I am extremely grateful to be the principal of our beautiful school. In my time at Woodline, I have experienced incredible change and growth both personally and professionally. Woodline is a place that once you have visited you do not want to leave. The children cannot wait to get here in the mornings and our families have difficulty getting them to leave at the end of the day. We endeavour for our school to be a place where all community members feel safe to be themselves, be vulnerable, express their feelings and trust in the journey. We welcome all emotions, hold space for these feelings and provide support to help move forward. This might be having a chat, going for a walk, visiting the animals or jumping on the trampoline. We highly value family involvement at our school and believe that supporting families as a whole is extremely beneficial for the children’s wellbeing and learning.

Each day I feel buoyant as I arrive at our stunning grounds, the landscape and views never cease to amaze me. I have the pleasure of greeting the children at the gate every morning and joining in their excitement for what the day will bring. We learn outside as much as possible and use the saying, “there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing’. We focus on connection, play, passions and the individual learners. On a typical day, you will see children climbing trees, running around barefoot, building cubbies, searching for animals and playing in the sandpit. We have weekly and daily rhythms, however, trust the team to navigate the children’s needs and adjust the flow as required.

We can see the immediate impact of our approach and know that we won’t know the true effects of holding emotional wellbeing at our core until many years’ time.

I am extremely proud of our team and the children as we continue to build and establish our school. Our community is on an incredible adventure that is filled with learning, reflection, resilience, courage and joy.