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Bibbulmun Challenge
Our Year 8 students have been taking the challenge of walking the Bibbulmum Track. This is a wonderful way to build teamwork, resilience and to reflect on the journey through high school. It is also a great opportunity to learn in an outdoor setting. Congratulations to all our Year 8 students for taking the Challenge and thank you to our staff for coordinating and supporting the students.
Triple Challenge
Desi has been coordinating these challenges for students in Year 9, where they participate in three challenges over 2 days. They include canoeing, high ropes and a bike ride.
NAPLAN and OLNA testing
NAPLAN testing is now completed for the year, after being moved to the new earlier timeslot. We look forward to information from this testing being available earlier than in previous years for teachers to help them diagnose learning needs for their students and to adjust their programs accordingly.
Upcoming exam period (29 May to 9 June)
Our Year 10, 11 and 12s will be undertaking formal exam assessments in Weeks 6 and 7. Students in Years 11 and 12 who are not participating in exams, will have the opportunity to undertake a Workplace Learning program, and those who are not up to date with their studies will attend the Study Hub at school. Details about the exams have been published on Connect for students and parents.
Pulse Exhibition
Congratulations to our two Year 12 students from last year who were successful in being selected for this prestigious exhibition. The students attended the opening night and their works will be on display at the Art Gallery of WA from 28 April to 20 August. I encourage you to visit the art gallery in person or virtually The West Australian Pulse 2023 | The Art Gallery of Western Australia. You can also vote for the People’s Choice award with a chance to win a $100 voucher.
Indonesian Consulate awards
We congratulate two of our Indonesian students who recently received awards from the Indonesian Consulate for excelling in their Indonesian Language classes 2022. The students were Isabel Jeffreys and Abbie Brown.
Vaping seminar
Recently we had a guest speaker come and present seminars to each of our year groups throughout the day. They shared their personal experience and important information about the harmful impact vaping has. The messages were clear, informative, graphic and dispelled many myths and miscommunication about vapes and vaping. The seminar has sparked a lot of conversation amongst students and staff, and I hope that your child has shared some of the key messages with you. We also held a parent session on the day and those who attended found it very helpful and informative.
ANZAC assembly
Specialist program testing
Applications for our special programs for 2024 have closed and testing, interviews and auditions are underway for final selection to these programs. We wish the applicants all the best for this process.
Annual Report
Each year we prepare a report on the previous year’s teaching and learning program and academic results. Our annual report for 2022 is uploaded onto schools online and our website for your purusal.
Student Services - structure adjustment
This term we welcome Gareth Postans who is joining our Student Services team as a new Program Coordinator. He joins Mark Pettit and Sharon Andrews in this role. This term we have re-structured the roles to allocate year groups to each of our coordinators. Gareth will take responsibility for Years 7 and 8, Mark for Years 9 and 10 and Sharon will be responsible for Years 11 and 12. We hope that this distribution will provide a clear port of call for our staff, students and parents in working together to support our students.
Wishing everyone all the best for the second half of the term.
Helen Deacon
Principal
All Year 12 students are required to complete the online collection of student declaration and permission details for the Authority. The Authority’s purpose is to ensure all Year 12 students are aware of the requirements to achieve the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and for sitting the WACE examinations. Additional information can be found in the Year 12 Information Handbook which is available on the Authority website.
The Year 12 students will be sitting their ATAR exams in weeks 6 and 7 of this term, it is vital to remember being prepared for your exams is a key element, having everything you need available and remaining focused will certainly help support the achievement of better results. Other Year 12 students will be completing Workplace Learning, valuable for their WACE. I would also like to remind all Year 12 students that Semester 1 is fast drawing to an end, attendance and completion of assessments will also help to ensure good results. It is vital for all students to ensure that every piece of work is handed in on time and they are putting in the necessary effort and study time required to succeed.
Can I also remind Year 12 students along with parents, that Connect is a vital part of the school communication. A lot of information is available on Connect so please take the time to check any updates or reminders. Please contact me if you have any concerns on 92936400.
