Kalamunda Senior High School
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12 Cotherstone Road
Kalamunda WA 6076
Subscribe: https://kalamundashs.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email: Kalamunda.shs@education.wa.edu.au
Phone: 08 9293 6400

Issue 2 – March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

It is hard to believe we are nearly at the end of Term 1 already, after such a full and exciting time so far this year. Students have participated in a number of events, excursions and incursions along with our House and Interschool Swimming Carnivals, and you can read more about these in this issue.

House Swimming

With the growing number of students in the school and limited capacity of the Kalamunda Water Park to accommodate a full school event, only our Year 7s and competitors from Years 8 to 12 participated in the House Swimming Carnival on 28 February. It was a great day and I want to thank all those involved in organising this year’s event. Staff and students are now looking at ways to improve this new format for next year, and have welcomed feedback from the school community.

Cause to be proud

Congratulations to Emma Strelein who has been selected to the u18 WA Metro State Team to compete in the National Championships, along with being offered a contract from Kalamunda Eastern Suns to play senior Women’s State Basketball League for the coming season.

Swimmers Jade Mann, Drew Mann and Hayden Schwinkowski have qualified for the open and age national championship in Adelaide this April.

https://www.communitynews.com.au/midland-reporter/sport/wildcat-inspires-guildford-kalamunda-swimmers/

Our school band recently auditioned for the department’s showcase event at the Concert Hall – Opus 2019. We have since heard that we will be featured as the opening number and as things unfold we will share more information about the piece they will be performing. Congratulations to Peter Hind and the students for their excellence in music.

Greatest Shave

Our school has been undertaking this fundraising event for many years to support people with blood cancer. This year was no difference and we have to thank our wonderful chaplain for her energy in organising this event.

National Day against Bullying and Violence

This year’s theme was Bullying. No Way! Take action every day. It is never OK to bully another person and our school encourages all to take action, by standing up, saying something or by walking away and not participating in giving power to those bullying. This day gives an opportunity for the school to focus on changes we can make to create a safer community for all. Thank you to our school psychologist Jenny for her organisation of this event.

Community Cabinet meeting

Our Head Girl and Boy recently represented the school at a Community Cabinet for the Kalamunda Forrestfield area. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear of issues in the local area and to listen to the responses of the ministers present. Georgia was able to ask Minister Ellery about plans for upgrades to school facilities in the area, and we heard how over 50% of schools are now over 50 years old.

NAPLAN Online

Our school will be undertaking our Year 7 and 9 NAPLAN online this year. This is a huge undertaking and we encourage all our students with BYODs to ensure they are bringing them every day in preparation. Testing will take place in Week 3 and 4 of next term and further information will be communicated directly to parents of Years 7 and 9. If you have any questions about this please feel free to contact the school.

Parent Teacher Meetings

We will be holding these meetings early next term (Wed 8 May) and encourage parents to take this opportunity to speak with teachers about your child’s progress. Interim reports will be issued at the end of this term and can be a focus of discussion at this meeting.

Open Day

Following our Year 4-6 Parent Information evening held recently, we will be holding an Open Day for prospective students on 3 May next term.

Anzac Assembly

This year we will make use of our new shade cover (Local jobs Local Projects funding) for our ANZAC Day Assembly on Tuesday 9 April at 10am. We are looking forward to making use of our new facility for this whole school event. Parents are welcome to attend.

I wish everyone well for the end of term and a wonderful holiday break.

Helen Deacon
Principal

Parent-Teacher Meeting

Coming Soon

Parent-Teacher Meeting Afternoon & Evening
4pm – 7pm, Wednesday 8 May

Instructions for booking through Parent/Teacher Online (PTO) will be sent out by email soon.

PTO will open for parents to book at 6pm Thursday 4 April.

Please be sure to keep us up to date with your current email address so you don’t miss out on login details for these meetings, and other important information.

P & C Report

AGM

The P & C AGM was held on 19 March 2019. The P & C is pleased to announce that Maurice Cammack (President), Phil Gray (Vice President) and Helen Griffith (Treasurer) will be continuing their great work for another year. With sadness and gratitude for her great work as Secretary for the last three years, Sharon Nairn (the quiet achiever) resigned and Heidi Jannetta was elected as the new Secretary. Stacey Redfearn, Andrea Doust and Sharon Nairn joined the Executive Committee. Thank you to everyone for your contribution to the P & C.

Maurice reflected on what had been achieved by the P & C during 2018. The biggest achievement has been the changes to the canteen with the appointment of a new Canteen manager, Nicole Simpson, supported by great staff – Lucy, Marlis and Tracey – and the installation of new ovens. The canteen food keeps getting better and better and most importantly is becoming financially self-supporting. We also saw the resignation of Toylan Wright after 13 years of service to the School and Canteen –thank you Toylan!

The P & C meetings would not be effective without the attendance and engagement of both Principals, Helen Deacon (KSHS) and Gail Nelson (KSESC), and we thank them both very much for their support of the P & C.

Lots of other issues were discussed; uniforms, auditors, finances, the need for volunteers in the Canteen, the desire to upgrade school facilities, and school communication. Some parents have set up a facebook page to share information, sell uniforms and to generally find out all the things that their kids fail to tell them!

Celebrating creativity - Save the date – 7pm Saturday 25 May 2019 in the KSHS Gym.

KSHS is a creative place which values the arts. The P & C, to promote the creativity of students, past and present, will be screening the award winning documentary ‘Meal Tickets’ about what it takes to find success in the music industry as it follows Kala student band ‘Screwtop Detonators’ for 10 years. ‘Meal Tickets’ was directed by former student Mat De Konig.

This will be a community event – so save the date Saturday 25 May 2019 – and keep an eye out for more details!

Senior School Report

Term 1 has been quite eventful and has been a smooth start for our Senior School students. They are quickly back into the routine of school, study and incursions during meeting periods. These incursions are aimed at providing the students with the necessary skills to support them in achieving the best results possible but also to assistant their transition to life after school.

Our Year 12 students keenly await the arrival of the Leavers Jackets due at the end of term. They will soon become a permanent uniform staple for the Year 12s, ensuring they are easily identified as the class of 2019.

A smooth round of OLNA testing has just been completed and it is extremely important to remember that students will have to pass the OLNA in order to achieve their WACE. We have in place support programs and specialist teachers to work with those students needing to pass the OLNA.

As Term 1 draws to an end, we are get closer to Interim Reports, examinations, work experience and then before you know Semester 1 Reports will be coming out. Even though we have had a good start to the year so far, it is imperative for all Senior School students to remain focused, ensure all work is handed in on time and that students are putting in the required effort and study time necessary to give themselves every chance to succeed.

Sharon Andrews
Head of Senior School

Year 11 Report

The Year 11s have adjusted well to the demands of their new courses, with course selections now established, the work required to achieve their goals has set in.

Parents/caregivers will soon receive an email with a link to your child’s Interim Reports. This should give you a good indication of how your child is progressing. We will also be monitoring these reports to identify any students who may be struggling. If your child is at risk, or you feel is not coping, please contact me to discuss your concerns and what we can do together to support your child. It is always good to address the issues sooner rather than later.

There has been a good attendance rate for most students to start the year to show that they are getting off to the best start possible. For those students whose attendance has slipped below 90%, they would have received an attendance improvement contract, as part of our new attendance procedures to raise awareness of the importance of good school attendance.

It is important that students are using their unit outlines and student planners to ensure they are handing their assignments in on time and are their best work. There have been specialised groups established for Friday Meeting Periods to help students with OLNA, General Courses and ATAR Courses.

The Year 11 group have already been involved in a session run by Elevate to help students with techniques for self-motivation, self-efficacy in performance, developing a growth mindset, increasing motivation through goal attachment and breaking goals into manageable tasks and deadlines.

https://au.elevateeducation.com/

They have also attended a Red Frogs seminar to safeguard young people from engaging in behaviours that could harm them and hinder their future. They do this is by educating and encouraging students to believe that who they are - their identity - has inherent worth and value. Red Frogs aim to leave young people encouraged and excited about who they are and the future ahead of them.

https://redfrogs.com.au/

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

As we near the end of the term I would like to commend our students on how well they have settled into Year 10. To date, 132 Letters of Commendation have been issued to the Year 10 cohort alone demonstrating just how positive a start to the year we have had. I look forward to seeing this positivity continue throughout the year.

In terms of what’s on for our students this term we have already had school photos, the Swimming Carnival, excursions, and of course OLNA. As the calendar of events and homework begins to increase for the cohort it is important that they are keeping themselves organised. One of the ways in which they can do this is by utilising the Student Planner that were provided at the beginning of the year. Throughout the semester I will be looking at students’ Planners and how they are being used. Student Planners are also checked regularly by mentor teachers to further assist students with their organisational skills. Now is the perfect time for students to be building good study habits and ensuring that they are up to date with their homework.

