Welcome to the 2021 new school year! It is such a joy to see the happy faces of the students fill the Junior School once again.
The wet weather last Friday didn’t take away from the vibrant atmosphere across the Junior School as the students caught up with each other’s news and settled into their new learning spaces. We enjoyed welcoming all the students back, and particularly the new students and Prep students. Memorable photos were taken with parents and Prep children perched under their umbrellas to commemorate the special first day at School.
The first day is always focussed on connection, establishing routines and exploring new learning spaces. It concludes with our welcome back whole-school assembly. This was a particularly special assembly as our first face-to-face whole-school assembly since Friday 28 February 2020!
Imagination
At assembly, I spoke to the children about the whole school’s focus on the Positive Learner Attribute of ‘Imagination’ and the powerful role it plays across so many daily activities.
Exercising our imagination to dream, visualise, experiment, design and create can be so much fun, and yet, it is not unusual to hear the comment, ‘I am not imaginative’. I very quickly reply ‘We all use our imagination every day, everyone is imaginative. When you read a story, does a picture form in your mind you as you read?’ Most of the time the answer is yes. I delight in pointing out that, in fact, you are drawing on your imagination to create those pictures.
Our imagination allows us to go to places, just as Anna and Harrison demonstrate in the photo below as they played happily in Prep around the campfire. To quote Einstein, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ We will enjoy sharing with you our exploration of the Positive Learner Attribute of Imagination and the places it takes us over the year.
Meet the Teacher Evening
We look forward to welcoming parents to the Meet the Teacher evening on Tuesday, commencing at 7.00pm. This is an important evening for getting insight from your child’s teacher, setting your child up for success and understanding expectations and routines.
We ask that only one parent per child attend to assist with distancing and that parents wear a face mask. Please sign in at your child’s classroom upon your arrival. I will post a video message on Canvas prior to the meeting outlining our focus for the year and other important information.
We are excited to meet with you all and begin our 2021 journey together.
Libby Russell
Head of Junior School Kew
