In addition to the three wise men and the three little pigs, Reception classes at Tatachilla Lutheran College will also come in threes from next year. The College is offering an additional 25 Reception places in 2018, and there is already strong interest from the community in securing them. This heralds a period of change and opportunity for the Junior School, and importantly, many things about the Junior School will not change.

What will change? We are currently in the design development phase of plans for upgrading the current Reception Learning Centre to house three classrooms. The architect has reconfigured the internal walls, and extended the building out on three sides, to create three, spacious learning spaces that will have access to covered areas outside, directly from the classroom. They will also have interconnecting doors, to allow the classes to come together when they want to, and to have their own discrete learning space. We anticipate that the redeveloped building will promote collaboration, a flexible approach to the use of space, creativity and a closer connection to the natural environment that we have in abundance at Tatachilla. The building project will require the 2018 Reception classes to be housed in temporary accommodation until the work is complete. Details of this are currently under consideration.

Many things will stay the same. Our expert Reception teachers, all the necessary resources for learning and teaching, access to our specialist teachers and the curriculum will be in place for the three classes next year. What we provide for two classes will be replicated for the third. In each Reception classroom there will be a program that allows students to learn the important foundational literacy and numeracy skills at their individual point of challenge.

Opportunities abound. We are providing 25 additional places for families to experience a Christian education and to further promote the values that we share as a community. The Junior School campus will be redeveloped to accommodate the additional class, providing a dynamic environment for the quality teaching and learning that takes place every day. This will be planned in the context of the master planning process which is about to begin.

The College has a strong belief in the positive learning and wellbeing benefits of providing additional enrolment opportunities for our community. We are excited about this new announcement for our community and look forward to providing the ongoing excellence in education, pastoral care and strong Christian values for which our College is known.

We appreciate your understanding through this time of exciting change for our community and encourage you to seek any clarification you may require.

Mr John Dow
HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

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