Issue 5 – August 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Quiz Night

I want to begin by thanking our school community for their support for our annual Quiz Night at the end of last term. We had a great turn out and those who attended had a fun evening. This year was another success raising over $11 000 to provide upgrades to our beautiful outdoor spaces around the school. I particularly want to thank our families, staff and corporate sponsors.

Local and Regional Businesses

Local supporters and staff

Athletics Carnival

This whole school event is coming up in Week 6 on 30 August. Parents are encouraged to come as spectators and we thank our P&C in advance for their support in running the sausage sizzle.

The Little Mermaid

If you were fortunate to see this year’s production, I am sure you will join me in congratulating our Kalamunda Performing Arts students (84 performers) and staff on such a high quality performance. It was great to see the energy and enthusiasm of the students and I know this is the culmination of a lot of work and effort. Our thanks go to Ms Head and Ms Vivian for supporting the students in achieving such a high standard.

Ms Head and Ms Vivian with the cast before the opening performance

Some of our local primary schools enjoyed a sneak preview at the Dress rehearsal on Friday, along with some of our more senior local citizens. This truly has been an amazing community event.

‘The Little Mermaid’ Review

Semester 1 Student Dux Awards

These students received the Dux award for their year group for Semester 1

• Year 7 – Joshua Rogers,
• Year 8 – Anisha Sullivan,
• Year 9 – Maya Leano,
• Year 10 – Rohan McCallion,
• Year 11 – Chamoda Idamgedara,
• Year 12 – Olivia Trimboli.

Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Success

Our Gifted and Talented Visual Arts students have been busy exhibiting in a range of exhibitions recently. Hypervision saw a record number of entries with Lucas Rummer (Year 8), Riley McCallion (Year 12), Indi Shailes (Year 10), Jamie Green (Year 8), Lauren Greaves (Year 7), Sarah Hoey (Year 11).

St Georges Cathedral Art Award exhibitors were Phoenix Preston (Year 12), Isabella Gentle (Year 11) and Hayleigh Kerr (Year 10).

By Phoenix Preston

META Exhibition was represented by Georgia Luderman (Year 12) and Sarah Hoey (Year 11)

Young Originals entries selected for this exhibition this year were Charlotte Eden (Year 12), Riley McCallion (Year 12), Lucas Yeates (Year 7), Kayla Hawkins (Year 9), Emma Cammack (Year 11), Evelyn Grummet (Year 9), Lizzie Taylor (Year 9), and Stella Pryde (Year 9).

Music Success

At the end of last term, our Concert Band, under the guidance of Peter Hind performed an original movement from a body of work he has composed called ‘The Message Stick’. This was premiered at the Opus concert in the Perth Concert on 1 July. It was a very moving and emotional piece which covers the government policies around of the Stolen Generation. As the opening piece to this exhibition concert, it made quite a talking point. Our whole school has now been able to share in this experience as the Concert Band repeated the performance at our Kalamunda Day assembly recently and we thank Aboriginal Elder Barbara Southern who provided the narration for the music.

After a wonderful Winter Music Concert at the end of last term, students have been away on Music Camp in the lead up to Kalamunda Day. With such a busy and full program, I want to thank Marcus Roberts for his coordination of these events along with our Music staff and Musikal parent group for their amazing support for our students.

Congratulations also to four of our guitar students, Phornchita Sullivan (Year 11), Annalise Stevens (Year 11), Quinn Armenti (Year 11) and Saskia Blake (Year 11) who recently performed again on RTR FM radio. You can read more about this and hear the recording of their performance later in this issue.

Humanities and languages success

Ari Davidson (Year 8) has come equal first in Western Australia for the Australian Geography Competition.

Brooke Daljac (Year 7), Chloe Daljac (Year 7), Brooke Hobson (Year 7) and Savannah Friday (Year 7) were all selected as finalists in the MLTAWA Languages and Landscapes competition as part of Languages week.

Chloe Daljac achieved 1st place for her Aboriginal Entry of ‘Beelu National Park’ and 2nd place for the General Languages entry. Brooke Daljac also achieved 2nd place in the Aboriginal Entry of the ‘Munda Biddi Trail’.

Causes to be proud

Kira Dutton (Year 7) recently competed in the Australian Taekwondo WA 2019 State Championships (Black Belt 12-14 years old Sparring Division). Kira won Gold (this is her third consecutive State Championship win) and has qualified to represent WA at the Australian Taekwondo National Championships on the Gold Coast and we wish her all the best for this Championship.

Kaleb Booth (Year 12) recently shared that he has been selected for entry as a General Service Officer in the Australian Army. As an active member of the Student Council, Kaleb’s leadership has been refined and appreciated by our school community in this role and we wish him well as he and all our Year 12 students complete their final few months of secondary schooling.

