Photo above: Our renovated auditorium during Kennedy Day

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Families,

Community Open Day

Thank you to our wonderful Parents and Friends Association and our families who supported the College during Open Day. Having so many community members come along and enjoy the Kennedy experience was extremely pleasing. Open Day is a significant opportunity for the College to show what a dynamic culture we have at Kennedy and it was great to see everyone sharing their experiences with such a large number of visitors. In particular, thank you to our Parents and Friends Open Day Committee who worked extremely hard to coordinate various activities available on the day.

Kennedy Day

Congratulations to our Student Executive Leadership Team on coordinating a wonderful Kennedy Day. Kennedy has a comprehensive student leadership program designed to help all students grow and develop as leaders. This day is a great opportunity for them as they completely plan and manage the day’s activities. It was fantastic to see our students get involved, support their leadership team, and further build up our College community.

2024 UWA Winthrop Scholar - Congratulations

Congratulations to Amie Hugo, our 2023 Head Girl, for being awarded the UWA Winthrop Scholarship, one of the University's most prestigious Scholarships. This scholarship recognises Year 12 students from Western Australia who exhibit exceptional academic potential, leadership skills, and other outstanding achievements. 

We are proud of Amie and all that she has accomplished during her time at Kennedy, and we wish her all the best in her future academic endeavours.

Arts Performances

Our Arts students have continued to display their abilities in recent weeks. The Dance Showcase earlier this month was an outstanding night where our talented students brought movies to life through dance. I know all the audience members greatly enjoyed the performances and the very high standard presented, which is a testament to the commitment of both our students and staff. Students will continue to be given opportunities to display their exceptional talents as they further develop their skills and abilities. Congratulations to our Arts staff for their hard work and commitment to the planning and developing of these complex productions.

We now look forward to the Year 12 Performing Arts night planned for Monday 4 September, as the culmination of their hard work.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Chats

This Sunday is Father’s Day and every year, as we head towards this day, I experience a range of responses from those in our Kennedy Community. I want to acknowledge that there are many who find this day hard. It can be a time of remembrance, that causes us to feel again the loss of a father. For others it can be a hurt that resurfaces and must be navigated on Father’s Day. Please be assured we are always here to support through these times.

But for many of us this Sunday will be a day to show our fathers love because of the enormous respect that we hold for them. Within Kennedy there are some newer fathers and celebrating Father’s Day will be a new and fresh thing, while others are very experienced and have had many Father’s Days. This latter group will likely see it as a great day to slip on a new pair of socks!!

Fathers are one of the greatest influences on every individual and, therefore, every community. In my work as a chaplain, I have seen the impact that fathers have on others and read studies that show that dads have a significant effect on a person’s level of education, standard of living, potential of incarceration, mental and physical health, sense of personal worth and relationship success in the future. I have references to these points if you need them.

I would say that close to 100% of students I see at school each day make mention of their father as either part of the challenge or solution to managing their current life issue. With that focus I would like to say to all fathers that your presence, your character, and your relationship with your children is worth more than all the money you have made. So, from us at Kennedy Baptist College, we would like to honour the dads in our community. We see the love you have for your children and value all that you do.

Curriculum Report

Congratulations – Community Open Day

I hope that many of our families were able to attend our Community Open Day and visit the various curriculum displays. These displays showcased a high standard of student work from all year levels and it was fantastic to see the variety of ways that students can demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of curriculum.

A significant number of students enthusiastically volunteered their time to assist in different learning area displays. It was encouraging to see so many student volunteers as it reflected the positive connection our students have with their learning and shows their willingness to embrace service. Thank you to everyone involved in this community event.

Year 12 Students

Year 12 students are in the final weeks of schooling with all curriculum programs to be completed at the end of this term. Apart from examinations, all assessments require completion and must be submitted. Students are reminded that to be awarded a grade, they must complete the whole teaching, learning and assessment program. The next three weeks are an opportunity for Year 12 students to finish twelve years of schooling to the best of their ability.

Naplan Results

The shift of NAPLAN to Term 1 means that individual student results are now available. Individual student results can be accessed electronically through SEQTA reports and each student has been given a paper copy. If your child has not yet received their paper copy, please encourage them to collect it at Student Services.

