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Above Photo: One of our successful teams at the 'Elite Basketball' Competition
Message from the Principal
Dear Parents and Families,
It has been wonderful for our College and students to experience a range of sporting and artistic successes so far this term. Congratulations to those who competed in the ‘Elite Basketball’ competition, where our Year 9 and 10 boy and girl teams won their relevant tournaments. Similarly, congratulations to our Year 7 and 8 teams who were runners up in their grand finals. It’s pleasing to have students involved in our Specialist Basketball Program experience this level of achievement. Congratulations also to Rachel Johnson and Darcy Moffat who won their category in the statewide YOHFEST drama competition last week with a wonderful duo performance. Thank you to Mrs Ash who worked so hard to support this student performance.
Rachel Johnson and Darcy Moffat at YOHFEST 2023.
Year 7 and 8 boys compete at 'Elite Basketball'.
Year 12 Graduation
Next Friday night, 17 November, is 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 in the College auditorium.
Remembrance Day
As Remembrance Day falls on Saturday November 11 this year, we will not be commemorating this important occasion with a ceremony at the College. In 2023, 11 November marks 105 years since the Armistice that ended the First World War (1914 – 1918) . I encourage you to talk about the importance of Remembrance Day with your family and observe a one minute silence at 11.00am on November 11.
2024 Tuition Fees
To ensure that Kennedy can continue to provide the highest quality education for every student, there are a number of rising College costs that need to be met. With this in mind, the College Board has made the carefully considered decision that tuition fees will increase next year. The decision to adjust tuition fees is never taken lightly and we make every effort to keep these changes to a minimum.
Our fees for next year will be:
Fees per Domestic Student - $10,678
Fees per Overseas Students - $22,546
Kennedy Master Plan
Since Kennedy commenced in 2013, a master plan for the College campus has been used to guide us in the development of outstanding facilities for our students. With the completion of our auditorium refurbishment, we now commence the next phase of the current master plan.
This involves the construction of a second storey above our current English rooms to form five interconnecting classrooms, facilitating the removal of several transportable buildings from the North side of our campus. Once these have been removed, the College will have the opportunity to create new landscaping and car parking, including the provision of more parking for families. It is expected that construction on this next stage of the master plan will commence in the April 2024 school holidays next year.
Mr Mark Ashby
Principal
Chaplain Chats
In our last newsletter I looked at some lessons from my veggie garden. We saw that order and chaos are in conflict with each other, with order needing a force of will to push back against the continual breakdown of everything. If there is no effort to creating order, and if there is no creation, nothing but chaos and disorder will exist.
We can also see the law of decay, what scientists called entropy, at work when we see an old car sitting out in a farmer’s paddock. A car is wonderfully complex, with all of its engineering and thousands of components making a machine that propels the owner forward. If one part fails, the car can come to a grinding halt and, if left unattended or no longer maintained, the car will decay. Entropy causes ordered complexity to breakdown and become a random collection of separate parts. The old car in the paddock, left for long enough, will become dust. The wind blows and rain falls until nothing of the complex machine remains.
The idea that chaos is opposite to order is central to understanding why the whole of God’s Creation exists. The Bible shows that things only begin when God calls it into being. The force in God’s voice brought order out of the chaos. The complexity in this order leads many, including myself. to awe filled wonder. Every nature documentary I watch reveals a new aspect of God’s character, as seen in His creative work.
How does any of this help us in our daily life? The Bible displays God’s order and tells me that the power and character of God has never changed. For me, knowing that the breakdown we all encounter in the journey of life is not the “normal” we should accept, helps me to look for the order that God brings. In my faith, I look for and trust in the God of order.
Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
Curriculum Report
It is now mid-term and we are in the examination season for Year 11 and 12 students. Please remember that, in order to complete a course and have it included in the calculation of a Western Australian Certificate of Education, students enrolled in ATAR courses must complete examinations. The time that the College has invested in developing study skills and habits, combined with each student’s application to revision, will reduce the anxiety of each student during this intense period. I wish all the Year 11 and 12 students well in their final examinations for 2023.
