Photo above: Governor's Prayer Breakfast.

Dear Parents and Families,

Today’s Interhouse Athletics Carnival was a wonderful opportunity for the College to work together and reinforce the collaborative spirit at Kennedy. Our students enthusiastically represented their Houses throughout the day’s competition as they strived towards the Kennedy Cup. The carnival was held at the State Athletics Centre and all families were welcome to attend.

Governor's Prayer Breakfast

Last Friday the College Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies, as well as a number of staff attended the annual WA Governor's Prayer Breakfast held at the Burswood Complex. This event involves State Leaders joining with the community in fellowship and prayer for Western Australia. Speakers for this year included Kim Christian Beazley AC the current Governor of Western Australia, as well as Chris Dawson the WA Police Commissioner. The keynote speaker was Dr John Dickson, the founder of the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) which is an independent research company promoting the public understanding of the Christian Faith. He spoke about the positive effect his Christian Education teacher had on him in terms of his own faith journey.

Student Leadership

Recently a number of students and families have enquired about Student Leadership positions at the College. This is a vital part of the Kennedy Journey and it is thus important to note that Student Leadership roles for 2019 will be finalised by the end of Term 3. The leadership roles available for all students include: Student Councillors, House Captains, 11/7s Peer Support Mentors, and the College Head Boy and Head Girl. Student leadership provides an opportunity for our students to actively participate in the decision-making processes at the College. We encourage all students who are keen to be involved to apply for these roles as an opportunity to offer responsible service to the College Community, grow their leadership skills, and act as effective role models for the student body.

Kennedy Community Open Day

A final reminder that Open Day is fast approaching. We hope you can join us during the day to experience the exceptional opportunities that our students have embraced. Thank you to all our families who have made generous donations to our Parents and Friends Association for the day, your contributions are greatly appreciated.

Mr Wendell Pether 
Acting Principal

He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
Psalm 23:2

Life can be busy and at times, stressful.  Even home is no longer the sanctuary it once was as connection (or lack of it) to the different media platforms extends behind the front door. In contrast to this, we know that we need to look after ourselves yet there is a gap between the knowing and the doing. It is as if we have lost the art, even joy, of doing absolutely nothing.

In my previous devotion, I mentioned growing up on a farm in New Zealand. I loved it when the paddocks were knee high with grass. You could almost hear the grass growing and the colour of the grass could only be described as a verdant green. One of my great joys was standing totally still among the grass, eyes closed, and taking a deep breath. Bliss.

What is interesting about sheep is that for them to lie down, they need to feel protected, they must be well fed, plus there must be a sense of peace over the whole flock. Rest only comes when these needs are met. Here in the Psalm, the shepherd has the knowledge of what those needs are and how to best meet them. The shepherd knew that it was not simply about meeting the visible, physical needs of green pasture and a safe water source. This Psalm reminds us that there are needs that must be met, which though not visible, are just as important. Thankfully we have a Good Shepherd who knows our needs. Who will feed us, protect us and even will lay down his life for us, so that we can enter his true rest. The name of this shepherd is Jesus (John 10:11-18).

The College has reached the midpoint of Term 3. This point in the school year is one of making choices. Year 7-11 students have selected courses in 2019 and although there is some opportunity to refine these choices they are limited both in spaces available in classes and the time available to make changes.

Over the next few weeks, Year 12 students will be given information on how to make selections for University or TAFE in 2019. The closing date for University selections will be the end of this term, although there will be an opportunity to make changes. TAFE applications are open a little longer as students will need to upload their year reports and other achievements. This is the time of the year when Year 12 students realise their secondary schooling is nearing completion. Effectively there are six school weeks left in the year for Year 12s. These weeks have an urgency with all classes pushing to complete content and prepare for final assessments. There is also a sense of uncertainty as daily routines and schedules come to an end. Year 12 students exhibit excitement and a little trepidation at this time of the year.

The mini mid- term break affords all students the opportunity to refresh and refocus for the last half of Term 3. The staff will be using the Professional Learning Day on Friday 17 August to focus on refining teaching programs to ensure effective student engagement with the required curriculum and continued refinement of assessment items.

This is my first newsletter contribution in the capacity of Acting Deputy Principal for Pastoral Care and so it is with great pleasure that I outline our current Pastoral Care program.

The importance of Pastoral Care cannot be understated nor underestimated. Considerable research has been done in pastoral care and its impact on learning and the results are very clear; the proficiency of social and emotional capabilities is associated not only with greater wellbeing, but also better school performance.  This is because relationships with others and emotional processes affect how and why young people learn. Therefore, a strong pastoral care policy that effectively integrates curriculum, culture, school structure and student needs is essential for proper learning and functioning of all our students.  These needs have strongly influenced the emphasis placed on Pastoral Care by Kennedy Baptist College and the way it is enacted here.

