School Assembly

Under current restrictions assemblies are not permitted. We will conduct

an online assembly on Friday 22nd at 2:30pm.

Principal’s Report Issue no: 17 October 20th, 2021

Koondrook Primary School respectfully acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand. We pay respects to the Barapa Barapa Elders past, present and future.

Koondrook Primary School KPS: Respect, Responsibility, Resilience

Dates to Remember

Term Dates 2021 Term 4 ~ October 4th – December 17th Public Holidays November 2nd – Melbourne Cup School Dates to Remember October 22nd – All Students Back at School November 5th – KPS Athletic Sports November 23rd & 24th – Barham High School Transition, Yr. 6 December 3rd – Curriculum Day Assemblies October 22nd @ 2:30pm

Return to School What fantastic news we received on the weekend that all children are returning to onsite learning from this Friday, the 22nd October. This is hopefully the end of any lockdown as we resume living a more normal lifestyle. This means that for this week: Prep – 2 Full time onsite learning. Gr 3&4 – Onsite Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday Gr 5 &6 – Onsite from Thursday Remote learning will continue for these students on the days they are not onsite this week. We are so happy that all students will be back onsite from Friday. It will be great to have everyone back onsite engaging with their friends and teachers. Thank you everyone for your continued support during this time. It has been wonderful how parents, teachers and support staff have worked together to support the learning of all students. Thank you so much. QR Code System Under current restrictions parents/visitors are not permitted onsite. When we are allowed to welcome you again, please continue to use the QR codes around the school to 'check in'. Thank you for your continued support with this. Vaccination Requirements There is no requirement from the Department of Education for students to be vaccinated. All staff at schools are required to be vaccinated to be on site, as are parent volunteers (once volunteers are permitted to return to schools). Parent visitors are not required to be vaccinated.

Fun In The Sun

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Covid Regulations We will continue to follow the recommendations of the Victorian Chief Health Officer to ensure our students are safe. These include: • All unwell staff and students must stay home. If your child develops symptoms of a fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell or taste they should get tested at a coronavirus testing facility and stay home. This helps everyone. • Parents who need to come on site must sign in at the office or sign in by scanning a QR code which are displayed on a number of windows around the school. • The children and staff must wash their hands and sanitise regularly. • All children need to bring a drink bottle to school each day. • Masks are to be worn inside the building by staff and students in Grades 3-6. They are strongly recommended for students in Grades P-2. Face Masks To support this, the Victorian Chief Health Officer has announced new rules around mask wearing to keep everyone at school safe. We know that returning to school will look a little different this time and it’s important that we support you and your children with effective ways to keep everyone safe and well. One of the most important and effective things we can do to help keep students in the classroom is to wear masks to help minimise COVID-19 transmission risk. When worn properly, masks can play an important role in reducing the transmission risks of Covid-19 that could happen from common activities in school. Students in Grade 3 and above

• Face masks will also be required for all school students in Grade 3 and above indoors including at Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) programs, unless a lawful exception applies. Face masks can be removed while outdoors at school for primary students.

• Students in Grades 3 to 6 are required to wear face masks from 18 October 2021. All other students who are required to wear a face mask must continue to do so from the first day they return to onsite learning.

• Face masks will be strongly recommended for Prep to Year 2 students.

• For composite classes of Grade 2 and 3 students, Grade 2 students will be strongly encouraged to wear masks like their Grade 3 peers.

• For students with a disability, parents and carers should speak to the child’s doctor or regular health professional about the best methods to encourage mask wearing. Students and parents can also contact the Disability Liaison Officer program for more information.

• Students with a medical condition or disability that make wearing a face covering unsuitable are not required to wear a mask.

• Face masks are required for students in Year 3 to Year 6 unless an exception applies. Exceptions include students with a physical or mental disability where their disability means it would not be suitable. Parent/carers of a student/s who meet the criteria for an exception must provide their approval in writing for their child/ren to not wear a mask to the school.