Leonard Blurton (Year 8), Sabian Vacca (Year 8) and Sam Stone (Year 8), have recently made the Austalian Rules Football Under 14 Swan District Development Squad.

Cameron Bell (Year 10) who recently represented WA in the 15U National Ice Skating tournament. Cameron played a key role in the team’s success winning Bronze.

Kalamunda Day and Languages and Mental Health Week

Week 3 has been a busy one for the school as we celebrate Languages week, Mental Health week and our Kalamunda Day. You can read more about these events in this issue of the News Review, however I would like to thank our student councillors, helpers and staff for all their efforts in helping celebrate and promote these important events and messages. In particular I would like to acknowledge our IDEAs Values committee, our Languages department and Jenny our school psychologist for coordinating these activities.

The school has purchased Charlotte Meagher’s artwork which has been on display at the Art Gallery of WA and she presented it at the assembly on Kalamunda Day.

Japanese Exchange students from KOBE

This term we have also welcomed five Japanese students from Kobe College to visit our school and spend time immersing themselves in our education system and experiencing all that our beautiful city has to share. We thank Mrs Maguire and Mrs Sharp for their work and support for this cultural exchange and also thank our families who have hosted these students. It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to share cultural experiences and gain greater understanding of those from another country.

Uniform

Just a reminder that LOWES have now moved stock for our school to their Midland store at Midland Gate Shopping Centre, 274 Great Eastern Highway, Midland.

Welcomes

We welcome back our staff and students from a successful Ski Trip over the last school holidays and thank staff Melvina Phillips, Mark Humphries, Alice Hall and Dale Watson for their support for this wonderful opportunity for our students.

We also welcome some new staff to our school. Joining us this term are Jyoti Sharma (Science), Julian Spencer-Grayling and Nyzoto Rashidi (Education Assistants)

We also welcome a number of students to our school who have enrolled since our last newsletter. They are Taylah Andrews, Jordan Caley, Chanae Chabriere, James Fogarty, Bethany Francis, Sterre Hogg, Mo Imrie, Anthony Moffit, Shanah Moffit, William Valentine and we hope that their time with us is successful and enjoyable.

I wish all our families and students all the very best for a successful Term 3 ahead.

Helen Deacon
Principal

Senior School Report

Term 3 has started relatively well, with all the senior school students hastily getting back on track after the holidays. With one of the highlights of the year, our Semester 1 Awards Assembly successfully being held on Friday 2 August. Congratulations to all the worthy winners and keep up the good work for the rest of the year.

With Term 3 underway it is a fortuitous time for our senior school students to reflect on:

• What they have achieved so far?
• What still can to be accomplished?
• How do they progress from here, to get where they want to be?

Our Year 10 students are choosing their courses for 2020, which means each individual student will then have a Year 11 and 12 pathway. From now on it is crucial to maximise efforts and develop a good work ethic that will put them in good stead for achieving their WACE on completion of Year 12.

The 2nd round of OLNA testing is fast approaching, in September. Although an important component of the WACE, it is only one part and a clear understanding of all other components is most beneficial to for students and their families.

Year 11 students are now well placed to reassess their individual pathways, make the appropriate changes for the better and look to achieve the best results possible, passing Year 11 is the only pathway into Year 12.

With weeks to go for the Year 12s there is no time for delay! A difference can still be made but it needs to be here and now. Putting in your utmost effort and achieving the results you are capable of will provide you with not only great satisfaction, but also further opportunities to pursue your career goals. A word of caution though remember a good life balance is critical, being at your best will serve you best in achieving those good results.

SEMESTER 1 AWARDS 2019

Year 11

The Arts

Humanities and Social Sciences

Mathematics

English

Technology and Enterprise

Science

Health and Physical Education

Year 12

The Arts

Humanities and Social Sciences

Mathematics

English

Technology and Enterprise

Science

Health and Physical Education

Semester 1 Dux

Congratulations to all our Award Winners, keep up the good work and end the year well.

Sharon Andrews
Head of Senior School

Year 11 Report

Welcome back to school for Term 3. Congratulations to the course Duxes and Top Students from Semester 1 that were presented at the last Senior School Assembly. Congratulations to the students for maintaining 100% attendance throughout first semester.

This is an important term as we head into the final semester of Year 11. It is essential that the Year 11s get stuck into their studies to ensure they are progressing towards achieving the results they need to successfully complete Year 11.

Good Standing includes uniform and attendance as well as academic achievement. It is vital that students remember that in order to be invited to attend the Ball next year and be eligible to purchase a Year 12 Leavers Jacket, they must have their Good Standing.

The Year 11 Student Council will soon begin designs for the Year 12 Leavers jackets. The Councillors will come up with two designs and we will select the one that most students favour. Once this process is finalised, we will send home information regarding price and sizing. Jackets will be ordered at the beginning of next year for those students continuing into Year 12.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me, your child’s Mentor Teacher or Learning Area Teacher if you have any questions. Nicole.Sijka@education.wa.edu.au

Nicole Sijka
Year 11 Coordinator

Year 10 Report

Welcome back to Semester 2. I hope that the break brought some well-deserved rest and relaxation, and a chance to unwind after an industrious Term 2. It was also lovely to see so many parents and carers at our course counselling information evening towards the end of last term. I hope that you found the information useful when facilitating subject selections with your child.

We have another busy term ahead of us with course counselling, seminars, excursions, incursions, and OLNA all taking place over the next few weeks. To date, already, we have had our KPA students put on a terrific performance of ‘The Little Mermaid’, presented our Commendation Awards, 100% Attendance and Dux winners at our Senior School Assembly, celebrated Mental Health Week, and of course Kalamunda Day. Congratulations to all of our Year 10 students who were involved in these events and achievements. I would also particularly like to thank our student leadership team who worked so well to plan, and run, a day of activities during Mental Health Week.

I wish all of our students the very best for the remainder of the term, and encourage them to continue to put their best efforts into their school work and personal endeavours.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your child please do not hesitate to contact me.

Karen Stuart
Year 10 Coordinator

Middle School Report

Now that we are back in the swing, I hope everyone had a relaxing mid-year break and when the reports arrived in your Inbox there were hopefully some pleasant surprises. If you had any concerns I hope you booked interviews at the Parent/Teacher Meetings (on August 21) and caught up with any teachers that you needed to have a chat with. Sometimes the most powerful conversations are those that happen when the student is aware that their parents and their teachers are talking and are forming a partnership to help them with high school.

Thanks

On a different note, I want to say a huge thank you to Ms Lea Richards who has stepped into the Year 7 Coordinator position for the first half of this term whilst Ms Archdall has been on her European jaunt. Thanks for everything you have done Ms Richards and we hope you enjoyed the experience.

Just a quick reminder that we are really fortunate to have a group of amazing Year Coordinators and Mentor Teachers looking after our Middle School students. Year Coordinators are a wealth of information so if you need to anything about what is happening in your child’s year group they are the first port of call. Their contact details are:

• Year 7: Susan Archdall – Susan.Archdall@education.wa.edu.au (Week 6 onwards)
• Year 8: Ashley Meaden – Ashley.Meaden@education.wa.edu.au
• Year 9: Laura Morris – Laura.Cheetham@education.wa.edu.au

Canning Road Student Crossing

We have a new crossing guard at the Canning Road crossing. Her name is Lil and she is a very caring and dedicated attendant. She has asked me to pass on some information as her job is to make sure that students cross the road safely so there are a few instructions that need to be adhered to.

1. Wait until Lil has blown the whistle before you start crossing.
2. Only cross between the small ballards.
3. Get off your skateboard, scooter or bike if you are using the crosswalk.

Big Achievement

Kira Dutton (Year 7) recently competed at the Taekwondo WA 2019 State Championships (Black Belt 12-14 years old Sparring Division). Kira won Gold (this is her third consecutive State Championship win) and so has qualified to represent WA at the Australian Taekwondo National Championships this September on the Gold Coast. Well done Kira and best of luck.

Subject selections

Our Year 8 and Year 9 students will soon be getting their subject selection sheets for 2020. Our subject selection process will be done on line so there will be instructions coming out later this term so please keep an eye out for these details.

Mr Mark Pettit
Head of Middle School

Year 8 Report

Welcome to the month of August!

We are back from hopefully a refreshing holiday and straight in to our Semester 2 journey. This semester is a busy one. We had Kalamunda Day to celebrate our school values and Mental Health Week. We also have our Parent & Teacher Information Night during Week 5 – I recommend you meet with your child’s teachers to continue to build an open line of communication and positive and workable relationships.

Kalamunda Day

Kalamunda Day was on the 8 August and celebrates our school values of: Resilience, Pride, Love of Learning, Respect and Community! All the students who attended made their way to the many enriching and various activity stations across the school.

It was such a positive day for all and the students were engaged throughout the day.

Mental Health Week

Our school psychologist Jennifer Edmonds and our school nurse Louise Jonker organised an informative, compassionate and supportive week throughout the school to promote awareness of how important our mental health is. The many activities reflected the varying degrees of mental health symptoms and strategies we can learn to minimise anxiety and stress. In an ever increasing fast paced world full of social media and pressure – this week was invaluable to all students and teachers and community members.

I wish you a productive and safe semester.