The emphasis by the College has led to our ‘four pillars’ of pastoral care – four areas that cover core components of pastoral care. These are: 1. Wellness, 2. Outreach, 3. Leadership and 4. Discipline. 

Wellness is the physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual understanding of self and recognition of these components within one’s self helps students to maintain their balance in life. If students aren’t ‘well’ then they aren’t able to operate at their capacity and their grades suffer accordingly. 

Outreach is the ability of the College to impact others at a local, national and international level. We strive to have out students understand that their community doesn’t just stop with their friends and that they are member of a global community. We encourage students to be active citizens, striving to make the world a better place.

Leadership is the ability to work with others to help achieve a common goal or purpose.  We strongly advocate relational leadership at Kennedy Baptist College, leaders who influence others to achieve goals through maximising relationships and collaboration. There are numerous opportunities for leadership at our College.

Discipline is a necessary step in our pastoral care program, one that is often misunderstood. The rules and processes we use in this system are to protect students and facilitate learning. We try to model the ‘real world’ systems where outcomes for actions that are outside of the rules are punished. Our aim is to allow students and teachers to work disruption-free.

The aim of our pastoral care program is the creation of a safe, nurturing and engaging educational community where students can thrive academically, socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

On Friday the 10 August the Dance Department had their annual Dance Showcase, “On Broadway”. The theme this year was the best of Broadway with 130 students performing a range of dances from musicals including Cats, Mamma Mia, Footloose, Grease and Dream Girls.

Students from Years 7 to 12 rehearsed extremely hard in order to have their performances ready. Students performed with high energy and professionalism and did a fantastic job with hard work, extra rehearsals and commitment resulting in an outstanding and successful show. A huge thank you goes to all the students and staff involved. Many thanks on an outstanding show! Please click here for more photos.

Mrs Lara Del Basso and Mrs Kelly Mayne
Dance Teachers

Open Day will be held on 25 August. Open Day is a great way to see the College campus, view student work and meet Kennedy staff.

If you are interested to help out on the day for a few hours or assist or contribute in any way please email the P&F Association here. We hope to see you there.

Student Economic Forum

On 8 August, six budding Economists from Year 12 participated in a Student Economic Forum in the city held by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA  (CCI) and the Economics Teachers’ Association of Western Australia. The forum involved Year 12 Economic students from a range of schools across Perth.

After the initial formalities of the forum were undertaken, students were provided with a very informative and engaging talk by Rick Newnham, Chief Economist with the CCI. This was followed by a panel discussion, in which students asked three recent graduate Economists questions ranging from: their study of Economics at school and university, employment opportunities, how to make the most of university life, their employment since finishing university and if they could only give one piece of advice, what it would be. One insightful response was “that your twenties are for learning and your thirties are for earning”.

For the final session, students put into practice what they had heard  the previous sessions and the knowledge and the analytical skills they had learnt in the classroom. They had to work in teams, with each team given a different economic scenario. Each team then presented a brief report to the whole forum and were judged by a panel. The judging panel commented on the high depth of economic understanding and reasoning that had been demonstrated. It was a great result for Kennedy as two of our students were members of a winning team.

The Economic Forum was a great success and was highly beneficial to our students. Not just for their ATAR Economics exam, but for future decisions, path choices and understanding of what is happening in the world. We will definitely be attending next year.

Kennedy Wins ACC SAS Senior Competition

Kennedy Baptist College has won the senior SAS competition and has  been crowned overall Champion School for 2018. Congratulations to all students who represented the College throughout the Term 1 and 2 Interschool matches. It was great to see all the smiling faces representing Kennedy to their best ability and the results reflect the work, effort and commitment our students displayed. Click here for results.

Kennedy comes second in ACC SAS Junior Competition

Kennedy Baptist College placed second in the SAS Junior competition for 2018. Kennedy Baptist College have steadily been improving our overall school placing each year and this year was a tight one. Three points separated the top four schools with Corpus Christi and St Norberts drawn for first (63 points) with Kennedy and Ursula Frayne drawn for second (60 points). Thanks to all students who engaged in this afterschool program and for the continued commitment to Term 1 and 2 SAS Junior Interschool Sport. Congratulations to the Year 7 Girls Basketball team who finished on top of their ladder. Click here for results. 

The SAS Junior program now takes a break for the remainder of the year and will start again in Term 1, 2019 – we hope to see you there!

Miss Jessica Kennedy
Sports Coordinator/Health and Physical Education Teacher