Principal's Report 

Finding the silver lining - coping through lockdown

'Teach your children by what you are, not just by what you say.' (Jane Revell and Susan Norman)

Once again we find ourselves in an extended lockdown, our students are learning remotely and I can't stop thinking about how each of the families in our Kalinda community is coping.  

Whilst the lockdown imposes the same rules on all of us, the impact on individuals and families can vary so greatly. These include financial impacts on families who may have their employment impacted, anxiety over learning outcomes and adults and children missing the social contact with peers, friends and relatives.

I am always aware of my own good fortune and have an immense sense of gratitude for the opportunities I have in my life. I am acutely aware of how fortunate I am to have security with my own employment during the lockdown and that my own children have been able to cope quite well with remote learning.

As a parent I try to be pro-active in looking after my own physical and mental wellbeing during the lockdown and know that it is crucial that I not only encourage my children to do the same but I actively model this for them. I do this by ensuring I take regular breaks from technology, make time to exercise each day, don't follow the 24 hour news cycle and allocate time to doing things I love (such as cooking). 

I also don't shy away from speaking about the challenges of lockdown, but I ensure I also speak about the 'silver lining' of this situation. For my family that 'silver lining' includes spending more time with each other and having more opportunities to sit down and eat with one another. It is also important to try to have conversations with our children about how we can plan optimistically for the future.

I know that the challenges and the 'silver linings' for each family can be very different. I encourage you all to look after your own well-being, mental and physical health. This is crucial to helping each of us make it through the lock-down and very importantly we are able to be great role models for our own children.

I wish you all the best throughout the rest of this lockdown period and I hope we will be back at school and life returns to normal for everyone.

Whole School Wellbeing Day

At this stage, we are still planning to go ahead with the Whole School Wellbeing Day on Wednesday 23rd June. It will be a celebration of everything we do for wellbeing at Kalinda and will include a Circus Skills incursion for all of the students.

There will be a cost of $10 for the day. We will not send this out on Compass until we are back on-site and can ascertain whether the protocols of returning to on-site learning will allow us to go ahead with the day.

2022 Enrolments

Enrolments are now open for 2022 and 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 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/BPDRV

Shaun McClare,

Principal 

Kalinda Primary School

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