From the Assistant Principal 

A week of celebrations

What a wonderful, jam packed week it has been at Kalinda! We've excitedly welcomed our 2021 Foundation Students, focused on NAIDOC week in classes (more about this on the Student Learning page - click through there to check out all the photos!) and on Wednesday, we paused to reflect on the significance of Remembrance Day. 

At the moment, we have staggered play breaks so the traditional time of 11am fell in the middle of playtime for our Grades 3-6. We know that many of our children and families feel connected to the significance of 11am on the 11th of November so we chose not to alter the time of our Remembrance Day acknowledgement. 

Words cannot begin to describe how overwhelmed I felt on Wednesday to watch a playground filled with children come to a halt for 11am on Remembrance Day. Children tearing around the playground stopped and took their hats off, easily 2 dozen kids on the footy field pulled each other in (including any outsiders) and linked arms. You could literally hear a pin drop in the yard. I know that in classrooms children stopped and showed respect in countless different ways. It may have been a minute but it meant the world.

To say I felt proud of our children does not do it justice. All students demonstrated such levels of respect and humility and you should absolutely feel individually responsible for that. Thank you for raising humans who came together to show empathy for others – for no tangible reward but because it was the right thing to do.

Since Wednesday we have had a few local members of the community contact us to say that they had noticed our school in silent reflection when they drove past. They were, to put it simply, in awe of what a great example our students are to others. 

Help-seeking

Many parents have let us know that they appreciated the resources we shared around encouraging our children to seek adult help if they are worried about the mental health or safety of a friend. We have included these resources again below for your information. 

Building resilience and strong mental health in children: https://beyou.edu.au/fact-sheets/social-and-emotional-learning/resilience-and-mental-health

Factsheets to share and discuss with your child 

(These are particularly relevant for children aged 10 and over and should be discussed with your child as a parent/child partnership)

Tips for a HealthyHeadspace:

If your friend is not ok - Headspace factsheet