Principal's Report

Principal’s Report - 10th December 2021

Welcome to the last newsletter for 2021. Again, what a year it has been! The exhaustion across the whole school is tangible in both staff and students as we near the end of a year like no other (except for last year). Isn’t that what we said about last year? My goodness! I remember so many times, last year, hearing people say how much they were looking forward to 2021. Little did we know how 2021 would turn out! I’m refusing to say that I’m looking forward to 2022. Even though deep down inside, I am looking forward to it, I’m refusing to say it out loud in case I jinx it! I know families are experiencing that worn down feeling as we approach the holidays because it’s been a challenging year in your homes as well. However, I do want to focus more on the positives that have come out of the extraordinary 2021 rather than dwell on the negatives that are so obvious to all of us.

Parent and Community Support

I want to thank all of the families across our school for your continued support of our teachers and of your children through the many months of remote learning this year. As I said last year, overwhelmingly, our students, with the professional support of dedicated educators and the commitment of hard-working families, received an education during lockdown, the quality of which, we could never have imagined. Not only did teachers again turn their practice on its head and continue to improve and hone their practice to become incredible remote teachers, parents continued to turn their homes and their lives upside-down to assist in the process. That was a real partnership, and everyone deserves a big pat on the back! What a wonderful thing to come out of an otherwise disastrous year! I also wish to thank the community for your support and our leadership team and me. I have genuinely appreciated the many parents who have expressed their gratitude for the work we have continued to do, in the most trying of circumstances, to keep our school running and to keep our children and community safe. We have certainly all shared some challenging times together as a community, especially with school closures and classes and staff isolating, and things have not always gone as smoothly as we would have liked. However, the care and safety of our children and our community has always driven our decision-making and I know that the vast majority of our community have understood that.

Vaccinations for Children

I was very pleased to hear, over the last few days, that several vaccinations are to be approved for children between 5 and 11 years of age. We have seen in recent months how the conversations have changed. We worry less about case numbers and much more about vaccination rates. To a large degree, our lives have returned to a much more normal state as a result of the amazing community effort in getting vaccinated. Primary schools are the last remaining place where populations are largely unvaccinated. The prospect of a majority of our children being vaccinated next year, is certainly reassuring. I know there are varying opinions about vaccinations, but history would tell us that they work. We no longer have polio. We no longer have smallpox. These have been eliminated through broad scale vaccination programs. We live the life we live due to the brilliance of our scientists, the quality of our healthcare system and the commitment of communities to care for each other. If vaccinations for 5-11 year olds become available by January 10th, as seems to be the current understanding, I would encourage all parents to consider this for your children.

Tutor Learning Initiative 2022

We were very pleased to hear recently, that the Tutor Learning Initiative that has assisted so many of our students this year, will again be funded by the State Government for 2022. Further information about the Tutor Learning Initiative, and how it will be implemented for students who need individual learning support in our school, will be issued before students begin tutoring in 2022. If you are concerned about your child’s engagement in their learning, while learning at home or following their return to school please contact us.

Graduation

I am looking forward to a graduation like no other next week as well. With all of the changes to regulations over recent weeks, we have had to shift our planning along the way but I think next Thursday will be a memorable event for everyone! It’s always a very special day and will be no less special with the changed arrangements. The Year 6 team have put an enormous amount of effort into ensuring that our exiting Year 6 students have a wonderful and memorable celebration to celebrate the end of their primary schooling. I wish all of our Year 6 students the very best for 2022 and beyond. I know they go very well prepared to take on the challenges and the exciting opportunities that lay head.

Prep Start

In an attempt to remain flexible and respond to the changing environment, we are slightly altering the start to the school year for our Preps. On Tuesday 1st February, the day student in years 1 to 6 will begin, Preps will attend a further transition day where they will spend an hour with their teacher and a small number of their classmates before they begin full days on Thursday 3rd February. Following that, as usual, Preps will not attend on Wednesdays for the first few weeks whilst they settle in to full time schooling in mid-March. Details of the school start for Preps will be sent out to families in a direct email.

Dates for 2022

Here are your key dates for 2022:

Friday, 28th January and Monday, 31st January, all staff return.

Tuesday, 1st February – Prep transition day and Years 1-6 student return to school.

Thursday, 3rd February – Preps begin their first full day of school - a staggered start.

Term dates:

Term 1:            1st February (Year 1-6), 3rd February (Preps) to 8th April

Term 2:            26th April to 24th June

Term 3:            11th July to 16th September

Term 4:            3rd October to 20th December

Road Safety

This week, we had an accident near our school involving a student who was knocked from her bicycle by a car at a roundabout. Whilst the student has some injuries, she is recovering well. Firstly, she was wearing a helmet and, due to this did not sustain more serious injuries to her head. An important lesson for everyone. Secondly, it highlights again, how important it is for all of us to take extreme care round our school as pick-up and drop-off time, especially as the school population continues to grow and the number of older student riding bicycles grows even faster. Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that either the student or the driver did anything wrong in this case. Accidents happen. However, it is a sobering reminder of just how vulnerable pedestrians and riders are, in amongst car traffic. We all need to continue to take the utmost care out there on our roads to ensure that all of our children and families are safe. 

School Review

By the time you get this newsletter, our Review will be completed and we will be setting our sights on our new School Strategic Plan for the next four years. I wish to thank Robert Miller, our Reviewer, who has provided us with his insightful and informed feedback about our school and its direction going forward. Special thanks goes to our two Principal Challenge Partners, Amand Ellaby from Berwick Fields PS and Simon Anderson from Pearcedale PS, who took time out of their schools to assist us with our review and brought their own unique insights to the Review process. Special thanks goes to Aftab Hussain, our School Council President, who contributed considerable time and effort into our review process, representing the parent community view.

Staff Update and Congratulations

Congratulations go to two of our staff members who gained promotion positions in other schools for 2022. Haidee Rowell, from Year 3 will take on the role of Learning Specialist at Athol Road Primary. We will miss Haidee and her endless energy but we certainly wish her well as she joins a large number of Lyndhurst teachers who have moved into leadership roles in other schools. We also need to congratulate our Assistant Principal, Elaine Lesuik. Elaine will move to take on the position of Principal of Sorrento Primary School. This is a marvellous achievement for Elaine who has worked diligently to continually develop her leadership capacity. She will be a wonderful Principal and I know that the Sorrento community will embrace her as we have, here at Lyndhurst. 

Assistant Principal Appointment

We congratulate Mansi Vadera for being appointed Assistant Principal at Lyndhurst for 2022 and beyond. Mansi is a one of the team founding teachers at Lyndhurst, beginning as a year 3/4 teacher back in 2011 when the school first opened. Mansi has taken on many roles, both in teaching and in leadership over her 11 years at the school. Recently, she had a lengthy stint as Acting Assistant Principal, a role that she performed admirably. She now takes on the permanent role of Assistant Principal and I look forward to continue to work with Mansi in this role. She is a talented, knowledgeable and committed educator who brings great experience to the Principal Class team at Lyndhurst.

Finally

This, as I said earlier, has been a year like no other (except for last year) that I have known in more than 40 years in education and over 21 years as a Principal. I would like to wish everyone the very best over the holiday period. I hope you take the time to connect as families and enjoy your time together and launch into 2022 with positivity and enthusiasm. I know we will.

Greg Lacey

Principal