Photo above from left to right: Student Executive Team 2021 - Deputy Head Boy Joshua Thomas Ninan, Head Girl Carie Breytenbach, Head Boy Nicholas Payne, Deputy Head Girl Charlotte Gavin. 

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Families,

It has been wonderful to see our Student Council leadership team grow and develop throughout the year. The Executive Student Council recently implemented their “Kennedy Day” initiative which involved an assembly run by students and fun lunchtime festival activities. The event is totally organised by our outstanding Student Councillors and was great to see their strong presence in the College. Both aspects of the day were very well organised and extremely well supported by the student body. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Student Leadership 2021

Over the past weeks, the College has been involved in the process of selecting Year 12 student leaders for next year. It has been wonderful to have so many outstanding student applicants for these positions with a huge range of talent and leadership qualities. Congratulations to the following students and their families.

• Head Boy: Nicholas Payne
• Head Girl: Carie Breytenbach
• Deputy Head Boy: Joshua Thomas Ninan
• Deputy Head Girl: Charlotte Gavin

e-Safety

After last week’s deeply distressing and harmful video circulating on social media, it has become even more important for everyone to be vigilant where e-Safety is concerned. We urge all members of our community who encounter harmful and disturbing content online, to report it immediately. Parents and carers can help their children with this process by providing a safe space where they can talk about their feelings. It is also important for parents and carers to encourage positive connections with friends and extended family through other activities and interests.

Tips for parents to help limit young people’s exposure to harmful content online:

• Engage in your child’s online activities – ask what apps, sites and games they are using and make sure they are age-appropriate.
• Use parental control on devices to help limit what your child is exposed to.
• Help them report and block upsetting content they see on social media sites or apps.
• Let them know they can come to you about anything upsetting they see online.

We know that the delivery of effective, evidence-based online safety education is one practical way to protect children online and we will continue to review our cyber safety and protection programs. Reports regarding inappropriate content should be reported to the social media platform they have seen it on first, and then to e-Safety at www.esafety.gov.au/report/illegal-harmfulcontent.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Devotion

On Monday this week, we started wrapping up our Year 12 Christian Education program with a Question and Answer forum in two parts over the last two weeks of the term. The forum’s aim is to give the maturing Year 12s a chance to ask a panel any question that they have from their Christian Education journey. Our heart for the Year 12s is to grow them as people, to equip them with a robust and healthy view of the world and their individual place in the global community. The forum questions all came from our students, collected over Term 3. With the second part next Monday, we have started ‘opening the floor’ for students to directly ask things that are on their mind.

This newsletter article is to say firstly, how mature the questions have been. Our hope is the students have enjoyed listening to the responses offered from our panel so far. With the rest of this article, I wanted to bring up one of the questions to illustrate the depth of thinking within our young adult students. The question was written in several versions by a number of students,

If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why does He allow suffering in the world? E.g. Earthquakes, tsunamis, virus pandemics?

I do not have enough room in this week’s newsletter article to share a full answer to this very important question asked by both famous thinkers and the average person throughout the ages. I will make today's article my Part 1 to follow the same format as the Year 12 forum and Part 2 will follow in the next newsletter article in Term 4.

It is not possible to neatly put this question in a box and feel like it is answered completely. My personal journey has allowed me to arrive at a place where I know that suffering is not the end of any story but I have found it to always be a door, or an opportunity, into a never before imagined place both for good and bad. Please look out for our next newsletter as I will try to bring some quick thoughts on this massive topic.

Deputy Principal: Curriculum

The new Technologies Centre will be open to classes at the start of Term 4. It is an exciting period for the College with the addition of a new course and the reinterpretation of current courses. Students will be able to take courses involving metal fabrication in Year 8 to 11 with a Year 12 course becoming available for 2022. The Engineering electives in Year 8 -10 will align with the School Curriculum and Standards Authority Design and Technologies course in the context of Engineering principles and systems.

The Technologies curriculum is delivered through two courses: Design and Technologies and Digital Technologies. Students develop skills to manage projects, apply computational, design and systems thinking to create solutions. Each Technologies course provides an opportunity for students to develop their knowledge, skills and use them to design a solution for a project.

2021 Timetable

On the theme of new technology and systems, I would like to thank students and families in selecting 2021 courses. The selection process was completed very well and efficiently by both students and parents. The complicated processes of creating combinations of subjects that maximise student choice and school resources now begins. I anticipate that early in Term 4, current Year 10 and 11 students will be notified of any issues arising from their course selections and then there will be opportunities for these students to make changes to their courses. Year 7-9 students who have missed out on being allocated one of their selected courses and have a course missing in their timetable will have the opportunity to select alternate courses. I expect the Year 7-9 students to be approached late Term 4.

Health of the Community

In a recent meeting, I was reminded of the need for all families to remain vigilant with illness and school attendance. Families are reminded that students who are unwell should not be attending the College until they are symptom-free. Year 12 students are beginning their final examinations and if they are ill there are implications for their final assessments. Similarly, Year 11 students head to examinations part way through Term 4. Although there are always measures in place to assist students who are unwell during the examination period, it is better if they remain well and fit for examinations. To that end, I would encourage all families to continue to be considerate of the College community and keep unwell students at home.

Deputy Principal: Pastoral Care 

Maintaining and supporting the wellbeing of our students and their families is an ongoing goal for the Pastoral Care team at Kennedy.

According to the World Health Organisation, mental health is “a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”

Research shows that high levels of mental health are associated with increased learning, creativity and productivity, positive social relationships, and improved physical health and life expectancy. It’s important that, especially in times of high stress, we have reliable supports and strategies in place to protect our mental health. Towards the goals of achieving and supporting good mental health, we as a College joined in to host R U OK? Day on Wednesday 9 September.

R U OK? Day is a nationally recognised day dedicated to positive mental health. The phrase “Are you OK?” refers to the need to check on and support each other's mental health journey. One of the main goals for the R U OK? Day was to inspire and empower everyone in our College community to meaningfully connect with people around them and support anyone struggling with life. Our activities involved, R U OK? cupcakes to parents to engage them in the theme of the day, a guest speaker, Mr Hayden Glass from Red Frogs, addressing the whole College on the importance of positive mental health, as well as various support events at recess and lunch. We recognise that this day is important and we will continue to raise awareness of mental health issues and support our students in their ongoing life journey.

Kennedy News

Back to School Information

Term 3 concludes for students on Thursday 24 September 2020. The College will finish classes for all students at 3.15pm. Students may use the Research and Study Centre for quiet study and reading until 4.15pm.

Term 4 will commence on Monday 12 October 2020 at 8.15am. Students are to wear their full Summer Uniform. 

The Administration office will re-open on Monday 5 October 2020. We hope that you have a restful and safe holiday break. 

WITHDRAWING OR THINKING OF WITHDRAWING AT THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR?

In line with the College fee policy, it is a condition of enrolment at least 10 school weeks’ notice (not including scheduled school holidays) of withdrawal of a student is given in writing.

• If you are withdrawing your child from the College at the end of this year, please email our Registrar registrar@kennedy.wa.edu.au prior to the end of this Term.
• If you are contemplating withdrawing your child, please email our Registrar prior to the end of Term 4 with your provisional withdrawal notification. Your provisional notification will not be acted upon until you confirm withdrawal (or continuing enrolment) with a second email. This will ensure you are fulfilling the necessary notice period.

College Notices

Kennedy 2020 Music Evening

Tonight’s performance will feature both vocal and instrumental students ranging from Years 7 to 12.  Tickets can be purchased at the door at the cost of $5 per head (under 12 years free), or $10 per family. It will be a varied and entertaining performance night with a couple of surprise items planned. Please click here for more information and start time. 

Interschool Athletics Carnival

Interschool Athletics Carnival will take place on Friday 18 September at the WA Athletics Stadium. 

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 15 October 2020.