As ever should you have any questions or concerns regarding your student please do not hesitate to contact me. Karen.stuart@education.wa.edu.au

Karen Stuart
Year 10 Coordinator

Middle School Report

Middle School Assembly

We have had our first Middle School Assembly with many awards presented. The Middle School merit awards are based on our 5 School Values (which is why we refer to them as Values Awards) and teachers will be monitoring students to see who our worthy winners will be each term.

I would like to congratulate the winners and hope these awards may inspire some other students to strive that little bit harder. We also draw winners of movie tickets from all of the students who receive an award.

Values Award Winners

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Ryan Farrar

Isabella Martignoli

Nannette Aubyn

Toby Cook

Xavier Clark

Alice Baker

Evie Bride-McCaughey

London Milne

Talia Barley

Grace Wall

Sharlini Hollier

Alex Landy

Sophia Korlat

Liam Neal

Jessica Crouch

Chae Elkington

Charlie Fry

Darcy Bennet

Lochlein McPartland

Clarence Munengiwa

Saige Lawler

Matthew Zlaman-Baker

Tane Edwards

Olivia Haines

Toby Trent

Ruby Cooke

Luna Bonder

Jemima Birks

Jessica Arroyo

Stella Pryde

Jazmin Jacobs

Noah Gowland

Indara Gentle

Kahla Knight

Keshi Bertina

Ryan Watson

Rosabelle McMurrick

Zion McLean

Jemma Curtayne-Ihab

Emily Covington

Nikki Reinholdsten

Jordan Farrar

Brooke Daljac

Jack Midgley

Jessica Henderson

Chloe Daljac

Imogen Alexander

Brooke Dawson

Kendra Wilson

Ruby Rogers

Niamh Hennigan

Lucas Yeates

Kobe Della Favory

Jade Johnston

Candelle Dusenberg

Charlie Fry

Darnel McPhee

Amelie Tuohy

Rico Maxwell

Jayson Moster

Teiah Wilmot

Ashleigh Crotty

Alison Keeler

Jakob Petrig

Alyssa Currie

Alice Baker

Chloe Daljac

Talia Hobson

Stelio Goudis

Dylan Clarke

Sharnie Cooke

Bryce Warwick

Kendra Wilson

Maya Hallam

Jasmin Dunster

Luke Drazevich

Aidan Dobbelmann

Lachlan Ellis

Jemma Dunster

Tayla Feifar

Aiva Giovinazzo

Sienna Jones

Steven Longa

Roisin Landers

Joshua Charlesworth

Fin Meagher

Meeah York

Tomas Powell

Seth Letchford

Chloe Robinson

Kate Whalley

Charlotte Sabine

Jack Midgley

Zack Shailes

Samantha Clements

Alyssa Waldon

Noah Gowland

Daniel Wehrle

William Dewrance

Jacob Williams

 Liam Oliver

Movie Ticket Winners

Year 7

Toby Cook

Year 8

Sharlini Hollier

Year 9

Saige Lawler

Primary School Visits

I have started to attend some of our local primary schools and speak to the Year 6 students about our Special Programs. Please note that the closing date for applications is the last Friday of term (Friday 12 April) so if you know someone who may be interested in applying for one of them, then please direct them to our website for more information.

Student Planner

As a final reminder, can you please ensure that your students have their Student Planner and are using it. A great way to check is to write a note in it and have them get the teachers to sign it. This is a great communication tool and also helps to develop those planning skills which are becoming more vital in an ever changing employment market.

Cybersafety

I have been fielding some questions on Cybersafety lately so I want to add these websites for you to visit. I will start to provide more information when I find it but these are a great tool and wonderful place to go to for tips and advice.

http://www.esafety.gov.au

http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au

Mark Pettit
Head of Middle School

Year 9 Report

I am in utter disbelief that we are approaching the end of Term 1 already. It has been a whirlwind term for the Year 9s with School Photos, Swimming Carnival, National Day of Action Against Bullying and then simply the start of all new classes and finding their feet. It is impressive to see the resilience of our students to so much change, they are a strong group and I encourage any who may be struggling to seek out help. Upcoming is the Triple Challenge, we have had many participants which is fantastic to see and I look forward to joining these students and challenging myself along the way in the canoeing and commando course.

