LEADERSHIP UPDATE

Kath Ginnane KPS Principal has had her leave period extended. As a result, I will continue to carry out the role of Acting Principal for the remainder of Term 2.

Kath has asked me to pass on her best to all KPS families and is looking forward to returning for Semester 2, 2023.

CULTIVATING CURIOSITY

Curiosity is the core of all creativity -- the drive to do something better, to experiment, to tinker, to create. We need curiosity to thrive, or we will go on autopilot. 

At the heart of curiosity is a strong desire to know or learn something. This is important because it allows us to problem solve, draw on known skills, figure out how to fix things that don’t work and place ourselves in a ‘learning dip’. Without curiosity, we tend to do the same things the same way because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” At Kingsville we cultivate curiosity in many ways.

Our beliefs and approaches to developing curiosity are influence by Kath Murdoch. Kath is an experienced teacher, author, university lecturer and popular consultant who has worked for many years in schools throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, America and Europe. She is widely respected for her work in the field of inquiry based learning and integrative curriculum in which she has taught, researched and published for well over 20 years.

One strategy that is significant in inquiry-based learning is the practice of instilling and cultivating curiosity in our students.

Cultivating curiosity involves inviting wonder and valuing the aesthetic. Providing experiences that activate the senses and give students opportunities to devise, share and explore questions that matter to them. It involves using materials and experiences that provoke uncertainty and puzzlement and a desire to seek clarity. It involves wondering aloud about the world. As adults we should model what it means to be a curious person and celebrate that disposition in our students and children.

As Kath Murdoch states, ‘While some children are never without a question to explore or a problem to solve, others can find it challenging to make their own choices or to identify something in which they are interested. As adults we should be mindful of the key role we play in creating an environment that nurtures curiosity and provokes wonder.’

In modelling and cultivating curiosity with your children you might like to explore some of these ideas below

Try some of these brainteasers.

Or visit these websites

Wonderopolis

Wonderopolis has a new wondering everyday. Wonderings such as: Can you make art from candy? Are birds a danger to airplanes? Have you ever eaten a tamale? How many sharks are in the ocean? https://wonderopolis.org/

The Fun Theory

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better. http://www.thefuntheory.com/


Jeff McDonald
Acting Principal

Student Progress Reporting

At Kingsville Primary School, sharing student learning progress and achievement with families forms an important part of the collaborative relationship between the school and families. This relationship is built on two-way communication, mutual responsibility, respect, and trust.

The Department of Education Victoria (DE), along with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) proved all government schools with the framework, expectations and guidelines for reporting on student achievement. It is a requirement for all Victorian government schools to report on achievement against the Victorian Curriculum at least twice a year for every student.

Semester Reports

The semester reports, shared with families in June and December each year, provide parents with detailed information regarding student progress. Teachers make informed and consistent judgements about student learning progress and achievement against the standards in the Victorian Curriculum F-10. These evidence based judgements draw from a range of data sources available to teachers, placing the student on the learning continuum. This is achieved through the ongoing process of:

• gathering data from a variety of learning tasks and experiences over a period of time
• analysing and interpreting data through the Professional Learning Communities framework within the school
• using and reflecting on the data to inform future teaching and improve student learning and outcomes

Semester reports will be available to parents via Compass on Thursday 22^nd June.

Optional Parent Teacher Meetings

Once semester reports are shared with families, there is an opportunity for parents/carers to make a booking with their child’s teachers to unpack or discuss aspects of the report. To facilitate this, the first week of term 3 will be “meeting free” for staff, allowing added flexibility for parents and teachers to organise any discussions.

This opportunity is designed to answer specific questions or queries that haven’t already been addresses in the semester reports or during the student led conferences.

If parents/carers would like to take up this opportunity, we ask that you have read the reports and shared with the teacher the questions you have from the report. This context allows the teacher to be prepared and for the meeting to be focused.

To arrange a time (10-15 minutes) to meet with your child’s teacher you will need to contact them directly to arrange a mutually suitable time. Email is the preferred option for this.

