Photo above: Remembrance Day at Kennedy.

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Families,

It has been wonderful for our College to experience a range of music and drama performances over the past weeks. Our Arts Learning Area continues to grow in both student participation and the quality of great performances. Congratulations to all students who have been performing over the past week, it has been a privilege for everyone to attend such high-quality performances. Congratulations also, to our wonderful Arts Staff who work tirelessly to support student performances.
 

Kennedy Master Plan ll

Since Kennedy commenced in 2013, a master plan for the College campus has been implemented resulting in the development of outstanding facilities for our students. The completion of our Technologies Centre signalled the fruition of this master plan and we have now commenced the next phase of College development with the commencement of our second master plan. The first phase of this plan will be the redevelopment of our auditorium building and to provide improved theatre facilities, a café with a ticket counter, and an extensive alfresco space with new landscaping. It is expected that construction on this exciting project will commence in Term 2 next year.

Year 12 Graduation

Next Friday night, 19 November, will be a special night for our Year 12 families. We look forward to a great night of celebration as our Year 12 students graduate from Kennedy Baptist College. Our formal proceedings for graduation commence at 7.00pm. We hope you can join us.
 

2022 Tuition Fees

To ensure that Kennedy can continue to provide the highest quality education to every student there are a number of increasing College costs that need to be met. With this in mind, the College Board has made the carefully considered decision that tuition fees will be increased by 4.0% in 2022. The decision to increase tuition fees is never taken lightly and it is worth noting that the education CPI also currently operates at 4%.

Our fees for next year will be:
Fees per student: $ 9,470
Fees for overseas students per student: $ 19,996 

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Devotion

Two more newsletters to go for 2021!! As I said last newsletter, I want to finish the year by clearly summarizing our theme for this whole year, Seeing the Kingdom of God. I want to bring into this article two points I have made in previous newsletters.

Firstly, it is true, that with any organization, company, society or team, the leader has a huge influence on the culture of that group of people. If the leader is relaxed but disorganized, then the organization will be the same. If the leader is aggressive and harsh then we will see those character traits in the group they lead.

Secondly, if we travelled to all the world cultures, we would find a plethora of heroes that are revered in each of those cultures. The traits of those cultural heroes can be combined into a personality that we would both want to meet and want to be. That combined hero personality would be courageous, generous, non-hypocritical, honest, defends the oppressed, has time for the lowly and discarded, stands against bullies, and is slow to get angry, joyful, selfless, and generally look out for and serves the needs of others. If we could produce this quality of character in our children or each of our students, Kennedy graduates would quite literally change the world! 

So, to bring these two points together, one, the leader creates the culture and two, the universal hero character. The true Kingdom of God is an extension of the leader, the King. The universal hero character is a description of Jesus the King in every way. Jesus’ personality is the culture of God’s Kingdom. To see God’s Kingdom in action is to see the character of God being expressed. Sadly, we often don’t see the character of the King flowing out of other people, or out of ourselves, but we can find it if we seek it. Next newsletter we will finish the year looking at the heart of God to bring us into the Kingdom of His love and joy.

Luke 23:4 Pilate said to the leading priests and the people, “I find nothing against this man.”  

Deputy Principal: Curriculum

It is now mid-term and we are in the examination season for Year 11 and 12 students. In order to complete courses and for a course to be included in the calculation of the Western Australian Certificate of Education, students enrolled in ATAR courses must complete examinations. I wish all the Year 11 and 12 students well in their final examinations for 2021. The time that the College has invested in developing study skills and habits combined with each student’s application to revision will help reduce anxiety during this intense period of time.

Students in Years 9 and 10 will commence examinations in the coming weeks. Preparation for examinations will be completed both in class and through the homework that teachers set. Students are regularly taught about how to revise and prepare for assessments. A good study plan and regular revision are more effective than last-minute cramming. Students could allocate 20-30 minutes of study for a subject each day (e.g. Monday = Maths; Tuesday = English) and set goals for each revision session to ensure they can effectively review the content presented during the past semester. Year 9 and 10 students must remain in classes during examination periods and not “go home to study”. I would also encourage parents to monitor the time their child spends on homework in the coming weeks, it is important that students do not spend 3-4 hours per night preparing for the exams.

I would like to mention that curriculum material is being presented right up to and including the last day of school. Students are continually assessed which means that even if formal testing concludes, teachers are still observing student understanding of the concepts presented and this information is key to determining final grades.

Reports are expected to be available through SEQTA on 8 December.

Courses for 2022 are expected to be finalized by December 8 and available through SEQTA. To provide a small window for class changes, some information regarding Year 11 and 12 courses and Year 8, 9 and 10 electives may be released earlier. Please note that Booklists will also be available on the Kennedy website around 8 December.

Deputy Principal: Pastoral Care

Each year the College presents Community Service Awards to our Year 12 students to recognise the contribution of students both to the College and the wider community. These include the Long Tan Award, the Ampol Best All-Rounder Award, the Sportsperson of the Year, and the Community Leadership Award. Please click here to read more about these awards and who won them this year.

It is a busy term in the Pastoral Care space, with a wide range of activities and events occurring. Today we held our annual Remembrance Day service in the area around our College Flagpoles. Student Councillors hosted the event and our College Principal, Mr Mark Ashby gave an address to the College. Year 10 Councillor, Amie Hugo, shared about one of the Australian Battles of World War 1, the Battle of Hamel. Imogen Cann represented Army Cadets and laid a wreath. Our Year 7 Councillors performed flag duties as we remember and thank God for His gift of life to us and the sacrifice made by those who were killed in service.

In two weeks' time, our Year 10 student mentors will be involved in welcoming our Year 7s for 2023 at our College Orientation Day. This service forms part of our 11/7s Mentor Program. Each year the College undertakes a comprehensive support program to ensure the incoming Year 7 students enjoy a smooth transition into secondary school. On Friday 28 January the mentors will host a Pre-Start Day for the Year 7s. Overall the 11/7s Mentor Program is designed to support our incoming 7s and ensure they feel safe and welcomed as valued members of our College community. 

Kennedy News

College Notices
 

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 25 November 2021.