Year 12 final celebrations

As we ended last term, we held a special breakfast followed by a final assembly, where the staff and students were able to farewell our Year 12 students. This is always an emotional day as we reflect on their journey through high school. The Year 12 ball was held later that night at the Convention Centre and was a spectacular evening. I want to thank all our staff who attended to supervise.

We are looking forward to the final farewell at the Year 12 Valedictory evening on 17 November.

Assessments, exams and Workplace Learning

This time of the year is a busy one for final assessments and exams. Our Year 12s are currently completing their ATAR exams which finish in Week 6. In Week 5 and 6 our Year 11s will undertake their ATAR exams and in Week 5 our Year 10s will have their end of year exams.

Year 11 students who do not have exams will be participating in Workplace Learning. There will be a study program at school for those Year 11s who are not attending a placement. We thank all our community members who generously take on our students to help them prepare for the workforce.

Quiz Night

At the end of last term, we held our annual quiz night. It was an amazing community fundraising event and especially to Angie Lukan who coordinated the evening and sourced the prizes. Thank you to all our staff, families and community members for this fundraising event with a fun, friendly atmosphere. This year we raised over $11,000 which was an amazing effort and we will use this money to upgrade areas of the school when the build has been completed. Thank you to all our staff for supporting this event and supporting us on the evening.

In Week 2 we held our annual Twilight Concert under the stars in the main quad. The evening began with a wearable art exhibition and then the music played as the sun went down. As always this is a spectacular evening showcasing the amazing talent we have in our music students. This year featured music from The Beatles, which culminated in a finale involving all music students.

Thank you to Marcus Roberts and Michelle Vivian for coordinating the evening and to all our music and IMSS teachers who prepared the students and supported the performance. Thank you also to the MusiKal parents for their support for the evening and for their fundraising efforts.

To complement the music performances, an exhibition of our visual art students was on display in the Gwen Russell Gallery and ran for the rest of the week.

Wellness Week

Week 2 of this term we held a wellness week where we focus on things we can do to be physically and mentally healthy. Thank you to Chrissy our School Nurse for organising the week and to Bea and Sarah our School Psychologists for their support and activities, and to our Student Services team and Student Councillors for running a range of lunchtime activities during the week. Thank you also to all those who helped behind the scenes – it was really appreciated.

Kalamunda Day

Each year we hold Kalamunda Day to celebrate our school values of Pride, Respect, Resilience, Love of Learning and Community. It is a way for us to reflect on what these values mean to us and to celebrate the diversity of our school community. During our assembly we hold a flag parade of all the countries of birth of our students and staff (this year we had over 40 countries represented). Following our assembly, we have an afternoon of activities organised by our staff in Learning Areas. A highlight for the day is the staff band who perform.

Building Update

Things are moving well on the main building project (Broad Construction) and lots of work is planned for over the Christmas holiday period. Most of the footings are in now, and I am sure you have all seen the enormous crane in situ.

Our STEM building project (Hyde and Sons) is tracking well, with the school already taken occupancy of the Home Economics room, and the Science room will be completed by the end of term.

Parking

As mentioned last term, parking is very tight on the school grounds with the building underway. In particular there will be further disruptions to the main car park, with access being restricted shortly to only the gate by music.

It is timely to remind parents not to use this staff car park to drop off students at school. Safer locations are along Cotherstone Road, behind the KPAC or along Central Rd.

Staffing updates

Welcome to new staff working with us in Term 4 - Kayla Maritz in Science, Catherine Bode in Maths and Lauren Smail – working across the two areas. We also wish Debbie Yeoh, Matt Millan and Richard Guthrie all the best as they take LSL for the latter part of the term.

Wishing everyone all the best for a successful last term.

Helen Deacon
Principal