisa Beckenham
1 A Brodie Lane
Tutor Learning Initiative – Kerryn Green

I am very proud of the work of our students and teachers and that despite all the challenges we have experienced this year our teachers remain passionate and dedicated to making a difference and our students are generally happy and engaged.

Father’s Day Picnic

What a wonderful success our Father’s Day Picnic was last Wednesday. We had so many significant role models, dads, grandfathers, uncles, relatives, and friends of our students attend the picnic and then our assembly celebrations afterwards. It gave us all such joy and pleasure to see so many smiling children and adults. When so many adults turn up to these events it reinforces to our children the strong partnership, we, the school and our families share in supporting our children to be the very best versions of themselves. Thank you for taking the time to come to the school and enjoy this special time with your child/children.

Summer Lightning Premiership

Our students in years 5/6 participated in Basketball, Volleyball Lawn Bowls, and cricket. Congratulations to our Girls Basketball team who advanced to regional level. Boys and girls Lawn Bowls were successful winning their round and will also advance to regional level. The cricket was postponed due to poor weather and will taking place next term on 14th of October.

A huge congratulations to all our students participating and all our teachers who supported students with events. Than you to Ms. Keenan for her work in this area.

Athletics

Congratulations to Jamie Susnjara, Chase Green, McKinley Wilson, Damon Truscott and Zac Dillon who are all advancing to the next stage in athletics.

Parent Opinion Survey

All our parents/carers should have received a link to the annual Parent Opinion Survey. Please consider completing this survey as your feedback and thoughts are valued. If you have any questions about the survey, please feel free to contact our office and ask to chat to me. The survey closes on Friday 16th September 2022.

Sunsmart 🌞

A friendly reminder that the Sunsmart period has begun. Parents need to ensure their children are wearing their school hat when playing outside. Next week is a grace period, as we get into the routine of having our hats before going out to play. From the first day of term 4, it is expected that all children will have wide brimmed hats when they go out to play. If children do not have a hat outside, they will be asked to sit in a shaded area for recess/lunch.

If your child has lost or misplaced their hat, new ones can be purchased from the Primary School Wear store (106-126 Gap Road, Sunbury).

https://www.psw.com.au/schools/kismet-park-primary-school-sunbury.html

Remember: No Hat, No Play

Our Sunsmart Policy is here for your information:

Cookie Dough Volunteers – Thank you

A heartfelt thank you to all our Cookie Dough volunteers who worked diligently to ensure this event went smoothly. Thank you to: Tara Chandra, Jayde Lambert, Kimberley James, Serenity Jenkins, Rachael Seinfeld, Louise Cashen, Katherine Thorn, Kate Topp and also to Felicity Dobson our teacher leader who supports our PCA.

Prep Enrolment 2023

We continue to take bookings for prep tours. Please continue to reach out and enrol your children by contacting our friendly front office staff or you can download the enrolment pack from our website https://www.kismetparkps.vic.edu.au/

Please remember that if you know of any friends, family who are due to start prep in 2023 please pass on this message to them and ask them to call our school on 9744-4566 to book in a tour with us.

We start our Transition Program in November, and it would be fantastic for all our 2023 preps to be enrolled and in the program so that the start of school is a positive experience for our new prep students and their families.

Last Day for Term 3 – Friday 16th September – FINISH TIME 2:30pm and ASSEMBLY at 9am

Our last day for Term 3 is next Friday 16th September. All students will be dismissed from their classrooms at 2:30pm. EXTEND will operate on this day from 2:30pm for all families in our community who require the service.

We will hold a whole school assembly next Friday 16th September at 9am in our Gym. All families are welcome to attend and celebrate a full term of onsite learning, play and laughter together as a community.

Thank you to all our wonderful and supportive families. Your continued support of our school is greatly appreciated and when I reflect on Term 3 I am thankful for the tremendous support of our staff and community. I wish you all a smooth final week of Term 3 next week.

Kathy Cvitkovic

Principal (Acting)

‘Building the foundations for success and happiness’.

Student Wellbeing