From the 

Head of Junior School

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Kinross Wolaroi Junior School for 2022. I trust you have had a relaxing break over the summer. It has been wonderful to see students and parents on campus and we are looking forward to seeing more parents over the course of the term as we continue to monitor COVID numbers and health guidelines. 

Our sincere thanks to families for your role in ensuring the start of the school year has been a positive one. Our students have returned to school settled and excited for a year of great learning. We look forward to a fabulous year at Kinross Wolaroi – a year which will include collaboration, cooperation, friendship and fun.

In my role as Head of Junior School, I continue to be impressed by the calibre of the staff at Kinross Wolaroi. I am constantly delighted to hear our staff speak so passionately about their approaches to teaching and learning and the students in their class. In working alongside staff, it is abundantly clear how committed they are to their students. This is reflected in the many opportunities they provide for their students that go well beyond the classroom door.

In 2022 we will be continuing to offer a range of co-curricular music and sport opportunities as well as extra-curricular activities at lunch and after school. Information regarding these experiences will be coming next week via email and the student diary.

We greatly value the importance of good communication between the school and parents. If you have a concern or query about your child’s learning and this includes their social emotional needs, please contact us so we can work together in providing the optimal learning environment for your child. We like to have these conversations when the concern is small. 

The first “port of call” is always the class teacher as they know your child best. Behind every teacher however is a team working together to provide support. This includes our Leader of Learning and Wellbeing Mrs Virginia Millikin and our Leader of Contextual Learning Ms Amanda Dodson. We are further supported by school counsellors and learning support staff. This team ensures continuity for students as they grow and develop over their time at KWS. I personally welcome conversations with families as I continue to settle into KWS and the Orange community.

Thank you to the many families who have joined us for our grade information nights. We are hoping to have our Junior School community on campus soon for an evening of learning and connection. Our aim this year is to provide an insight into the classroom and understand what it means for your child when they come to school. What activities they undertake, how the room is set up to optimise learning, what are the approaches to learning we use.

Our staff expertise has continued to grow this year as Mrs Myrri Fatai leads the Junior School in the use of technology, not as an add on but an authentic part of learning. In 2022 students in Years 5 and 6 have been provided with a 1-1 laptop program. Across the school from Pre-K to Year 4 students are well provided with iPads and laptops to support their learning. As we begin the year students will undertake learning experiences not only on the use of devices but on what it means to be a safe digital user as staff lead students through the digital citizenship advice in the diary. 

Mrs Alicia Holmes is working with students in Years Pre-K to 4 in visual arts in our newly dedicated art space. We are looking forward to sharing with families many creations over the year linked to concepts and themes being studied in class. Students in Years 5 and 6 will continue to undertake art with their class teachers.

Mr Cory McLean continues to work with Kindergarten to Year 2 in developing language skills and cultural understanding in Wiradjuri. In 2022, our students in Year 3 will continue the program after students expressed a desire to continue their learning.

Student Voice

Students and staff have spent time since returning to school on settling into routines, reconnecting with each other and gaining an understanding of the approaches to learning this year. Throughout the many activities undertaken, staff have been getting to know your child and have started to build those important relationships with them.

We have been hearing from our students and including them in the directions we are taking. These discussions have included the use of spaces in the playground, how assembly is organised and the naming of classes based around the word ‘explorer’ which is at the heart of the Round Square model that students in the Junior School will become familiar with over the course of the year.

Round Square is an international community of Schools which in 2022 Kinross Wolaroi is investigating to enrich our offering for students. For the Junior School we are starting by looking at the language used in Round Square, the core ideals and how they work alongside our School values. Over the course of the year more will be shared with families, starting in the Term Overview coming home with your child on Thursday. Further to this document students are bringing home information regarding home learning. Our purpose in sending these two items with students is they contain information about the learning they are involved in, and we want them to be a part of the communication. Our older students should be looking at these documents and our younger students sharing them with families.

Renovations

In 2021 a project of rejuvenation commenced in the Junior School with many classrooms being painted, carpet laid and new cabinetry installed. This is continuing in 2022 over the term breaks. Over the summer break major renovations were completed to create “The Glasshouse”. A flexible learning space for use not only during class time but break time. A welcome addition for those cold Orange winters. Our students have been enjoying the opportunity to utilise the area since their return and are providing ideas on how it can be used at lunchtimes.

Uniform

It has been wonderful to see our students embracing the new uniform. One of the unexpected benefits from the introduction of a play-based uniform in Pre-K to Year 2 has been how easy it is to identify them in the playground and better ensure staff and older students are able to look out for them.

As we start the new year could I ask that you refer to the student diary regarding uniform on page 105, especially the wearing of jewellery, nail polish, hair cuts and the use of wearable devices on page 111. Staff will be writing notes in student diaries over the coming days as we work across the School from Pre-K to Year 12 on maintaining a consistent approach to uniform.

If you have not done so, please check that all items are labelled. We have many unnamed items at present which we are unable to return to students. A lost property box is located in the under-cover area outside Year 5 and is sorted on a regular basis. 

Kinross Students making their Mark

At Kinross Wolaroi we value and strive for academic rigour. Students have a myriad of opportunities to engage in enriching learning experiences which in some instances the School provides or facilitates student access to them.  Please share with us your child’s interest, passions, and achievements by emailing junioroffice@kws.nsw.edu.au.

I look forward over the year sharing with you the many happenings in the Junior School.