We had a Year 9 assembly in Week 7 and we discussed uniform and attendance. Whilst, there has been some improvement amongst the cohort in wearing appropriate school uniform, hoodies are still making a comeback. A hoodie, no matter the colour, is not part of our school uniform and as such students may lose their good standing. Attendance was raised as we are starting to see a large number of students who have an attendance rate below 90%. This impacts students greatly as they miss sequential learning of concepts with in their course which affects how they can connect ideas and strengthen their understanding. It takes a village to raise a child and this is a saying that rings through to me. It is with the efforts from all community members that we develop strong citizens.

If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact myself, your child’s mentor teacher or learning area teacher.

Miss Laura Cheetham
Year 9 Coordinator

Year 8 Report

Hello again!

We are nearly at the end of our first term together as a Year 8 cohort and team. I say with great PRIDE there have been a record number of Letters of Commendation issued this term to highlight the achievement of our students. To put this into perspective, there are 239 Year 8 students and teachers have issued 121 Letters of Commendation! I believe this is an excellent result and well done to ALL of our students.

We have an exciting and productive time coming up with interim reports being issued at the end of Term 3 which will indicate to you your child’s current progress and can be used as a tool to plan goals to maintain and achieve academic success whilst at school. Secondly, we have the Bibbulmun Challenge beginning Week 8 of this term. This is a 14km walk along the iconic and stunning Bibbulmun track and a time to build respectful relationships and demonstrate a sense of community and pride within ourselves. Permission slips will be issued shortly, however, please see below for a schedule of the event by mentor class:

Mentor Class

Date

Week

MG8.01AE

Friday, 29 March

Term 1 Week 8

MG8.02 & MG8.03

Friday, 5 April

Term 1 Week 9

MG8.04 & MG8.05

Thursday, 11 April

Term 1 Week 10

MG8.06

Friday, 10 May

Term 2 Week 2

MG8.07 & MG8.08

Friday, 17 May

Term 2 Week 3

MG8.09 & MG8.10

Friday, 24 May

Term 2 Week 4

MG8.11 & Catch Ups

Friday, 31 May

Term 2 Week 5

Year 8 ASSEMBLY

As a Year Coordinator it is imperative to bring to the attention of all students any behavioural and well-being issues relating to the Year 8 cohort. At our last assembly I discussed at length the following points listed below. I believe that it is important for parents to be advised of such conversations and we hope that we have your continued support and that some of these items are reinforced at home.

  1. General behaviour – negative behavioural issues addressed and positive behavioural strategies suggested to students to their attitude towards teachers and peers.
  2. Mobile phone usage – mobile phone policy discussed in simplistic but direct terms: do not use your phone during school time. Teachers do have the right to ask for the phone and the phone is to be collected at the end of the day from the front office only by a parent/guardian.
  3. Duty areas – during recess and lunch Year 8 students have been asked to find different areas around the school rather than congregating together in large groups.
  4. Positive behaviours – students that come to school and do the right thing are acknowledged and are seen, heard and appreciated. They are the glue that holds our classes together and a pleasure to teach.

Overall, it has been a challenging and rewarding term where Year 7 students have become Year 8s and have settled into the school as the term has progressed. This is not an easy task and it can take some time to find your place in a new world (so to speak). I look forward to a productive and even more rewarding Term 2 and to continue an open line of communication with all parents and students moving forward.

Speak to you soon!

“Do, or do not. There is no “try”” – Yoda (Star Wars)

Ashley Meaden
Year 8 Coordinator

Year 7 Report

Year 7 Values Camp

The Year 7s have had a great start to the year with their fantastic Year 7 Values Camp. Over five days, students were removed from the normal timetable for their MESH subjects and spent the time working with their mentor teachers.

For two days, students stayed at the Bickley Outdoor Recreation Camp including a one night sleepover. Students practised their resilience as they participated in risk taking activities such as canoeing, raft building, flying fox, crate climb, vertical challenge, orienteering and team building. The weather was fantastic and students enjoyed the beautiful environment and the great food.

Back at school students were engaged in sessions which enabled them to set up their BYOD as well as attending Library Orientation, Legal Aid Cyber Bullying talks and taking part in the Beyond Blue SenseAbility Program.

