President's Report Term 2, 2022

Hi Livingston families

I hope you are staying safe and well.

It's hard to believe we are already halfway through the year.  It was fabulous to see so many families attend our kindergarten disco at the Highett Bowls club.  After two years of restrictions, it was great to see the children run around with their friends and enjoy the disco entertainment, games and face painting whilst parents had a opportunity to catch up.  A big thank you to our committee members Sarah and Zoe for organising the event.  We are already making plans for another family catch up closer to Christmas and we will share dates soon so you can pop it in the diary.

 A big thank you to all our families who contributed to our fundraising events over the last two terms. Whether it was donating Easter eggs or buying a raffle ticket, your help and support is greatly appreciated.  These fundraising events raised over $3000 which is a fabulous result and will go towards purchasing resources for our kindergarten.  A big shout out again to Sarah and Zoe for pulling these fundraising events together, including sourcing the fabulous prizes.

A reminder, registrations for 2023 are now open and close on 19th June.  If your child is currently attending our kindergarten (for example, 3YO moving to 4YO), you would have received an email from the Early Years Team (Bayside Council) with a unique link with pre-populated information making it a quick and easy process to register for next year.  Please ensure you register if you want a position in 2023 and contact Bayside Council if you cannot locate the email.  If you are registering a child for the first time, you will need to go to the Bayside Council website and register (https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/register-kindergarten-baysides-central-registration-service).  Registrations close 19th June.  This is an important process if you wish to secure a position as there is high demand for kindergarten in our area.  Unfortunately, we have had families miss out on positions in past years as they failed to complete this process.  Offers for a position at our kindergarten will be sent out by Bayside Council on Monday 11th July.  Please check your emails, including your 'junk' box as you will have only 7 days to accept your position.

This week we sent out a communication on the increase of illnesses in the wider community.  We appreciate your support in keeping your child at home if they are unwell so we can help stop the spread to children, staff and families.  We appreciate you letting us know if you won't be attending the session. (officelivingstonkinder@gmail.com.au).

We wish Emma (3YO Wattle and 4YO Banksia) all the best as she commences her maternity leave and we cant wait to hear the exciting news.  We welcome Fiona who has seamlessly joined the team whilst Emma is away, picking up 4YO Banksia group and Kirsty, who has kindly taken on 3YO Wattle in addition to her 4YO Eucalyptus group.   

Thank you to all our teachers and educators who have been so flexible and showed incredible teamwork as we face challenges due to staff illness and a severe staff shortage in the sector.  A big shout out to our Director, Louise, who continues to work hard behind the scene to manage the staff and operations of our community run kindergarten.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if I can assist in any way: presidentlivingstonkinder@gmail.com

Take care, stay safe and well,

Rachel