Mrs Ren Welcome Message to Lower Prep

Date

06.03.26

Dear Parents and Carers,

A very warm welcome to the beginning of what promises to be a wonderful year in Lower Prep. I do hope you have all enjoyed a restful summer break and are feeling refreshed and ready for the exciting months ahead.

It is a real pleasure to welcome back our returning families and to extend a heartfelt welcome to those joining The Grange for the first time. We are delighted to be sharing this important stage of your child’s journey with you. The Lower Prep years are really special, and we look forward to a year filled with discovery, growth, joy and many meaningful learning moments along the way.

This semester we are delighted to have welcomed a number of new colleagues to our Community. It has been a pleasure to see our team grow, and we are pleased to share that we have strengthened our provision across Lower Prep.

We now have additional Teaching Assistants working within the classrooms, a dedicated Library Teaching Assistant, and an expanded Pupil Support Team. This investment in people reflects the Board’s and Headteacher’s ongoing commitment to providing the very best care and education for every child.

By increasing the level of support available, we are able to offer more individual attention, greater Pastoral Care and enhanced academic guidance. Most importantly, this will have a direct and positive impact on children’s confidence, progress and overall outcome – giving them the very best start in life.

We are excited about the difference this strengthened team will make and feel very fortunate to have such committed professionals supporting our pupils each day.

We also say a very fond and heartfelt farewell to two remarkable members of our Community who have each made a lasting difference to Grange pupils and families over the past three decades.

Firstly, at the end of last year, we said goodbye to our much-valued Prekinder and Kinder Psychologist, Ms Coni Moran, as she retired. Ms Coni has been a constant source of wisdom, care and quiet strength within our Lower Prep. She truly embodied the ethos of the School in everything she did – always placing children at the centre, supporting families with compassion, and guiding colleagues with professionalism and warmth. Her impact on generations of Grange children will be felt for many years to come, and we are deeply grateful for her extraordinary dedication.

We also bid farewell to Ms Jo Jackson, who has taken up the position of Head at The Heritage School in Llanquihue. Ms Jo has been wholeheartedly committed to The Grange for many years and has been a true ambassador for her grandfather, John A S Jackson, and family. She has lived and breathed The Grange Values, leading with integrity, purpose and genuine care for our pupils.

She has made such a difference to generations of children who have been taught by her. While we will miss her greatly, we are immensely proud of her and wish her every success as she begins this exciting new chapter.

Both Ms Coni and Ms Jo leave behind a legacy of service, loyalty and unwavering commitment to our children. They will always remain a valued part of our Grange community.

Our whole Lower Prep team has been working with great care and enthusiasm to create a nurturing and engaging environment where curiosity is encouraged, confidence is built and a genuine love and joy of learning can flourish. In 2026, our focus is centred on Creating Our Culture – a shared commitment to excellence in every aspect of School life.

This culture is shaped by several key elements:

Pastoral Care and Well-being – ensuring every child feels safe, known, valued and supported each day.
Curriculum – providing rich and stimulating learning experiences that develop knowledge, skills and understanding in all areas
The Grange Values – embedding respect, empathy, honesty, humility, integrity, loyalty and compassion in all that we do.
Passion and Joy in Teaching and Learning – nurturing enthusiasm, creativity and meaningful engagement as we develop lifelong learners.
Outcomes – supporting both personal development and strong academic achievement for every pupil.

At the heart of everything is our commitment to providing a safe, happy and stimulating environment where every child can thrive in these important early stages of your child’s journey through The Grange. We are intentional about the standards we uphold, guided by the belief that the standard we walk past is the standard we accept. Together, we will model and maintain high expectations that foster a positive, respectful and aspirational learning culture – and we warmly invite our whole Community to support and reinforce this.

We firmly believe that a strong partnership between home and School is key to your child’s success. Your involvement, encouragement and open communication make an enormous difference, and we value the trust you place in us each day.

In order to enhance our safeguarding procedures at the end of the day, we have centralised the system for bus dismissal. We will be sending important information on Monday 2nd March regarding this so that we can begin the new system on Monday 9th March.

We very much look forward to seeing you at our upcoming parent briefings, where you will meet myself, Miss Barbie, Miss Javi, The Head of Year for your child’s level and the wider level team. This is an opportunity to share further details about our curriculum, routines and expectations for the year ahead, and for you to meet with your Child’s form teachers. They will take place initially in the Jean Jackson Hall and then you will visit your child’s class. Timetables for KInder, 1st and 2nd Básico

will be shared today to parents after 2pm; however the PK timetable will not be shared on School Net yet due to their staggered entry. This is something that the teachers will go through at the briefing meetings.