We will try to maximise outdoor learning where possible and offer more recreation and breaks wherever practicable to further support students. We can work together to support students by having conversations around the importance of masks in preventing COVID -19 transmission and remind them that it’s only for a few days a week. Continued Overleaf…

We have seen through remote learning that friendships are important. We can work together to remind students that wearing masks means they can see their friends and be at school together more often. We also protect our friends and keep them safe. We encourage you to discuss wearing masks with your children to keep kids in the classroom and minimise COVID-19 transmission risk. The Raising Children Network has resources that can help you with having conversations with your children about wearing masks.

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Continued…

We have seen through remote learning that friendships are important. We can work together to remind students that wearing masks means they can see their friends and be at school together more often. We also protect our friends and keep them safe. We encourage you to discuss wearing masks with your children to keep kids in the classroom and minimise COVID-19 transmission risk. The Raising Children Network has resources that can help you with having conversations with your children about wearing masks. These new changes to wearing masks will come into effect when students return to staged onsite learning from 18th October 2021. Tutor Program This year the government supported schools and students by providing money for a Tutor Program. Our Tutor Program was funded for 26 weeks. I would like to thank Michelle Howard for the work she has done to provide support to both students and teachers throughout the program. This is the final week of the program and Michelle’s final day with us will be on Thursday. We have been advised the government will continue to provide support for a program during 2022. Athletic Sports We are hoping that on Friday 5th November we will run our Athletic Sports. We are planning to use the Koondrook Cricket Oval but will need to wait on further guidelines. Otherwise, we will run the sports on our oval. We are hoping that parents may be allowed to sit in their cars to watch the children if we can use the Koondrook Oval. We will let you know further details closer to the date. Walk to School This year November is Walk to School month. During the month of November, we encourage all children to walk or ride to school. Bus travellers can walk or ride to the bus stop or walk a few laps of the oval once they get to school. I wonder which class will win the Golden Shoe Award? UNIFORMS Please be reminded that uniform is compulsory at school. Students need to be wearing uniform in good/neat condition and have it named. If you need support to get your child back into uniform, please contact the office and we will assist you. Monday Lunch Orders Monday lunch orders will resume next week on Monday since all students are back. Attached to the newsletter is the new summer menu. Orders may be placed at Tatiar’s or placed in the order box at the office on Monday morning.

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Transition Programs We are still waiting on guidelines to see if we can run our Prep Transition Program onsite over the coming weeks. Barham High School Barham High School will be running their transition days on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th of November. Students have received enrolment forms. These can be sent directly to Barham High or given to Miss Bradford. Kerang Tech High Transition Information Enrolment Forms – Now Due Year 7 Enrolment forms for 2022 are now due. Thank you to the families who have submitted their child’s enrolment form. If you are yet to submit your child’s form, could you please arrange for them to be submitted as soon as possible. These can be submitted directly to Kerang Technical High School or given to Miss Bradford. Parent Information Evening: Format changed Unfortunately, the current Department guidelines does not allow secondary schools to have adults/families/visitors onsite. Therefore, I have made some changes regarding to the upcoming Parent Information Evening scheduled for Wednesday, October 27th. To allow families to be flexible, rather than having a scheduled meeting online, I have developed an online portal specifically for families. This portal will explicitly explain the key content to help your family transition from Primary to Secondary School and prepare for 2022. https://sway.office.com/2Vrp43pchY4OlE0W?ref=Link Child Safe Koondrook Primary School is committed to Child safety. The safety and well-being of our students is a primary concern. We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures. To ensure the safety and best interests of all students, we take into account the needs of those with an Aboriginal or Torres strait Islander heritage and those from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds. Curriculum Day Friday 3rd December will be a Curriculum Day. There will be no school for students on this day.