Student-Led Conferences

As we shared last newsletter, student led conferences are an important part of our reporting and assessment program, working alongside other components such as semester reports, learning tasks, parent-teacher meetings and share and connects. These all have the potential to provide parents and the students themselves with additional information regarding achievement, effort and involvement. 

The booking system for student led conferences will be opened on today Tuesday 13^th June via Compass. Families will be able to book in for a 15-minute conference in their child’s classroom. Multiple conferences run at the same time in the room, led by the student with the classroom teacher facilitating as required.

Student led conferences will be held for: 

• Level 1/2 and Level 3/4  students from 3.45pm to 7.00pm on Tuesday 20th June 

• Foundation, Level 5 and Level 6 students from 3.45pm to 7.00pm on Wednesday 21st June 

The Grade 6 students have taken meaningful action following on from their Term 1 inquiry into Who We Are and exploring the central idea ‘Relationships are complex and require nurturing in order to prosper’. In order to develop stronger relationships with younger peers and facilitate positive relationship building, the Grade 6 students have planned, developed and begun coordinating recess and lunchtime clubs for students across Kingsville Primary School. 

These Student Clubs are also forming the Grade 6 Leave a Mark Project in 2023, with the graduating class hoping to leave a positive legacy for the KPS community. The Grade 6 students have been demonstrating leadership skills, along with positive social behaviours to create enjoyable and safe experiences for their Foundation to Grade 5 peers to engage in.

The Grade 6 students have been blown away by the interest shown by their younger peers and have enjoyed their role as Club Facilitators:

• “I was surprised by the respect the younger students showed us during the Club.” – Emma H, 6CM
• “I like to see all of the kids having fun at my Club.” – Meili, 6JL
• “I love Clubs because they are so much fun, and everybody joins in and has fun, whether it’s sports, singing or art.” – Gauri, 6LA
• “I’ve felt happy to see the kids coming to our Club every week and having fun.” – Lucy B, 6CM
• “I love Clubs, they’re so much fun. Everyone joins in and it’s really good.” – Marley, 6LA
• “I like Clubs because they’re fun.” – Daisy, 6JL
• “I enjoy Student Clubs because the kids get to have fun and you have fun yourself.” – Chloe, 6LA

Please see the Student Clubs Timetable below for more information about the location and times of the various clubs.

 Year 6 2023

Divisional Cross Country

On Wednesday 31st May, 13 Kingsville students represented the Westgate district at the divisional Cross Country competition. These students showed grit and determination to compete a rather challenging course full of hills and turns against a very strong competition. All our athletes tried their absolute best resulting in 12 students progressing to the regional stage. A very exciting achievement. In the 6 races we competed in we had 4 students win the race, 2 place second, 1 place 3rd and a 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th place. A pretty incredible tally.

A massive thank you to the parents that came and cheered on our team offering encouragement and support. Also, a huge congratulations to Martine Friend and Narelle McIlroy for their amazing work to prepare our school community with their run club. You can certainly tell that your hard work is paying off.

Congratulations to the team again and good luck at Regionals on Monday 19th June back at Brimbank Park.













Nick Fitzpatrick
PE Teacher 

Friday morning assembly, with 490 students in the hall, is always an opportunity with all our students together for members of leadership and staff to celebrate who we are and the ideals of being students who will make the world a better place. Regularly, it is also an opportunity to do some reminders of actions and work as a whole school around the learner profile attribute of being principled when we focus on specific elements of our Essential Agreements, the rules, norms, routines, and codes that are used to uphold our school culture.

A focus at Friday’s assembly was a whole school visual check of dress code compliance, taking the opportunity to remind students of requirements and work to build their knowledge of the dress code and pride in their school uniform.

At this morning’s assembly, following our student representative council (SRC) meeting on Wednesday, several of the SRC group courageously assisted in focusing in on the uniform and highlighting the wide range of items included in our school uniform list. The SRC students from across the school helped out by confidently modelling different clothing combinations. This showcased a number of suitable options for comfort during our Melbourne ‘four seasons in one day’ weather. There will be times when families will send their child/children to school out of uniform due to circumstances beyond their control. However, what has become evident is that some students make a habit of wearing the non-school uniform items.

