Photo above: Dance students at the Meraki Festival 2019.

Dear Parents and Families,

As we approach the end of Term 2, I would like to congratulate all students on their hard work and thank them for contributing to the many aspects of the life of the College. Whilst Kennedy offers many opportunities for students it has been very pleasing to see so many embrace the extracurricular activities that have been made available to them. This semester has included:

• A range of interschool sport competitions including the SAS program.
• Another impressive Arts Cup with many students auditioning for the opportunity to represent their House. This is an important component of the House competition and it was very impressive to see everyone treat our performances with such respect and support.
• We had another great Interhouse Cross Country event where it was wonderful to see so many students attempting to do their best on the run. Our interschool team represented the College with excellence and produced some outstanding results.
• Ongoing academic tutoring for all students with additional support before examinations.
• Numerous Arts based performances and excursions, including our Drama and Music nights.
• 31 Year 11 students travelling to Cambodia with three staff members to work with Transform Cambodia in Phnom Penh these holidays. This is part of our ongoing relationship with Transform Cambodia, and together we continue to contribute to the lives of people living in poverty. 

I am sure I have missed many other components of our extracurricular life. It is this wide range of activities that make Kennedy a vibrant and dynamic community and so pleasing to see families welcome and accept the opportunities available.

Staff Changes

At the end of this term the following staff changes will take place:

• Mrs Anne Greenhalgh, Technology and Enterprise staff member, will be retiring after 18 years’ service to our Colleges. We will miss her experience, wisdom and passion for Food Technologies.
• Mr Roy Davies, Grounds staff member, retires after 13 years’ service to the College. We thank Roy for his committed service to our Colleges.
• Mrs Amy Austen will also be leaving us to pursue further study.

We wish them the very best with their new pursuits.

• Mr Justin Markham (Media) will be on long service leave in Term 3.
• Mrs Anne Howard (Mathematics), Miss Sarah Harris (English) and Mr Manuel Ilchuk (Humanities) will all be taking long service leave over Terms 3 and 4.
• Mrs Kym Scanlan will be taking maternity leave from Term 3.

On behalf of the Kennedy Staff, I wish everyone in our community a safe and relaxing semester break.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5 (NLT)

I am often frustrated when someone such as a speaker or a leader promises you so much (if you fill in this survey, respond to this sermon, follow this career path, we will support you) then nothing eventuates. Or you attend a conference or complete an educational course, which ignites your dreams and then, full of hope you are ready to change the world only to discover that there are no avenues open to fulfill those dreams. The long-term effect is that you no longer respond, or even worse, cynicism sets in. It becomes just another speaker; yet another conference; one more course; another job interview. You have tried to be patient, but the question that fills your soul is, “How long!?”

I have only recently realized that it was my understanding of patience that was in error. I thought it was passively waiting around until something happened, but that is not at all what Paul (the author of Galatians) has in mind. In fact, just the opposite. Every time Paul uses the word patience intent is implied, because it is about continuing to knock, not quitting, and never giving up. Patience, in tandem with prayer, and undergirded by the authority and presence of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26) is active and dynamic.

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11 (NLT)

Student reports will be available through SEQTA Engage at the end of Term 2.

SEQTA Engage can be accessed here. The username is your email address, the password was chosen by the user and is unknown to the College. If you have not yet activated your SEQTA Engage account you can do so by accessing the Engage application, entering your email address and using ‘reset my password’ or ‘forgot my password’.

Current Year 10 and 11 students are making subject choices for 2020. These choices play a major role in determining the timetable for all students. Selections must be submitted on or before Monday 1 July. Year 11 students who need advice about what to select can speak with myself or Mr Jiow at recess or lunch.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement the Curriculum team is reviewing the courses on offer at Kennedy. The recent change to the requirements for achieving the WACE has influenced the courses the College offers for Year 11 & 12. The College has replaced some Certificate II courses with General courses of study. The General courses of study provide the opportunity for students to explore a broader range of concepts related to the field of study. In terms of Year 7 – 10 courses the each Head of Learning Area is completing a review of the curriculum and student achievement with their course teachers.

The College assessment policy applies to all students. If a student is unwell the College should be provided with a medical certificate. If a student has a medical appointment a copy of the confirmation would be appropriate notification. If a student is absent for another reason please provide a detailed explanation for the absence. The assessment policy states that if a student is absent from the College and the reason for absence is not acceptable to the College, the assessment will be awarded a mark of zero. To be acceptable the College requires a medical certificate, appointment notice or in an exceptional circumstance a detailed explanation. A copy of the policy is available on SEQTA.