Years 9 and 10 Examinations
Students in Years 9 and 10 will commence their own examinations in the coming weeks. Year 9 and 10 students must remain in classes during examination periods and not “go home to study”. Preparation for examinations will be completed both in class and through the homework that teachers set. A good study plan and regular revision is more effective than last minute cramming and students throughout the College are regularly taught about how to properly revise and prepare for assessments. For example, students might allocate 20-30 minutes study for a subject each day (e.g. Monday for Maths, Tuesday for English) and set goals for each revision session to ensure they effectively review the content of the past semester. I encourage parents to monitor the time their child spends on homework, keeping in mind that, while it is important that students prepare for exams, it is also crucial for student well being that they do not spend more than two or three hours studying each night.
The Remainder of Term 4
Curriculum material is being presented right up to and including the last day of school and students are continually being assessed. This means that even if formal testing concludes, teachers are still observing student’s grasp of the concepts presented. The participation and efforts of students in the final weeks of Term 4 is key to determining final grades.
Reports are expected to be available through SEQTA on December 5. Courses for 2024 are expected to be finalised by December 5 and to be available through SEQTA. To provide a small window for class changes, some information regarding Year 11 and 12 courses, as well as Year 8, 9 and 10 electives may be released earlier. Book Lists will also be available on the Kennedy website around December 5.
Pastoral Care Report
It was my privilege to announce several of our Community Awards at our Year 12 Final Day this year. These awards are an important way that we recognise the growth and service of our Year 12 students, and how they have contributed to both the College and the Wider Community. This year’s award recipients included:
ADF Long Tan Award - Amie Hugo
ADF Future Innovators Award - Harrison McDonald
Ampol Best All Rounder Award - Scarlett Brimage
Kennedy Community Leadership Award - Gabrielle Anthony
Year 12 Parents And Friends Association Award - Nino Sekyere-Boakye
These students have all displayed leadership qualities during their time at Kennedy and many have been involved in our leadership programs. This program is an important part of Kennedy’s Pastoral Care and is designed to provide leadership opportunities for students to live out the College values and build community. Students are encouraged to get involved to develop their own leadership skills act as effective role models for the student body and offer responsible service to their school and peers.
In two weeks, Our Year 10 student mentors will be involved in this leadership model as they welcome the Year 7s of 2024 to our College Orientation Day. This service forms part of our 11/7s Mentor Program. This comprehensive support program not only gives our older students an opportunity for leadership but also ensures the incoming Year 7 students a smooth transition into secondary school.
We have recently completed the application and selection process for our 2024 Student Councillors and House Captains. We will be running our Student Leadership camp in Week 8 to help the development of these students. This camp is designed to provide leadership training, plan for next year, and give students the opportunity to work with students in different year groups. The camp will give our student executives their first opportunity to lead the other members of the Student Leadership team.
Thank you to all the students who put themselves forward and applied for these important positions, and congratulations to the students who are taking up these roles in 2024.
Kennedy Insights in Term 4Vaping continues to be an issue for all age groups, but is especially prevalent in young adults and children (source). As part of Kennedy Baptist College’s strategy to improve student welfare, we believe that it is important to arm families with the latest knowledge and best strategies to form protective behaviours. We hope that you will join us as we provide parents and guardians an overall picture of vaping, what to be aware of, and strategies to manage the issue. This event is for adults only. |
Kennedy News
House Logos
We are thrilled to present new House logos that will represent our refreshed House names of Harrier, Falcon, Kestrel, and Harrier. The bold typographical design of our new House logos are an essential part to helping build up the culture of each House. These will be used for future banners and to encourage the House spirit that is cultivated through our events and competitions.
The race for the 2024 House Cup has started this term with Champions Read and we are excited to be hosting our competitions under these new representations of each House.
Year 11 Awards Assembly
The Year 11 Awards Assembly was full of a number of highlights, not least the announcement of our brand new House logos. We honoured the hard work of our Year 11 students this year with the announcement of several well-earned awards, including the confirmation of our two Dux recipients: Benjamin Mchechesi (ATAR) and Jasmine Coghlan (General/Vocational Education and Training. Well done to all of our students who received awards, including for Academic Excellence and community work.
Alongside the achievements of individual students, we also heard stories of service and growth from those who travelled on Kennedy Baptist College’s Newman Indigenous Tour and watched dancers from Year 11 as they brought forward fresh interpretations of traditional dance styles. We also revealed the victorious House of our Champion Reads challenge with Kestrel narrowly claiming the win, having completed the most reading so far in this Term.
