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As we come to the end of another year it is incredible to think about all that has happened – as we navigated COVID in the first half of the year and worked hard to return to our usual activities over the second half. I am amazed at how our students, staff and parents have shown such resilience through the year.
Building update
I would like to let you know that the Department of Education has advised that Firm Construction, the builder for our construction project, has entered administration.
I have been advised that the Department of Education’s delivery partner, the Department of Finance, has taken control of the project and is working towards appointing a new builder.
I will provide an update when further information is available and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Valedictory
Congratulations to all our Year 12s who have now finished their formal schooling and are preparing for the new year, whether that be tertiary studies, training or employment. We wished them well at their Valedictory on 18 November and welcomed former student Brooke Tia Silcox who shared her journey beyond Kalamunda with a career in film and law and how her Kalamunda SHS friends ultimately led her to meeting her husband.
On 29 November we welcomed our incoming students who will be a part of our special programs next year. We acknowledged them in a special ceremony with parents and their primary principals.
Special Program Graduations
Our special program coordinators will farewell the Year 10 students in our special programs who will graduate this year. The KPA students were farewelled at their final showcase on 22 November. The Outdoor Adventure Program students will have their awards night on 5 December and the Academic Excellence Program students will have their Awards evening on 12 December. Congratulations to all these students and thank you to their program coordinators.
Health Career Expo
On Monday 28 November our main quad was turned into a mini Health Careers Expo organised by Amanda Moreno Diaz our Career practitioner. We had a large number of stalls showcasing careers in the health profession and we thank all those you participated in the day – including some of our wonderful parents!
Reward Activities
Various reward activities have been organised for our students who have Good Standing. Information about these has been circulated directly to parents and students and I thank all the staff who have organised and will attend these events.
Gifted and Talented – Visual Art Exhibition
The GAT program held thei annual exhibition over the weekend 3-4 Dec in the Gwen Russell Gallery and School Canteen. The Official opening was on Sat 3 Dec where the tutor awards were announced. The artworks were also open to the public on Sun 4 Dec and many families took the opportunity to see the amazing work created by our students.
Orientation Day
On 25 November we welcomed our incoming Year 7s for 2023 to the school for their Orientation. It was a wonderful day where students got to meet their teachers and other students in their classes ready for the new year. Thank you to Mark Pettit for organising the day and all our staff who were involved. It was lovely to welcome our parents on the day as well and we look forward to a great partnership over the next 6 years.
Christmas Hampers
Each year Desi our school chaplain coordinates Christmas hampers for our families in need. We encourage our students to bring along non-perishable items to include.
Final assembly
Our final assembly for the year will be held on 13 December at 9am in the gym. Parents are welcome to attend.
Academic Reports
Please keep an eye out for the final academic reports for the year. These will be available and emailed to families on Friday 2 Dec (for Year 11 students) and Thursday 15 December (for Years 7-10).
Farewells and retirements
As we near the end of the term we farewell those staff who will be retiring, finishing their contracts or moving on to new schools for 2023.
We acknowledge the many years of service that Phil Henderson has given to our Education Department and more specifically to our Science Department at Kalamunda SHS as Head of Learning Area and then Manager of Operations. Phil has returned from leave for Term 4 before officially retiring at the end of this year.
We congratulate the following permanent staff who have won positions and promotions in other schools for next year. Ainsley Cusmano will be moving to Carine SHS, Lea Richards to Bob Hawke College and Khojseta Taj to Duncraig SHS.
We thank Koren Bryan, Rachel Walker, Petrina Harley, Claire Connor, Claire Bilskie for their efforts this year in covering fixed term contracts.
We also wish Shaharig Shahbazian, Alex Geneve and Ian McMullen all the best as they take leave next year.
We farewell our language assistants who have been working with us this year – Stevannie Santosa, Miska Duri Suryanita, Alexandra Del Sorbo and Mai Fung– and thank them for their support in enriching our language learning at the school.
Finally we wish all our students, staff and families all the very best for the festive season and a relaxing holiday break.Helen Deacon
Principal
November remains a particularly eventful time for both our Year 11 and 12 students, as they complete their respective years. This year has gone by so quickly and I cannot believe our Class of 2022 have completed their formal secondary education. Preparation is well under way for the Class of 2023, for their concluding year of schooling.
The Year 12s had their WACE exams during November and as this is a culmination of the years’ hard work our thoughts were with them as they endeavoured to do their best and achieve results that will enable them to pursue further study at University or continue along their pathways. We also had our Year 12 Valedictory on Friday 18 November which was a brilliant night and appropriate way to end our class of 2022 years at school. As always I was extremely proud of our Year 12s individual accomplishments and sincerely hope they each find happiness and success in whatever life pursuits they choose.
As the school year has also now concluded for our Year 11 students, I congratulate them on their achievements thus far, and hard work throughout 2022. It was extremely pleasing to see the students celebrate the conclusion of their year at their river cruise. There was plenty of dancing, photos at the Photobooth, and a wonderful time was had by all. For those students who will be continuing their learning or training elsewhere or moving into employment, following their pathway next year, I wish all them all the very best in their future pursuits.
I would very much like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday and look forward to the New Year and all its new opportunities.
Sharon AndrewsProgram Coordinator - Pathways
At this stage of the year the two most important things on everyone’s mind are the upcoming reports and the end of year activities.
Reports
By the time you read this, our Year 9 students will have completed their first lot of end of year exams. It is really important that when they receive feedback on these from their teachers, they take it on board as it starts to help them develop a set of skills to prepare, plan and then complete an exam. They will have exams in Year 10 and depending on their pathway in Year 11 and onwards, they may have exams in Year 11 and 12 as well. Exams are just one part of our assessment program in Middle school so if you have any questions about them then I urge you to make contact with either the subject teacher or the Head of Learning Area.
When you receive your child’s report I think the best place to start is by looking at columns at the end of each subject and see where the ticks have been placed. These columns are our A (Attitude), B (Behaviour) and E (Effort) indicators and if students have the majority of ticks in the Consistently and Often columns then they are applying themselves in class really well which is giving them a better chance of success.
End of Year Activities
As a part of the Good Standing Program we are offering students in Years 7, 8 and 9 the opportunity to participate in the end of year activities. The Year 7s will be having movie and lunch excursion, on Monday 12 December. Ms Walker will be running a Year 8 Outdoor Cinema here at school on Wednesday 14 December. The Year 9s will have their annual River Rock on Tuesday 13 December. Permission notes and costs will have been sent home already but for a student to be eligible to attend any of the above activities they must have their Good Standing at: Year 7 – 3pm Thursday 8th December, Year 8 – 3pm Wednesday 14 December, Year 9 – 3pm Tuesday 13 December.
Remember that if you have any questions then please contact the relevant Year Coordinator at school on 9293 6400 (Year 7 – Sarah Adams; Year 8 – Kelly Walker and Year 9 – Alana Ferguson).
Mark PettitTerm 4 is always a very busy time in the school calendar. This week, the Year 10 cohort has successfully completed their Year 10-11 transition. Over the first 3 days of Week 9 students have been introduced to their chosen Year 11 courses and hopefully they have developed a better understanding of the expectations for these courses. A huge thank you goes to the teachers who have run sessions and allowed this year’s transition to be a great success.
The excitement of the Year 10 Dinner Dance is upon us! We will be celebrating in style and I am excited to be able to mark the end of Year 10 with this amazing group of students.
As the year is quickly coming to a close, I would like to wish all my Year 10s and their families a safe and restful break and look forward to seeing them continue to thrive in 2023. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Amber BullockIt has been a busy time of year with students completing examinations and final assessments. Well done to all those students who prepared thoroughly and achieved their best.
Curtin University are running a Mathematics Enrichment Program for students in Years 5-11 for mathematically talented students. The program is suitable for a broad range of mathematically talented students. The main aim is to develop a sound mathematical understanding and to develop a range of problem-solving skills. These skills are essential in preparing and equipping our students to the challenges they face in the modern technology-focused economy.
The 2023 program runs over the 4 school terms and enrolment will be offered on a semester basis. Semester 1 involves 16 1-hour weekly sessions over Terms 1 and 2. Registrations are now open for Semester 1, 2023.