Continuing the theme in last month’s newsletter about Kennedy’s four Pillars of Pastoral Care - Wellness, Outreach Programmes, Leadership and Discipline, let us look at further examples of Leadership and Outreach as well as our Wellness Pillar.

During Week 10 of this term members of the Student Executive Team are leading the councillors from Year 7 to 12 in a gratitude initiative to thank all staff at Kennedy for the hard work and care they provide to students. This will give our Student Councillors the opportunity to show leadership and to live out the College values and build community. I am sure the staff will be very appreciative of their kind gestures.

At the end of this term a team of senior students will be travelling to Cambodia to work with Transform Cambodia. Transform Cambodia is an organisation working with some of the poorest children in the world to improve health and provide education and leadership skills. This College community outreach programme provides opportunity for Kennedy students to serve in the wider community in a range of areas.

The wellness programme at Kennedy is designed to produce a nurturing environment which is vital for student success throughout their adolescent life. Over the last two terms all Year 7 students (Term 1 and 2) and Year 8 students (Term 1) have been attending a weekly class titled Thrive. During Thrive a focus has been placed on the development of skills and education around Protective Behaviors. The Thrive curriculum addresses the right to feel safe, relationships, recognizing and reporting abuse and protective strategies. It reflects the value that we, as a College place on the continued safety of our students. 

I would like to thank all our Student Councilors and House Captains for all their hard work and dedication throughout this term. Personally, I am very much looking forward to the staff vs student basketball game that will be run Wednesday next week. I hope all our staff and students have a wonderful break and return refreshed for Term 3.

In Week 8 of this term, each of the four Kennedy houses held its inaugural House Assembly. The purpose of the house assemblies was to provide each House the opportunity to celebrate students' for their achievements, both at the College and outside, as well as celebrate students who display Kennedy values on a regular basis. Our vision is that each House will foster a unique spirit as we continue to develop house spirit.

The assemblies consisted of our house captains delivering speeches, awarding certificates to students for their attitude in form class, acknowledging sporting achievements and celebrating the contributions of staff members. We also heard a devotion and took the opportunity to practice our chants in preparation for the Athletics carnival next term.

We look forward to the ongoing tradition of house assemblies each semester, and will continue to pursue new ideas for how we can continue to build our house system here at Kennedy.

Mrs Nicole Robins
Forrest House Coordinator

On Saturday 22 June, the Newman Indigenous Tour group held a sausage sizzle fundraiser at Bunnings, O’Connor.

Despite the inclement weather, the fundraiser was very successful, raising approximately $950. The funds will go towards assisting the Martu community when the group visits Newman and Jigalong this September.

We would like to thank Spudshed Jandakot for their generous donation towards the ingredients required for the sausage sizzle. Thank you to Bunnings O’Connor for providing the venue and for also supporting our school community.

It was great to see members of our school community visit on Saturday to help support this fundraiser. The Newman Indigenous Tour provides a unique opportunity for Year 11 students to build relationships with the Martu community and to broaden their understanding of indigenous culture. If you have a child in Year 10 who may be interested in coming on the tour next year, please contact the Tour Coordinator, Mr. Dunstan, for more information.

Instrumental Music Program Update

We are pleased to welcome six new students to our Instrumental Music program for Term 3. There are still several vacancies available for all instruments taught at Kennedy and the final deadline for new enrolments is next Wednesday 3 July. We are hoping to get a few more students on clarinet and cello in particular for a Term 3 start (instrument hire is covered by the College for six months for these instruments). Please follow this link to complete your online enrolment.

Australian Girls Choir National Tour visit

The Arts Learning Area are thrilled to have a partnership with the Australian Girls Choir who will be running a workshop and performances during their stay. Thank you to all of the wonderful Kennedy staff and students who have offered to host the girls in their homes.

There will be a ‘Visiting Performers’ Assembly on Wednesday 3 July at 8.30am which is open to all members of our school community, followed by a day of workshops for many Dance, Drama and Music students on that day, led by the Australian Girls Choir and visiting Performing Arts Staff.