Having a Values Camp for our Year 7 students this early in the year has great benefits for them in building strong relationships with their teachers and peers across mentor groups. They also have an opportunity out of the school environment to put the five School Values (Pride, Respect, Resilience, Community and Love of Learning) into practise. Thank you to all staff who gave up their time to attend the camp, particularly those that spent nights away from their own families to support our Year 7 students.

BYOD Program

It is fantastic to see so many Year 7 students bringing their devices everyday ready to use in their classes. As well as accessing Stile in Science, Maths Space in Mathematics and Connect in all classes, students have been designing montages, writing narratives, analysing advertising and studying rainfall patterns in WA and comparing them to global patterns. They have even been designing their own catchment area in a simulation where they need to keep it healthy. To enable staff and students to best utilise devices in classes, it is essential that students remember to turn them off in between classes to avoid them going flat, so they last all day.

Susan Archdall
Year 7 Coordinator

Student Services Report

Student Services Mission Statement

At the end of last year at the Student Services Strategic Planning Day we developed a Mission Statement to articulate the purpose of Student Services and wanted to clearly communicate to the school community the common purpose of Student Services.

Mission Statement

Student Services strives to create a culture of high care in which every student experiences a sense of belonging to the school community. We support the needs of all students, recognising their individual needs to enable them to achieve their highest educational objectives.

Pastoral Care Programs

We have a number of pastoral care programs that support all students and I wanted to share some of these with you, starting with our whole school initiatives.

Whole school Initiatives

Mother’s Day Breakfast, Father’s Day Breakfast, Kalamunda Day, Reward Assemblies, Act Belong Commit, Mentally Healthy Schools Program, National Day Against Bullying and Violence, RUOK Day, The Greatest Shave, Learning Support, Mentor Groups, Asthma Friendly School, Hills Family Christmas.

We also have a number of pastoral care Programs that are specific for individual year groups and we continue to review the programs and adjust them as needed.

Attendance

We have streamlined our attendance procedures and created a flowchart. We hope this will see an improvement in regular attendance and increase early intervention.

Attendance Flow Chart

REGULAR
90%-100% Attendance

Mentor Teachers

INDICATED
80%-89% Attendance

Year Coordinator’s

MODERATE
60%-79% Attendance

Head of Senior and Middle School

SEVERE
0%-59% Attendance

Manager Student Services

Manager Student Services

Regular school attendance tips for parents.

Parents and caregivers must send children to school every school day under Western Australian law unless there is an acceptable reason such as:

  • Illness;
  • doing work experience; and
  • competing in school sporting events.

If your child is going to be absent from school, you must let the school know why the absence has occurred within two school days of their return. If possible, it is best to advise the school beforehand.

Avoid keeping your child away from school for reasons such as:

  • birthdays;
  • shopping;
  • visiting family and friends;
  • if they sleep in;
  • looking after other children; and
  • minor check-ups or care, such as haircuts.

Routine medical or other health appointments should be made either before or after school or during the school holidays, wherever possible.

Establishing good routines around school can assist with regular school attendance. These include:

  • have a set time to go to bed;
  • have a set time to get out of bed ;
  • have uniform and school bag ready the night before;
  • have a set time for starting and finishing breakfast ;
  • set a time for daily homework activities; and
  • speak about school positively.

If you are experiencing difficulty in sending your child to school, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Mentor Teacher or Year Coordinator.

Good Standing

The first Good standing report went out to teachers last week and the Year Coordinators have been busy following up with students who are having difficulty adhering to the Good Standing policy.

Please see attached the Good standing procedures for Middle school and Senior school.

Good Standing is reviewed every 5 weeks.

Mrs Amanda Morton
Manager Student Services

Kalamunda Performing Arts Update

We have an exciting year ahead in Kalamunda Performing Arts. I would like to welcome all of our new families and students and hope that it is a wonderful year for all.

Our Year 8 General and Music Students have already been out on a promotional tour. We visited Gooseberry Hill and Darlington Primary Schools to let the students know about the courses that we offer as well as putting on a show for the staff and students. We also had a handful of Year 9 students that came along as well. The students performed beautifully and were fantastic ambassadors for Kalamunda SHS.

Auditions have commenced as I begin the arduous task of casting our annual production of Disney ‘The Little Mermaid Jr’. Term 2 will be largely devoted to creating the musical – exciting times.

