From the Assistant Principal 

From Mrs Hopkins' office....

Last Friday it was a pleasure to join students and staff for our Appreciative Inquiry. For me it was thrilling to not only leave the day with some firm plans for building further on our community wellbeing, but the fact that we started the day by celebrating wonderful aspects of our school. Bron Steele and Mel Tattersall started our day by asking us 'What is it about Kalinda that helps us to flourish?' and my goodness the list was inspiring! From Play is the Way, to collaborative teaching teams; the introduction of a School Counsellor, our Student Leaders and even the introduction of a School Dog - we started the day with hearts already so full of the wonderful things to celebrate about Kalinda. The day continued to be full of laughs and optimism and reminded me that Kalinda really is a wonderful place to be. What a lovely way to start the weekend! 

Road safety - a plea

We have recently had several members of our school and local community express great concern about the safety of our local roads, and in particular the way in which we use neighbouring streets for pick up and drop off. 

In particular, there have been several concerns lately over cars pulling into driveways or double parking to let children out in a hurry. Please be very mindful of the fact that we have many students (young and old) who walk, scoot and ride to school both on their own and with family members. Not only do we ask you to exercise great caution, but also be mindful of the example you are setting to other members of the community. Being a minute or two late to school is much more preferable to an accident or near miss. 

School Camps

(This is a reprint from last newsletter in case you missed it!)

Moving into 2020, with our single class structure, it gives us opportunity to review our Camp programs. Camps provide incredibly important experiences for our students and not only do we gain valuable learning in many areas of the academic curriculum but also developing social emotional skills, resilience, independence, confidence, humour, with (let's face it) a dash of "if I don't have a shower will Mum notice?"

With this in mind, from 2020 we will be holding a camp in every school year from Grades 3 to 6. Our 5/6s will continue to attend Camps together, but our 3s and 4s will enjoy separate camps. After much research we are pleased to announce a new Camp to our roster, Wombat Corner in Emerald. Just 45 minutes from Kalinda, Wombat Corner will provide our Grade 3s with a wonderful selection of low-level adventure activities, environmental studies, comfortable accommodation and exciting special events. 

In 2020, our School Camps program will include: 

5/6 Camp - Creswick (Ballarat) - April 2020

Grade 4 Camp - Phillip Island - September 2020 

Grade 3 Camp - Emerald - October 2020 (Term 4)

Happy Days Kalinda, it continues to be my very great pleasure to work with you. 

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