Sharon Andrews
Year 11 and 12 Program Coordinator
Bibbulmun Challenge
We are now coming to the end of our Bibbulmun Challenge for another year. We have had a number of staff make their first journey and seem to have come through okay. I want to congratulate all of the students and staff who made the journey this year. It is without doubt a wonderful initiative and I know students refer to it as they move through Middle School, reminding them about how they felt on that day and how they overcame any problems and especially when they reflect upon life as Kalamunda students in Year 12. Once again we have given the mentor classes the added task of compiling a photographic display of the day and they will be working with their mentor teachers to compile a presentation that represents our 5 School Values and how they related to the day. These presentations will be judged by an independent panel that no mentor teachers will be a part of (in order to maintain impartiality) as the best presentation will receive a breakfast for their mentor that will be organised by myself and Ms Laskey and Mrs Walker.
Award Winners
Since our last News Review we have had a Middle school assembly where we presented a number of values awards so we would like to congratulate our winners .
| Year 7 | Cholo Astillero, Holly Bethel, Stella Craig, Talisha Dalgleish, Alice Dujardin, Antonio Fazari, Levi Hughes-Treloar, Miya Jones, Ashton MacDougall, Lilly Milner, Lilly O'Sullivan, Madison Owen, Cooper Pease, Florence Rooke, Shelby Shepherd, Isaiah Supadi, Tangy Thong-In, Thom van der Koolij |
| Year 8 | Julia Arroyo, Elliott-Wyatt Attwood, Kalani Bartrop, Loren Belletty, Hannah Bennett, Dane Brassington, Mako Bryant, Illia Chetvertak, Emma Cooper, Alex Dopson, Sophie Dunne, Felicity Englishby, Charlotte Gray, Diant'e Hume, Jairo Kenworthy, Arlen McMillan, Abbie Mountford, Bijan Nematollahi, Noah Parry, Riley Preuss, Tahlia Riley, Luke Sprogowski, Isaac Trinidad |
| Year 9 |
Anaysha Clohessy, Andrew Harris, Angus Brennan, Ashton Landy, Audrey Coetzee, Baileigh Truman, Baxter Brincat, Cameron Bell, Charlee Bennett, Chelsea Condipodero, Chevy Coleman, Daniel Dunn, Jacen Abdul-Kadir, Jacob Clephas, Jensen Bay, Lakshi Strahan, Lawson Sabine, Lillianna Dalgleish, Lockie Theobald, Max Brassington, Noah Bandiera, Sari Oliver, Shaun Friday, Shaylee Kinsella, Sienna Fitzgerald |
Student Leaders
We would also like to congratulate our Year 7 Student Leaders on their appointment.
Student Councillors
Evan Dunning, Bhagya Idamgedara, Sommer Pearce, Liam Hulcup, Chloe Allen and Fleur Collins
House Leaders
| Draco | Holly Bethel |
| Orion | Peyton Kovacevich |
| Pegasus | Matthew Mainard |
| Phoenix | Amelia Cole |
The Year 7 Leaders were welcomed into the student Leadership Group at a breakfast on 2 May.
Mark Pettit
Year 9 and 10 Program Coordinator
It has been a pleasure working with the Year 9 cohort over the last year while Mrs Laskey has been on maternity leave. At the end of Term 1, the first Triple Challenge group went out for a day of canoeing and vertical challenges. Although some students were a bit worried about the challenges ahead, every student faced their fears with a positive attitude and had a go at the activities on offer. And, luckily, no one fell out of their canoe in the game of ‘fruit salad’ in the middle of the river! Thanks to this this group of girls for a fantastic day; it was great to see our school value of resilience on display. Desi will continue to run the Triple Challenge so make sure you see her to express your interest for the next group.
It was exciting to see our Middle School Leaders being announced at assembly this term. Congratulations to Isabel Moore and Hayley Kuppens-Beeson who will undoubtable be excellent role models and leaders this year. Thank you to all of the student leaders who nominated for these positions and continue to play an important role in our Student Council.
Congratulations also to all our certificate winners at assembly. These students were recognised for displaying our school values every day. Remember that students who are awarded a merit certificate are also automatically entered into the prize draw. This term’s winner received a movie ticket. Well done!
We are all excited to see Mrs Laskey back as the Year 9 Coordinator this term.
Hello Year 9! I have been so excited to return and see how all of you have grown over the last year. Thank you for the warm welcome back!In the first week of Term 2, I have already been fortunate enough to join some of the inspiring students in this year group on the Triple Challenge. As part of the challenge, students went on a bike ride around the river. Students clearly exhibited our school values of resilience and respect during the ride.