We have several performances coming up this year. A couple of key dates for diaries are as follows:

Key Dates

Showcase 1

Monday 8 April @ 6.30 pm

Camp

Monday 29 July – Wednesday 31 July

The Little Mermaid Jr

Saturday and Sunday 3 - 4 August

End of Year Showcase

Tuesday 3 December @ 6.30 pm

For any families that have current Year 6 students wanting to audition for the KPA program in 2020, applications close 12 April 2019, the audition date is 21 May.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our many events through the year, and if you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me anna.head2@education.wa.edu.au.

Anna Head
KPA Coordinator

Health Outdoor and Physical Education Update

2019 Swimming Carnival Results

28 February saw another successful House Swimming Carnival where students put on a display of talent and sportsmanship in the pool. The Year 7s and competitors made their way on foot to Kalamunda Water Park to participate in numerous competitive and novelty swimming events. Congratulations goes to the houses on their collective efforts and the individual achievements of Champions and Runner Up champions.

House Swimming Carnival Results

Place

House

Points

1st

Phoenix

922

2nd

Orion

667

3rd

Draco

634

4th

Pegasus

565

House Champions

Champion

Runner up

Year 7 Girls

Caitlyn Balcombe, Chloe Daljac, Charlotte Strelein

Year 7 Boys

Callum Boots

Lleyton Norregaard

Year 8 Girls

Grace Camp

Siobhan Sudholz

Year 8 Boys

Sam Stone

Greg Burbridge

Year 9 Girls

Alice Baker

Isabella Dunlop

Year 9 Boys

Aiden Boots

Connor Norregaard

Year 10 Girls

Savannah Coupland

Kelsey Sieczka

Year 10 Boys

Hayden Schwinkowski

Drew Mann

Year 11 Girls

Freya Jonker

Olivia Mazzucchelli

Year 11 Boys

Lachlan Riley

Ryan Boots, Reece Huisman

Year 12 Girls

Jade Mann

Eliza Van De Velde

Year 12 Boys

Emerson Jones, Reece Mazzucchelli

From this event, the interschool team was selected and they competed on the 20 March at

HBF Arena ‘B’ Division carnival.

Place

School

Points

1st

Duncraig Senior High School

940

2nd

Mt Lawley Senior High School

933

3rd

Melville Senior High School

878

4th

Ocean Reef Senior High School

583

5th

Como Senior High School

495

6th

Kalamunda Senior High School

470

7th

Comet Bay College

370

8th

Darling Range Sports College

320

Interschool Champions

Year 7 Boys

Callum Boots

Runner up

Year 9 Boys

Aiden Boots

Champion

Year 10 Boys

Hayden Schwinkowski

Champion

Year 11 Boys

Drew Mann

Runner up

Year 12 Girls

Jade Mann

Champion

Upcoming HOPE events

Date

Event

Thursday, 4 April

Year 8 OAP Excursion

Monday, 8 April

Year 7 OAP Excursion

Tuesday, 9 April

Year 8 Lightning Carnival

Wednesday, 10 April

Year 10 OREC Excursion

Friday, 12 April

Year 9 OAP Excursion

Thursday, 9 May

Year 9 Lightning Carnival

Friday, 10 May

Year 10 OAP Excursion

Monday, 20 May

OAP Special Program Testing (Year 7 2020)

Alice Hall
Health and Physical Education Teacher

English Update

Welcome to the English Learning Area in 2019!

The English team has a new look after the departure of the inspirational former HOLA of English, Denise Hewitt, and goodbyes to Leanne French and Emma Constable. Our new team is:

Tim Bennett – HOLA English Learning Area

Tori Maguire

Sarah Adams

Ashley Meaden

Susan Archdall

Lea Richards

Alex Geneve

Lukasz Sijka

Rachel James

Jade Smalpage

Jasmin Hill

Orietta Stokes

Nicolee Laird

Karen Stuart

We have certainly hit the ground running in 2019. Students of English at Kalamunda SHS have already been given opportunities to witness and harness the power of language in its many forms.

Year 12 ATAR students attended an evening of theatre watching the Black Swan production of Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town’, a key text in their ATAR preparation.

Year 8 and Year 11 students attended the Perth International Arts Festival Writer’s School Day and heard from celebrated authors and presenters including Markus Zuzak and Andrea Gibb.

Ms Adams has started a Writer’s Club who meet weekly on Monday afternoons and work on their creativity and expression.

