Principal's Report

Principal’s Report - 5th March 2021

As we tip over the half-way mark in the term, there is plenty happening here at Lyndhurst Primary School. As I write, the year 5 students are down at Mount Martha Life Saving Club competing in their House Surf Carnival as part of their beach program and tomorrow it will be the turn of the Year 6’s. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days helping out at the program which has been running all week. Water Safety is such an incredibly important skill set for children. The drowning figures this year have been terrible and a large number of those deaths were from the inexperience of people and the lack of respect for, and knowledge of, the ocean and its dangers. The beach is a wonderful place to be but it can be equally terrifying. Through this program, our students are learning, not only valuable skills but also knowledge and confidence. 

Partners in Learning

We hope you enjoyed our Partners in Learning meetings this week. Over the next few weeks, we will be sending home a series of tip sheets for parents, explaining your important role in the learning partnership and how you can best support the learning that goes on in schools.

Play-Based Learning

One of my common sayings is, “If you wait long enough, the Department of Education will catch up with you.” What I mean by that is that the DET is an inherently conservative bureaucracy, not noted for its innovation and leading-edge thinking. The innovation and leading-edge thinking generally comes from schools where educators who keep up with the latest research, adapt the learning to suit new generations of children and adopt new and exciting ways of teaching. At Lyndhurst, we’ve been using an academically rigorous and developmentally and culturally appropriate play-based teaching structure (Walker Learning) since the school opened 10 years ago. 

This year, the DET have proclaimed that, in response to the interruptions of COVID to the learning development of young children, schools should be investigating and implementing play-based learning in their classrooms! Wow! Why haven’t we thought about that before? Well, we have, of course and I’ve been saying this for more than ten years. Now, after 10 years, the DET has “caught up”. Consequently, we are being inundated by requests from schools to visit our classrooms to learn more about how play-based learning can work and how play can be the energiser and the motivator for deep learning. Lyndhurst’s reputation in this space extends far and wide and we are very pleased to be able to share our success and our journey with other schools. The children of Victoria will benefit greatly from the truly personalised, developmental learning that characterises the Walker Learning Framework. If you’re in why we have committed to play-based learning at Lyndhurst for our P-2 classes, here’s a great read, “Play-based learning can set your child up for success at school and beyond”.

Harmony Day – It’s back and We’re Welcoming the Community!

March 23rd is our wonderful annual Harmony Day and we want our parents, carers and community members to come along and help us celebrate! Last year, we were so disappointed to have to cancel our Harmony Day so, for our 10th Birthday and our 10th Harmony Day, we want you all to join us for a memorable celebration of the diversity that makes this community so special! You will soon get an email inviting you to help out in classrooms with the Harmony Day activities. We love having the activities reflect the many cultures that live in our community, so make sure you put your hand up and help us celebrate your culture. We’d also like to invite you along to our parade! Weather permitting, we will be setting up the parade outdoors meaning that parents and community members are welcome to attend. Get dressed up and join in or just come along to view the parade of color and cultural traditions of our amazing parade. (Let’s cross our fingers for good weather.) With your help, we can make the 2021 Harmony Day, the best one yet!

Feedback About Students

I also want to pass on that there is so much positive feedback coming back to us from so many quarters about our school and our students which, of course, reflects the work that the teachers do and the work that you, as parents, do at home. The tutors in our Tutor Learning Initiative are saying, what great kids they are, so polite and respectful and, importantly, so eager to learn. The lifeguards at the beach program are saying what great kids they are, how eager they are and how they are so prepared to give everything a go. And we know what the feedback is about our Walker Learning program. So much great stuff is going on. As parents, you should be very proud of your children and we are very proud of them too!

Greg Lacey

Principal