From the Assistant Principal 

One more curveball...

I wanted to extend a deep and heartfelt thanks to every member of our school community for showing immense flexibility, resilience and kindness during these last weeks of term. Like many other schools (and indeed workplaces) we are experiencing disruptions due to high numbers of staff and student illness and flow on staff shortages. As you know, there have been times that we have needed to split classes, rearrange timetables or pause withdrawal programs. We continue to strive for equity and consistency at all times and I have never been more grateful than right now to work in the Kalinda community. Thank you for your understanding, and for the words of encouragement that you often send to our staff. I am also very proud of the fact that despite these disruptions, our core work towards student wellbeing and academic growth has by no means taken a back seat and our working parties and planning teams have been working just as efficiently as ever. 

Living our values

Our Kalinda Values are ones that we not only teach and model but ones that we passionately believe in. Ideally, we strive for these values to become innate rather than timetabled and this week I've taken time to reflect on the hundreds of times each day I see them being truly lived around me. The Kindness, Resilience, and Respect that is demonstrated by our students is an absolute credit to the parents and staff of Kalinda and it always delights me to share examples that are completely unprompted - for the real test of our work is when the person demonstrating these values does not realise they are being observed! 

It was shared with me this week that Archie, Foundation G is constantly reaching out to support, encourage and help his classmates. He is a studious learner who loves to also help others grow. 

Blake F, G6 this week took no hesitation in jumping in to calmly seek help and give reassurance when a staff member became temporarily unwell this week. Although Blake was surprised to be praised for this act, the fact that he showed such kindness, tact and respect for another person is a testament to his character. 

Jasmine R, G5 who was the subject of such a lovely email to our office team this week that I would like to share with you:

"As the mum of a little buddy, I'm not sure what the responsibilities and expectations of the big buddies are, but I wanted to share with you something I saw this week. 

I brought my daughter to Before School care - she can get a little nervous and reluctant at drop-offs. I was trying to get her settled in the room when her buddy Jasmine came over.

Jasmine introduced herself to me, greeted my daughter, and invited her to come and draw with the group she was with. My daughter almost immediately relaxed and went to join them. 

This might seem like a small gesture, but it was extremely helpful to both of us, and I just wanted to commend Jasmine for being so thoughtful and kind".

Online library searching - new!

Thank you so much to Martina who has established a fantastic opportunity for students and staff to search for books from home or their classroom. In the future, she also hopes to have devices for searching in the library as well. Use the link below to take a look! 

http://bookmark.central.sa.edu.au/kpslibrary.htm

Take care Kalinda, you mean a lot to me.

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