From the  Assistant Principal

When it rains it pours

Never has this saying been more relevant than the month of October has it!? Like most schools (and households), we have had our share of 'near floods', mini rivers and leaking rooves. Melissa O'Rorke, Ted Dugdale and Vicki Beard (our facilities manager) have been busy becoming best friends with the Department of Education's Makesafe team, local plumbers and landscapers and you might notice some temporary measures such as restricting access to the muddy courts, and blowers in parts of the building to dry out carpet and plaster. We also have plans in place to investigate in particular how we can best improve the drainage on our grounds. The recent storms have of course swept a lot of debris into the drains which has, in turn, also caused blockages in subsequent downpours and as soon as the ground dries we have technicians coming to 'blast out' the drains to remove this.

With all of this going on, I must acknowledge the staff who have 'leapt in' to help us tackle rising water several times over the last few weeks. Whilst we would never expect staff to be getting quite as soggy as they do safely clearing drains and sandbagging doors - it also really fills my bucket (a water metaphor Lauren? Really!?) to know that I work in an environment where 'all hands on deck' is a given when the need arises. Not only that, I don't think I have ever laughed as much as I have during the times recently we have been in the thick of it wading through water and trying not to be washed away. We achieve great things at Kalinda in teaching and learning, but if it is also a really fun place to come to work each day then I think that says everything about the culture we create at Kalinda! 

Leading Literacy

A team of leaders and teachers have been completing a Leading Literacy course through the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Learning and it has been a really fantastic opportunity for us to spend the time exploring what great Literacy teaching is, what it looks like at Kalinda and how we can drive future improvement. Whilst our Naplan results consistently suggest that we are on the right path, we strive to never 'rest on our laurels' and we are always looking for ways to improve and innovate in teaching and learning. Part of this journey has also been lots of 'yessss' moments reminding ourselves that the great things already happening at Kalinda are supported by evidence-based research into best practice.

Bron Steele, Chelsey Lloyd, Kylie Drummond, Tash Weekes and myself have been undertaking this cycle of rigorous inquiry and professional learning this year with a particular lense on Spelling. At Kalinda, we use THRASS as our means of teaching spelling which fits neatly within our obligations to teach with a phonics approach. Given our strong basis in this area, it has been wonderful to privilege the time to further expand upon our whole school scope and sequence to ensure consistency and fluency in the teaching of Spelling right across the school. 

Take care, you matter a lot to me. 

Lauren Hopkins

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