School Council We are doing a quick get to know you session with each of our School Council Members, so you know who you can talk to if you would like to raise an idea or a concern to be discussed at School Council. Name: Chris D’Silva What class are the students in your care in? I have twins in Grade 6 Why did you join School Council? When we moved to Koondrook, it was a great avenue for me to get to know the Community and to show that I am here to be an active Community Member and to help out however I can. Being involved with Council is a great way to help find improvements and bring new facilities to our fantastic school. What are you up to outside of school? We are currently consumed by building and establishing our local takeaway business, which has been an interesting ride through COVID. I am also an ongoing active member of the Koondrook Swimming Pool Committee. What is your favourite motto/quote? My motto is ‘no excuses, just have a go’ – much to my kids’ dismay Victorian Get Active Voucher Program The Victorian Get Active Voucher Program has been updated to include children who are named on a Medicare card. We are coming into a new season of sports so please take advantage of this amazing opportunity. More information in the flyer attached or log on to: www.getactive.vic.gov.au KPS Community Calendar Please support our major fundraiser with the Community Calendar if you can. Birthdays, meetings or special occasions can be added to our calendar for just $1.50 per date. Families will be given a calendar at the end of the year; the rest are distributed around the local businesses that advertise in it to give to their customers. Entries need to be in as soon as possible and no later than Monday 25th October so we catch the printing deadline. Please send entries/dates in with payment attached in a green school envelope. A form is attached to this newsletter to add names and dates.

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School Review As part of the improvement cycle, each Victorian Government School undertakes a review every four years, to ensure they are meeting minimum standards. The school community completes a comprehensive self-evaluation against the FISO continua of practice. An independent analysis is completed of a school’s performance against their goals and targets in their school strategic plan. The review evaluates the school's strengths, areas for improvement and the impact of its improvement efforts. At the end of the review, a new four-year school strategic plan is created and endorsed by the school community. During 2021 staff have been engaged in the Pre-Review Self-Evaluation (PRSE) process, in preparation for this year’s review. Data and evidence was gathered and considered in terms of the school’s performance and practice outcomes, with a focus on: - Building Practice Excellence and Empowering students and building school pride. The resulting PRSE report, provided evidence including enablers and barriers, to support the evaluation of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes Continua of Practice, (FISO Continua). The principal then provides relevant documentation (according to the Reviewer as well as the PRSE Report and Data, to core members of the School Review Panel. Preparation Meeting: Monday 1st November, the Reviewer, Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL) and Principal, will meet to co-develop an agenda, methodology and processes for classroom observations and/or focus groups on the upcoming Validation Day. Review Panel members will familiarise themselves with the PRSE report and other school data which provides evidence of school performance. The purpose of undertaking a broad, cross-section of classroom observations is to test and observe the school’s practices with regard to student voice, agency and leadership; curriculum content; and teaching practice. Validation Day: On Wednesday 3rd November, the Review Panel members will undertake classroom observations at Koondrook Primary to test the findings included in the PRSE Report, focussing on the instructional core. The Panel’s views will contribute to determining the school’s level of proficiency against the FISO Continua for the six High-impact Improvement initiatives. It will also guide the remaining phases of the School Review, by developing Terms of Reference focus questions and methodology for fieldwork activities. Fieldwork Day: On Thursday 4th November, fieldwork will be undertaken to investigate the focus questions, as planned on Validation Day. Fieldwork may include classroom observations and focus groups, to further investigate and test the school’s practices in student voice, agency and leadership; curriculum content; and teaching practice. It also enables the Review Panel to identify any other areas requiring more in-depth exploration. Final School Review Panel Meeting: On Wednesday 24th November, as part of its broader discussions, the Panel (Reviewer/s, Principal and SEIL) will convene to share and discuss the review findings. Panel members will consider the instructional core in determining directions for the next Strategic School Plan (SSP), including goals setting, targets and Key Improvement Strategies (KIS) as per the FISO initiative. Following this meeting, a report will be developed and presented to staff and School Council. This report will form the basis for the first draft of the new School Strategic Plan for the next 4 years. Amanda Bradford

CONTACT: Koondrook Primary School Phone – 03 54532428 Website: koondrookps.vic.edu.au Murray Parade Koondrook, Fax – 03 54531147 E-mail: koondrook.ps@education.vic.gov.au PO Box 8, Koondrook, 3580

Swan Hill

(TW

QK

-93U

474)

supporting young people

during covid-19

headspace Swan Hill are hosting an

evening for parents, carers and

community members to connect with

each other and get information

about supporting the mental health

of young people through COVID-19

in partnership with:

when

wednesday 27 october

6:30pm - 7:30pm

where

online via zoom

this session will also be offered in Cohuna for in

person attendance, depending on restrictions

register

online: https://bit.ly/3mD4PzJ

for more info, contact kat hindle

khindle@shdh.org.au, 03 4010 7106

headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health