Our recent Sydney and Canberra Tour students and staff meeting the Governor General at Government House.

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians and Families,

Welcome to Term 4 at Kennedy Baptist College. I trust everyone enjoyed a restful break and that our students have returned refreshed and ready to embrace the opportunities ahead.

As we enter the final term of the academic year, it is a wonderful time to reflect on how far our students have come. Over the past three terms, they have demonstrated resilience, growth and commitment across academics, sport, service and the performing arts. While it is natural to feel some fatigue as the year draws to a close, Term 4 provides an important opportunity to finish strongly and celebrate all that has been achieved.

One exciting addition this term is our new Pop-Up Café, now open from 7.30am for parents, staff and visitors. Convenient parking is available near the Auditorium drop-off area, making it easy to stop by for a morning coffee. As College events may occasionally affect trading days, please look out for the Café Open sign.

As our students enter the final stretch of the year, the partnership between home and school remains as important as ever. Your encouragement, guidance and support play a significant role in helping students maintain focus and finish the year well.

How You Can Help at Home

• Maintain consistent routines - Regular bedtimes and healthy morning habits help students stay energised and focused.
• Celebrate progress - Recognising effort, improvement and perseverance helps build confidence and motivation.
• Provide encouragement - Simple words of support can make a significant difference when students face challenges or feel overwhelmed.

Thank you for the ongoing support, partnership and trust you place in our College community.

Uniform Standards

Recently, a letter was sent to all families outlining our expectations as students returned to summer uniform. I would like to reinforce the importance of these standards and the role they play in maintaining Kennedy's culture and sense of community.

Our expectations regarding uniform, presentation and hairstyles are clearly communicated to students and families. As part of these standards, extreme hairstyles do not align with College expectations and will need to be adjusted where required. We appreciate the support of families in helping students present themselves in a manner that reflects the values and standards of Kennedy Baptist College.

Key Dates and Celebrations

Term 4 provides several opportunities to celebrate our students' achievements as we conclude another successful year at Kennedy.

We encourage families to attend these important events as we celebrate the hard work, perseverance and success of our students throughout 2026.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Chats

Welcome to Term 4, a period in our school calendar that feels like if you blink, you will miss it! During this term, we say goodbye to our Year 12s and we send off the Year 11s to finish the year in a blaze of exams. By week 5 the school feels smaller, with less students, and moments are taken up with planning for next year. Later in the term, we will train our 2027 Year 11 Peer Mentors, ready to meet the emerging Year 7s for orientation, then finish the year with a leadership camp to help grow and maintain the Kennedy community. 

COMMUNITY. I mention it a lot in these Chaplain Chats. I see community as one of the greatest influences on our daily lives. We are designed to connect; we find true meaning to come from the people we feel we belong to in some way. In my life, I have watched the drive to belong fuel so much human endeavour. On the flip side, the lack of connection and belonging is behind much of our mental health burden today, and as a chaplain, I see much of it up close. 

One of our cultural points at Kennedy is to grow and maintain a deep and genuine feeling of connection throughout our whole college.

Being together in one place greatly helps us grow and maintain community. This is the main reason we opened our daily Pop-Up Café in the Lower Foyer this term. My dream, as your Chaplain, is that every morning from 7:30-9am, there is a growing community in that space. It has a simple look: parents parking for a few minutes after drop-off and adding their presence to the community. We also have a space to pray together on Wednesdays with KPOW at 2:30 pm in the Staff lounge. If you want to find a way to engage in community, nothing is better than praying together.  

Kennedy News

Celebrating Student Achievements

We are proud of all the efforts of our students and would like to congratulate the following members of our community on their perseverance, sportsmanship, and outstanding achievements: 

