Principal's Report
100 Days of School!
100 Days of School
Congratulations to our amazing Foundation class of 2020 on completing their first 100 days of school. This is a time to reflect on the beginning of a great educational journey (at Kalinda and beyond), think about how much you have all learnt and the way you have handled an incredible year with big smiles on your face.
I am so proud of every single one of you and I would also like to send out a huge thank you to our amazing team of Foundation teachers and all the parents, siblings and grandparents who have put in so much work in supporting your education.
Whilst it is a first 100 days of school unlike any we have seen before, the work habits, resilience and love of learning you are developing puts you in a great place to overcome all the challenges that may lay ahead.
Not a 'wasted year'
With so much of this year being interrupted and a huge amount of time spent in Remote and Flexible Learning it could be easy for the narrative to become one where '2020 is just a wasted year for my child's learning.'
Whilst there have been so many challenges along the way, I feel it is really important that as a community of staff, students and parents that we do not allow this narrative to permeate our own beliefs. When we see something as wasted or forlorn, this can become self-fulfilling, it can impact on the engagement and wellbeing of our children and it will be detrimental to the progress they are able to make.
Whilst we understand that the circumstances for each student can vary wildly, it is important that we remind ourselves that it is never just 'my children' who are 'missing out'. Across the state there are approximately 1 million students facing these same interruptions to their learning. And in fact, across the globe there are many millions more.
This is not something that is fixed by large groups of students repeating year levels (the evidence shows that this is nearly always detrimental), but by ensuring that as students return and learning progresses into the following years, we continue to closely assess and monitor each child's learning and differentiate our teaching to meet their point of need every single day. Our amazing teachers are well equipped to provide the support needed in any areas of a child's learning.
Furthermore, we have seen many students thrive in this new way of learning, making greater progress than they possibly would have conventionally. And we have seen many more students continue to make the steady progress that one would expect. On top of this, students have developed greater independence and time management skills and so many parents have been able to connect and engage with their children's learning.
It is important that we can acknowledge that this way of learning can be really hard and that for so many reasons we can feel down at the moment. However, when possible I would love to encourage as many members of our community as possible to find the positives in this unusual year for our students and to never write it off as a wasted year.
Enrolments
Enrolments are now open for 2021 and we encourage you to submit your enrolment forms for students beginning in Foundation (or at other levels next year). The sooner we receive enrolments, the sooner we can begin planning for next year. As part of our agreement with local schools, we ask for Foundation enrolments, in particular, to be in by 7th August 2020. Please find the enrolment form below and it can be sent to the school via post (Kalinda Primary School, 39-49 Kalinda Rd, Ringwood 3134) or by email to kalinda.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
For any new families to the school please contact the school via email kalinda.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au or phone 9876-3289 and we will send you information about the school and organise a 1-on-1 video conference with you.
We are kind. We are resilient. We are respectful.