Kananook Primary School opened in 1958 in the suburb of Seaford. The school is set on spacious grounds in a residential area between Kananook Creek and the Frankston Freeway. Kananook Primary School is a small school with an average enrolment of 200 students. The school community comprises a wide range of cultural and socio economic backgrounds. The Kananook Preschool is located adjacent to the Kananook Primary School and beneficial links exist between the two schools.

Kananook Primary School aims to create a caring, harmonious and student-centred learning community. Kananook is committed to providing, through purposeful teaching, opportunities for all students to achieve their personal best academically and socially. Kananook Primary School actively supports students to become confident, resourceful and responsible citizens.

Kananook is committed to continuous improvement in teaching and learning. The BER building inspired multi-age groupings with teams of teachers planning and working together to deliver programs that cater for all students. The capacity of teachers in using multiple sources of feedback to evaluate student learning and inform targeted teaching underpins staff professional learning.   

Kananook Primary School has high expectations that the whole school community will work together according to the following agreed set of values:

• Excellence: In the achievement of individual and team goals (Do your very best)
• Integrity: Of individuals in their words, actions and relationships (Do the right thing)
• Responsibility: For our words, actions and learning (Be in charge of yourself)
• Tolerance: Of individual differences (Understand that people are different)

Supporting programs for students requiring some extra assistance include Speech Therapy Assistant (STA) program. In addition to classroom teaching, students participate in Japanese, Music and Art classes each week. Through these programs students have been part of community festivals. Classroom teachers organise Library and Physical Education lessons. All students from Prep-6 take part in cooking lessons in our Kids’ Kitchen which incorporates our magnificent Kitchen Garden.

Parental involvement is actively sought and vital to the success of a wide range of extra-curricular activities at Kananook Primary School. Parents are encouraged to participate in the PTF (Parents Teachers and Friends) and School Council sub-committees.

The PTF is an integral part of the school and organises fundraisers. School Council relies on input from its various sub-committees, the PTF, the SRC, Principal and staff. Whole-school annual events include an Open Night held during Education Week, a musical production held at the Frankston Arts Centre and a Christmas Concert.

Student voice and leadership is a feature at every year level. Student-led parent meetings are conducted in Term 2. These meetings require all students to present work samples and inform their parents of their learning goals and strategies. All students are provided with a wide range of opportunities to make decisions, make choices, support each other and contribute to the school community. School Captains, House Captains and SRC members are elected from the Year 5-6 level. Student leaders conduct school assemblies, report on yard duty and the House competition, welcome visitors and are involved in decision-making. The SRC members visit an assigned class each fortnight to present and/or gather information. The SRC minutes are tabled at School Council meetings. SRC class visits, daily Circle Time activities, negotiated rules and consequences, restorative meetings and a focus on personal learning goals and self-assessment have raised the profile of student voice.

At Kananook we celebrate students’ success in a number of different ways
Each week at Assembly we present:

• Weekly Recognition of Achievement Award to a child in each class nominated by the class teacher
• Weekly KAAPA Cup (Kananook Attendance and Punctuality Award) to reward classes with high attendance rates and punctuality
• Specialist Cup – Awarded to a class by our three specialist teachers
• Friendly Stars – recognising positive behaviours in the yard

Each term

• Writing Awards – recognising one high quality writer at each level P-6
• Art Awards – recognising creative artists

Each year
At the conclusion of each school year we conduct our Kananook Awards. This ceremony celebrates achievement across all areas of the curriculum (Numeracy, Literacy, Sporting, The Arts and Civics & Citizenship)

The school has excellent grounds and facilities which include:

• Four double-sized classrooms and a Languages classroom in the main building, fully carpeted, heated and air conditioned
• Three double-sized classrooms in Cooinda, our 21st Century Learning Centre
• Two dedicated Prep/1 classrooms enclosed by an attractive fence with their own courtyard, playground, sandpit and play equipment
• Interactive whiteboards and a trolley of notebooks for each level in our school
• Mirrabooka Arts Wing containing well equipped Music and Art rooms
• Large multi-purpose hall
• Library/community meeting room
• Kitchen Garden & Kids’ Kitchen (which uses produce from the garden when available)
• Courtyard with gazebo and gas BBQ
• Soccer, football oval, Tennis court and basketball court
• Large shade covered adventure playground
• Extensive displays of students’ achievements and artwork
• Colourful Year 6 ‘Graduation Murals’ overseen by a local artist
• Before and After School Care (named KOOSH) for Kananook students only

