Principal's report 

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which Kalinda Primary school gathers, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I would like to pay my respects to their elders past, present, and emerging.

A great start

Having all of our staff and students back for the start of the year has really 'filled my bucket'.  Seeing students catch up with their friends, work together on building class norms and expectations, build relationships with their new teachers and continue their learning journey has been amazing.

Seeing our Foundation students begin on Thursday was also wonderful. Congratulations to these students and their families for a great start. It was so pleasing to see how settled and ready they were to begin the year. There were lots of smiles and only a few tears (it reminds me of when I started in Preps at Ferny Creek PS in 1984 and I cried because I didn't want my mum to come in with me; I wanted to be a big independent kid like my older brother).

Thank you to all of our staff members for working so hard to prepare for a great start to the school year.

A bit about me

For those new to the school, who I haven't met yet, my name is Shaun McClare and I'm the Principal here at Kalinda. I have worked here for almost three years.

 I live in Mount Waverley with my wife and two daughters (in Yr 4 and Yr 7). I love travelling to Japan (visiting my wife's extended family), cooking and going for long walks with our dog, Melon. My favourite football team is Essendon (hopefully we win a final one day).

In my role as a Principal, I am passionate about student and staff wellbeing, differentiated learning, and creating a strong team culture that enhances student learning outcomes.

Melon

From next week, Melon will be coming back in to work with me. Melon and Roxie are our school dogs here at Kalinda. Melon is always on a leash and with a staff member. Students can feel free to come up and say hello to Melon and give her a pat. Melon and Roxie are both particularly good at helping students feel happy when they are a bit anxious or worried about something.

Working together to keep everyone safe

Thank you to everyone for following the guidelines we have sent out to limit the transmission of COVID-19. Mask wearing, hand hygiene, social distancing, Rapid Antigen Testing, and staying home when unwell all play a big part in limiting the spread of COVID.

As a school we will continue to provide as much detailed communication we can about our COVID-safe guidelines and positive cases. Whilst it can feel like an overwhelming amount of emails and messages, we are committed to transparency and giving our school community full information about the daily situation at Kalinda.

Below is a message sent out from DET about vaccinations.

Shaun McClare,

Principal 

Kalinda Primary School

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