Florentine Farewell to Kindi for Sophie

A new chapter in Sophie’s life is about to begin.  Today she made an impromptu visit to Kindi, after a happy visit to her new school. She said farewell, gave her much loved teachers cards and home-made Florentines and a little gift for the Kindergarten.

She says she will miss them all very much, particularly Ollie who helped Sophie gain confidence in being independent from her family in those early weeks at Kindi.  Ollie has the gift of humour and the ability to connect with children in a genuine, heart felt way.  Sophie loved her teacher Helen too, for all her wonderful creativity in music and crafts.  Sophie discovered a passion for sewing through Helen. Sophie’s teacher Anna always had a smile and a cheery greeting, sharing her love of Rascal the Kindi rabbit with Sophie.

It’s a sad time as one chapter closes.  A time of reflection and also celebration at how much she’s gained in her confidence with social interactions with her peers and being independent. She is ready for the next chapter and today felt excited at what is ahead. Dan took the day off work so he could join her at school visit this morning, which she loved.

She came home full of chatter about the morning and how they made stars, cards and did drawings, which she gave to new friends.  She also talked enthusiastically about playing ‘ball tag’ in fitness.  She is such an active, creative girl with so much passion and enthusiasm for life.

We wish her well on this next chapter in her life and hold the precious memories of her time at Kindi close to our hearts too.

We’ll miss the scenic journey along the coast road to Kindi each morning, racing the ferry on the way, and seeing Orcas one very special morning.  And I’ll miss sharing lunch with Sophie in the lovely cafes in Island Bay and playing at the beach and the playground afterwards on sun-kissed days. Alice will miss her sister (and her yoga workouts!) and the house will seem very quiet for six hour’s on a school day (thank goodness we have the long summer holidays to enjoy before she starts!).

We’ll never forget…

• The amazing day Sophie cycled all the way there, with her Daddy for support, on her 2-wheel bike.
• The fun she had at the Kindi fairs and Dan’s fantastic effort on the sausage sizzle (and all those onions we had to peel and slice!).
• The fun of the music the Kindi always played and how welcoming of the children’s tastes… Sophie took along her favourite ‘Awesome CD’, which Dan put together for her – with a dose of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, the Alvin and the Chipmunk’s version of ‘You Spin Me Round’, ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’, ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, ‘Axel F’, ‘Tractor Tipping’ (from Cars Movie), ‘Mighty Wings’ (from Top Gun) and ‘Eye of the Tiger’.
• The first friendships she made and play-dates she enjoyed.
• The fun she had discovering the wood-work bench and her creative side with a sewing maching.
• Swinging on the ropes from the trees like a little monkey.
• Weekends looking after Rascal the Rabbit (and the book we wrote about his escapades!).
• The extra special fun days at Kindi of visits from Zippity Zoo, story tellers, musicians and Zappo the Magician.
• The boxes of artwork she created in the year and a half she was there!