Ashley Meaden
Year 8 Coordinator

“Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.” –Professor X (X-Men)

Student Services Report

Attendance Awards

Congratulations to the following students for achieving 100% attendance for Semester 1.

Commendation Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving Semester 1 Commendation awards. These awards are given to students who have been doing positive things both in and out of the classroom.

Middle School

Senior School

Amanda Morton
Manager Student Services

Father’s Day Breakfast

Mental Health in School

Mental Health in Schools Project – we need your help!

It is clear from a variety of media reports that there is a perceived societal increase in the prevalence of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. There are a number of known factors which can contribute to poor mental health; knowing what these are can help us to intervene and provide support to our precious at-risk youths.

The National Mental Health Commission ‘Review of Mental Health Programs and Services Report of 2014’ found that there were multiple initiatives promoting social and emotional health and wellbeing for children and young people across education settings. These Australian Government funded programs included, but were not limited to:

• Response Ability
• Kids-Matter Early Childhood
• Kids-Matter Primary
• Mind-Matters
• Headspace School Support

All of these initiatives were designed and delivered with the best possible intent but had the potential to be so much more if they were integrated into one single, national, end-to-end education-based program. Beyond Blue was appointed to lead ‘Be You’ by the Australian Government in June 2017.

Last year Kalamunda SHS was successful in its application to receive government funding, along with 300 schools in the State, to implement a school-wide approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing as part of the National Education Initiative, in collaboration with ‘Be You’. As a Level 3 teacher I was fortunate enough to be chosen to lead this project, in close collaboration with our wonderful school psychologist Jenny Edmonds and our excellent Student Services team.

We would like to invite all parents and caregivers to be involved in the opportunity to provide useful information to assist us in this program. We are looking at how confident you feel to provide support to your teens in helping them to develop and maintain good mental health. You will soon receive an email from the school providing an internet link to the survey. The survey itself will take up to 15 minutes to complete and all information provided will be both anonymous and confidential. The information gathered will help our school to identify and implement a social and emotional learning program, which will best meet the needs of our students here at Kalamunda SHS. It will also help us to offer more relevant and targeted information for parents either as evening presentations or articles in the newsletter.

We look forward to working with you as we build resilience and good mental health in our teens!

Aundraea Stevens
Drama Teacher, Mental Health in Schools Project Leader

Mental Health Week

This year we ran our Mental Health week to coincide with Kalamunda Day and the Health and Wellbeing Expo.

The week started with a range of guest speakers across the Year 7 to 10 cohorts. Zero to Hero came and spoke with the Year 7s on Learning to Love Yourself and to the Year 8s on Understanding Anxiety. They also spoke to the Year 10 group on Building Resilience. Lara Filicamo, an ED nurse and Docker’s AFL player, also spoke with the Year 11 group about resilience. She shared her story about her life and the difficulties she faced growing up in a troubled family, and how she was able to get past these difficulties and become a strong independent and contributing member of our society. As for the past four years Youth Focus came back in the school to address the Year 9 students about Understanding Mental Health and how to best get support when it is required.

The rest of the week included lunchtime activities to promote positive mental health around the Act Belong Commit message. Students were encouraged to complete random acts of kindness, make a pledge on the pledge wall about how to increase their mental health, complete a mental health bingo sheet and make their own stress balls. We also put on a cultural food stall, sold fresh fruit juices and smoothies, had a game of Dodge Ball and practised Yoga. The funds raised from these stalls will be donated to the Black Dog Institute. The staff weren’t left out and enjoyed Reiki and Chakra balancing, massages, free fruit, and a lovely morning tea.

On the Thursday, as part of Kalamunda Day, a Health & Wellbeing Expo was held in the library. This entailed a number of different agencies in the community coming in to showcase the services they provide to teenagers. The agencies ranged from mental health agencies such as HeadSpace, Helping Minds and CentreCare to other agencies such as Wildfire Youth, East Gate Youth and a representative from the local Police Force. The Kalamunda City brought along a bike blender to get the students to pedal their way to a smoothie.

Jenny Edmonds
School Psychologist

Music News

So much has happened over the last month for our busy music department. As always we have showcased our talented musicians in the community to high acclaim.

At the end of last term we had our midyear music concert. The sold out concert featured all of our music performing groups and was a huge success.

In the final week of Term 2 our Senior Concert Band featured in the Opus Concert at the Perth Concert Hall.

