Photo above: Year 7 Student Councillors and House Captains. (Left to right: Kobi Arnold, Christian Watson, Ella Keinick, Georgia Bailey, Ruby Trezise, Connor Roberts, Danika Hincks, Layla Britza, Jake Gurney, Jaxon Hobbs and Zara Ford. Missing: Mahesh Gorijala).

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Families, 

Welcome to Term 2. I trust everyone had a wonderful and relaxing holiday.

With the easing of COVID restrictions we look forward to a more engaged approach with the welcoming of families back on to the College campus. One such example being the reinstating of our Parent-Teacher Interviews which will take place next week. The interviews have been scheduled to provide an opportunity for parents to meet with teachers to discuss achievement and improvements. We are also excited about celebrating Mother's Day at our annual Mother's Day Breakfast on Thursday 12 May. RSVP details can be found in this newsletter. I trust everyone will make the most of these opportunities.

As the new term commences, I would like to welcome a number of new staff joining us.

• Mrs Tina Blakey: Director of Finance and Operations
• Mr Rufus Gill: Science
• Ms Rachael Smyth: Science
• Mrs Aiden Rhodes: Research and Study Assistant (Part-time)
• Mr Chris Palmer: Mathematics

Congratulations to Mr John Owen who has been appointed as the new Head of Science and we welcome back the below staff returning from Long Service Leave.

• Mrs Chelsea Cosson
• Mr Murray Dunstan
• Mr Bradley Gunter
   

Semester Examinations

This term promises to be a challenging one for everyone as the end of Semester One approaches quickly and assessments have a major impact on final grades. As examinations approach it is important to review the reason for such assessments at Kennedy. All assessments provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate their achievement so that teachers can review academic progress. The use of assessments as a diagnostic tool is vitally important to staff and strategies are then implemented in response to student performance. This may be in the form of support through additional instruction, tutoring or intensive remediation. However, it may also include extension or enrichment if this need has been identified. Examinations provide a great opportunity to review the semester’s achievement and provide this analytic data.

A reminder to our Year 11 and 12 students about the importance of examinations:

• Year 11 examinations greatly impact on semester grades required for WACE graduation.
• Year 12 examinations greatly impact on semester marks and grades that contribute to a student’s ATAR and WACE graduation prospects.

We look forward to a fulfilling and rewarding Term 2 at Kennedy.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Devotion

In this crazy season we are in, the terms ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ have begun to carry confused meanings. To use those words, requires clarification as to whether we are referring to personal attitudes or swab results! To be ‘positive’ can be either a bad thing or a good thing!

I have been using my newsletter articles to encourage our College community to be more… Community! For me true community is the wonderful environment where people value each other and are committed to keeping the community rather than breaking it. A quality of a healthy community is the positive culture within it. This time I’m using ‘positive’ to mean valuable attitudes toward each other. Studies have shown that human thought processes are generally of a more negative nature. We think about things NOT going well, preparing for times when our plans DON'T work out, expecting that others will NOT value us. The opposite of this negative thinking is so hard in our culture. Imagine thinking about when things DO go well, and our plans DO work out. It seems so outrageous to think that other people WILL treat us well and that we WILL be valued and thought about.

There is a way of living that chooses to be positive rather than negative regardless circumstance. As a chaplain I meet children that are raised with negativity as their environment. Gladly, I also see children raised within strong positive households. The difference has a vast impact on the individual. To be seen as valuable, to feel safe and protected, inspires children, all people, to be what they are told they can be. Similarly, if an individual is told they are difficult, they tend to live down to that message. I know it can be such a hard choice to make, but I would like to encourage our Kennedy Community to be the most positive environment we could possibly be. Whether you are a student, parent or teacher, actively find ways to speak positively into members of your household, classroom or workplace. It will change the environment around you, I’ve see it happen many times. But just to finish, may all your swabs be negative!

College Notices

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 12 May 2022.