The Rite Journey classes for boys and girls, under the guidance of Mr Sijka and Ms Stuart, have begun on their path through Year 9. This program builds resilience, self-awareness and literacy skills. A number of key points, “Rites”, will be marked throughout the year for students to see a sense of development and achievement. These include challenges and ceremonies both in and outside the class.

We have also begun our learning programs in earnest. Parents, caregivers and students can use Connect to access the learning programs for the year and keep up to date with learning targets and assessment dates.

If parents/caregivers have any questions or queries regarding your child’s learning program and progress, please feel free to contact their classroom teacher or the Head of Learning Area throughout the year.

Tim Bennett
Head of English Learning Area

Italian Update

Piano Accordian Extraordinaire

On the 7 March, the Year 7 Italian students were very excited to welcome Nikki D’Agostino to Kalamunda SHS. Nikki caters for a vast variety of audiences, atmospheres and event themes. Her repertoire ranges from the Coulture to the Contemporary-reminiscing vintage classics, German Polkas, Tangos, Tarantellas and exquisite renditions of French and Spanish favourites. Nikki performed a number of famous and traditional European works. Students had fun trying to guess the names of the songs.

Nikki spoke about how she entered the world of music and how learning about the Italian culture and language has opened many doors for her career. She has had many opportunities to perform with famous people all over the world such as Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder and Lilly Allen.

Nikki brought along two piano accordions and explained to students the history about this unique instrument and chose a student from the audience to come and play a tune! There were some students who had never seen or heard a piano accordion before. It was a new experience for students and a vibrant atmosphere.

Nikki had asked a group of students on stage to be involved in a traditional Tarantella dance while she played the piano accordion. It was wonderful to see students be actively engaged and immersed in an authentic Italian learning experience.

I congratulate all Year 7 Italian students for their love of learning Italian and also for their fantastic behaviour during this event!

LanguageNut for Language Students

All Italian, Japanese and Indonesian students have now access to LanguageNut. This program can be used in the classroom and at home. It satisfies every individual learning style in a variety of engaging games and other activities. This resource enables our students to reinforce vocabulary, whilst simultaneously practicing the four key macro skills of Modern Foreign Language learning; reading, writing, speaking and listening and help students prepare for assessments. Students can also safely compete against other students around the world and view their progress. Themes include: the environment, identity, technology, school, music and entertainment, family and pets and much more!

If you have not received your username and password please see Mrs Pennington

Signora Pennington
Teacher in Charge of Languages

Mathematics Update

This month we celebrated Pi Day (13 March – 3.14), where we celebrate the number pi - the number that tells us the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Several students took part in our Pi Day Challenge at recess and lunch and enjoyed the handmade Pie lunch specials in the Canteen.

π = 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944…
(π to 60 decimal places)

Year 8 students enjoyed exploring pi in their classes and will be continuing to develop their pi knowledge throughout their schooling days, whether it be measurements involving circles or trigonometry and radians as part of ATAR courses.

I encourage all students and teachers to regularly check their connect pages for updates on work and assessments. All students have access to mathspace.co and I encourage all students to use it whether it be part of homework or study to continually push themselves to be the best that they can be.

If parents/caregivers have any questions or queries regarding your child’s learning program and progress, please feel free to contact their classroom teacher or the Head of Learning Area throughout the year.

Jessica Millar
Head of Mathematics Learning Ares

Science Update

2019 International Year of the Periodic Table Timeline of Elements Competition

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Dmitry Mendeleev’s periodic table innovation (first published in 1869) 118 schools were selected from 26 countries worldwide to participate in this competition: Kalamunda Senior High School being one of them!

Never heard of TELLURIUM?

Nor had Alyse Todd of Year 8 until she entered as our school representative.

With a symbol of Te and atomic number of 52, this silver-white metal is a less-common member of the famous Table of Elements.

Alyse’s artwork will be added to the global periodic table display to form a giant mosaic of the elements.

Well done to Alyse for her creativity, pride, and initiative, and also to Ms Loxton for coordinating our contribution.

Year 7 Chemistry Lab

Gabriel Stevens, Jake Dunne, and Jaxson Withers used chromatography to identify whether colours were water soluble or insoluble. The image close-up shows the degree of separation achieved. Two different solvents were used. Water was one, the other alcohol. Can you spot the water soluble sample?