Additionally, as we move into the colder months of the year layering becomes a key way to deal with the movement in and out of the classrooms for activities and play times. On the whole students do this very well and managing taking off and putting on these layers. The downside however is the large number of uniform items that are taken off and discarded during the day and then make their way into the lost property baskets. Students are either not aware that they have lost an item or, don’t bother to go back and collect items they have taken off either outside or in a specialist class. This result is thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing that has the potential to be wasted. This is an ongoing challenge for all of us.

Parents and carers can assist by

• ensuring their child/children are wearing the correct school uniform items
• being aware of the item’s children wear/take to school and what actually comes home
• building age-appropriate responsibility and awareness with children regarding their clothing items
• showing children where their names are on the items so they can know where to look for their name when searching through the lost property
• making sure all items are clearly marked – this may seem obvious but, as items are purchased through our second-hand sales some original owner names are not removed and this causes further confusion

The school has a Dress Code that outlines the expectations of the school council regarding student’s dress and appearance. The Dress Code requires all students to wear school uniform every day (unless they have an exemption). Please refer to the Uniform and Dress Code Policy for further details.

Jeff McDonald
Acting Principal

Fundraising and school projects

As mentioned in the KPS newsletter, the School Council has set the Friends of Kingsville Primary School (FOKPS) an ambitious target of $40,000 to raise over the year – and to date, $9,525 has been raised.

KPS/FOKPS want school community, students (through the Student Representative Council), KPS staff and subcommittees of School Council to support where we allocate the funds raised through a project nomination process.

The nomination process seeks to obtain a greater understanding from the broader school community on funding opportunities that will benefit the students of KPS. the School Council are excited to strengthen the engagement with the school community and hear about how these important funds can be used at KPS.

Process for nominating a project for consideration

• Request project nomination form by email: kingsville.ps@education.vic.gov.au 
  • Please note the form will be available from the beginning of Term 3.
• Complete all areas of the form.
• the form includes key evaluation components such as: project description, outcomes sought, expected benefits and implementation considerations.
• Return the completed form to the school office or email
• kingsville.ps@education.vic.gov.au, addressing it to the School Council.

A project nomination can be made at any time during the year and can be expected to be reviewed by School Council within the following 2 meetings of that year.

Decision-making process

The School Council will carefully review all proposals, using the evaluation criteria outlined below, to determine which proposals are to be considered for funding.

Projects that are recommended to be funded will be notified in the Newsletter, including a clear rationale and funding allocation. All other received project nominations will be retained for ongoing consideration.

The FOKPS will then allocate locally raised funds to the selected projects.

Evaluation criteria

• Curriculum / learning / resources – sustains and enhances KPS’s teaching and learning program (library, technology, specialist areas, key curriculum areas of the KPS Strategic Plan)
• Student wellbeing
  • Happy, healthy and resilient students
  • Students’ needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests are reflected.
• Infrastructure upgrades to support health and wellbeing - pleasant, stimulating grounds environments – e.g. drink troughs, sensory garden, shade, seating and outdoor kitchen
• Infrastructure upgrades for aesthetics – classroom, administration, staff and student facilities
• Community School profile – play equipment, website, signage
• Demonstration of ‘Need’ vs ‘Want’
• Ease / flexibility of implementation – Little or no impact to usual school operations or ability to stage / phase the project
• Longevity and breadth of investment benefits - benefit as many students, teachers, community as possible and has a lasting benefit.

KPS 2023 School Council

Buildings and Grounds sub-committee update

The Buildings and Grounds sub-committee have been working towards providing a more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly school entrance at Cruickshank Park. Through ongoing discussions with Maribyrnong Council, we are looking to align with planned work in Cruickshank Park to devlop the school entrance to be more pedestrian, cycle and scooter friendly. To help with this we're looking to get an understanding of how students and families arrive and leave, and what a more developed entrance might mean for this.