Kalamunda SHS Senior Band Headlines Elite Showcase Concert

Music Camp

In Week 3 of this term about 100 music students descended upon Swan Leigh Adventure Centre for our annual music camp. It was an absolute pleasure to take our music students there once again. I am always impressed by how well behaved our students are on camp and how supportive they are of each other, helping out and coming together as a unified music team. As always one of the great highlights for me is the talent show and this year once again was a step up with all the students involved trying to out-do each other! The memories of music camp will always live long in all of our memories. Many thanks to all of our supportive music IMSS staff for coming along and rehearsing our groups, putting in extra time and staying over. A big special thanks goes to Desi for her tireless help over the camp as our first aid officer and general all round helper!

Thank you so much for to all of the Musikal parents for volunteering time and help at the camp. A special thanks goes to Alex Stevens for helping with the extensive organization of the camp including parent helper rosters and general communication between all the important people. Andy – the Baggage Handler – Withers did such a great job of packing the truck, Rossie Brown, Paul Riley, Ann Murton, Anny Fah and Emma-Jo Broadley – you were there exactly when we needed you. Thank you so much for giving up your time!

Primary School Visits

On Thursday 8 August music student Hannah Brown (Year 10) performed at the annual Year 6 Breakfast at Gooseberry Hill Primary School and in the same week some of our music students also performed at Falls Road Primary School, show casing our music students in the local Primary Schools.

Kalamunda Day

Kalamunda Day featured many music acts over the day including the Senior Concert Band and Choir at the assembly and rock acts over the afternoon. Congratulations to all involved, I am always really impressed with the professionalism of our performers and the Certificate III sound production crew did a fantastic job of mixing at the cafeteria stage.

Plucked Strings

Lastly our fantastic guitar quartet performed live on RTRFM 92.1 on the ‘Plucked Strings’ show hosted by Graham Hawkes on Sunday 11 August. It was a privilege for us to be involved and the students did a fantastic job with a very difficult piece.

Coming up in the next month are the annual music festivals and please keep an eye out for details about who is involved in what via the Musikal mailing list.

Many Thanks

Marcus Roberts
Director of Music

Kalamunda Performing Arts

What an incredible couple of months we’ve had in KPA! Students across all years have been embracing their studies and creating some wonderful performances.

The Year 7 students have worked beautifully in their dance and drama tasks, and now head into singing and circus for Semester 2.

Rehearsals for ‘The Little Mermaid’ began at the start of Term 2. Students from Year 8 – 10 started the arduous, yet exciting task of learning lines, learning choreography and planning the whole production. We rehearsed each year group separately throughout Term 2, and to pull it all together we had our inaugural KPA camp at the beginning of Term 3. I was so incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication all students demonstrated during this intensive rehearsal process.

Michelle Vivian ran a series of morning vocal workshops during the last seven weeks of Term 2, and the vocal quality really lifted to another level this year. The performances were held over the weekend of the 3 to 4 August to very appreciative audiences. We had record audience numbers and every performer was buzzing from the excitement of performing to such wonderful audiences.

Please see our review in the Principal’s Report at the top of this News Review.

A big thank you to all KPA families for supporting your children and the KPA program, in getting the students to and from rehearsals, to camp and all the extra effort that goes into a production such as this.

Anna Head
Kalamunda Performing Arts Coordinator

Languages Update

Kalamunda SHS Celebrates Languages Week

The 5-8 August was Languages Week! It is a fantastic opportunity to highlight the linguistic diversity of the WA community, while raising the awareness of the benefits it also brings. It also provides an opportunity to acknowledge the vital role of interpreters and translators in ensuring that government services are accessible by all members of the community. Did you know more than 270 languages and dialects are spoken in Western Australia?

No matter what stage of life you are at, language skills are imperative in our globally connected world. Being multilingual is a huge advantage and opens up a wealth of opportunities, as well as delivering social and economic benefits to WA.

Learning a language encompasses much more than language proficiency. It is about understanding the culture behind the foundation of that language. It can also be a pathway to professional employment eg: Medicine, Travel and Tourism, Education, Arts and Music Industries.

At Kalamunda SHS, it is important that our students recognise and respect all cultures and languages within the school community and within our local community. Multiculturalism is embraced and valued at Kalamunda SHS. Within our school, there are staff and students with over 30 different cultural backgrounds and throughout Languages Week, students did activities that allowed them to reflect upon identity and language. However, no matter who you are, we all have culture. Each person’s culture is important; it’s part of what makes us who we are.

Languages Week Primary School Visits

As a Lead Languages School, all three languages teachers and five of their outstanding students visited Kalamunda, Maida Vale, Edney and High Wycombe Primary Schools. The purpose of this visit was to promote foreign language learning, the many cognitive and social benefits gained from learning another language, KSHS learning experiences and emphasise the importance of respecting and appreciating cultural diversity.

