Photo above: Year 7-9 Awards Assembly.

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Families, 

I trust the term is going well for all families. It was a pleasure to celebrate Year 7-9 student achievements at our Awards Assembly yesterday. The presentation of Certificates of Excellence and achievements highlights the exceptional standards being achieved by our students. Congratulations to all recipients of these significant awards.

One of our major goals at Kennedy is to provide as many opportunities as possible to engage with our community. Over the next few weeks, a number of exciting occasions will be provided to maximise family engagement with the College. These including:

1. Annual Dance Showcase, this Friday 5 August in the College Auditorium. The doors open at  6.30pm and the show commences at 7.00pm. Click here to purchase your ticket.  
    
2. Next Friday 12 August, students will enjoy a day at Perry Lakes, State Athletics Centre for the Interhouse Athletics Carnival. We encourage all students to support and compete for their House. Similarly, we encourage all families to come along and support students on the day.
    
3. Our Community Open Day on Saturday 20 August will be a great opportunity to visit the College, view displays and performances from our students, and enjoy the College’s hospitality. We look forward to seeing you between 11.00am and 3.00pm.
    
4. Our Annual Father’s Day event will be held on Thursday 8 September. This event proves to be a valuable time where dads and grandfathers can come and enjoy a scrumptious breakfast and meet other dads. This year's guest speaker is Dr Steve McCready, Senior Minister at Riverview Church. 

We look forward to sharing more opportunities during Term 3 together.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Chats

I have wanted to write this raw newsletter for a while. As you read it you will understand why it’s taken some time. If you have read any of my Chaplain Chats before I hope you have gotten to know my heart. Chaplaincy was a choice for me. I am a chaplain because it’s my passion to help others flourish in life, as best as I can, because someone took the time to help me.

We all need help to move through the challenges and hurts that can stunt our growth. Hurts hinder us from being all we are designed to be. As a chaplain, I wanted to get in early, to build strength and value into our youth. Throughout my life, I had found many of us adults, me included, were carrying accumulated wounds, and were handing those hurts on to our children.

This is the raw bit for me. Most of my conversations with students focus around them coming to terms with feelings of confusion, isolation, and guilt. Many things cause this, broken homes and relationships, misunderstandings, and youth watching things happen that cause them to ask “why?”! Over many years, young people have asked me what they did that made mum and dad’s marriage break down. Or, why did my parent move away from me? I hear statements from students like, “Is there something wrong with me?”, “What did I do to deserve this?”. These young people in our homes, and in our schools, are all looking to find their way in life. For many of us, that way is hard, and we all need help.

Mingled with my sadness is a sense of awe at how strong our teenagers are. They often push through issues that they didn’t cause, don’t understand, and have no idea how to get through. My heart behind this article is, without any judgment, that we make our focus on our children, in all we do. If we adults have hurts, we can, without knowing, hand them down to the children in our homes. If we are focusing on our adult selves, we are neglecting our youth that need help. If you as an adult need help, get help, so your children can see what it looks like to restore things that are broken.  James 5:16 “…pray for one another so we all may be healed”.

Curriculum Report

The second half of 2022 is shaping up to be a whirlwind with events now filling the College calendar. The start of the term included Awards Assemblies recognising the academic achievements of students across all year groups. Well done to all students who continue to apply themselves in class and with revision and practice after school.

At the start of each year, the College also seeks to identify and acknowledge students who through continued diligence have improved their results from Semester One to Semester Two. I would encourage all students to remain focused and maintain their positive application in and out of College.
 

Year 12 Students 

Year 12 students are in their final weeks of scheduled classes with the end of term concluding formal lessons. ATAR students have College written examinations in the second week of the school holidays and the first two days of Term 4. It is a great time for parents of Year 12 ATAR students to discuss revision timetables and ways that they can support their child during this intensive time of study and revision. Some simple tips include setting some time aside on a Saturday morning for a coffee or lunch with your child. Establishing a study zone and time that the family respects, especially younger siblings, also supports students who are studying.

 
Year 8-11 Course Selections

Thank you to all Year 8-11 families for completing course selections for 2023. Year 7 students will be asked to complete the selection process before the end of the term. Information is emailed and messaged to students and parents. At the end of the year, students and families will be informed of their 2023 courses. If possible, information will be released during Term 4 but I am sure everyone can appreciate the complexities of constructing a timetable for all students. 

Pastoral Care Report

We have had a wonderful start to Term 3 with the opportunity to recognise student achievements at the Awards Assemblies. At Kennedy, students are expected to strive for personal excellence in all they do, and these assemblies gave the opportunity to acknowledge a wide variety of academic achievements. Congratulations to all award recipients.

Last week we were pleased to have Alira Kelly, Senior Executive Officer for the Langford Aboriginal Association, speak to our Year 9s about the challenges Aboriginal people face growing up. She talked about the importance of reconciliation and how students can become allies who stand up against racism and help to educate others. ‘Bushy’ Andrew Beck, an Aboriginal education consultant with Future Footprints, spoke on culture, history, and racism and answered questions that arose from the Year 8s. Both these opportunities proved to be valuable learning experiences for our students. The students indicated that they would love to be involved in planning a whole College NAIDOC event next year and that is something that we are all looking forward to.

During Extended Form this week we invited our current Year 10 students to apply for a position as 11/7s Mentor. The 11/7s program is designed to facilitate a smooth transition for our incoming Year 7s and ensure they feel safe and welcomed as valued members of our College community. Our Year 11 Mentors are a vital part of our transition program. This role benefits the mentors through providing the opportunity to develop skills such as communication, decision making, managing groups, planning, cooperation, confidence, relationship building and teamwork.

Finally, we look forward to our second Kennedy Insight event for the year which will cover the topic of Vaping. This presentation will focus on providing an overall picture of vaping and what parents/ caregivers should be aware of, as well as strategies on how we can manage the issue. We have secured Tess Howard to present on this topic. Tess has an extensive background in research and public policy, and she leads initiatives with Minderoo Foundation in cancer prevention. As part of this work, she has an extensive understanding of e-cigarettes and vaping. Please save the date in your calendar and join us on Thursday 15 September at 6:30pm in the College Auditorium.

Kennedy News

College Notices

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability

The nationally consistent approach to data collection (NCCD) provides all Australian schools, education authorities and the community with a clear picture of the number of students with disability in schools and the adjustments they are provided to enable them to participate in education on the same basis as other students.

The Australian Education Regulation 2013 (the Regulation) requires the operators of government and non-government schools (approved authorities) to provide information to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training (the department) for the purposes of the NCCD. The information will not identify individual students; no information that could reasonably enable the Department to identify individual students will be provided by approved authorities to the Department.

Further information regarding the NCCD can be found in SEQTA under Documents – Policies - NCCD Fact sheet for Parents & Guardians.

2022 Kennedy Community Open Day

You are invited to our Community Open Day on Saturday 20 August 2022 from 11.00am to 3.00pm.

Bring your whole family to Kennedy for a great day of fun. From live performances, and explosive Science demonstrations to delicious gourmet treats - there's something for everyone to enjoy! Journey through the College campus and look at all the student's amazing work!

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 18 August 2022.