NAPLAN reporting has changed. Student results have shifted from bands to proficiencies. The NAPLAN proficiency standards include four proficiency levels for each assessment area at each year level:

• Exceeding: The student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.
• Strong: The student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
• Developing: The student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
• Needs additional support: The student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

For further information, please follow the relevant link:
Year 7 Individual Report Example
Year 9 Individual Report Example
Parent Information

It is important to note that the expected level of achievement increases from year to year. This means that a student who remains at the same proficiency level from Year 7 to Year 9 is likely to be progressing. In this way, a student who remains in the ‘developing’ proficiency from Year 7 to Year 9 is still progressing. An approximated pictorial representation of the proficiency scales from Year 3 to Year 9 can be found here: NAPLAN measurement scale

There have been numerous articles about NAPLAN and student performance standards in the media. The national and state results do not equate to students' performance at Kennedy Baptist College. Students at Kennedy achieve well above national and state averages. The following is a snapshot of our NAPLAN results, averaging all assessments.

Please click on the link below to see further information showing how students at Kennedy exceed the standards of the state.

Pastoral Care Report

Student leadership is a vital part of the Kennedy culture and our program provides many opportunities for students to actively participate in decision-making processes and to contribute significantly to the life of the College.

A great recent example of this is Kennedy Day, where our students take the chance to celebrate the community that we are a part of. Our student executive leadership team did a fantastic job organising this event, starting with a fun and lively assembly in our newly renovated auditorium and continuing with ice cream and juices at lunch and recess, with live music.

I would like to thank each of our Student Councillors for your willingness and ability to create such an outstanding day.

With the College year ending for our current Year 12 Student Executive Team, we have started selecting our 2024 Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Boy, and Deputy Head Girl. Applications closed last week. Next week, we will start interviewing students and allowing staff and students to vote. Our Student Executive for 2024 will be announced at the end of Term 3. We thank all the students who applied for these positions.

As part of RUOK Day, we will have the privilege of hearing from Matt Caruana, a suicide survivor, mental fitness facilitator, and humanitarian. Matt will be talking to the whole college during our extended form on Wednesday 13 September on his inspirational life story. Matt will also be speaking at our next Kennedy Insight on Tuesday 12 September about mental health, and we encourage parents to attend this event to have an understanding what students are discussing and help equip you to have valuable conversations with them about mental health. More information about this event can be found below.

Finally, as we approach the end of Term 3, I would like to encourage students to make the most of all the available opportunities. There are many chances participate, with Community Service, cohort socials, and a large range of activities during Extended Form. 

Kennedy News

Kennedy Day

One of our favourite days on the College calendar is Kennedy Day, where our students take the opportunity to celebrate the community that we are a part of.

Our student leadership team did a fantastic job in organising this event. During our first all-school assembly inside our newly-renovated auditorium, students led games that had the crowd shouting encouragement from the sidelines, hosted a dance battle where staff competed for the ultimate prize, and saw a feature from our Year 12 Band. The assembly concluded with a devotion by our Head Girl from Corinthians 16:13-14: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.

The excitement continued at Recess and Lunchtime as students lined up for ice cream, bubble tea, and juice, and sat down to enjoy live music outside the Research and Study Centre.

Well done to our Student Councillors for organising this fantastic day of culture-building and community spirit.

Click here if you would like to see some more images of the day.

Father's Day Breakfast

Our Annual Father’s Day Breakfast was held this morning with Nick Marvin, former CEO of the Perth Wildcats and proud Dad. Nick spoke about how his efforts to be the best father he can be has been crucial to his success in the business of sport. He has made sure to place fatherhood above his personal pursuits and challenged our fathers to do the same.

Thank you to all of our parents and guardians who were able to attend this event.

College Notices

R U OK? Day

R U OK? Day is about getting together and opening up about on mental health and genuinely listening to each other. This important day of conversation is coming up in Week 9 and we will be marking it on Wednesday 13 September with a Free Dress Day. We ask students to consider dressing in yellow with funds raised to go towards supporting our Transform Cambodia Kennedy Centre. Please note that the College sports uniform is also considered free dress and therefore a donation is still encouraged.

On the day, we will also be hosting mental health advocate Matt Caruana during extended form and look forward to the discussions Matt will have with our students.

Matt will also be speaking to parents on Tuesday 12 September as part of our next Kennedy Insight and we hope that parents and guardians will attend this to have an understanding of the important mental health topics that our students will be learning.

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 14 September 2023.