Photo above: The Technologies Learning Area has started using Virtual Reality as a teaching tool.

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians and Families,

It has been wonderful for our College to experience a range of Sports successes recently. Congratulations to our students competing in the State Elite Basketball competition recently where our Year 7 and 8 girls team won their tournament. It’s pleasing to have students involved in our Specialist Basketball program to continue enjoying such success.

2025 Tuition Fees

As we approach the end of the year, we would like to thank you for your ongoing support and trust in Kennedy Baptist College. Our College is dedicated to maintaining a high standard of education and care for all Kennedy students and, to continue meeting these standards, some adjustments to tuition fees will take effect in 2025.

After leading a thorough review with the commitment of keeping costs manageable for families, our Board and Executive Leadership Team have approved a tuition fee increase. This adjustment for 2025 reflects the resources, facilities and support structures essential to deliver an engaging and well-rounded education for each student.

• Year 7-12 Students: $11,370 annually
• International Students: $24,010 annually

To further support families, we are pleased to confirm that the sibling discount remains unchanged. Eligible families can also continue to apply for the Government Secondary Assistance Scheme with applications for this program to be submitted by the last day of Term 1 next year, which is 11 April 2025.

Thank you again for your continued support and understanding as we work together to provide the best possible education for your children. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly by email at mashby@kennedy.wa.edu.au.

Kennedy Master Plan

Since Kennedy commenced in 2013, our College campus master plan has guided us in the development of outstanding facilities that directly benefit the education of our students. After the completion of our Auditorium refurbishment last year, we have been working tirelessly to bring forward the next phase of College development.

This second stage of the current master plan involves the construction of a second storey of five interconnecting classrooms above our current English rooms, facilitating the removal of several transportable rooms from the north side of our campus. Once these have been removed, new carparking and landscaping will be developed to provide more parking for families. It is expected that construction will commence in the Christmas break.

Welcome to New Staff

Our staff are essential to the continuous improvement of our students’ education. While we are saddened to farewell Mr Ian Wilmot, who has faithfully served both Winthrop Baptist College and Kennedy Baptist College for 18 years, we are pleased to have appointed Mr Adam Handley as the Head of Technologies. We also welcome Mr Andrew Stephens as Basketball Coordinator and look forward to his assistance with our already outstanding Specialist Sports programs.

Both of these teachers have begun their roles at the beginning of this Term and we hope that you will have the opportunity to also welcome them soon.

Mr Mark Ashby
Principal

Chaplain Chats

What does it mean to be ’led by love’? When I was at university studying nursing, we did a bit of an odd training exercise. We had to lead a blindfolded classmate around to learn how it feels to be blind and how to care for person who can’t see. Being led around in public by another person generated feelings of nervousness, worry and even a bit of panic, as cars and strange noises surrounded where I was walking.

Love makes all the difference to how we feel in moments of stress, anxiety and loneliness. If I didn’t trust or didn’t know the person putting the blindfold on me, I would be even more afraid! But if the blindfold was put on by someone we knew loved us, we wouldn’t have any reason to worry. Instead, we would be happy to trust and follow the person leading us. We might be excited too – perhaps there’s a birthday cake around the corner, or a surprise party!

This is the difference between being led by love or being led by fear. In my last newsletter article, we looked at biblical love and explored how much our Father in heaven loves us. We can be certain of this as the Bible tells us that God is love, which means it is His character to love. As we lean into His character of love and let Him lead our lives, it brings excitement as He leads us to the great reveal. For many, a perfect world is one in which you are surrounded by love and you fully love those around you. This is the world God has created. The trick is getting out of our own self focused way and fully loving others.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Curriculum Report

It is now mid-term and we are in the examination season for Year 11 and 12 students. For a Year 11 or 12 course to be included in the calculation of the Western Australian Certificate of Education, students enrolled in ATAR courses must complete examinations. I wish all the Year 11 and 12 students well in their final examinations for 2024. I trust that the time that the College has invested in developing study skills and habits, combined with each student’s efforts in revision, will reduce each student’s anxiety during this intense period.

Students in Years 9 and 10 will commence examinations in the coming weeks, with preparations to be completed both in class and through the homework that teachers set. Students are regularly taught about how to revise and prepare for assessments, and have already learnt that good study plan and regular revision is more effective than last minute cramming. Students should set goals for each revision session to ensure they can effectively review content and allocate 20-30 minutes study for a subject each day (e.g. Monday = Maths; Tuesday = English).