Year 9 marks a time to start considering future aspirations, study pathways and career taster opportunities. Our Career Practitioner, Amanda Moreno-Diaz, is available for conversations to support students understand their options. I am also available to support in goal setting and academic planning. We hope to encourage and inspire each Year 9 student to build on their passions this year and provide them with the tools to start working towards their goals. Please come for a chat if you need advice!
I hope to see Year 9 students continue to exhibit Kalamunda school values of Respect, Pride, Love of Learning, Resilience and community throughout the term.
As we welcome students back from the school holidays, we hope that all our Year 7 families had a restful and enjoyable break. It was great to meet so many parents and caregivers at our end of term Parent Teacher meetings last term.
I would like to thank the Year 7 students for their excellent conduct at our Anzac Assembly at the end of Term 1. The Anzac commemoration is a solemn occasion, and I was impressed with the respect shown by our students to the veterans, special guests, staff, and speakers from our Upper School classes.
We also announced the Year 7 student councillors and House Representatives at the end of term. We had a record number of applications for a student leadership position. It just goes to show that we have a huge number of students in the cohort with strong leadership aspirations and skills. I’m looking forward to seeing what the student leaders get up to this term as we prepare for school events.
At this time of the year, students are completing a lot of assignments and tests. It’s important to encourage students to manage their workload by completing homework or take-home tasks regularly rather than leaving their work to the last minute. Course outlines can be found on Connect and these indicate an approximate time that each assessment is due to be completed. If in doubt, please reach out to classroom teachers.
A gentle reminder that to maintain Good Standing, students need to ensure that they are in uniform and following the behavioural expectations of the school. As the weather gets cooler, we ask that students wear their school jumper or jacket. At the end of this term, we will have a reward for all the students who have maintained their Good Standing this semester.
It’s been a busy time for our Performing Arts students. At the end of March, we were lucky enough to be able to attend the ‘Get Technical’ event at Crown Theatre with our Year 10 students and a handful of older students. This was a performance event where the students watched the opening number of Moulin Rouge, followed by a 2 hour presentation highlighting and promoting careers in theatre production. The students were delighted and intrigued to learn more about pursuing a career in technical theatre. We must give thanks to Amanda Moreno Diaz for finding out about this event and attending with us. Here’s a link to more information about this event if you’re interested in what the students saw, and how this performance came about.
4 May saw over 100 excited KPA students descend on the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre for a day of rehearsals followed by an evening performance in 2 sessions. With students representing both the General and Music streams, it was a very busy day. I was very proud of the students, and was delighted to see and hear the support from the performers and the enthusiastic audiences. Thank you to our students, families, friends, school community and Michelle and Marcus for another great collaborative performance.
Over the last couple of weeks, the students have been gearing up for and participating in auditions for our musical production of Frozen Jr. The cast list will be released very soon. It’s an exciting time for all students as we begin rehearsals for the big show!
Anna Head
Kalamunda Performing Arts
It has been a brilliant start to the year for our amazingly talented KSHS music students.
Last term there were several musical highlights and attached are some photos. Firstly, some of our Year 9 music students were invited to perform at Falls Road Primary School. Sienna Petrig and Sophie Martin performed on their wind instruments and talked about their IMSS music experience so far. Sienna is a former Falls Road Primary School student, so it was a nice reconnection for her and the school. The item finished with the Year 9 rock band performing 'Don’t Speak' by No Doubt. The group comprised of Ruby Dunne, Sofia Morrison, Greg Lawrence, Alice Clark, and Hanna Tengju Rasydan. The students did a brilliant job and were an excellent representation of our budding musicians. We received positive feedback from students and parents from Falls Road.
Next was the annual Anzac assembly. It was fantastic to be able to have the students perform this year as last year the ceremony was recorded due to Covid19. The students involved were the Choir, Concert Bands and String Orchestra. There were over 100 students involved in performing at the event so it is always a mammoth effort to organise. As always the event was very moving and the music students conducted themselves professionally. A big thanks to Mr Hind for his work for composing a piece for the event. A big thanks also goes to Tashana Tweddle and Bronwynn Sprogowski for their hard work in putting the event together and all of the practice leading up to it.
Lastly its was fantastic to have KSHS music represented in the broader community at the Kalamunda Show. We showcased 3 hours of music on the Friday night before the fireworks and all the students involved did a fantastic job well done to all! We have missed out on the show over the last few years due to it being cancelled, so it was great to be back again this year.