If families can complete this short form to support this planning that’d be appreciated: https://forms.office.com/r/atVsXu7VDh

KPS 2023
B & G Sub Committee

What:

The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives.

It is open to students in years 3 to 12

The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) has 25 multiple-choice questions and five questions that need whole number answers.

All students are also provided with a report showing how they performed on each problem with wider statistical rankings.

Why:

Kingsville students have participated and competed in the AMC over several years.

The AMC offers an opportunity for Kingsville students to extend and challenge themselves in Mathematics.

Programs and opportunities such as the AMC connect Kingsville students with other students from around Australia.

When:

The 2023 AMC will be held across Australia between Wednesday 2^nd August and Friday 4^th August 2023

At Kingsville Primary School the AMC will be held on Wednesday 2nd August

Fee:

There is a cost of $8.00 to participate.  This covers testing booklets, answer sheets, postage and handling

How to register:

This is a voluntary competition for those students who want to have a go

If your child is interested in entering the competition, please register and pay via TryBooking https://www.trybooking.com/CIYJN or using the QR code.

Kingsville registrations will close at 3.30 on Tuesday 11^th July.

More information:

Visit the AMC website at:

https://www.amt.edu.au/amc

Or email jennifer.duckworth@education.vic.gov.au

Jennifer Duckworth
Learning Specialist, Numeracy

Reminder to current families

Parents / carers who have younger children / siblings of current students to enrol for 2024 should have or be planning to make contact with the school. If you are in this category and have not let us know please do so as soon as possible by visiting the office and collecting an enrolment form. The enrolment form must be submitted to the Kingsville Primary School office by Friday 28 July 2023.

Please see below the list of children who will be presented with their award at assembly on Friday 16^th June.

Please see below the list of children who were presented with their award at assembly today, Friday 9^th June

    9^th – 22^nd June

Happy birthday to Summer Windle, Louie Jones, Jonah Adams, Havaiana Cox, Hugo Becker, Logan Cox, Georgia Stanton, Olivia Baltruschat, Nini Field, Lily Sumali, Bella Bulmer, Georgina Goodridge-Kelly, Byron Le and Poppy Amemiya.

Upcoming Incursion:  4 weeks AFL clinic

Come along and join us for a fun, engaging, and skill-building 4-week AFL clinic in After School Care at Kingsville Primary School. Joining us every Friday from 02/06/2023 until 23/06/2023 will be Cube Sports bringing their awesome AFL clinic for all children to enjoy!

To enrol your child into the incursion at no extra charge other than their regular session fee, make sure you book the After School Care program on every Friday from 02/06/2023 until 23/06/2023.

Book now from your parent portal – once registered, you’ll be able to easily make and manage your bookings online via our Parent Portal.

Child Care Subsidy (CCS)

The Child Care Subsidy can provide up to 85% off your fees.  Your eligibility is determined by your family’s annual adjusted taxable income, the type of childcare you use, and your activity level.  To find our if you’re eligible, contact Centrelink on 13 61 50.

Register free and book now at www.campaustralia.com.au

Outside School Hours Care by Camp Australia

A reminder about our great incursion happening across 4 Fridays this month where an Australia rules football clinic will be conducted by Cube Sports, giving children some extra training in a fun way on footy.

An exciting two-week national event to look forward to is in weeks 8 & 9, where we will be having “The Big Art Weeks.” Activities filled with great arts & crafts and an “art or writing” competition for the children. These weeks will focus on everyone’s inner creativity encouraging all children to try something new or develop existing talent.

The weeks ahead will be filled with lots of indoor arts & crafts and outdoor games and physical play focusing on learning and developing gross motor skills and teamwork like our very own “Numbers Games”

This is a reminder that with the upcoming King’s Birthday long weekend, there will also be a pupil-free day on Tuesday 13^th. An all-day holiday program will be run at the service, please remember to make a booking early.

See you soon in OSHC!

Activities coming up:

• AFL incursion
• Numbers Games
• In house Handball activities
• Red Light, Green Light
• Basketball, Netball
• Chess Championship
• Big arts week