I would encourage parents to monitor the time their child spends on homework in the coming weeks as it is important that students do not spend 3-4 hours per night preparing for the exams. Please also remember that Year 9 and 10 students must remain in classes during examination periods and not “go home to study”.

I would like to mention that curriculum material is being presented right up to and including the last day of school. Students are continually assessed which means that even if formal testing concludes, teachers are still observing student understanding of the concepts presented. This information is key to determining final grades.

The last day of the Term, Tuesday 3 December, looms as an important date for a number of reasons, with reports expected to be available through SEQTA on this day. Courses for 2025 are also expected to be finalised by 3 December and made available through SEQTA. To provide a small window for class changes, some information regarding Year 11 and 12 courses, and Year 8, 9 and 10 electives may be released earlier. Booklists will be available on the Kennedy website around the last week of Term.

Pastoral Care Report

I was privileged to announce several Community Awards at our Year 12 Awards Assembly earlier in the Term. 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 – Seth Elliott 
• ADF Future Innovators Award – Arden Bridson 
• Ampol Best All Rounder Award – Charlotte Derecki 
• Kennedy Community Leadership Award – Chloe How 
• Year 12 Parents And Friends Association Award – Poppy Sumich  

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 provides 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.  

Year 10 students will be involved in this leadership model in two weeks as a select number welcome the Year 7s of 2025 to our College Orientation Day. This service forms part of our 11/7s Mentor Program and gives our older students a leadership opportunity that also ensures the incoming Year 7 students a smooth transition into the College. 

We completed the application and selection process for our 2025 Student Councillors and House Captains at the end of last term. We will be running our Student Leadership camp in Week 8 to help their development and preparation for next year. The camp will also give our Student Executives their first opportunity to lead the other Student Leadership team members.  

Thank you to all the students who applied for these important positions, and congratulations to the students who will take up these roles in 2025. 

Kennedy News

Recent Basketball Success

A huge congratulations to our Specialist Basketball students who have competed in a number of tournaments over the past few weeks. Kennedy students play with grit, determination and passion, which has been awesome to see. Here are the highlights as follows:

• Year 7 Girls ACC Super Series - 2nd place, losing by just 6 points in the Grand Final.
  • Standout: Lily Gavranich
• Year 9/10 Boys B division Coleman Cup - 1st place.
  • Standouts: Cooper Thom & Levi Grida
• Year 7/8 Girls A division Coleman Cup - 1st place.
  • Standouts: Tori Nathan & Maddison Dunn

I would also like to acknowledge Campbell Stewart (Yr12) and Makayla Palmieri (Yr11) who were selected for the ACC Inter-association All Stars Basketball game. A special shoutout to Campbell’s team, who were victorious on the day.

These results are a testament to the hard work of our students at early morning trainings and the effort and expertise of our fantastic coaches. Again, congratulations to each and all of our 120 students in the program. We look forward to bigger and better things in 2025.

Mr Andrew Stephens
Sports Coordinator - Basketball

Triathlon Efforts

Our students have had the opportunity to train and prepare for two difficult triathlons this Term, with our biannual Rottnest Island Bathurst Lighthouse Triathlon in Week 3 and the School Sports WA Triathlon in Week 4.

Following three Terms of training, the first of these races offered 19 Year 10 Physical Fitness students a 700 metre swim, 20 kilometre bicycle ride and five kilometre run, while the SSWA race was divided into two sessions, with individuals competing in the morning and teams racing in the heat of early afternoon.

See our ‘latest news’ for more information and highlights, including mentions of some impressive results!

College Notices

Closure of Student Carpark

Murdoch University has advised the College that the current student soccer pitch carpark will be closed from Monday 11 November due to the commencement of construction works. Completion of these works is expected in April 2025.

Due to the lack of additional parking on our Campus, this decision by Murdoch University means that there will be no student parking at the College until the University confirms that works have finished. Public transport will still be accessible on Discovery Way. We encourage students to use public transport and discourage parking in other areas of the College as fines may be issued from Murdoch university.

The College is continuing to work on alternative arrangements to help with student parking in 2025 and will advise families before the beginning of Term 1 2025.

We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Annie Tickets to Launch Soon

The Kennedy Baptist College Production Team has been working tirelessly alongside the Cast and Orchestra of ‘Annie: The Musical’ all year, preparing the College for what promises to be an outstanding run of shows in early 2025.

Sign up for notifications about Kennedy events, including the release of tickets for Annie: The Musical, by clicking here or find out more by clicking the button below.

The next newsletter will be published on:
Thursday 21 November 2024.