Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2022. What a very busy and different start to our school year we’ve had so far. I must thank all of you for your understanding and support regarding the Covid-19 restrictions. We would all prefer to have families and carers in classrooms and at various events including assemblies but know this is not possible at the moment. I would also like to thank the families for providing masks for their children.  I know wearing a mask can be uncomfortable for some so having your support is appreciated.

Other school news: we are currently seeking more parents and community members to join our School Board. The members of our School Board include Kristy Carriage as Board Chair, Paul Mitchell, Sarah-Jane Bilston, Kaye Hughes and Jennie Calgaret as Board Members along with myself, Jae Dornan, Anne Curd and Bridget Bish. The Board meet once a term usually for a maximum of one and a half hours to discuss the strategic direction of Kingston Primary. The Board led very effectively by Kristy, discusses financial matters of the school, student data and how we can maximise outcomes for our students as well general polices.  You do not need any experience to be part of the Board just a willingness to contribute constructively to the meetings. Please feel free to ask any of the Board members for more information or contact me if you’d like to chat about it in more detail.

This year we welcomed Mrs Marie Brandis to our school as the Year 1/2 teacher. Mrs Brandis is a very experienced and highly proficient teacher who moved down from the Pilbara. It’s lovely having Mrs Brandis at Kingston.  Mrs Naomi Zappia is also new and is working on Wednesday and Friday in Year 2. Mrs Cleave has returned after having time at home with her new baby and we’re enjoying having her back. Mrs Christine Read our absolutely wonderful Manager Corporate Services is on leave until next term so we have Mrs Kellie Wilson stepping in as MCS and she is doing a stellar job. Another lovely addition to our superb front office team is Mrs Kelly Mills.  Kelly previously worked at Kingston Primary and we’re delighted to have her back. We also welcomed back the lovely Mrs Julie Byrne.  We’ve had a couple of farewells this year; one is our gardener Renee Kaczmarcka and our Network Support Officer Josh Tonkin. Both have accepted new jobs in other fields and we thank them for their work and wish them all the best for the future.

Some new initiatives we’ve started this year are:

• The Resilience Project by Hugh van Cuylenburg. This is a wonderfully interactive health program for our students and staff. We highly value the wellbeing of all at Kingston Primary and this program is all about gratitude, empathy, mindfulness and emotional intelligence. Feedback from staff and students is very positive and I encourage you to have a look at it online or read the book if you’d like to learn more. A big thank you to 2021 P&C who donated over $16000 for this program so that each student could have their own journal.
• Another initiative going from strength to strength is our Boys in Education mentoring program complemented by the Girls counselling group and soon we will have a music group supporting our students. When students feel safe and happy at school they are more able to focus on their learning. The Student Support team lead by Mrs Eckersley is making sure they reach as many students in need as possible. For more information about any of these support programs please email the school. 
  
  
• Our Year 4-6 Academic Enrichment class headed by Mrs Gina Piggott is allowing like-minded students the opportunity to think creatively and problem solve through different media. From all accounts the students and staff in the class are enjoying this new concept. More information from the class with be in our next newsletter.
  
  
• This year Mr Ross Millington has taken on the role of Science Specialist. He has created a sensational science lab for the students to perform science investigations along with cultivating many vegetable gardens around our school.

All in all I am so proud of the dedicated and highly skilled staff at Kingston Primary. Everyone cares for the students and will go to whatever lengths to help the students succeed.

May I wish you all well and remind you that we are here for your child and any concerns you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or the administration staff if we can help in any way.

Kind regards

Katie Wallace