Communication Systems
At KVPS we use various communication systems including SkoolBag, Facebook and Class Dojo. For parents, our main communication platform is Skoolbag to keep upto date with our newsletter, events and regular updates through SkoolBag posts. Facebook is used to promote our school within the community and the information posted is limited as this can be viewed by any member of the public.
Some teachers also use Class Dojo which provides a class specific platform for teachers to communicate with parents. Please keep in mind though, if you have a time sensitive message, for example, a going home message, please phone the school office to ensure this message reaches your child before home time. While every effort is made by our teachers to monitor Class Dojo regularly, there will be times when a message will be missed by the class teacher as they won't monitor these messages while teaching students or during playground duty supervision. There will also be days when your child's teacher is away and a casual teacher may not have access to Class Dojo or be as familiar as their normal class teacher with this platform.
Our school email address is monitored regularly by our office staff and is another way that you can communicate with the school. Email us: kangaroova-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Project Platypus 2022
During my recent visit to the 4/5/6 classroom, students asked me about a previous camp called the 'Platypus Project' which many students expressed an interest in.
I am currently working with the Illawarra Environmental Education Centre along with Berry, Terara and Cambewarra PS Principals to set a date for this exciting overnight opportunity which will happen in either Term 3 or 4 of this year! More details to come very soon...
Fundraising Efforts
Our parents are working incredibly hard to fundraise to purchase resources for our school to make more available to our students. These fundraising efforts are very much appreciated. We have just had many parents and community members involved in the much anticipated Golf Day which raises money for the school. We also have another Family Flicks afternoon coming up in the holidays and the winter dance. I would like to thank our parents who are working behind the scenes to make these events happen, not just for the financial support these events incur, but the social aspect these events provide for our families and community.
Premier's Reading Challenge
The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is open to all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 10, in government, independent, Catholic and home schools.
Students can log books read using their DoE username and password.
https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html
Challenge closes for student entries, Friday 19 August 2022
Enrolments for Kindergarten 2023
It is that time already to be looking ahead into 2023 and enrolments for Kindergarten are open! If you are seeking a placement for your child, use the Kangaroo Valley Public School Website "Enrolment" to enrol your child.
If your child attends Kangaroo Valley Pre School or you have enrolled on line a Prospectus and Information Package will be sent to you at the commencement of Term 4.
If you know of anyone who resides within our local zone and is not currently connected to our school, please encourage them to make contact with us.
We also ask that any families leaving our school, let us know as soon as possible as this will assist with planning for class structures for the 2023 school year.
New School Counsellor
We welcome back Melinda Bolton to the KVPS team who will now be fulfilling the role of school counsellor every second Wednesday, replacing Yvonne Ferguson. Christina Barrett will provide additional counselling support to our school on the alternate Wednesday. Both Mel and Chris are Senior Psychologists Education working across a number of schools in the Shoalhaven.
Their role as Senior Psychologist Education involves coordinating and supervising a team of school counsellors and school psychologists in the Shoalhaven to deliver high quality psychological services to schools. They work closely with schools, other members of educational services teams and agencies to improve student learning and wellbeing outcomes. They provide professional leadership in the delivery of psychological services to school communities.
We are receiving this additional counselling time after expressing the need to support our KVPS students and families who have faced a number of unique complexities over the last few years.
I have spoken to Chris and Mel about the specific needs of the school and we would love to invite parents to an information session to find out what supports they can offer. Please keep an eye on the newsletter as we will provide further details about this information session.
Cool Kids
One of the programs that we hope to offer families at KVPS is The Cool Kids Anxiety Program, which has been running at Macquarie University since 1993. It is a structured 10 session program run over a minimum of 10 weeks that teaches children (ages 7-17 years) and their parents how to better manage a child’s anxiety. The program can be run with individuals or in a group, in a clinical or school setting and involves participation of child and parent.
The Cool Kids Anxiety Program is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), with a focus on teaching practical skills. The program has undergone continual scientific evaluation and development to include the latest understanding of anxiety and its treatment. Current results indicate that most young people who complete our programs show significant improvement. Following treatment, there are marked increases in school attendance, academic achievement, confidence, number of friends and involvement in extra-curricular activities and decreases in worry, shyness, fear and family distress.
Stormbirds
Another program that Mel and Chris have identified that would be beneficial for selected students is called Stormbirds. Stormbirds provides an opportunity for children and young people who have experienced a natural disaster to share their experiences of change and loss in safe and creative ways, understand and attend to their feelings, and learn skills for adapting and recovering. This takes place in an atmosphere of like-to-like peer support.
The Stormbirds Program was developed in 2009 by Good Grief’s founders, the Sisters of St Joseph following the Black Saturday fires In Victoria. It Is based on the highly successful and evidence-based program, Seasons for Growth, which has been delivered by local community facilitators to over 300,000 children and young people in Australia and internationally to support their wellbeing following loss and grief experiences, including natural disasters. Stormbirds provides a safe space for children and young people to give a voice to their experiences and learn appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand and manage the changes bought about by a natural disaster. Essentially, the program allows them to connect, communicate and understand they are not alone.Since 2009, Stormbirds has supported many communities following natural disasters - bushfires in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia; floods in Queensland; bushfires and drought in New South Wales and the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand. The program continues to be implemented throughout those fire affected communities in NSW and Victoria.
The Stormbirds program supports children and young people and covers the topics of change; feelings and responses; memories and support and reconnecting.
"After participating in the Stormbirds program the children have become less anxious and more open to expressing their feelings. The program has helped relieve the trauma of this devastating event." John Collis, Principal, Yarloop Primary School.
Stormbirds is delivered over four sessions in which children learn about:
Session 1 - Change, a natural part of life
Session 2 - Feelings and responses
Session 3 - Memories and support
Session 4 - Reconnecting
I have attached a fact sheet for more information about both programs. If you think your child would benefit from this either Cool Kids or Stormbirds, please let me know by sending an email to jennifer.arnott3@det.nsw.edu.au. There will be limited places available.
Miss Arnott - Relieving Principal