The Assembly was brought to a close with a word from our Chaplain as he described the need to journey with Jesus, who walks above the chaos of our everyday lives. As our Year 11 students approach their exams, we pray that you can remain calm and steadfast in what can be a stressful time.
Movember Begins!
A host of Kennedy staff are choosing to grow mo's, or walk, run, and ride sixty kilometres over the course of November in an effort to support men's health. We're proud of our staff members' commitment to this cause and, with over $1000 raised already, are looking forward to the results of their efforts.
Help the 'Stacheby's as they take on the Movember Schools Challenge by donating now!
WasteSorted Accreditation
Kennedy Baptist College is proud to announce that we have achieved five years of accreditation as a WasteSorted School. WasteSorted is a government program aimed at improving waste avoidance and resource recovery practices.
To achieve accreditation, a school must not only focus on infrastructure but also on education, with student and community involvement crucial parts to improving our waste management.
One step to teaching students about taking care of our environment is the growing of plants and we are proud to have two gardens on-site, including a vegetable garden in our Food and Technologies block.
For more waste management, make sure to donate to our 'Containers for Change' outside the Beedawong Cafeteria.
Basketball's Southern Cross Challenge
Well done to Jackson Tassell for his selection in Basketball Western Australia's U14 team that will compete in the Southern Cross Challenge. This national tournament, held in Victoria in January 2024, gives select athletes the opportunity to compete in a high-performance environment and give them tools for further development.
The selection process for this tournament is incredibly competitive, after which only seven metro positions are available for the team, and we are very proud that Jackson was one of those chosen.
WA All Schools Championships
Congratulations to Emma Kempson who made some outstanding results at the WA All Schools Championships last weekend. Emma competed in all three throws with gold in both javelin and discus, and silver in shotput.
These results will hold Emma in good stead when she heads to the Nationals All School Championships in December.
If your child has achieved a significant milestone that you would love to see the school acknowledge, please email their Head of Year about their achievements.
Instrumental Music Recitals
Our music teachers and tutors hosted a fabulous opportunity for our students during Week 3 of this term with the annual Instrumental Music Recitals. Thank you to all of the families and friends who attended these after-school events and supported our ensemble and music students in their performances.
We are also thankful for our wonderful music teachers and tutors who continue to support our students as they learn and grow, and for the staff in the Arts Department who help make these events so smoothly.
Please click here for more photos of the recitals.
Champions Read Results
Well done to all of our students who participated in Champions Read this term - whether in the silent reading in our first Extended Form, our dress-up day in Week 3, the 'Masked Reader' competition, or simply by keeping on reading on.
This event resulted in our Year 7 to 10 students completing over 6000 hours of reading, or about one Lord of the Rings novel per person.
Kestrel used their reading prowess to book themselves first place in the competition, with RASC students librarians Lorelei and Isobel accepting the Reading Shield at our last Awards Assembly.
Reading doesn't have to stop with Champions Read and Kennedy continues
to encourage reading amongst our students and staff.
Our Research and Study Centre does this by having an extensive range of fiction, non-fiction, print, and digital reading materials. The teacher librarians also promote reading with every English class from Years 7 to 10 on a regular timetabled basis. Reading for pleasure not only can improve literacy skills and grades but it has a myriad of other benefits such as lowering stress and anxiety levels.
Here are our top tips for encouraging your child to read:
- Set an example – read in front of your children.
- Have a variety of reading material available around your home, including public library loans.
- Allow your teen to choose their own books.
- Build on their interests. If they like sport, get them a magazine subscription of their favourite game.
- Read some young adult books yourself. This will give you insight into the concerns and pressure that teens feel.
College Notices
TransportmeTM - Affecting All Kennedy Bus Users
In a significant improvement to our bus system, the College has introduced the digital system TransportmeTM to help families whose children take Kennedy's buses to school. Parents and Guardians are now able to load funds directly onto their child's Transperth Smartrider and can easily check bus routes and stops, and track buses in real time.
A letter has already gone out to parents who have students currently using the Kennedy bus service with more information about these changes, including 'frequently asked questions' and details about how to download and use the TransportmeTM application.