• Ahlia Jones once again represented Australia at the Under 15s Women's Softball Oceania World Cup Qualifier in American Samoa.
• Connor Roberts played in the SSWA Golf tournament and became the gross overall winner for Year 11/12 Boys with an incredible score of 70.
• Heejoo Cho once again was selected into the SSWA State Golf Team.
• Issy Gerhard made the All-Australian Team in the School Sport WA (SSWA) Under 14s girls AFL Team.
• Morrie Goodsell competed in the Swimming State Championship.
• Maddie Dunn, Ruby Trezise and Nathaniel Lindstrom were all selected in the School Sport WA (SSWA) teams for Basketball.
• Nathaniel Lindstrom also recently reached a significant milestone, playing 150 games in the Western Australian Basketball League (WABL) for Lakeside Lightning.
• Paras was selected for the Under 14 Australian Indoor Cricket team for the World Championship in South Africa, competing against South Africa, New Zealand and England, ultimately finishing as the U14 World Champions.
• Jared Griffiths recently represented WA, competing in the Under 15s Lacrosse Tournament held in Queensland.

If your child has reached a significant milestone you would like the school to acknowledge, please email their Head of Year with more information about their achievements. 

Sydney Canberra Tour

During the recent school holidays, 32 Year 9 students and five staff members embarked on a wonderful educational tour of our national capital Canberra and the city of Sydney.

Read more about our fantastic trip by clicking on the link below.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $510 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs in 2026. The rebate is paid directly to the college upon completion of the excursion.

Year 12 Grad Week!

Our Year 12 students wrapped up their final term of school by celebrating with a fun-filled Grad Week, dressing up in a different theme every day.

The week kicked off with 'Yourself in 10 Years', followed by 'Dress as a Meme or Adam Sandler', then their creativity peaked with 'Anything but a Backpack' on Wednesday and finally finished with 'Recreate a Baby Photo Day'. It was a joyful way for our Year 12s to mark their last official week of school before turning their focus toward final exams and assessments. 

College Notices

Important Dates

Please make sure to check Parent Lounge regularly for notifications and important updates on College events. Here is a short list of significant, whole-school events happening this Term.

• Wednesday 21 October - Year 12 Awards Assembly and Last Day
• Wednesday 4 November - Year 11 Awards Assembly
• Friday 20 November - Year 12 Graduation Ceremony
• Monday 23 November - Last day for Year 11 Students
• Tuesday 8 December - Year 7 to 10 Awards Assembly and Term 4 Concludes
• Friday 11 December - Kennedy Office closes for school holidays

Uniform Requirements

We wish to remind all students of the uniform requirements as per the Uniform Policy on the website. Some guidelines are listed below, and further information can be found in the Uniform Policy.

• Students are required to wear Summer uniform during Term 4.
• Closed in shoes must be worn on campus without exception including ‘free-dress’ days and after or before sports training at the College.
• Please ensure students remove all extra piercings. Students may wear clear plastic studs to keep piercings open.

The Uniform Shop Term 4 opening hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8.00am - 4.15pm, closed from 12.30-1.00pm.

Flexischools Changes

Following up on a notification all families have recently received from Flexischools, our online ordering and payment platform, please be aware of the following changes made from 1 October 2026:

• Student Card Payment: 18c for each transaction (each purchase made using a student card at the counter).
• No payment surcharges
• Service fee changes
• Online Order Fee: will increase by 6c for each online Order (charged per student, per service).
• A change at check-out

Head to the website here for more information on the recent changes to Flexischools payments or click on the link below for a comprehensive infographic. 

We hope you have all had a chance to check out our Pop-Up Cafe currently operating in the Lower Foyer from 7:30am-9:00am for parents, carers, visitors and staff. If not, go check it out and enjoy a freshly brewed coffee, a chocolate croissant, a muffin, a cinnamon bun or a refreshing, iced drink while you're on campus!

Please be aware of the following dates where our Beedawong Cafeteria and Pop-Up Cafe will be closed due to school functions:

Upcoming Events

2027 Kennedy Production - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Instrumental Music Recitals

Instrumental students are invited to take up the opportunity to perform a solo at the upcoming Instrumental Music Recitals, a relaxed and informal performance in front of a small audience.

This is a free event on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October, to support and encourage the budding talent of our music students and some of our Ensembles.

Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge today's First Nations people, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, as the custodians of this land, and as we continue to learn to live together on these ancient lands, we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. We pray that God will unite us all in a knowledge of His Son, in whom all things were created, in heaven and on earth, whether visible or invisible – for all things have been created through Him and for Him.

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 29 October 2026