Principal's report

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin nation; past, present and those who will walk with us into the future. We acknowledge the rich and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas, educational practices and the hopes of all First Nations Peoples. We do this in the spirit of reconciliation as we move to a place of justice and partnership - together we work, learn, play and care for one another and this land.

End of year celebrations at Kalinda

The last few weeks at school is always incredibly busy, but also a time full of fun and celebration.  These are some of the important dates in this last few weeks.

Friday 5th December 2:45pm - Assembly

Thursday 11th December 9:15am - Assembly (School Sports Victoria Award, Deakin Shield, Announcing 2026 School Captains and House Captains)

Thursday 11th December 5:00-6:30 - Kalinda Carols (bbq and food trucks open from 3:45pm)

Friday 12th December - Student Free Day (staff planning for 2026)

Tuesday16th December - Year 6 Graduation

Friday 19th December 1:00pm - Assembly (school finishing at 1:30pm)

2026 Class Structure and Meet the Teacher Sessions

Each year at Kalinda, we review our class structure to ensure we are using all our available resources most effectively to maximise student learning and wellbeing opportunities.

The funding we receive from DET for each student enrolment, how the numbers of enrolment numbers balance across the school, the profile of our workforce and the broad range of curriculum opportunities we provide students all have an impact on how we structure our classes each year.

DET recommends an average of 21 students per class from Foundation-Year 2 and 26 students per class from Foundation-Year 6. I am pleased that our class average sizes for 2026 are 19.9 (F-2) and 23.2 (F-6). 

Our structure in 2026 will be 17 classes with the following structure:

• Three Prep classes
• Two Year 1 classes
• One Year 1/2 class
• Two Year 2 classes
• Four 3/4 classes

• Five 5/6 classes

   

To achieve a class structure as strong as this took significant financial juggling, tough decisions and a significant staffing deficit in 2026.  The option of less than 17 classes or single year level classes in the upper school would have meant that some classes would have had 30 or more students in the class, and this was something we did not want to do.

Next Tuesday, your child will find out which class they will go in and Social stories will be sent home with information about who your child's teacher is and which classroom they will be in. This year we are having two Meet the Teacher days (Tuesday 9th and Monday 15th December). On Lauren's newsletter page she will write more about the Meet the Teacher Days and how we plan for successful transitions for students.

A huge amount of preparation, consideration and professional judgement is used by our teaching staff to assign students to classes. This includes ensuring classes have a good balance of gender, academic capacity, behaviours, and additional support requirements. We also take into account student friendship preferences and ensure every student gets at least one of the friends they selected on their list (we know this may not be their first choice, but that is often not possible when taking all these factors into account).

We are proud to follow DET's policy on ensuring schools are family-friendly workplaces with flexible work arrangements for teachers. This means we support teachers who work in part-time partnerships to balance work and family lives. Our teams work in a collaborative manner in order to ensure consistency when teachers are sharing a class.

I request that all members of the community respect the professional judgement of our teachers and school leaders with the decisions we make. All our decisions are made through thoughtful consideration and with the best interest of our students in mind.  We understand that as your child’s advocate you may and should feel passionately about their education and wellbeing. As educational professionals, we are well placed to make the right decisions for our school and our students and always do so with both individual and whole school interests in mind.

We ask that everyone in our community follow our school values of  Resilience,  Respect  and Kindness. We ask that these values are always followed in any feedback that comes back to our staff, teachers and school leaders, and are also used in any online forums where decisions are discussed.

Furthermore, abusive behaviour (actions, verbal or written) will not be tolerated.

I appreciate that the overwhelming proportion of our school community always lives up to these school values, however it only takes a single instance to impact the wellbeing and safety of others.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I look forward to the final two weeks of school in 2025 being a very positive experience for all students, staff and families.

Farewells, Welcomes and Leadership at Kalinda in 2026

It is with a heavy heart that we farewell staff members a the end of a year, and I would like to thank them for all of their hard work, and I wish them all the best in the next chapter of their careers. We will greatly miss Mandy Boulton, Narissa Farrell, Sara Hamilton, David Kight, and Maddy Jeffs.  You have all made an amazing contribution to Kalinda and will be greatly missed.

Next year we are welcoming back Mrs Draffin after some time off, and she will be teaching STEM in 2026. We also welcome a new teacher to the school Mr Aiden Matthews.

The following staff will be in leadership positions across the school next year:

Shaun McClare - Principal

Lauren Hopkins - Assistant Principal

Giualia Bulled - Learning Specialist (Junior School Leader)

Natasha Weekes - Learning Specialist (Senior School Leader)

Jo Henderson - Prep Team Leader

Chelsey Lloyd - 1/2 Team Leader

Bianca Davies and Steph Parton - joint 3/4 Team Leaders

Lochie Anderson - 5/6 Team Leader

Kylie Drummond - Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

Libby Shaw - Specialist Team Leader

Melissa O'Rorke - Admin Team Leader

Student Stationery Supplies for 2026 

Families can conveniently order stationery online through Ross Office Supplies.

How to Order:

• Visit: Ross Office Supplies Online Ordering
• Enter our School Code: KALPRI26
• Follow the prompts to complete your 2026 stationery order.

If you need help placing your order, feel free to contact our school office.

Host Family for our Japanese Intern

A huge thank you to all of the families who have hosted our Japanese intern, Moe Hamada throughout 2025. You have made an incredible contribution to the school and really supported  our fantastic Japanese program here at Kalinda.

We are looking for a host family for Hamada Sensei’s final month at Kalinda. The start date is flexible but sometime from the 15th January 2026 until she leaves Kalinda on the 18th February 2026. 

If interested in hosting Hamada sensei, or would like to find out more information about hosting, then please contact our Japanese Intern coordinator, Ms Jess White at Jessica.white@education.vic.gov.au

Branch Out Japan Study Tour 2026

Next year the proposed dates for our Branch Out Japan Study Tour are 13-25 October 2026.

We will be sending out an expression of interest at the end of next week, once we receive the quote from our Travel Agents and can then provide families with an estimate of the price of the trip.

We will then hold an information session in Term 1 of 2026, and there will be an application process for students interested in joining the trip.

Enrolling in 2026

If you have not yet enrolled your child for 2026, you still can. Please contact the office on 03 9876 3289 or see our website for more information: https://www.kalinda.vic.edu.au/page/131/Foundation-2026-enrolments

We are kind. We are resilient. We are respectful.