Principal's report 

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which Kalinda Primary school gathers, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I would like to pay my respects to their elders past, present, and emerging.

Our School Community

This term it has been amazing to have families on-site regularly for school and community events such as our Open Night and the sausage sizzle held on election day. Families coming to school together, having fun, and learning together are really important for student engagement and well-being. The school looked fantastic as it was lit up last night and the buzz of excitement throughout all of the classes was really great to see.

I would like to thank everyone for coming and in particular those who have volunteered their time on the election day and on Open Night to make the events work. The time and effort you have put in supports fundraising for the school, and more importantly, strengthen the Kalinda culture after several years when these events were not possible.

We continue to have many events coming up, including our Working Bee this Saturday 28th May, the Highland Dancing concert on Sunday 29th May, and the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival on Tuesday 21st June.

Graduation Fund

At the previous School Council meeting, we developed and endorsed the idea of having a Year 6 Graduation Fund. This Fund will allow the Year 6 students to plan and run fundraising events that will help support their own and future graduation ceremonies.

We know that this can be a difficult financial time for families, and supporting the graduation ceremonies on an annual basis is a great idea. It also gives the students valuable life experience in planning events, and customer service (and not burning the sausages). Money raised in the fund this year will not all go towards the 2022 Graduation, part of it will and part of it will roll over to future years.

Thank you for your support

Our fundraising events over the last few weeks have been a great success. The amounts collected through these events are below. 

Election Day BBQ: $2863

Election Day Cake Stall: $678

Election Day Chocolate Toss: $466

Open Night BBQ: $1007

Green Tea Ice-cream: $485.40

The P&F would also like to share the message below with the school community:

Thank you, thank you, thank you to our amazing Kalinda Community for supporting our P&F & Grade 6 Graduation Fundraising over the last week from our Election Day events to Open Night BBQ.  Kalinda is all about community and this definitely shone through with our school staff working alongside students, parents, aunties, and grandparents to deliver these events.  We also had amazing support from our past parents, students, and wider Kalinda community that came along to support us by purchasing a sausage, a delicious baked treat, and by trying to win chocolate on our Grade 6’s Graduation Fundraiser. None of this could be possible without our team of amazing volunteers that put so much love and time into planning, prepping, cooking on the BBQ, serving, setting up, packing up, cleaning, and donating chocolates & delicious baked treats.

P&F Fundraising Team

National Sorry Day

Today, 26th May is National Sorry Day. This is a day that we remember the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. At Kalinda we acknowledge the importance of this day and are working towards continually improving as a school that values reconciliation.

Last year our Year 2 students had the opportunity to work on a mural at the school with Simone Thomson. Simone is an incredibly talented Wurendjeri/Yorta Yorta artist. Please see the attachment below for more details about this very special mural that we proudly display on the wall of our main building.

NAPLAN 2022

NAPLAN testing was complete a few weeks ago, with catch-up tests concluding this week. The students largely took it in their stride, as it is just another piece of assessment. 

As a school we look closely at the results, when we receive them next term, to identify areas we are teaching well and areas we can make improvements in. Academic results are only one of the measures we use to assess our performance and we are keenly aware that enhancing the well-being of all students is just as important as ensuring they are highly literate and numerate.

2021 Annual Report

I presented our 2021 Annual Report to School Council earlier this term. The report shows that we have made strong growth in most areas of the curriculum, and we have others where we are still seeking to make further progress.  As a school staff, we are strongly committed to the process of continual improvement and have made great leaps in developing a culture of Professional Learning that is driven by all staff members.

2023 Enrolments

Enrolments are now open for 2023. It would be great to start receiving your enrolment forms for students beginning in Foundation (or at other levels next year). The sooner we receive enrolments, the sooner we can begin planning for next year. Please find the enrolment form below and it can be dropped in at the office, sent to the school via post (Kalinda Primary School, 39-49 Kalinda Rd, Ringwood 3134) or by email to kalinda.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

For any new families to the school, you are able to book a tour via the link below:

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=878858&

Shaun McClare,

Principal 

Kalinda Primary School

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