Our teaching staff at Doncaster Kindergarten continue to be fully committed to the wellbeing and development of your children, and throughout the term have aimed to support families remotely. We trust that this has been valuable, while acknowledging that it is not a perfect replacement for in-person attendance. Let’s hope that attendance becomes possible in Term 4.
Term 4 will see the return of Letitia to the Red Group, supported by Rachel who so ably stepped up to lead that class in Term 3. Melissa will continue helping out in Green Group and wherever else is needed. As I’ve noted before, we are really fortunate to have capable and committed staff who have been with us for several years. 2022 will see quite a few changes as we move to different operating hours, but I know our staff will take the change in their stride.
The kinder’s financial year came to an end on 30 June 2021. Despite initial concerns about our finances given the subsidy we received from DET was lower than the fees that were waived, we managed to end the year in a healthy position. This was mostly due to additional subsidies paid by the DET and some operational savings. We were accordingly able to invest in new resources and toys for the kinder, and continuously investing in the educational program is an ongoing budget priority. At our Annual General Meeting (AGM) happening on the 20th of October, you can hear more about our financial position and outlook for the next year.
The AGM is also the opportunity for parents to join the kinder committee. I would like to encourage all parents who have children in the kinder to consider joining the committee for 2022. Even if your child is no longer in the kinder next year, you can still join. Several current committee members’ kids already left the kinder, but they wanted to continue making a contribution to the kinder and their community. Over the next few weeks you will receive more detail about the AGM and the various committee roles. Please also feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about the committee’s role and responsibilities.
As we head into the holidays and the final stretch of the year, I want to remind everyone that our current COVID related challenges will come to an end at some point. But for now, let’s make sure that as families and a community linked together through Doncaster Kindergarten, we continue to show kindness and concern for each other.
Please click on the link below to download a copy of the Term 3, 2021 newsletter.