Kareem Supardi (Year 11), Stephanie Little (Year 11), Hayden Schwinkowski (Year 10), Josh Stanley Hart (Year 11) and Oliver Lee Rosser (Year 10) talked about themselves in a foreign language and demonstrated excellent speaking skills. They inspired the primary school students to love languages and culture. The primary school students had the opportunity to ask them questions about high school, their favourite Italian, Indonesian or Japanese activities and the reasons why they decided to continue on with their foreign language studies. This was a really fun and interactive way to establish positive connections between primary school and high school students and also prepare the primary school students for a smooth transition into Italian, Indonesian and Japanese in high school.

Edney Primary School students presented a beautiful play in Noongar. These students did a commendable job, learning their scripts, designing a set with Australian animals and learning the Noongar language. KSHS students and teachers really appreciated this presentation and were very impressed. A great way to keep Aboriginal languages alive and celebrate Languages Week!

Languages in the Landscapes Competition

Four Year 7 Italian students, Savannah Friday, Chloe Daljac, Brooke Daljac and Brooke Hobson participated in the Languages in the Landscape Competition. Students took a photograph of language other than English in their immediate landscape. The language may have appeared on signage, in artwork, as graffiti, in posters and advertisements, on moving objects in our environment. Students submitted their photograph with a written description about the location of the language and what they learnt through their investigation of the language. All four students became finalists and attended the award ceremony at John Magrath Pavilion in South Perth. These amazing students were acknowledged for their creativity, hard work and love of learning. I would like to congratulate all four students for their successful entries.

In addition, Chloe Daljac achieved 1st place for her Aboriginal Entry of ‘Beelu National Park’. She also achieved 2nd place for the General Languages entry. Brooke Daljac also achieved 2nd place in the Aboriginal Entry of the ‘Munda Biddi Trail’. Congratulations to all four finalists and winners.

Italian Club has a name!

Grazie Jorjia Watson and Evie Williams for officially naming Italian Club!

We are now proud to announce La Dolce Vita! The Sweet Life!

La Dolce Vita is held on Wednesdays, lunch time. It is a great way for Italian students of all year levels to interact and make new friends.

Recently, members of La Dolce Vita have:

• Performed Italian Karoke.
• Participated in Italian tongue twisting exercises.
• Viewed Disney clips in Italian.
• Guessed that “mystery” voice.
• Competed in trivia quizzes.
• Listened to Italian Top 40 Music charts.
• Celebrated Languages Week with a club party.
• Tried Chinotto for the first time.

The International Year of Indigenous Languages

Languages play a crucial role in the daily lives of people, not only as a tool for communication, education, social integration and development, but also as a repository for each person’s unique identity, cultural history, traditions and memory. But despite their immense value, languages around the world continue to disappear at an alarming rate.

With this in mind, the United Nations declared 2019 The Year of Indigenous Languages in order to raise awareness of them, not only to benefit the people who speak these languages, but also for others to appreciate the important contribution they make to our world’s rich cultural diversity.

In Australia, of the estimated original 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, only around 120 are still spoken. Of these approximately 90 per cent are endangered.

2019 is an opportunity to continue raising awareness and taking further actions to improve preservation and promotion of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

Maria Pennington
Teacher in Charge of Languages

Science News – Adopt-A-Patch

The Certificate students along with the Education Support School are currently involved in a new Kalamunda City initiative called ‘Adopt-A-Patch’ led by the very energetic Mrs Morris. In Weeks 1 and 2 of the term this meant relentless weeding to clear out feral competitors, followed by careful planting of bird-attracting species into the Science Quad area.

Over time, students will be monitoring progress, treating weeds, and conducting more planting as the new plants become established.

The idea is to provide food sources for the birds inhabiting our school ground all year round by planting plants that flower and encourage insects into the area at different times throughout the year. Which makes it a biodiversity-enhancing strategy.

Lindesay Pound
Science Teacher

Careers in Science Excursion

During Week 2 of this term, Year 11 students studying ATAR Human Biology and ATAR Physics attended the State Library in Perth. We were treated to an engaging presentation by Professor Lyn Beazley and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki who spoke about our futures and possible careers in Science. They discussed past inventions and scientific achievements, possibilities and posed thought provoking ideas about ways to deal with climate change. But, most importantly… they emphasised that as a species, if we work together we can achieve!

“I attended the Dr Karl lecture at the Perth Library. I found the lecture super interesting, learning about the future in genetics, engineering, technology and global warming. Dr Karl raised a lot of the great chances and opportunities that our generation has, talking about how advanced the human race has become, while also talking about how there is still a chance to save the world. Overall, the lecture was amazing, and was well worth attending. Dr Karl’s final message being become a politician and save the world.” - Brennan Nairn

English

Quills Anthology

KSHS Writing Group, The Cotherstone Press, is excited to announce a new project launching in 2019. Students from Year 7 to 12 are invited to submit to Quills, an anthology of work celebrating the high-quality writing of Kalamunda Senior High School students. This year students are asked to creatively respond to the theme ‘change’ and submit either prose or poetry for consideration. Both classwork and personal work will be considered with submissions closing on Friday 14 September (Week 8). For further details, and to obtain a copy of the submission form, students should speak to their English teacher. The final publication will be available in Term 4.

2019 Reading Challenge

Academic Excellence students in Year 7 to 9 have continued to tackle the 2019 Reading Challenge. Over 180 books have now been reviewed and competition between classes is fierce! Only four books separate Ms Stoke’s Year 7s and Mrs Adam’s Year 8s; the Year 7s are still in the lead! It has been wonderful to see students in Year 10 continuing to mentor the Middle School students. In particular, Sophie Ries has consistently role modelled best practice to her peers with detailed and thoughtful reviews. In recognition of NAIDOC Week, students were asked to consider Young Adult novels from a range of Indigenous Authors. A sample of titles is below. A big thank you to Isabella Harris and Levi Drazevich for sharing their thoughts on two more titles. We encourage students and parents to discuss prospective titles to ensure content is appropriate for individual readers.

• Wandering Girl, Glenyse Ward
• Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence , Doris Pilkington-Garrimara
• Grace Beside Me, Sue McPherson
• Becoming Kirrali Lewis , Jane Harrison
• Deadly D and Justice Jones (Series), Scott Prince and David Hartley
• Me, Antman and Fleabag , Gayle Kennedy
• Deadly, Unna? Phillip Gwynne
• Seahorse, Bruce Pascoe
• Fox a Dox , Bruce Pascoe
• Riding the Black Cockatoo, John Danalis
• Calypso Summer, Jared Thomas

Sarah Adams
English Teacher

Mathematics Update

The start of Semester 2 has been jam packed in the Mathematics department with several events and excursions. Here is a brief overview of some of the events:

Australian Mathematics Competition 2019

The Australian Mathematics Competition had 200 students take part this year from Years 7 to 12. This competition allows students from Kalamunda Senior High School to compete against students from around Australia. The questions are set to challenge and inspire students of all abilities. We look forward to seeing their results and being able to reward the students with their certificates at the end of the year.

Maths Empowering Girls in STEM

Mrs Barrable took a group of 13 girls in Year 9 over to Edith Cowan University to take part in a special event aimed at empowering girls in STEM. Students took part in hands on activities and listened to inspirational speakers from women who had been empowered in their careers by Mathematics.

Kalamunda Day

The activities around the Maths department were very popular this year, especially the marshmallow and spaghetti tower competition with our winning team building a tower to a height of 130cm tall. Lots of fun was had by all although it got a lot messier than we anticipated, thankfully Mrs Yeoh had her trusty dust pan and brush at the ready!

Rich Tasks

Throughout Semester 1 and 2, it has been wonderful to see students engaged in their learning working both in and outside the classroom. Rich tasks allow students to think outside the box having to problem solve and delve into a problem that isn’t always that simple. This allows students to be challenged and build their resilience as they work through problems in class.

Maths homework club continues to run on Wednesday afternoons from 3pm-4pm in A5. This allows a space for students to study, complete homework and also has access to computers to utilise Mathspace. Mathspace is a website designed for students to practice their skills in Mathematics. Whether this be mastering a topic being learnt in class, access reasoning and problem solving questions or preparing for assessments including NAPLAN and OLNA. Mathspace was created to give every student step-by-step learning and instantaneous feedback, making it just like a personal tutor. This technology can identify students’ strengths and learning gaps, giving completely personalised maths help with interactive practice questions, step-by-step feedback, and video lessons.

Please keep up to date on your child’s progress by checking results on Connect regularly. If you have any questions regarding your child’s progress within Mathematics or need access to login details for Mathspace, please contact their classroom teacher or the head of learning area directly, all contact information is available through Connect.

Jessica Millar
Mathematics Head of Learning Area

Spotlight on Sustainability

The Sustainability Committee has been taking steps to revisit our ongoing commitment to the environment. As part of this focus, we have been participating in the Your Move program, run by the Department of Transport. In Semester 1 we completed our first travel survey to assess how students are arriving at school and which methods of active transport are being used. We can see from the results that we have a huge number of students arriving by bus which is very positive! It will be our goal to increase our numbers in other active methods such as walking and riding while reducing the number of students arriving by car. A huge thank you to all the staff and students who supported the initial survey! Our participation has allowed us to achieve Bronze Accreditation with the Your Move program in just a few short months which is a wonderful result.

Sarah Adams
Sustainability Committee

Art Camp

Last term Year 12 Visual Art students along with Mr Heslop, Mr Eden and I made some wonderful memories at Karem Adventure Camp. When we first disembarked the bus, friendly Karem staff along with a very cute King Charles Cavalier spaniel greeted us. The pooch seemed very interested in scoping out our bags – then we were warned… “He likes to mark his territory”. I have never seen students rally to move stuff so quickly.

During camp we got to do so many fun activities. We had an amazing ‘Birds of prey’ encounter, where we got to learn all about our beautiful Australian predatory birds. We even got to sketch them! The eagles were truly enchanting. Seeing them up close you could really appreciate the elegance and majesty of these wonderful creatures. Whilst we drew, we learnt about the eagles, their diet, incredible speed and many other fascinating facts. Did you know their eyesight is so precise they can see the fine print on a newspaper from a kilometer away in the sky?

Another Camp highlight was the Colour War game. We all threw colourful chalk bombs at each other. It was especially fun opening fire on the unsuspecting Mr Eden… (sorry!) Another highlight was hosing the rainbow colours off Mr Eden with freezing cold water. Again, sorry Mr Eden. (#not so sorry).

We had some very special visitors join us at Art Camp, Miss Wittber, Arlo and little Cove. Who all have a great time with us as well!

At night we toasted marshmallows by the open fire and even got some sleep… eventually.

Looking forward to the next Art Camp!

Charlotte Gee
Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Coordinator

Health Outdoor and Physical Education

8 OAP Expedition

The end of Semester 1 was concluded with a busy few weeks in the HOPE Department. The Year 8 Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP) students set out from school to hike to the Hills Discovery Centre, led by the Year 12 Cert II Outdoor Recreation class. The hike was approximately 22km and the OAP students walked with determination and pride and they made it to their camp destination with time to spare. Students then began setting up their tents and prepared a nutritious dinner. The following day, students participated in the Hills Discovery Centre ‘Nearer to Nature’ activity where they gained a unique insight into the biodiversity of our forests, changes over time, its inhabitants and management strategies.

Year 7 Lightning Carnival

The last week of Term 2 saw a number of Year 7 students participate in the netball and soccer Lightning Carnivals. The netball girls came through with a triumphant effort as both teams returned to school undefeated with a first place flag. Standout performances from Mackenzie Hart, Charlie Hollick, Sienna Jones, Brianna Salinas and Sade Strauss-Tamati ensured the teams cemented their top spot on the ladder. The soccer groups played hard against some tough competition and both coaches were happy with the performances.

Soccer Program

Our Kalamunda SHS Soccer Program Junior Girls team finished their season with three wins and two losses over the course of Term 2. Unfortunately, our girls team didn’t make it through to the knockout finals round but they are well on their way for 2020 after finishing third in their pool. The Intermediate Boys Soccer team made to their very first knockout finals round which was played in Week 2. Unfortunately, the boys didn’t come away with the win but are optimistic for the 2020 season.

Year 7 Girls Soccer Team

Ski Trip

During first week of school holidays, 16 students and 4 staff made their way over to Victoria to spend two shopping-packed days in Melbourne before travelling up to Falls Creek for a fun-filled week of snowboarding. Whilst in Melbourne, students walked to the MCG and had the opportunity to watch Essendon play against the Sydney Swans in a thrilling game of AFL. We then made the long six hour bus trip up to Falls Creek where they participated in five days of snowboarding lessons with plenty of time to test out their new skills on the slopes. Plenty of fun times and memories to last a lifetime were made on ski trip this year, it was a sad goodbye from the mountain for Lily De Saran after three straight years of participating in the trip, as she is graduating this year.

10 OAP Expedition

The Year 10 OAP students walked the northern half of the Cape to Cape in Week 2 of this term. The students walked 49km over three days with full packs. They demonstrated their leadership, team building, survival and bush walking skills.

Health Expo

On 9 August, our Year 11 ATAR Health Studies and Year 12 General Health Studies class ran their own Health Expo for Year 10 students to experience. There were many stalls that focused on National Health Priority Areas and important health issues in our community. Health Studies students were required to share information through interactive and informative ways to engage their audience. Students chose the following topics:

Students excelled in their displays with so many different and innovative activities that included simulated technology, making stress balls, trying sugar free food juices and smoothies and much more that can be seen in the photos below.

Upcoming HOPE events

Alice Hall
Health and Physical Education Teacher

Curtin University Scholarships

Scholarships for students looking at enrolling at Curtin University in 2020 open on 21st July 2019 (Curtin Open Day).

There are a number of scholarships available to support students from all backgrounds to realise their potential.

For further information, please visit the link below:

Youth Action Kalamunda

Protective Behaviour Workshop

Torchlight Youth Film Festival

Kalamunda Cricket Club Registrations