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 Assemblies

Over the last few weeks of school we will have the following assemblies:

Friday 6th December – regular assembly, final POTW, presentation from students who went on Japan Study Tour

Thursday 19th December 9:15am – big assembly, farewell staff, Deakin Shield, VSSS Sports Award, announce School Captains, etc

Friday 20th December 1:15pm – very short assembly, guard of honour for graduating yr 6 students

Japan Study Tour

We arrived back from our 2024 Branch Out Study Tour a little over a week ago.  To attend this tour alongside 15 students from Kalinda PS and 10 form Warranwood PS was an absolute privilege and a true professional highlight.

The students had a wonderful time attending school in Japan, touring around the country (including visiting Mt Fuji, Kiyomizudera, Universal Studios and Disneyland) was such an amazing and enjoyable experience.

However, the thing that will stick in my memory the longest was the incredible personal development and growth made by all of the students that attended the tour. Travelling halfway around the world, away from home for nearly 2 weeks and in a country that does not speak English is an amazing challenge for anyone, let alone Year 5 and Year 6 students.

All of the students from both schools represented our school values at all times, made true international connections (that can last a lifetime), developed their language skills and supported one another through the tough moments that are part of any big adventure.

I would like to thank all of the students who attended the trip, Jess White, Hiromi Hagihara, Shane Harrop and Dee Chadwick for all the work they put into the trip and the parents who had helped prepare their children for this great trip.

The connection that Kalinda PS and Warranwood PS have with Lilyvale Elementary School and Japan is very special. It is a bond that was initially formed by Hiromi Hagihara and Mami Aoki (a former intern at Kalinda PS and now the director of the sister school program at Lilyvale Elementary School) is so special and one we should be proud of. This legacy is one that we want to continue to strengthen and I am sure the connection will continue for decades to come.

The benefits of this connection goes far further than the students who get the opportunity to travel to Japan. Next year as a school we have the opportunity to reciprocate and host Lilyvale Elementary school students to our school. Please have a think about hosting one of these students or our next Japanese intern (Moe Hamada). These are great opportunities for families to be an integral part of our international connection, build lifelong friendships and are a great learning experience for any family. You don't need a big house or lots of spare rooms, just a willingness to welcome a student into your family for a few days.

If interested in hosting our next intern at some stage next year please contact jess.white@education.vic.gov.au

Further information about hosting students from Lilyvale Elementary School and the dates of their visit will be posted next year.

Year 1-3 Playground

It has been very exciting for all of our students to see the year Year 1-3 Playground opening last week. 

Our Year 1 and 2 students had been involved in the design process of the playground, and to see the old playground being removed and the new playground being installed was very exciting.

We are so pleased with the new playground and the great use our students will get from it for years to come. Thank you to our Project Manager Vicki Beard for all the work that went into getting the new playground.

Hooptime State Finals

Yesterday, our Year 4 students competed in the Junior Hooptime State Finals. The event was held at the State Basketball Centre and we are incredibly proud of Thomas, Max, Jack, Oscar, Xavier, Toby, Kai and Eddie for making it as far as the State Finals and the amazing efforts they put in during the finals. The boys won every game at both division and regional finals and finished the day coming 9th out of 222 schools, well done boys!

A huge thank you to the parents who were able to attend to make this possible and to Phil Counsel for coaching the team.

Maroondah Young Citizen Awards 

We are thrilled to share some wonderful news from our school community! Two of our outstanding Grade 6 students, Mika H and Maiya P, have been recognised for their exceptional contributions to the community, and their creativity. They were both awarded the Maroondah Young Citizen Awards at a prestigious ceremony held on Thursday, 28th November, at the Karralyka Centre in Ringwood.

This event, which honours young people across the Maroondah region, saw approximately 140 awards presented to young people aged between 10 and 25 years old, who have made a positive impact within Maroondah. The awards are presented across four categories; Leadership, Creativity, Perseverance, and Teamwork, and each recipient is acknowledged for their key character strengths. Mika and Maiya both received their awards in the Creativity category, primarily for the amazing job they did in writing, producing, planning, rehearsing and performing in their own musical production. Mika was acknowledged for her creativity, perseverance and zest, and Maiya for her leadership, social intelligence and teamwork.

Kalinda also had several past students presented with awards on the night. We are so proud of the achievements of our past students, and it was wonderful to see some of them acknowledged at this event.

Bella Conversano, who graduated Kalinda in 2019 was not only presented with a Maroondah Young Citizen Award in the category of Perseverance, but also hosted the evening. Bella was acknowledged for her character strengths of kindness, perseverance and social intelligence.

Heidi Cowie, who was in Grade 6 at Kalinda in 2020, was acknowledged for her humility, kindness and teamwork, and was presented with a Maroondah Young Citizen Award in the category of Leadership.

Daniel Donker, who was part of the Grade 6 Kalinda leadership team in 2022, was awarded a Maroondah Young Citizen Award in the category of Teamwork, for his work with the Melba Student Voice project.

James Mann, who graduated Kalinda in 2020 was presented with not one, but two Maroondah Young Citizen Awards. One in the category of Teamwork, for his work with the Melba Student Voice project, and a second in the Leadership category, where he was acknowledged for his honesty, humility and good judgement.

The Maroondah Young Citizen Awards highlight the incredible potential of our local youth, and we are so proud that Mika, Maiya, and our Kalinda alumnus have been recognised as part of this inspiring group of young people.

Kalinda Carols night

We are looking forward to our annual Kalinda Carols Nights on Wednesday 11th November. Students can attend at school that day in their Christmas clothes. Please see the 'From the Office' page of the newsletter for more details.

2025 Class Structure

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 2025 are 19.75 (F-2) and 23.5 (F-6). 

Our structure in 2025 will be 18 classes. With single-year level classes in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2, and multi-age classes in 3/4 and 5/6.  To achieve a class structure as strong as this took significant financial juggling, tough decisions and a significant staffing deficit in 2025.  The option of less than 18 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.

We will have 3 Foundation classes, 3 Year 1 classes, 2 Year 2 classes, 5 Year 3/4 classes, and 5 Year 5/6 classes.

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.

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).

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.

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