Student-led Conferences

Over the last couple of Tuesday afternoons it has been a joy to watch the boys in action as they have shared their learning with their parents at the Student-led Conferences. This is always one of the highlights of the year as it provides a perfect vehicle for the boys to assume complete responsibility for their learning and to share their progress with mum and dad. It is occasions like this that highlight the depth of learning that occurs at Lindfield and the maturity of our young learners.

Our boys are certainly reflecting the IB Learner Profile more and more by the day as they become more knowledgeable, caring, reflective, principled, open-minded, balanced and develop as communicators, risk takers, thinkers, inquirers.

Stranger Danger

Earlier this week a few of our Year 3 boys alerted me to a concern they had about a gentleman in the school grounds that they didn’t know who wasn’t wearing a red lanyard (visitors that sign in are given a tag on a red lanyard). After appropriate investigation of the situation, including looking at security footage we established that the man in question was not a stranger, but instead he was a music tutor that had failed to wear the red lanyard. At this week’s Assembly I spoke about the situation and praised the boys in question for alerting the teachers. On a positive, this incident has acted as a powerful reminder about the importance of our systems and protocols and stranger danger. The boys are extremely safe at Lindfield Prep and we want to keep it that way!

Coffee and Chat with Mr Wyatt – Thursday 12 September

The next Coffee and Chat Morning will be held on Thursday 12 September from 8:00-9:00am. These mornings are simply a chance to come and chat casually with me and other parents about school-related matters. I look forward to seeing you then!

Mod Rugby in 2014

Whilst it seems like the wrong time of year to be discussing Rugby as the Winter season has just concluded and the boys have turned their attention to Cricket and Basketball, I wanted to provide an exciting announcement about Rugby next year.

For many years our involvement in IPSHA Rugby has been a point of great contention as we have only been able to two teams due to student numbers; a junior and a senior team. The issues with this situation are two-fold. Boys having to play up an age group means that typically our teams are less competitive and the safety of boys is compromised given the size difference. After much lobbying, I am pleased to announce that we have been successful in our proposal for IPSHA to offer a Saturday morning Mod Rugby Competition from 2014 with teams consisting of seven a side.

Mod Rugby (otherwise known as Sevens) has been endorsed by the Australian Rugby Union and has been included in the next Olympics. We see it offering a few very clear advantages for our school. Firstly, it will allow us to select teams in their correct age group. Secondly, it will allow our boys to continue to develop the basic skills of tackling, passing and kicking whilst having greater opportunities to get their hands on the ball and to be involved in general play.

Enrolments – Year 5 and Kindergarten

Interest in next year’s Year 5 expansion has been very positive and looks like resulting in a straight Year 5 class for next year. We are in the fortunate position to still have vacancies if you know of people looking for a place for their son in Year 5 next year or in following years.

Vacancies exist in Kindergarten for next year and limited vacancies also exist in some other year levels. If you know families that might be interested, please encourage them to call the School Office on 9416 4280.