The Kingswood Newsletter

Wellbeing and Community Engagement

Patrick Halpin 

Assistant Principal 

Term Round Up

It’s hard to believe that another term is over.  We have achieved many successes over the past eleven weeks and the students have demonstrated our Learner Profile by being:

  • Knowledgeable: The students in Years 3 and 5 completed their NAPLAN assessments this term.  NAPLAN provides the staff with a snapshot of how the students are doing academically.  The students in Kingswood demonstrated their resilience by committing to the process in a responsible manner.  The teaching staff use the data obtained through this assessment as one piece of evidence when writing reports but there are many other sources of data that are also taken into consideration.  At Kingswood, we strive to give our students a deeper level of understanding, which includes using the knowledge to work in groups, to innovate, to problem solve and to negotiate challenges in their daily lives.
  • Creative: Rehearsals for Peter Pan have begun and the students are striving for accuracy with their choreography, acting and singing.  We were highly impressed by the quality of the submissions for the costume and ticket design competitions, demonstrating the broad range of experiences, skills and talents our students are developing through the specialist program.
  • Independent: Many of our students had the opportunity to attend excursions and camps this term.  Our camping program enables the students to develop their independence in a structured and staged manner.  Many of our students attending Year 5 and Year 6 camps have had very few opportunities to spend a night (or 3) away from their parents, families and everyday mod-cons.  While there were lots of challenges (staying upright on a paddle board, setting the table for dinner, packing their own belongings when it was home time, etc.), every child returned home a little bit more independent.
  • Resilient: There have been lots of changes to teaching staff this term because of some of our teachers going on family leave, Mrs. Costentino starting her new role as Principal of South Melbourne Park Primary School, Mr. Bennett moving from the PE department to Acting Assistant Principal, etc.  The whole school community has adapted with relative ease - this is a sign of a well-structured, trusting environment in which everybody feels safe and supported.
  • Reflective: The parents and teachers met this week to discuss the students’ progress. It has been shown in many research studies, that outcomes improve when students are given ownership of their own learning.  With power comes responsibility, and students have demonstrated that they can be reflective learners by setting their own learning goals in consultation with their teachers and by continually self-assessing their own progress.
  • Persistent: The Premier’s Reading Challenge is an example of where students are given a long term target and must persist in order to achieve success.  This can be a challenge for some students as it involves planning, time management, continuous monitoring and self-evaluation until the task is complete.  All of these skills will be vital when our students are in the workforce and managing multiple projects, tasks or ideas simultaneously.
  • Engaged: We saw about 150 engaged students at our Open Night earlier this term.  The students travelled around the school completing activities that demonstrated their ability to be knowledgeable, independent, creative, reflective, resilient, persistent and engaged. Our staff work very hard to ensure that the Victorian Curriculum is presented in a meaningful way for the students, resulting in very high levels of engagement.

Celebrations Taskforce

A Celebrations Taskforce was established earlier this term.  We will meet on Wednesday, August 1st at 2:30pm to begin our planning for our special celebration in Term 3.  All parents are welcome to attend and support our work on building a sense of community in Kingswood Primary School.  If anybody has any ideas about the celebration(s) we could mark through July, August and September, please let me know.     

Attendance

I have been examining our attendance data recently and would like to share my findings with you. 

  • Between 2015 and 2017, the students in Kingswood Primary School have missed an average of 12 days per year.  This might not seem like much but it means that over the past three years, the average student has missed over 7 weeks of school. This equates t more than a full school year during their time in Primary School.
  • About 100 students miss more than 20 days of school per year.  This equates to 10% of the school year and is considered ‘chronic absence’ because of the heavy impact it has on long term student outcomes.  For some students, it means missing one day per fortnight.  This can mean they miss the introduction to some topics, which automatically puts them on the back foot; it means they miss a lesson or two in the middle of the group work, research or exploration, therefore setting them a day behind their peers; it means they miss the roundup of a topic or series of lessons, therefore missing the consolidation.  For other students, it means they miss a whole topic while they go on a family holiday.

All of the research I have examined highlights the impact that poor attendance has on student outcomes – both short and long term.  I therefore urge all parents and carers to think about how many days of school your child has missed this year and consider how you might reduce that number in Semester 2.

Snapshot Survey

Our current survey seeks feedback on the reporting process that has just taken place.  We would love to gather your feedback on our new reporting approaches so we can continually improve.  Please click here to complete our short survey.