Drama Evening

On Tuesday evening the Auditorium was filled with many anticipating family members and friends who attended the Year 8 Drama Night. The Year 8 Drama students did not disappoint and entertained their audience with colourful and educational Children’s Theatre plays which they wrote and directed themselves. Our students enjoyed the very generous participation of the audience which made performing to a live audience much easier. The second half of the evening was filled with much laughter as creativity and wit flowed freely while students showcased their improvisation skills. The Theatre Sports games Props, Questions Only, Monologue Thief and Bus Stop provided a lot of entertainment.

Congratulations to every participating Year 8 Drama student who contributed to a fabulous night! It was delightful!

Mrs Liezl Breytenbach and Miss Sarah Harris
Year 8 Drama Teachers

Kennedy provides students with the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Which help build students’ confidence, self-esteem, teamwork skills, friendships and competitive spirit - essential skills for students as they progress into adulthood, further study and the workforce. Mr James (Film Club) and Lucas Blackman (Bio Club) described their experiences below. 

Please also click here for more information and a timetable.
 

Film Club

On Tuesday lunchtimes, dedicated movie fans come to Film Club, watch an iconic scene from a movie and have a chat about it. We have watched scenes of movies from Jaws to Apollo 13, Hitchcock to Spielberg, from 1952 – 2012! The students sit back in a bean bag and watch scenes, some of which they have seen many times and some they never ever seen before. Film Club has become a great space for students from Year 7 – 12 to talk about the films that they have seen. If you are interested in movies and want to deepen your knowledge, come along and join in.

Mr Simon James
Photography Teacher
 

Bio Club Fun

Every Wednesday and Friday a group of students from Year 7, 8 and 9 go to the Environmental Centre for Bio Club. At Bio Club we all take part in a range of activities like taking care of guinea pigs, gardening, working with stick insects, worms, fish and more. There are three guinea pigs called Larry, Harry and Barry. We feed them, clean them and just generally look after them. Some weeks the Bio Club members take the guinea pigs home for the weekend and look after them.

During exams the guinea pigs are taken into the Research and Study Centre at lunch for anyone to cuddle and relieve exam stress. In the Science block there are also lots of fish - outside, in the garden area we have trout and in the environmental centre there are a range of freshwater fish and axolotls. In the upstairs Science classrooms there are goldfish, a red-tailed shark and yabbies. Each week we feed the fish and maintain all the tanks. Then in the Science garden we have five garden beds and in them we have planted potatoes, strawberries, Asian greens, eggplant, sweet peas, tomatoes and fennel. Once all the plants have grown I am hoping we will get to eat some of them.

I joined the Bio Club this year and so far, I love it. I have learnt heaps of things that I can take home and use in my own garden. At Bio Club I have met lots of new people and made new friends. I hope that the Bio Club will grow.

Lucas Blackman
Year 7 Student

Term 2 concludes for students on Thursday 4 July. Term 3 will commence on Tuesday 23 July 2019 at 8.15am.

The Administration office will re-open on Monday 15 July. We hope that you have a restful and safe semester break.

Change of Staff Personal Learning Day

Please note the date for Staff Professional Development Day in August. It is Monday 26 August (not Friday 23 August as stated in the student diary). ​Students are to attend classes on Friday 23 August.

Community Open Day

Community Open Day will be held on Saturday 24 August from 11.00am - 3.00pm.

Please look out for the next P&F Connect newsletter for more details and if you would like to volunteer and help on the day, please contact the P&F Association here.

I love travelling to Cambodia, Vietnam and Bali; but there is still that sense of relief when I get home and know I can drink the water straight from the tap without fear. Which brings me to the shocking statistics around bottled water.

• Worldwide, 1 million plastic water bottles are discarded every minute.
• In Australia, 370 million bottles end up in land fill every year.
• Bottles take over 1,000 years to biodegrade.
• It takes 3 litres of water (and 250 ml of crude oil) to manufacture 1 litre of water.
• It takes 8 years to recoup the cost of a bottle of water by refilling it with tap water.

The school provides filtered water fountains which are specially designed to refill reusable water bottles. As we have done with single-use plastic bags, let us assign single use plastic water bottles to the “What on earth were we thinking?” pile and move forward.

Mrs Pauline Burgess
College Chaplain

We value the support of our volunteers who contribute to the College community! Co-ordination of all our volunteers is managed through the easy to use automated online system SIGNUP.com. Current volunteer opportunities are available with:

• The Kennedy Prayer Group - Wednesdays at 1.45pm
• Beedawong Volunteering Term 2
• Book Covering

​​Please click here to sign up and volunteer.