Photo above: Senior Boys Basketball Team.

Dear Parents and Families,

Congratulations to our Senior Boys basketball team on winning the ACC Grand Final last Wednesday. It was wonderful to see our team work so well together utilising their talents to win the championship. Congratulations to Mr Ben Pether and Mr Andy Stewart who coached our team to this impressive, hard-fought victory. In a short period of time, our basketball program has produced outstanding successes, this being the latest.

Final Stage of Master Plan

There is a national current trend to promote the integration between Science, Technology, English, and Mathematics, commonly known as STEM. Kennedy has been reviewing the opportunities to further develop STEM and this needs to be linked to our campus facilities. To accommodate STEM development the final stage of the Kennedy master plan for capital works will commence soon. This is an exciting time which is part of our commitment to provide the best resources and opportunities for our students. The building program will include the development of a new Mechatronics Centre where our old food workrooms are located. The current materials rooms will then be refurbished to provide state of the art resources for wood and metals projects.

Community Open Day

Our Parents and Friends Association has now formed an Open Day Parent Committee to commence planning for this year’s Community Open Day community event. The structure of Open Day will be similar to last year and aims to provide a snapshot of the many facets of Kennedy College life. Often families infer that Open Day is only an occasion to promote the College for perspective families; however, our focus will be to make this another chance for current families to experience and view the great achievements of our students.

This year will be particularly special as it offers a perfect opportunity for families to experience our new Food and Textiles Centre that opened this year. A range of presentations from Visual Art, Drama, Dance and Music will be showcased and all learning Areas will have great displays of their current curricula.

Community Open Day 2019
Saturday 24 August at 11.00am – 3.00pm

Our Parents and Friends are currently asking for volunteers to contribute to planning for the day. We hope you can help us. We also hope everyone can join us on the day.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless. Galatians 5:22-23 (TPT)

I love winter... Growing up, my cousins and I had to walk about 2.5 km down a gravel road to where the school bus would pick us up. During winter, the puddles along the way would be covered with a thin layer of ice. Our great joy was jumping into the puddles, breaking the ice and showering ourselves with ice cold water. We were always late for the bus. I do not remember a lot about what I learned at Taipuha Primary School, but I do remember that walk we did on school days. Orchard on one side, jersey cows on the other and grass-filled paddocks as far as the eye could see. Looking back, I consider those moments as a gift from God.

When we consider the fruit of the Spirit, we are viewing a singular fruit which has many expressions. The word heading the list, and which is translated “joy” is from the same word that is translated ‘gift”. Joy, according to the Bible, is a gift which is born of both appreciation and thankfulness and is totally dependent on our relationship with Jesus.

There is only one thing that can give true joy and that is contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He satisfies my mind; He satisfies my emotions; He satisfies my every desire. He and His great salvation include the whole personality and nothing less, and in Him I am complete. Joy, in other words, is the response and the reaction of the soul to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Life in Christ Studies in 1 John by Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

The College has reinforced with all students that study is a continuous process involving summarising and regular practice. I am sure many students have been actively engaged in revision throughout the year, please take the time to recognise the effort your child has made in their study. When reviewing any assessment with your child a focus on effort is a proven method of positive reinforcement with students e.g. change “an excellent mark” to “I saw how much effort you made in revising, well done”, or perhaps if required “how else can we help you”.

Students in Year 11 & 12 attend College only for their examinations. Examinations for Year 11 & 12 are a requirement for ATAR courses. Students are examined on the curriculum as defined by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. Examinations are designed to assess the material covered to date.

The purpose of examination in Years 8, 9 & 10 is to provide an opportunity for students to build memory and concentration as well as to provide students with another opportunity to demonstrate a skill or concept. Examinations also provide the College with an assessment that is completed at the same time for all students in a course, thus they are an excellent validation mechanism. Students in Years 8, 9 & 10 complete examinations in the morning and attend their timetabled classes for the remainder of each day.

If a student is absent from an assessment due to illness, a medical certificate is required. Please note that examinations are not rescheduled.

Year 7 students do not sit examinations and follow their scheduled timetable.

SEQTA Engage

SEQTA Engage has been accessed by most parents. If you encounter difficulty with SEQTA please let me know. A few points to note:

• All students, staff and parents receive notification if they have unread Direqt messages. This is a global setting that cannot be switched off for individuals.
• Any email address changes will affect SEQTA logins therefore if you notify the College of a change in email please also expect a “Welcome to SEQTA” email which will enable you to access SEQTA Engage.

Please see examination timetables and rules for Year 8 to 12 below.

Lower School Examination Rules here
Senior School Examination Rules here

Year 8 Examination Timetable here
Year 9 Examination Timetable here
Year 10 Examination Timetable here
Year 11 Examination Timetable here
Year 12 Examination Timetable here

Our Pastoral Care goal at Kennedy Baptist College is the creation and maintenance of a safe, nurturing and engaging educational community where students can thrive academically, socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually. There are four Pillars of Pastoral Care - Wellness, Outreach Programs, Leadership and Discipline. In this newsletter we will look at the Leadership and the Outreach Program Pillars.