Marcus Roberts
Music Director
After the excitement of the FRC Regional Event during Term 1 we have begun preparing for the Western Australian Robotics Playoffs (WARP) which will be held at Curtin University in August. All students are welcome to join our team.
Once again, Kalamunda SHS will be hosting the Bibbulmun STEM Network Showcase Day during Term 3. We are looking for enthusiastic Year 7s to represent Kalamunda SHS. No experience in robotics is necessary – just a ready to learn attitude! Interested students should drop into robotics club for more information.
Robotics club is free and open to all students. We meet Wednesdays after school and Fridays before school.
Amber Bullock and Mitch Winstanley
Seven Tips for Better Relationship Conversations
There can be gaps between how things are and how we want them to be in our relationships with partners, family, and even co-workers. Here's one way to address them.
Tips for closing the gap
To me, when it comes to the practice of minding the gaps in relationships, the 4 most important words are the ones I asked my daughter: “How are we doing?” Sometimes, this is all that is needed to assess and explore the status of any relationship. “How are we doing?” can be used to launch a conversation with our partner, our children, our parents, our friends.
Particularly with people we love, these 4 words are a means for exploring the quality of that love. We ask because we care. We want to know the other person’s experience and where they feel aligned and not aligned, and we want to know how they think we can eliminate or narrow any gaps. We ask someone what, if anything, might improve the way we care for them. This inquiry in itself is an expression of our commitment to the relationship and our desire for it to embody shared values.
How we ask this question makes a big difference in how it is answered and in the conversation that follows. As you approach the “How are we doing?” conversation, try to keep these things in mind.
- Be ready to drop the story. Notice, before having important conversations, if you’re already upset, worried, or mad about something, and be curious about that. Do you already think you know the answer, and so the question is more of a statement that you recognize something is missing, lacking, or wrong? Is the question really a prelude to a request for something you need from the other person? Before talking, recognize what you think, expect, or assume the other person will say. Identify your own interpretation of events. Then when the talking starts, drop your story.
- Be curious, not furious. Ask in a spirit of genuine curiosity and openness. After you ask the question, be concerned only with understanding the other person’s story. Be ready to listen to the other person’s perspective and experiences and be willing to be surprised. Try to avoid reactivity. If someone says something that makes you react in the moment, breathe and put that aside to listen, and really hear, what they have to say.
- Align body language with intentions. We convey this openness with our tone and body language as much as with our words. Does our voice and manner convey doubt, anxiety, or defensiveness—or caring, respect, and the willingness to have a genuine conversation? We can’t pretend that fears don’t exist, but we can also nonverbally convey our core motivation to express caring in order to improve our connection.
- Listen for understanding. Our good intentions for asking the question are not enough. In the moment, our most important job is to listen. Explore really listening without preconceived ideas. Experiment with listening not only for content but for feelings, for lack of alignment, as well as for possibilities and ways to solve problems together.
- Mind the gaps. Of course, how the other person responds will determine the conversation that follows, which may require a good deal of openness, presence, and skill. Our response to whatever the person says will require continued openness, trust, compassion, clarity, honesty, and integrity. As you talk, clarify the gap between your experience of the relationship and your vision or aspiration for what a healthy relationship looks like and feels like. This alone is helpful, since it defines the problem.
- Cultivate a clear vision. What’s their ideal for how you and others perceive a healthy and caring relationship? In a work context, this might be more about competence and productivity, as well as trust and connection. What’s the ideal for what they or your team is trying to accomplish? Use the answers as seeds for further discussions about shared goals and how to bridge the gaps you’ve identified for reaching them. Focus on problems not to assign blame but to discover what you both can do to fix them, even in small ways, which will foster a sense of growth.
- Don’t wait. If you know who you need to talk to, don’t wait. If you aren’t sure whether someone has an issue, don’t wait. If all seems “fine,” confirm that. Don’t wait to ask “How are we doing?” and ensure that your “story” is the same as everyone else’s
This one simple question just might change your work, your relationships, and your life. My relationship with my children is important and meaningful to me beyond words. I came away with a deep sense of connection while knowing there was more work to do, more conversations to be had, more listening and understanding to cultivate.
BY MARC LESSER
APRIL 12, 2023 and his book “Finding Clarity”
Aundraea Stevens
Convenor of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee