Term 2 has come to its conclusion and just like the past 9 weeks it has been busy and productive. Like every week at Kingsville, there is a great deal to be proud. Teachers, students, support staff and parents/carers have worked together to ensure all our students have had the opportunities to grow, both academically and socially. The foundations student have really found their place in the school and have taken up enthusiastically all the routine of school life.  For our grade one to five students they have shown fortitude and confidence in taken on the challenges of their new year level. While the grade six students have led with passion and understanding as they journey through their final year of primary school which involves many opportunities to synthesize the essential elements of the PYP.

Through collaborative work by teachers and students, the 21 individual learning environments have set up safe, predictable, and engaging learning spaces that support student learning. The Kingsville program of instruction is well and truly embedded, and our specialist programs have enhanced the learning on a weekly basis.

There have been many highlights in our first semester including attendance by the student leaders to the GRIP conference, the information night sessions, parent teacher meetings, swimming, cross country, athletics, and gala day events, an open classroom afternoon with a focus on numeracy, NAPLAN, excursions to the zoo, the Melbourne Museum and parliament house to highlight a few.  There have also been many more individual, group or whole class achievements occurring on a regular basis in the learning environments around the school.

We had a wonderful finish to the term with student been given the opportunity to lead their parents /carers and even sibling through their student led conference. It is a wonderful opportunity put the student at the centre and to share with parents/carers their perspective on the growth they have made and the agency, skills, and knowledge they have connected in and with over semester 1.

So well done everyone and as this is the last newsletter for Term 2, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate students and teachers for their hard work, commitment and engagement over the last 20 weeks.  Also, to our families for their ongoing support of the students and the work of the school.

I hope all students have an enjoyable term break and I along with all staff look forward to welcoming you and your family back for term 3, beginning Monday 10^th July.

Jeff McDonald

Acting Principal

I would like to take the opportunity now at the end of Term 2 and Semester 1, to wish all KPS students and their families an enjoyable term break.

I have been on leave this term however, I have kept up to date with school activities and achievements.  There have been so many successes and so much for all members of the school community to be proud of.

My sincere thanks to Jeff McDonald long term substantive Assistant Principal, who effectively carried out the role of Acting Principal throughout Term 2. Jeff took up all the challenges of daily life in this Principal Class position and, along with our School Council President Glen Yates lead council through Term 2. He was of course ably supported in the work by Sam Eason Assistant Principal, Blagma Veljanoska Acting Assistant Principal and Leading Teachers Lauren Anile and Jennifer Duckworth. In addition, the school administrative team and all members of staff supported leadership admirably.

I would also like to thank parents and carers as well as members of our school council, council subcommittees and, working parties. Together they worked for the benefit of all students.

Whilst on leave, I have actually been onsite a few times to –

• be a panel member for a staff recruitment process
• catch up with staff and have the pleasure of observing some of the student led conferences last Tuesday
• participate in the end of term Friday assembly

I look forward to being back full time next term and catching up with all students and of course to begin welcoming new families as the 2024 enrolment process finally begin.

Kath Ginnane

Principal

At Kingsville, reporting student learning progress and achievement is part of the all-important cooperative relationship between the school, teachers, and parents. It involves two-way communication, mutual responsibility, respect, and trust. Hopefully, the complete process serves to build engagement of parents and increase knowledge relating to the comprehensive nature of assessment and reporting in schools.

At Kingsville we see the written reports as just one component of a comprehensive reporting and assessment agenda. There are throughout the year a range of reporting actions including communications, planned meetings, student led conferences, open afternoons, share and connect times, Naplan results and year 6 Exhibition to name just a few.

These all have the potential to provide parents and the students themselves with additional information regarding the growth they are making.

So, at this stage of the year when attention turns to the mid-year reports, I ask parents to view these as just one component of a much broader achievement story.

Think as well please of the many and varied learning experiences and your child/children’s personal efforts. Reflect on the many everyday efforts, contributions, and achievements e.g.

• just getting up to perform at assembly
• being a member of a collaborative team and learning community
• taking up a leadership role
• taking personal action
• volunteering to assist or take on specific tasks
• club organising or membership
• concert and/or choir involvement
• sporting, musical, dramatic and creative efforts and achievements
• showing resilience by going on camps or trips
• finding their voice in so many different ways

Again, these are just a few examples of a very large number that show learning, growth, development, and achievement of our students both individually and collectively.

Underpinning the midyear report are a range of tasks completed by teachers to ensure the student reports are relevant, meaningful, and truly reflect the individual progress of each child.

These tasks include the all-important grade, level, and team moderation where teachers reflect upon student work samples, anecdotal records, and the results of a range of assessment tasks. This is a vital step to ensure valid assessment which is accurate, appropriate, and fair.

Finally, after much reflection and hours of application they bring all the information on each child together – the personal report is produced. A great deal of time and effort is involved in the ongoing student assessment and completion of twice yearly student reports.

As Assessement and Reporting coordinator, I congratulate 2023 staff for their commitment to this vital component of their work. I am confident the reports will provide parents with clear information about their child/children’s achievement and areas for future growth and development.

Parents/carers please celebrate with your child/children their reports, congratulate them on, the efforts they have made on the journey as a lifelong learner.

Semester 1 reports has been available for parents/carers to view and download through the Compass Management System, since yesterday afternoon. The reports can be accessed via the Student Profile link on the home page. Select the Reports tab and the report cycle you wish to view. These reports will stay on Compass so that you can view these at any time whilst enrolled at Kingsville Primary. I highly suggested that you save a copy of the report for future reference. Please note that if you are having problems viewing the report on the Compass app, go to the tab ‘Open In Browser.’

Blagma Veljanoska

Assessment and Reporting Coordinator

In 2023 Kingsville will continue to have two teacher planning weeks, one in Semester 1 and one in Semester 2.

The Semester 2 planning week take place in Term 3, Week 1, beginning Monday 10^th July

What happens during this week?

Over the course of planning week each cohort of teachers is allocated a day to collaboratively plan the teaching and learning experiences and opportunities that will take place throughout the semester. This planning is driven by student, class and cohort data, making the teaching and learning relevant, meaningful and timely for students.

Kingsville, through the PYP framework, utilises an inquiry-based, student-centred, transdisciplinary curriculum framework that builds conceptual understanding. Through acknowledging and aiming to meet the diverse needs of the student – physically, socially, intellectually, and emotionally – the programme aims to create learning that is engaging, relevant challenging and significant.

Within their teaching teams, teachers will also develop a yearly Program of Inquiry, mapping out the six transdisciplinary units of the Primary Years Programme across the year, and connecting the Learning Areas of English, Maths, Humanities, Science, Health and PE, Technology and The Arts to these units of inquiry.

Planning week is a significant undertaking by the school, both logistically and financially, however we value the time this provides for teachers to plan, develop, and implement high-quality, targeted teaching and learning programs.

On the day that teaching teams are planning the classroom program is supported by the specialist teachers and casual relief teachers.

The dates of different levels planning are:

Sam Eason

Assistant Principal

Student Led Conferences

During this week, students welcomed their families into their classrooms for Student Led Conferences. These opportunities are a celebration and a source of pride for all involved. The cold, wintry Melbourne weather didn’t deter families, who turned out in large numbers for the two after school sessions. There is a distinct “buzz” throughout the school during conferences, as students share with their families their learning through their portfolios.

The portfolios shared during the conferences are collated from activities and experiences in the classroom. Student voice is represented through the selection of work shared by individual students, with student’s reflecting on the tasks, their learning from this and their next steps to develop as a learner. We are always very impressed with the way students welcome their families into their conference and share their learning progress through their portfolios.

Students have now taken home their portfolios to share further with you or other family members. Your child is very proud of their portfolio, and the range of experiences contained inside that demonstrate their growth and learning. Please make sure that, after you have shared a comment in your child’s portfolio, that they are returned to the classroom so that students can continue to add evidence of their learning for the remainder of the year.

We strongly believe that the student-led conferences are an impactful and beneficial way to share student learning and growth, and we hope they have been enlightening, enjoyable, rewarding, and possibly humorous for those who were able to attend.

Well done to all Kingsville learners. Well done to families for their support. And well done KPS staff for guiding students through this process.

Sam Eason

Assistant Principal

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.

Blagma Veljanoska

Assessment and Reporting Coordinator

Buildings and Grounds sub-committee update

Two weeks ago a short survey was shared with the KPS community as the B&G sub-committee, along with School Council, looks to gain some insight into how our students and families make their way to and from school. As we shared with this form, we are currently investigating developing the Cruickshank Park entrance to the school, aligning with planned work in the park undertaken by Maribyrnong Council.

Thank you to the 65 families who responded. The results are shared below. Having over a third of those responding letting us know that development here would change how they enter and leave the grounds supports further planning and work in this space.










KPS School Council

Pastel self-portrait in the foyer

A significant distraction to families as they travel from the office area to different part of the school has been the amazing display on the wall opposite the large map of the world.

During Term One, all KPS students explored the transdisciplinary theme of ‘Who We Are’ by inquiring into self-portraits. The students completed their annual graphite pencil self-portrait as well as completing an A5 pastel self-portrait, which is displayed at the office and in the library. This has developed into another Kingsville tradition which the children look forward to each year. Last year, the display board at the office was decorated with our very ‘sticky portraits’ where the students and teachers drew a picture of themselves as stick figures on sticky notes.

This year the students used a ‘special trick’ to help them draw and colour their self-portrait with pastels. The students were encouraged to colour with no gaps, use outlining effectively and add details such as the very important ‘Kingsville K’. The Foundation students enjoyed spending time with their Grade Six buddies who helped them complete their pastel self-portraits.

During the week, it was fantastic to see so many parents admiring the students’ self-portraits as they made their way to and from student led conferences.

Monica Gallivan
Visual Arts Teacher

Dear KPS families,

Hi, I’m Lucy, one of the Grade 6 teachers. These holidays, I am going to try and take some action on an issue I feel passionate about. I am going to participate in Plastic Free July. This means that for the month of July I am going to try to reduce the amount of plastic waste I throw away. I want to do this because I am worried about the amount of plastic rubbish that I use that ends up sitting in landfill holes, or might get blown away into our drains and washed down to the ocean. I don’t want the plastic I use to hurt our environment. So, I’d like to be using less plastic.

Two actions I have promised to take are:

• To stop buying snack bars that are covered in plastic wrappers and putting them in my lunch (I’m going to bake some snacks and freeze them instead)
• To stop buying take-away coffees in disposable one-use cups (I’m going to make sure I dine in or bring my own reusable cup)

I’m also trying to take action by helping other people learn about the impact of plastic waste. I’ve joined a local group, ‘Western Parents for Climate Action’, and we are going to show an inspiring documentary called, ‘Microplastic Madness’ at the Braybrook Community Hub this school holidays. It shows how a group of 11 year olds from Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY, take on plastic pollution in their area by becoming citizen scientists and community advocates. It features stop-motion animation, interviews with experts, and entertaining kid-commentary.

This is why I’m writing this message to the great Kingsville P.S. Community. I’d like to invite Kingsville families to find out more about this huge environmental issue by coming and joining other families at this event. I’ll be helping out by running a collaborative art activity too. The event is free to attend, however registration is required.

Looking forward to seeing some Kingsville families there who care for our planet and who’d like to join me in taking some action for our environment next month!

Thanks,

Lucy Oates
6LA Teacher

REGISTER AT:

23^rd June – 21^st July

Happy birthday to Jehro Blassan, Mikayla Mincherton, Jacob Stojcevski, Estelle Kirby, Hazel Mcilroy, Chloe Yorke, Tommy Zarakis, Ariella Jarvis, Essie Jugovic, Sophie McColl, Kai Lathleiff, Cleo Justice, Elsa O’Brien, Jessica Sinfuego, Polly Marinko, Xavier Martini, Eden Coleman, Benji Sinfuego, Cooper Le, Lukas Reiken, Ammar Muhammad Abbasi, Xavier Nye, Ollie Williamson, Chase Giacomin, Josie Simnett-Sage, Emma Hutchison, Bojana Peric, Albert Kendall, Clara Green, Arthur Jennings, Alice Kindred, Tilly Gartside, Anouk Morgan-Green, August Nette, Fergus Mcilroy, Henry Milligan, Zelda Dyson, Rupert White, Maisie White, Luka Nacov, Hazel Baddiley, Gauri Gautam and Louis Barbetta. 

Please see below the list of children who will be presented with their award at assembly on Friday 14^th July

Please see below the list of children who were presented with their award at assembly today, Friday 23^rd June