Year 12 Graduation - Friday 17 November
The College is looking forward to hosting the Graduation Ceremony for our Year 12 students on Friday 17 November. Students will be required for a rehearsal on the day of the Ceremony, and this will take place 10.00 to 11.00am. Please meet in the Lower Foyer for this rehearsal.
At 6.00pm, we will be hosting Year 12 students and up to two family members or guests for canapes and refreshments in the newly refurbished alfresco area outside the Lower Foyer.
There will be an opportunity for professional family photographs prior to the Graduation Ceremony, which begins at 7.00pm. Students will be provided with an ordering slip for professional photographs after the morning's rehearsal.
Beedawong Cafe and Lower Foyer - Closures for events
Please be aware that the Beedawong Cafeteria will be CLOSED for the entire day on Friday 17 November, including online and lunch orders, as our team prepares for the Year 12 Graduation Ceremony.
The Lower Foyer will be closed from Thursday 16 November to Friday 24 November to help prepare for this important event, as well as several other events that the College is privileged to be hosting.
Parents and Friends Association
Our Parents and Friends Association has a number of important roles at our College, from helping out at our Community Open Day and other events, to providing a friendly space for families to trade uniforms and textbooks.
The P&F Association meets regularly throughout the school year, with their last meeting for this year having taken place on 17 October. All parents and guardians of enrolled students are welcome to attend such meetings.
As we look forward to 2024, we invite you to consider joining our P&F Association on a more regular basis as they continue to build up our College community.
Find out more about the P&F here.
Parent Lounge & Excursions
There are multiple excursions during this term and we remind parents and guardians that your permission is required when your child has been invited to an event, tour, or excursion. A notice will be sent out through the College App when approval is needed. Please make sure to log into Parent Lounge (either directly or through the App) and review the event’s details to Accept or Decline the invitation.
Kennedy Insight
Building on last year’s Parent Seminar on vaping, we welcome back experienced speaker and researcher Azalene Williams to lead the conversation on this important topic.
Azalene’s previous visit to Kennedy was insightful and thought provoking and helped open the door for conversations with students around preventing the use of and addiction to vaping. We are privileged to welcome her back to share her knowledge once again.
Kennedy Racing Team 2024 - Expressions of Interest
Following another successful year of Pedal Prix racing, our team is gearing up for the new year with expressions of interest now open.
Students who participate in our team gain experience in repairing and engineering our trikes as well as competitive racing throughout the year.
The team is open to all students as we try to field five different teams in 2024, including one all-girls team. The commitment from students is to 1-2 training sessions per week during Terms 1-3, plus three Sundays during the year.
Make sure to check out the WA Pedal Prix website to find out more. Families and students can express their interest by sending Mr Bradley Gunter a 'Direqt Message'. Students can also visit the foyer of the technologies building to look at the trikes that were raced this year.
Absentees
Parents and guardians are asked to notify the College before 9.00am on the morning of absence via the absentee form on the Kennedy App under Parent Lounge or by phoning the College absentee line (08 6188 0698). For any other student matters or information, please feel free to email Student Services or stop by to talk to one of our staff.
Uniform Shop - Term 4 Opening Hours
The Uniform Shop will be open in Term 4 from Monday - Thursday from 8.00am to 3.45pm.
* Closed on Fridays.
* Closed for lunch 12.30 to 1.00pm.
For more information, please email our Uniform Shop Manager.
Beedawong Cafeteria Menu
There are delicious items available in the Cafeteria such as fruit salad, sushi and freshly baked muffins and chocolate croissants each day! There are also some great online lunch options such as Butter Chicken & rice, baguettes & wraps to order via our online ordering system at www.quickcliq.com.au.
See the link for menu.
Volunteering Opportunities
We value the support of our volunteers who contribute to the College community!
Volunteer opportunities for 2023 and 2024 will be made available in every Term. These opportunities include assisting at the Interhouse sport carnival, P&F Association and book covering in the RASC.
Student Withdrawal
It is a condition of enrolment that at least 10 school weeks’ notice (not including scheduled school holidays) of a student’s withdrawal is given in writing to the Registrar at registrar@kennedy.wa.edu.au. In the event that such notice is not given, a 10 week withdrawal fee will apply per student.
We are always looking to improve our College and take care of our community. Will you please tell us how we are doing and review us on Google? Submit your review here.
The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 23 November 2023.