Lindesay Pound
Science Teacher

Sculptures by the Sea

On Wednesday 13 March Year 8 and 9 Gifted and Talented Art students had a wonderful day out at the annual ‘Sculptures by the Sea’ exhibition at Cottesloe beach. Students were joined by the fabulous visual art staffers Mrs Eden and Miss Gee along with professional sculptor and renowned WA artist Gordon Mitchell. The weather was perfect for us, the sun was shining and the sea breeze was gentle against our faces as we engaged with incredible artworks all day long.

Gordon gave us the inside scoop on the logistics of putting together a public display of this scale including public interaction with the work, transportation and installation of the art. Little did we know that so much preparation goes into this event, including the vigorous planning by the artist to ensure that artworks are structurally secure and can survive and thrive in the outdoor elements. It was fascinating to see artwork beyond gallery walls, with the lapping sounds of the ocean enhancing the experience.

Our day was spent studying the artworks up close. Seeing the sculptures in real life was an amazing opportunity to understand how the elements influence how the artwork is viewed. As Joelle pointed out, sometimes the shadows and reflections are the most beautiful part of the work. And yes, we did take selfies in the reflection of an artwork with our distorted faces reflecting back at us.

We truly had an amazing day in the sun with our heavy dose of arts culture as we enjoyed delicious fish and chips. I cannot wait for next year’s Sculpture by the Sea and I look forward to taking more students to encounter amazing Western Australian artworks.

Charlotte Gee
Gifted and Talented Visual Art Coordinator

School Psychologist Update

Along with around 5000 other schools across Australia we took part in the National Day of Action Against Bullying. The day gave schools the chance to take action and empower young people to be part of the solution when addressing bullying in their school community. It provided an opportunity to focus on bullying and the changes we can all make to help create safer communities for everyone. The theme this year was “Bullying No Way take a stand every day”.

To highlight the day our school ran a poster and poem competition, in which we had some strong entries and this was judged by our Head of English – Tim Bennett and we also had the ‘Peoples’ Choice Award’. We gave the students the opportunity to write positive messages on our ‘FaceBook and Instagram Wall’ on ways to combat online bullying. Additionally, we were entertained by three Year 8 students who performed a small skit on bullying and how to rebuild a friendship; a dance routine performed by two talented Year 10 students Charlotte and Destiny-Rose Bradford and also one of our talented band ‘The Palindromes’. Overall, the day was a great success.

Triple P

Over the past three weeks the school has hosted the Teen Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) seminar series. The seminars covered Raising Responsible Teenagers (focusing on the home); Raising Competent Teenagers (focusing on the school) and the final seminar looked at Getting Teenagers Connected (focusing on the wider community). All seminars were well attended and the discussion and advice provided by other parents is also an invaluable part of the evenings. The satisfaction surveys collected at the end of each night suggested that the seminars were well received and the tips were useful and most attendees intended to implement the advice they received.

Jenny Edmonds
School Psychologist

A message from the Community Health Nurse

Sleep - tips for teenagers

Teenagers need about 9 -10 hours of sleep a night. Lack of regular sleep can affect academic and sporting performance, mental health and behaviour. Even getting an extra 30 minutes of sleep each night will make a difference.

The typical teenage brain wants to go to bed late and sleep late the following morning, which is usually hard to manage. Teenagers can adjust their body clock but it takes time. Suggestions include:

  • Choose a relaxing bedtime routine; for example, have a bath and a hot milky drink before bed.
  • Avoid loud music, homework, computer games or any other activity that gets the mind racing for about an hour before bedtime.
  • Avoid watching television right before bed.
  • Keep the room dark at night. The brain’s sleep–wake cycle is largely set by light received through the eyes.
  • Each week start the bedtime routine about 10 minutes earlier until the desired bedtime is reached.
  • Avoid staying up late on the weekends. Maintain the regular routine as much as possible.

It may take about six weeks to establish a new bedtime and sleep routine and to feel the benefits of getting extra sleep.

To get further advice contact your local Community Health Nurse, Louise Jonker on 0438 810 442, or for more information visit the following website.

http://raisingchildren.net.au

Louise Jonker
Community Health Nurse

Act, Belong, Commit

Our Act Belong Commit tip this edition is:

Act – do some yoga, dance, kick the footy, solve a Sudoku puzzle

Belong – join a local book club or sporting group, organise a family gathering or a picnic with friends

Commit – learn to dance, start a TAFE course or lobby for a good cause