The leadership program at Kennedy is designed to provide leadership opportunities for students to live out the College values and build community. During Week 3 of this term members of the Student Council were given the opportunity to serve at our Mother’s Day Morning Tea. We were proud of the way our councillors served our special guests in such a cheerful and enthusiastic manner. They played an integral part in making it such a successful day and had lots of fun in the process.

The College operates a strategic and targeted community outreach program which provides opportunities for Kennedy students to serve in the wider community in a range of areas. This term Year 7 and 8 students were involved in local Community Service initiatives. Several Year 8 students took part in a Community Service partnership between Kennedy and Opal Murdoch where our students visit the aged care facility at St Ives and chat with the residents. Our students were very well received by the residents with many discussions between them about the world and life as young students these days. Year 7 students took part in an event with Lakeside Baptist Church’s Seniors’ group which was another great opportunity for our young people to interact with the older generation.

As Year 8 to 12 Students are about to move into their examination period, we encourage them to contact our Pastoral Care team for extra support if needed.  We look forward to them being rewarded for their hard work and wish them all the best.

Trials for Current and Future Families

The Specialist Sport Programs at Kennedy Baptist College have been established to assist talented student-athletes achieve at the highest level of performance in their chosen sports. The two Specialist Sport Programs  that are currently on offer are Specialist Basketball and Specialist Cricket. Please see upcoming trials:

• Basketball Program Trial 1 - Open Session
  Friday 21 June 2019, 7:00am-7:45am
• Basketball Program Trial 2 - Invite Only
  Monday 1 July 2019, 6:50am-7:50am
• Cricket Program Trial 1
  Thursday 20 June 2019, 6:45am-7:40am
• Cricket Program Trial 2
  Thursday 4 July 2019, 6:45am-7:40am

If your child is interested in joining one or both of these programs in 2020 please complete the expression of interest form and sign up via the links below: 

• Basketball Program
• Cricket Program 

This is a chronic condition which affects teenagers around exam time. During this time, you may have a quiet study area available, have made sure your child has less chores so they can have more time to prepare for exams, and even offered rewards for improved results, but wingitus can be all pervasive!

It’s a condition where when you ask how the study is going, the response is “I’ll be fine, I’ll just wing it!” Here are some tried and true remedies to this condition:

• Use a study planner – to plan when study is going to take place. Include 5 minute breaks frequently and display this planner on the fridge! The planner can also be used to include social and sporting activities – so the whole family can see when your child is getting busy and needs some time for study.
• Hold your child accountable – to this planner and encourage them to use a timer, set a mini-challenge and then set the timer. For example, do five math problems in 20 minutes and be specific and make it a bit of a challenge.
• Encourage your child to test themselves – either with you, friends or even against themselves. Self-testing is the number one study technique. Please click here to read more. 

Mrs Virginia Yurisich
Head of Research and Study

Freo Artist Works With Kennedy Students

More than 80 aspiring young art students worked together with award-winning Fremantle illustrator, Ross Potter, to celebrate the endangered Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo – a species that is endemic to the South West of Western Australia. The collaborative art project was produced here at the College, which is nestled within a native bush setting, adjacent to North Lake, part of the Beeliar Wetland, a significant food source and roosting area for the cockatoo on the Swan coastal plain.

The College Principal, Mr Mark Ashby, said Year 8 Art students worked together with Mr Potter, and the College’s talented Visual Arts team, to produce a 2.7m x1.2m “Patch Collaborative Artwork” featuring the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo.

“Our students are well aware that sadly, the gradual destruction of their natural habitat has seen the number of Carnaby’s Cockatoos in WA decrease by at least 50 per cent over the past 45 years,” Mr Ashby said. “They wanted to express their awareness and bring attention to the issue by including and acknowledging these majestic birds which are found around the College in their art work. Ross Potter is known for his large scale and highly detailed works with graphite on paper and was originally inspired by the old buildings in Fremantle, but has since moved on to more nature-inspired pieces."

84 students worked with Mr Potter to each recreate a section of an image using tonal shading of graphite pencils to contribute to a large-scale communal artwork that will be unveiled at our Community Open Day on 24 August.

Ms Linda Ang
Public Relations Officer

SAS Sport Update

Associated and Catholic Colleges (ACC) Southern Associated Schools (SAS) and Southern Associated Schools Junior (SASJ)

The ACC SAS and SASJ is well and truly underway with over 200 of our students participating in the programs. With our senior students competing on Tuesdays during Period 6/7 and Juniors on Wednesday from 4.00-5.00pm, it is great to see so many of our students actively participating in over 20 winter teams.

The Senior group are currently dominating the competition and we hope to continue with excellence for the remaining rounds while the SAS Junior are striving for their first ever title.

All results can be found here. Best of luck to all students for the remainder of the term.

Miss Jessica Kennedy
Health and Physical Education Teacher

Through the hard work of both staff and students, Kennedy Baptist College has become an accredited Waste Wise School. To get this far, the College had to prove that we are serious about sustainability. A committee consisting of both staff and students has been formed, but there is so much more that we can do, and we need your help to reduce, reuse and to recycle.

In each newsletter we will be providing tips and interesting facts in regards to being waste wise. The long-term plan is to develop skills, values and a world view among our students which will contribute to the planet. As I told the students at Assembly, “Save the Earth; it is the only planet with chocolate.” For more information please click here.

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.