Assistant Principal's report

Working alongside allied health

At Kalinda Primary School, we value the strong partnerships we have with families and the therapists, psychologists, paediatricians and other allied health professionals who support our students. Working together helps us achieve the best possible outcomes for every child.

Throughout the year, teachers are often asked to complete questionnaires, provide observations or write letters to support assessments and ongoing therapy. While we are committed to assisting wherever possible, these requests require time and careful consideration alongside teachers' core responsibilities of teaching, planning, assessment and student wellbeing. In order to meet these requests, teachers meet with colleagues, past teachers, integration aides and myself to review student progress, data and needs so that they can provide a clear and thorough report.

To help us provide accurate and meaningful information, we kindly ask families to allow two weeks' notice for any requests for letters, reports or questionnaires. Additional notice is always appreciated, particularly during busy times of the school year. Thank you for your understanding and support as we work together to best support our students.

Fidgets

Many students benefit from using fidget tools to help them stay focused, regulate their attention, and engage in learning. If your child's learning or emotional regulation would benefit from the use of a fidget, please ensure you discuss this with their class teacher.

However, not all fidget tools are equally effective in a classroom setting. Recently, some of our classes shared this short video below to discuss what makes a fidget tool useful, appropriate, and supportive of learning, along with some examples of tools that are less suitable for use during class. It also provided an opportunity to talk about 'fad toys' like the popular butter and dumpling squishies and why they are not a useful fidget for many students during learning. 

We hope this provides helpful guidance for families when selecting fidget tools for school too.

As a staff, we did make some distinctions with the students, however. Towards the end of the video, the presenter states that the goal is "eventually not to have to use fidgets at all". That is not a statement we agree with at Kalinda, and we reminded students that many people, including grown-ups, benefit from the use of a suitable fidget! This point has been a great opportunity to also discuss being a 'critical viewer' and making up our own minds when we consume video content.

If you would like to discuss the use of a fidget for your child, please chat with their class teacher. 

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