How do we teach?
A safe and supportive learning environment forms the foundation for the provision of an engaging and positive culture of learning. Planning is undertaken every week where each teaching team is allocated a two hour and a one hour common planning block together during school time to ensure consistency across the year level and to enhance creative teaching by sharing ideas. This involves each class having a structured minimum 2 hour literacy session. Within these sessions there is focussed teaching time, with individuals or a group of students targeting their specific needs of the students. Program planning accommodates student interest and activities are often based on investigations from other disciplined learning areas. Sharing and reflection time is an integral part of each lesson or investigation. Reading Support assists children to reach the required expectation of their level.

Maths at Kananook is a blend between verbal, written and hands-on activities. It is based on students developing key understandings and explicit skills and being able to demonstrate and apply these skills and understandings to real-life situations. Our children are explicitly taught the Mathematical processes and the skills needed to ‘work mathematically’. To think mathematically, students need to make connections in their learning. We look for opportunities to link Maths in with everyday classroom routines, real life situations and our Inquiry process. Students develop skills in questioning, modelling, explaining, analysing, hypothesising and applying, as well as the interpersonal skills to work cooperatively. ICT is incorporated into teaching and learning to support, engage, reinforce and present Mathematical concepts. This Mathematical approach enables our children to feel confident using Maths in their lives and continue on as Mathematical thinkers.

We teach a minimum of 5 hours of Maths per week. We see the importance of students having time to work as a whole class, as groups and as individuals. The lesson structure below is one we see as being beneficial to our students. There is however, flexibility with how a Maths lesson is structured, depending on the stage of learning, the specific group and the activity.

• Mental Maths Activity (whole class)
• Main Teaching Activity (whole class)
• Small groups and individuals
• Share Time / Reflection

At Kananook PS we use data and assessment to inform Mathematical teaching. Differentiation within classes is a school wide focus to ensure all students are being appropriately challenged and their learning needs are being met. Within each year level, children work in flexible ability groupings, which are determined by a pre-test each week, and conclude with post testing to measure growth. These groups are fluid and students can be moved during a particular unit of work. If children are struggling or excelling with a concept they are moved to a group more suitable to their individual needs. The teaching philosophy is “Stage not Age” and older children are familiar with the term, “I’m here, where to next?”

We have continued our Student Wellbeing and Engagement focus, using Restorative Practices, Circle Time and explicitly teaching social skills through the promotion of our four school values: Excellence, Tolerance, Responsibility and Integrity. We focus on a culture that embraces safe, collaborative relationships, shared philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs, expectations and attitudes. At the beginning of the year, each classroom establishes student-driven expectations and behaviours.

How do we know our students are learning?
We have an agreed Assessment Schedule recently reviewed and revised that outlines the assessment process at each Year Level. This enables Teaching Teams to monitor student progress to both inform parents and guide their planning and teaching.
The assessment and monitoring of English is based on the Whole School Assessment Schedule which includes the Early Years Interview, On-Demand Testing and peer and self-assessment. In addition student progress in English is reported in mid-year and end of year academic reports and during parent/ teacher progress meetings. We also complete Running Records for all students from P-6. This provides us with a whole school tracking system for reading.

Maths assessment is based around assessment ‘FOR’, assessment ‘AS’ and assessment ‘OF’ learning. Teachers observe the students’ ability to demonstrate and apply their skills by analysing and recording what they say, make, do and write. Assessment includes making observations, marking student work, questioning students, listening to their thought processes and having the students assess their own level of understanding. Teachers also use computerised assessment tasks, such as the Maths Online Interview and On Demand Testing to further inform student learning...

Intervention Programs are in place. Additional Literacy Support is provided on a needs basis Integration Support staff work in consultation with our Speech Pathologist to conduct the STA Program.

How do we provide feedback to our students and families on learning progress?
Feedback to students is provided by the class teachers both formally and informally. Parents are encouraged to contact a teacher to organise a mutually agreeable time to meet as a need arises.
The formalised whole school reporting to parents is:

• Information Evening - February
• Student- led Parent Meetings - April
• Term Newsletters outlining curriculum program at each Level
• Written Report – June
• Parent/Teacher Discussion – June
• Written Report – December

Students and families are provided feedback through a further range of assessment and reporting practices. These include: