Issue 5 - August 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back to a new term as we settle into our new normal working under Phase 4 COVID restrictions. This sees us continue with our increased cleaning regime, access to hand sanitiser and promotion of good hygiene practices and physical distancing of adults. With the difficulties being experienced elsewhere in Australia it is important that we all do what we can to avoid similar outbreaks in WA and in particular to stay away from school if you are unwell, have been tested for COVID-19 or are required to isolate.

We have returned to single breaks at recess and lunch and while our larger school assemblies still have not resumed, excursions and camps are able to run. We are also looking forward to our upcoming Athletics Carnival on 28 August and Year 12 special celebrations later in the term.

Year 7 Student Councillors

Congratulations to our Year 7 student councillors who were recently announced and acknowledged at a year level assembly. We are looking forward to them being involved in contributions through the Student Council and school activities throughout the second half of this year.

City of Kalamunda – Canning Road traffic upgrades

After much discussion within our school community and bringing this to the attention of the City of Kalamunda last year, we are looking forward to some modifications along Canning Road to assist in slowing traffic and providing some barriers for our students who wait for buses along this busy road. We understand that this work will commence soon and I would like to thank the City of Kalamunda for their support and for Maurice Cammack on behalf of our school board and both the KSHS and KSEC P&C for his work in advocating on behalf of our parents, staff and students.

Maintenance upgrades

As students returned to school this term, they would have noticed some enhancements to our surroundings with painting taking place in a number of areas. These along with some carpet replacements are part of the funding we received through the High Priority Maintenance and Minor Works Program announced last year.

WA Recovery Plan

I am very pleased to share news that our school will receive $18.3 million for much needed infrastructure improvements at our school under the government’s WA Recovery Plan. You can read more about the plan here. We are delighted to be included in this program to provide major upgrades in schools and help stimulate the economy in recovery.

Save the date – 60th Anniversary Celebration

We are really looking forward to being able to celebrate our 60th Anniversary with a special celebration on Saturday 24 October. It will be a fun day of Art, Music and Memories. We know that many of our parents and grandparents came to Kalamunda – and we would be very interested to hear your stories and see any photos or memorabilia that would be great to display. If you have any items you believe would be of interest – please contact the school and speak with Angie Lukan or Jorje Raphael, or email us on kalamunda.shs@education.wa.edu

Parent / teacher meetings

On 18 August we will be holding our usual face to face parent / teacher meetings. Information has been emailed to parents to allow them to book times to meet with teachers. As part of our precautions for managing COVID-19 we are limiting the number of adults in each room and at times parents may need to wait outside the classrooms. Given the cold weather we encourage you all to rug up.

Cause to be proud

Congratulations to Sophie Catchpole and Bethany Francis for their artwork being selected for the Meta Gallery exhibition and the Year 10 Lightning Carnival win for our boys’ soccer team.

Thank you to Lauren Johnson and her Year 11 Career and Enterprise students for their work in promoting and collecting items for the ‘Spread the Warmth’ project started by a Year 6 student at Gooseberry Hill Primary School. These will be distributed by Uniting WA to those who are homeless.

Congratulations to Year 12 Zoe Allan for producing some amazing work in textiles with teacher Anita Phillips.

Welcome to our new staff and students

We welcome the following staff to our school since our last News Review. We welcome Grace Oorschot to teach English for Semester 2, along with welcoming back Oshin Sebastian (IT) returning from parental leave, and in various other roles Jess Cicchini (PE), Amanda Allia (Science) and Courtney Silva, Ida Yu and Mitchell Leahy (EAs).

We also welcome the following students – Monique Beesley, Holly Burgess, Amberly Bylund, Cheyenne Cheeseman, Harrison Colbourne, Charlotte Horner, Amber Kenny, Adi Maynard, Erica Musgrave, Kiah Parker, Timothy Peters, Felix Pole, Lucas Rummer, Georgie Sherriffs, Olivia Wilson

We hope that they feel welcomed into our school community.

Finally, I wish everyone all the best for a successful Term 3 and in particular our Year 12s as they prepare themselves to finish their secondary school studies.

Stay healthy and safe and go well.

Helen Deacon
Principal

Senior School Report

Term 3 has started quite well, with all the senior school students quickly getting back on track after the holidays. 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 2021, 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 in September is fast approaching and is an important component of the WACE.

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 to ensure a successful pathway into Year 12.

With only 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.

With one of the highpoints of the year, our Semester 1 Awards, congratulations to all the worthy winners and keep up the good work for the rest of the year.

Semester 1 Awards 2020

We are pleased to announce the following award winners for Year 11 and 12. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions we have not had an opportunity to present these to students and will do so when we are able.

Semester 1 Dux

Year 11: Rohan McCallion
Year 12: Chamoda Idamgedara

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

Sharon Andrews
Head of Senior School

Year 10 Report

Firstly, I would like to say a thank you to the Year 10s and their parents for getting in their subject choices on time. It has been a very busy few months in the preparation and the Year 10 students have been active participants in the process; engaging with staff to help them make these all important decisions. However, now is not the time to be complacent, our students need to use Semester 2 to the fullest to prepare themselves for the rigour that will be asked of them in Year 11. So I ask, Year 10s to reflect on their efforts, set new goals and work hard to achieve the best results you can to finish this year.

As a cohort we are becoming a bit relaxed with our mobile phones and earphones. Please remember that this is a Department of Education policy that these devices should be off and away all day. Students using these devices when at school will be recorded, just like uniform violations, and can negatively impact their good standing. Let’s all try our best and remind each other, to help improve our actions together.

On that note, the Dinner Dance will be held in Week 9, Term 4 to celebrate the year’s successes and the resilience the Year 10 students have shown during this unprecedented time. Students will need to be in good standing to be invited to attend and therefore will need to meet the benchmarks for attendance, behaviour and uniform. Contracts can be put in place to assist students earning back their good standing however, they need to be earned by demonstrating their willingness to make a positive change and be an active participant in the process.

We have had a very positive start to Term 3 and I look forward to all the exciting opportunities that will arise. Remember if you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me laura.cheetham@education.wa.edu.au

Laura Morris
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 do have any concerns I would urge you to book in for our upcoming Parent afternoon/evening so you can catch up with any teachers that you need 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.

Obviously our reports looked a little different in Semester 1 but please be aware that the “tick a box” columns are of real importance to staff here. They are what we call ABE’s, which stands for Attitude, Behaviour and Effort. Students who are in the Consistently and Often columns, give themselves the best chance to really reach their potential. They are a great indicator as to how your student is working in class.

As a follow up to this, if you are unsure of why your student received a ranking in these columns then please contact the class teacher to discuss this or make an appointment at our Parent Teacher afternoon on 18 August.

Thanks

On a different note, I want to say a huge thank you to the amazing Student Services team and the Year Coordinators for looking after Middle School while I have been away for the first bit of this term. They are an amazing group and a wonderful resource. So please feel free to contact them with any questions:

Year 7: Alana Stanbrook - Alana.Stanbrook@education.wa.edu.au
Year 8: Lea Richards – Lea.Richards@education.wa.edu.au
Year 9: Ashley Meaden – Ashley.Meaden@education.wa.edu.au

Subject selections

Our Year 8 and Year 9 students will soon be getting their subject selection sheets for 2021. There will be instructions coming out later this term so please keep an eye out for these details.

Mobile phones

As students return to school, they will need to remember the Education Department’s policy on mobile phones, earphones and smart watches. We understand that over the holiday they may have become really important communication tools but now we are back at school, the policy still applies.

Mark Pettit
Head of Middle School

Year 9 Report

Hello again!

In addition to our Middle School leader Mark Pettit’s kind words and notices – I would like to announce the Year 9 Value Award winners who are nominated by their class and mentor teachers around the school.

Awards have been issued at the Year 9 Assembly and through their mentor teacher if away. As you can see, we have some great and high performing students that are contributing to the school value system.

Award Winners – Term 3

Well done to all.

Ashley Meaden
Year 9 Coordinator

Student Services Report

Commendation Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving Semester 1 Commendation awards.

These awards are given to students who have the highest merit award points in the semester. Merit points are awarded to students who are recognised for demonstrating the school values of Love of Learning, Respect, Resilience, Community and Pride.

The awards are broken into three tiers as shown below.

Gold 1% of Cohort - Silver 3% of Cohort - Bronze 5% of Cohort

Middle School Commendation Award Winners

Senior School Commendation Award Winners

EdConnect

EdConnect Australia is a charity that trains, supports and places volunteers in local schools to improve the lives of venerable students. Kalamunda SHS has been part of this program for many years as it offers one-to-one assistance to our students, allows our students to have positive, older role models for students to interact with and can support our students who have particular abilities.

We welcome back existing volunteers Yvonne and Bill to the school and would like to welcome Dimity a new volunteer who will be starting next week. We thank you for volunteering your time and energy to our students.

If you believe your child would benefit from this program then please do not hesitate to contact me at; amanda.morton@education.wa.edu.au

For more information about EdConnect Australia and the mentoring program, please visit the website

Attendance

As we start the new semester, I encourage all students to be attending regularly so they can maintain or be above 90% attendance.

However, if you are finding that your child/ren are struggling to return to a normal routine then please click on the link below for more information on school refusal, anxiety and attendance and contact the school to make an appointment to discuss how we can help.

Amanda Morton
Manager Student Services

Academic Excellence News

Year 8AE: Murdoch Elemental Art Project

During Term 2 the Year 8 Academic Excellence students spent half a day working with Caitlin Sweeny from the Murdoch Outreach team. She visited our school to teach the students about the elements Radium and Krypton through a mini-lecture. Then, they worked individually and in pairs to create art pieces based on their choice of the two elements. Congratulations to Anè Greyling, Chae Elkington, Leah Kuckelkorn, Samantha Espulgar, Jake McMenamin and Elyce Rutherford whose work was chosen as the winning entries for their element. Their posters will be showcased in the Periodic Table Art Project display at Murdoch University later on this year.

More photos from the day can be seen in the Class Gallery on our Academic Excellence 2020 Connect page. All of the students’ posters will be displayed in the Library as part of our Science Week display later this term.

Year 10AES HaSS: Curtin Psychology Webinar

On Tuesday 30 June, the Year 10 AES HaSS class engaged in a webinar delivered by the Curtin University Prospective Student Services team and the Psychology Faculty. Students were given information about university pathways and an introduction into the Psychology course. Senior Lecturer, Kelly Prandl, explored the concept of perception through a series of interactive activities with the students teaching us that “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anaïs Nin.

A copy of the presentation will be available on our Academic Excellence 2020 Connect page. Further information for Year 10 students interested in studying at Curtin University is available on their webpage for high school students:

Year 7 & 9AE: Talented Young Writer’s Program

During Term 2 and 3, the Year 7 and 9 Academic Excellence students engaged virtually with Australian authors Meg McKinlay and Isabelle Carmody through a series of pre-recorded, online author workshops in their English classes. This has been an excellent opportunity to broaden the scope of Kalamunda Senior High School’s engagement with the program, which is usually based at The Literature Centre in Fremantle. The English Department have been supporting a small group of students, starting in Year 9, attending the program for the past five years. We look forward to sending more students again next year and our current students attending for their termly sessions in Terms 3 and 4. The Talented Young Writer’s Program is a unique opportunity for budding writers to meet with and be mentored by published authors through a series of day-long workshops.

Orietta Stokes
Academic Excellence Program Coordinator

VET News

Work Place Learning – Semester 2

Work Place Learning is back on!

WPL provides students with an improved understanding of the work environment, industry insights and employer’s expectations. Increased self-understanding, maturity, independence and self-confidence and possible ‘C’ grade equivalences for every 55 hours (and logbook/skills journal) completed are just some of the other benefits students will gain from WPL.

Students intending to participate in the Work Place Learning program must complete their Parent/Carer permission slip/Health information form and make contact with their prospective Employer before returning their form to the VET office for processing.

Students are required to complete a Work-Place Readiness Quiz and their industry-specific Worksafe SmartMove certificate and provide a copy of this to the VET office before their placement can be finalised.

(Select Industry Module) before approval for WPL participation can be granted.

Copies of WPL permission forms are available on CONNECT (Year 11 or Year 12 WPL/VET) in the ‘Content’ folder - under ‘forms’ and also from the VET Office.

VET Success

The VET/WPL team are excited to celebrate the recent achievements of students Hailey Slattery (Year 12) and Griffin Crossman (Year 11) who have both won Apprenticeship positions. Hailey is set to become a Heavy Diesel Mechanic with BHP and Griffin has already started his Heavy Diesel Mechanic apprenticeship in a local business. These positions are highly competitive and we congratulate them both on their industrious efforts and wish them all the best for even more success in the future.

Visits to the VET office

Students interested in embarking on further education and training through the VET sector are welcome to make an appointment to visit the VET office and speak to Mrs Hamilton (VET/WPL Coordinator) or pop in and have a chat with Mrs Rubery (VET/WPL Administration) for more information or assistance with applications.

Christine Hamilton
VET/WPL Coordinator

Science Update

The Science Experience is a fun 3 or 4 days of science activities for Year 9 and 10 students in 2020 program year.

Each program is designed to provide students who have an interest in science with an opportunity to engage in a wide range of fascinating science activities under the guidance of scientists who love their work.

The program takes place in over thirty-five universities and tertiary institutions, within many different laboratories and lecture theatres. Participants perform experiments in the laboratories, meet and hear senior lecturers in the lecture theatres, attend site visits and walk around and experience what it is like to be on the campus of a university or tertiary institution. More than 80,000 students have taken this rare opportunity, up to date.

The program also provides information about further studies in science, technology and engineering. It highlights the wide range of careers that allow students to pursue their interest and abilities in the sciences.

One aspect of the program often commented on by participants is the opportunity to meet and share ideas with students from different schools. Each program includes a BBQ or other social activity.

Institutions offering this include: Curtin University, Edith Cowan University Joondalup, UWA Nedlands, and Murdoch University.

Cost: 3 day program - $190, 4 day program - $260

In the past, students from Kalamunda Senior High School have been financially supported by the local Rotary Club.

Program dates: during the Term 3 holiday break or Dec-Jan holiday break.

See the website for further details and the application form.

Lindesay Pound
Science Teacher

Health, Outdoor and Physical Education Update

Term 3 is shaping up to be an exciting one with a full calendar of events going ahead in the HOPE Department. The Year 7 Health Education classes are currently looking at the topic of nutrition with a focus on added slats, fats and sugars. We encourage all students to explore their pantry at home and identify these items on the food labels. The Year 8 Health Education classes are covering the topic of mental health and wellbeing while the Year 9 and 10 Health Education classes are looking at sexual health. The Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 Physical Education classes are currently participating in a range of invasion sports, including netball, soccer, AFL, touch rugby and basketball whilst also preparing for the athletics Track and Field Carnival.

Health Expo

The Year 12 General and Year 11 ATAR Health Studies classes produced some interactive and informative booths for our Health Expo held in the school gymnasium on the 31 July. There were many stalls that focused on National Health Priority Areas and other important health issues in our community. Students from Year 10 Health Education classes walked through the expo and enjoyed their time. Many students left some positive feedback, noting the most informative and interactive displays as their favourites. Health Studies students were required to share information through interactive and informative ways to engage their audience. Students chose the following topics:

The Year 11s and 12s excelled in their displays with so many different and innovative activities that included making stress balls, clogged artery displays, trying sugar free foods, smoothies and ice tea alternatives, sun smart games and much more that can be seen in the photos below.

Year 10 OAP Expedition

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

Soccer Program

The Kalamunda SHS Intermediate Boys Soccer Team have four games this term against Kelmscott SHS, Australian Islamic College, Darling Range Sports College and Mazenod College. Currently, the team has played Kelmscott in an away game and lost 2-1. The Senior Girls Soccer Competition play three games this term against Kelmscott, Leeming and Lynwood. Currently, the team has played Kelmscott in a home game and lost 4-1.

Year 10 Lightning Carnival

The Year 10 Boys Soccer Team were once again triumphant at their lightning carnival on the 6 July remaining undefeated for the day against Darling Range Sports College, Cannington Community College and Belmont City College. This marks the third year this group have left the carnival champions. Special mention for Taysen D for volunteering as goal keeper and Connor N for a hat-trick.

8 OAP Expedition

In Week 4 of this term, the Year 8 Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP) students set out from school to hike to the Hills Discovery Centre. The hike was approximately 22km and the OAP students walked with determination and pride and made it safely to their camp destination. Students then began setting up their tents and prepared a nutritious dinner. The following day, students travelled by bus to Jorgensen Park where they participated in an orienteering activity.

Upcoming HOPE Events

Alice Hall
Health, Outdoor and Physical Education Department

Art News

This week Sophie Catchpole and Bethany Francis both attended the opening of Meta at North Metropolitan TAFE’s Gallery Central to see their artworks on display amongst the best that WA has to offer. The show is open until 22 August. It’s best to inspect the work up close at the gallery on Aberdeen Street, Northbridge, but if you don’t get the opportunity you can download the catalogue or check out @metagallerycentral on Instagram or Facebook. Enjoy.

TAFE has some of the best creative art and design courses in Perth and they are always happy to show around people who are interested in seeing their facilities adjoining the gallery.

John Eden
Art Teacher

Music News

After a very strange start to the year I think we are finally getting back on track with music!

It was really disappointing for all of us in music to miss out on the camp and various music performances this year. We do however have some exciting projects in the pipeline. We have a new school song that we will be recording and performing later this term and also the 60th anniversary celebrations in Term 4. This will give us a chance to have our musicians perform once again which will be fantastic.

We had our first Musikal meeting on Monday 3 August so we are gradually all getting back on track. More details will come in the following weeks about all of these projects.

On Thursday 6 August Emma Byrne and Charlotte Irving performed at Gooseberry Hill Primary School as part of the year six graduation. Well done girls!!

Marcus Roberts
Director of Music

Maths Update – A Focus on OLNA

This term, we have purchased licences for our upper school students to access a great online resource to help them to prepare to pass their Numeracy, Reading and Writing components for OLNA (Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment). This was in response to previous feedback from students that the practice activities were too easy compared with the actual style of questions they had to attempt in the OLNA test.

The website is structured to enable students to select the particular maths topic they still need to practise, such as Money & Finance, and complete questions that just focus on that concept. There is an option to view the explanation of the answer, if their answer is incorrect.

The initial feedback from students is that the questions on this website are of a similar level of difficulty to those they encounter in the online test. By enabling targeted revision, we are hopeful that this resource will assist our students to successfully achieve the required standard for OLNA at the earliest possible opportunity. That way, they will have one less thing to worry about as they progress through senior school!

This year our Year 9 student students have had a ‘free shot’ at passing OLNA, in place of NAPLAN, which did not occur this year. Year 9 students have been exposed to OLNA-style questions to give them the best chance of being successful on their first attempt.

Primary School Academic Excellence Program

We have now welcomed back our eager primary school students, who were selected in the Primary School Academic Excellence program, to join us at the high school each Thursday afternoon. There are lots of stimulating activities planned and I am looking forward to seeing how the students rise to the maths challenges set for my group.

Alanna Webb
Mathematics Teacher

Languages Week 2020

As a Lead Language School, Languages Week is a great opportunity that allows us to promote the love of learning another language and magnifies the importance of respecting and appreciating the beauty of all languages and cultures. At Kalamunda SHS, we celebrate the diversity within our school and community and continue to prepare our students with the skills necessary in the globalised workplace.

Languages Week was held on 5-11 August 2020 and is designed to raise awareness of the benefits of language and highlight the linguistic diversity in our community.

Our world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent. Language learning is an essential skill for life in the 21st century.

Language learning helps us to broaden personal, social, cultural and employment opportunities.

More than 240 languages and dialects are spoken in Western Australia today and Languages Week provides an opportunity to explore and celebrate language learning.

Throughout the week, Ibu Kaler, Sensei Maguire and myself visited Kalamunda Primary School, Darlington Primary School, Maida Vale Primary School, Gooseberry Hill Primary School, High Wycombe Primary School and Edney Primary School to talk about what learning another language is like at Kalamunda Senior High School, share the authentic and meaningful learning opportunities available and integrate the significance of Aboriginal language and culture into their teachings. This year, we said the Acknowledgement to Country in three different languages; Italian, Japanese and Indonesian. Teachers and students in the primary schools were very impressed and appreciative of this, having never heard the Acknowledgement to Country in other languages. It was important for us to do this as it highlights our respect for Country, the traditional land-owners and need to fuse all people of different nationalities in this multicultural city. Primary school students were very enthusiastic to learn about the many benefits of learning about different languages and cultures and curious about how their foreign language knowledge and intercultural understandings will assist them in their future education and career.

During the week, in Italian, students learnt Latin and Spanish and recognised the connections to the English and Italian language. In Italian Club, students learnt Brazilian dance moves and listened to South American and Italian music. It is really pleasing to see that Kalamunda SHS have an open mind towards diverse cultures and are proud to know more about their identities and heritage.

Poster Competition

Thank you to all the students who entered the Languages Week poster competition. All students completed outstanding posters representing the love of learning a foreign language, linking them to our school values. It will be very difficult to choose the three winners. Stay tuned! Winners will be announced shortly! Thank you also to the Italian students who submitted an entry to the Modern Languages Teachers Association. Winners will be announced soon.

Italian Tour Message

I would like to express my gratitude to the seven students, Alice Baker, Chloe Corfe, Samuel Clark, Jorjia Watson, Alethea Johnson, Aiden Kane, Darcy Saw, and Maya Leano for their dedication in learning Italian. You all were successful applicants because of your love of learning and passion to learn more about the Italian language and culture. It has been an unpredictable and strange year, and your patience and understanding throughout this time, especially when there was no other choice but to cancel the tour. Your journey does not stop here. Your future aspirations to travel and be immersed into Italian culture will continue to shine and I wish you the best of luck in pursuit of these dreams. Thank you also to all parents for your patience and support during this time.

Maria Pennington
Teacher in Charge of Languages and Italian Teacher

Message from the School Psychologist

Good Mood Food

Currently there is a number of studies researching the benefits of food on your mood. When you’re feeling down, it can be tempting to turn to food to lift your spirits. However, the sugary, high calorie treats that many people resort to have negative consequences of their own.

Although it’s important to note that mood can be influenced by many factors, such as stress, environment, poor sleep, genetics, mood disorders, and nutritional deficiencies certain foods have been shown to improve overall brain health and certain types of mood disorders.

Nine healthy foods that may boost your mood are:

Fatty fish, dark chocolate, fermented foods, bananas, oats, berries, nuts and seeds, coffee, beans and lentils

Plenty of websites provide some amazing looking recipes. Here are just a few to start your journey into Good Mood Food:

Jenny Edmonds
School Psychologist

Relationships Australia

RSPCA WA Animal Welfare Award

Swan United Football Club

Youth Action Kalamunda