Please have a look at this website to check out this opportunity.
Another year has come and gone in the Science Department, and our young Scientists are that much older and wiser. Practicing investigative skills is always a major priority and one which takes years to master. The final weeks have provided students with opportunities to test their proficiency in a wide variety of interesting Science contexts. Using a balloon to measure lung capacity is a fun way to find the biggest airbag of the class, and kept these Year 8s busy for a while.
Lindesay Pound
Science Teacher
It has been an exciting month of award winners in the English Department. On Wednesday 9 November the Write a Book in a Day participants gathered in the library to attend the virtual award ceremony of the competition. Everyone was so excited when The Random Kiddos were announced as winning 2 awards for their book 'The Travelling Circus'. The team which included: Jasmine Barton, Zoë Pearce, Talay Hollier, Kieran McGlinn, Sophie Horne, Zoe Besch, Alicia Mikozsa, Chloe Jacobs and Cheyanne-May Bain were awarded Best Illustrations for WA and they were also Commended in the Best Book Category for WA. They were so pleased to receive the accolades and all students enjoyed a chance to celebrate their Write a Book in a Day experience together.
Another student who has received accolades is Year 8 Joy Plaistowe. She received a Highly Commended for her entry in the 2022 ACTF My Story competition in the Year 7/8 category. The competition was inspired by the television series 'My Place', based on the classic picture book by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins. It uses the concept of a time machine to take the audience to the past and depicts the history of one Australian community through the eyes of the diverse children who lived there. Drawing on the text’s themes, the 2022 My Place Competition prompted students to reflect on change and continuity in their own evolving places and communities. Congratulations to Joy for the recognition she received.
Nicolee McNally
English Teacher
What another wonderful year for our Kalamunda Performing Arts students. It has been delightful to see the students embrace the many performance opportunities made available to them. We have been so incredibly lucky this year, that we have not had to cancel or reschedule any of our musical or showcase performances or restrict audiences due to the pandemic.
Tuesday 22 November saw over 100 KPA students from both the General and Music streams perform at our end of year showcase. It was a variety show spectacular! We saw the diverse and wonderful talents of our many students and our wonderful audiences were very appreciative. Thank you to my colleagues Michelle Vivian and Marcus Roberts – it was wonderful to collaborate with you both! And thank you also to all the amazing KPA Families!
Anna Head
KPA Coordinator
Class of 2022
The class of 2022 has been farewelled at Valedictory on 18 November. We wish them all the best for their futures and hope that they continue to work hard and contribute to society. They will remain life-time members of Kalamunda Senior High School community.
Workplace Learning
We have had large numbers of students completing 1 or more work placements this year. It has resulted in some students gaining Apprenticeships, Traineeships, part-time and full time work. Most importantly students have developed their confidence, independence, knowledge and gained valuable insights into careers and relevant industry all while developing employability skills and importantly industry knowledge.
The networking opportunity provided by meeting and working with industry professionals is invaluable and is useful for both resumes and TAFE Applications and future employment opportunities.
Year 12 General Students will have the opportunity to complete 1 workplace learning opportunity in Semester 1 (dates to be confirmed) in 2023.
Year 11 General Students are expected to complete 2 Workplace Learning Placements in 2023. One 2 week block in both Semester 1 and Semester 2.
ALL DATES WILL BE CONFIRMED VIA CONNECT IN 2023
Visit the VET Office/ Careers Office for information and advice.
Meredith Rubery
VET Coordinator
It has been a busy month for our Year 9s where they kept exploring career via the career taster program. STEM UnitED came along to run a 2 day workshop for our students in Year 7 to 9. The students learnt about future career in STEAM (Science, Technologies, Engineering, Arts and Maths) and they got to play with robots and drones.
Additionally, some of our intrepid Year 9 student participated in a career taster at TAFE (Thornlie campus) where they learnt all about electronics components. They learnt about electricity, magnetism and the doping effect (very ingenious engineering solution to use silica in all our beloved devices). It was heavy content taster but our crusaders did Kalamunda SHS proud.
At Kalamunda SHS our teachers are always trying to improve their teaching and engage students in their subjects. The school has purchased a subscription to the Career Department to allow students (Year 11 and 12) to learn about career and education pathways beyond school. Teachers had a professional learning sessions during Week 7 to learn how to embed career in their subject using this tool. Teachers’ feedback was really positive so students might begin to understand that learning about Maths, English, Science, HASS, etc is linked to their chosen career once they leave school.
I am taking ‘career to the people’. Every Tuesday and Thursday lunch time, I am popping out with my career trolley to talk to our students about career choices. I enjoying meeting the students and engaging in conversation about their future. If you want to pop in to talk to me I am in the VET office Monday till Thursday.
Amanda Moreno Diaz
Career Practitioner
7 Ways to Help Your Teen Strengthen Their Friendships
With the school holidays looming, this can be an excellent time for your teen to widen their social circle a little. This article can help if you want to support your teen in making good friends, are concerned about the friendships your teen is making or you would like your teen to have a wider friendship group. While some of these ideas may appear straightforward, I have received a number of queries from parents who are keen to help their teens and so thought this article might prove useful.
What is the role of friendship for teens?
Parents and friends play different roles in the life of a teen. Where friends will introduce them to new ideas and ways of doing things, you can provide a secure grounding and strong values for their future. Good friends will have a positive effect on your teenager’s self-esteem, their interests and their attitudes, and give them a support network to rely on in addition to their family.
How to help your teenager make friends
Use your own positive experiences of friendship to help guide your teenager. The friends they choose will be their decision, but you can help steer them towards good ones:
1. Talk about the value of honesty
Encourage your teen to make friends with people they can trust and be honest with. Talk to them about how a good friend will:
- make them feel relaxed and able to be themselves
- tell them the truth and listen without judgement
- not pressure them, blame them or make them feel anxious.
2. Highlight good qualities in their peers
When you see their peers doing something positive, talk about it with your teen. Explain why you admire this kind of behaviour and also talk about other qualities that build good, strong friendships like:
- listening and being understanding
- trusting and keeping confidences
- supporting and being respectful.
3. Help your teenager to bond with others over common interests
Where you live and what your teenager’s interests are may make this one a little tricky. Here’s some suggestions to help:
- Find out what clubs, youth groups, sports or school holiday programs your teen can join in your area. If what they’re interested in is hard to get to, see if you can join up with other parents to share transport.
- Some activities can cost a lot. If your teen’s interested in something that’s free once they have the equipment (i.e. skateboarding, photography, surfing, cycling) see if you can help them get the kit they need on eBay or Gumtree.
- Encourage your teen to invite friends home to play video games or watch films, if your home situation allows. If they’re reluctant, ask them what’s up, they might be worried about siblings barging in, or not know how to ask. Fairly quick fixes when you know what they are.
4. Support the way your teen likes to socialise
Think about your teen’s character, and encourage them to play to their strengths:
- If they like settling down to have a good chat, encourage them to arrange going for lunch with someone they like.
- If they open up more during a physical activity, encourage them to go and do something with a mate like bike riding, hiking or kicking a footy around.
- These days, there’s huge scope for connecting online with people who share your interests. If your teen finds opening up to others easier over a keyboard, then forums and online gaming can be a great place for them to build their confidence, as long as you check in with them regularly to make sure that they’re safe.
5. Use your own friendships as an example
Be open with your teen about your own friendships and set an example by letting them see how you are with your own friends:
- Show them how friendship is a two-way street that requires some effort and nurturing.
- Talk about things you have done with your friends and ways you have supported each other.
- Include your teen in some activities that involve your good friends, like parties, backyard barbecues, and picnics in the park.
6. Support your teen in developing their judgement
Trust your teen and encourage them to develop good judgement through their own experiences:
Tell them you’re there for them if they need to bounce anything off you.
- Tell them that good friendship takes time to develop and to take it at their own speed.
- Remind them that some people take a while to open up, and to give the quieter ones in their circle a chance.
7. If you're worried about negative influences on your teen
Read up on how to recognise bad friendships for how to spot and deal with negative peer pressure and toxic friendships. The below website link is to ReachOut.com a wonderful free resource for parents seeking ideas on a variety of issues their teen may be facing.
Aundraea Stevens
Convenor of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee