Principal's Report
We wish all our students well as they finish the year strong.Valedictory
Congratulations to our Year 12s who have now finished their formal schooling and are preparing for the new year, whether that be tertiary studies, training or employment. We wished them well at their Valedictory on 17 November and welcomed former student Rebecca Dagnall who shared her memories from her school days, her career in the creative arts and her wisdom on life.
Thank you to our incoming 2024 student leaders for supporting this event and to Angie Lukan and Melissa Shepherd for their coordination of this important event in our school calendar.
We congratulate Natasha Hawkes who was announced as the Desborough Award winner on the night.
Building Update
We are very excited for the concrete to be poured for the first floor on Saturday 9 December. This will keep the project on track and allow work to move forward over the school holidays.
We thank all our school community for their patience and resilience while we undergo these works.
Parking reminder
As mentioned last issue, there will be further restrictions to the entries in the main car park. We ask parents not to use this staff car park for dropping off students at school. Safer locations are along Cotherstone Road, behind the KPAC or along railway parade.
Special program welcome ceremony
On 28 November we welcomed our incoming students who will be a part of our special programs next year. We acknowledged them in a special ceremony with parents and their primary principals.
Orientation Day
On 29 November we welcomed our incoming Year 7s for 2024 to the school for their Orientation. It was a wonderful day where students got to meet their teachers and other students in their classes ready for the new year. Thank you to all the staff involved in organising the day. It was lovely to welcome our parents as well and we look forward to a great partnership over the next 6 years.
Gifted and Talented – Visual art Exhibition
This exhibition was held over the 2nd and 3rd December in the School Canteen, where the program showcased the work completed with tutors in the Saturday classes. Local artist Claire Davenhall officially opened the event and shared her love of art and the wonderful benefits that come from teaching and practicing as an artist.
Special program graduations
Our special program coordinators will farewell the Year 10 students in our special programs who will graduate this year. The KPA students were farewelled at their final showcase on 23 November. The Outdoor Adventure Program students will have their awards night on 4 December, the Soccer Program on 6 December and the Academic Excellence Program students will have their Awards evening on 11 December. Congratulations to all these students and thank you to their program coordinators.
Final assembly
Our final assembly for the year will be held on 12 December at 9am in the gym. Parents are welcome to attend.
Rewards activities
Various reward activities have been organised for our students who have Good Standing. Information about these has been circulated directly to parents and students and I thank all the staff who have organised and will attend these events.
Academic Reports
Please keep an eye out for the final academic reports for the year. Our staff are working hard to complete these for our parents, and they will be available and emailed to families on Friday 1 Dec (for Year 11 students) and Thursday 14 December (for Years 7-10).
Farewells and retirements
As we near the end of the term we farewell those staff who will be retiring, taking leave, changing careers, finishing their contracts or moving on to new schools for 2024.
This year we formally farewell Rosie Circosta as she retires from 45 years of service to the Department of Education. She has made a significant contribution to many schools during her career both in regional and metropolitan contexts and has been with us at Kalamunda SHS for the last 14 years. We wish her all the very best in her retirement and thank her most sincerely for her contribution to our school community.
We will also be farewelling Alana Ferguson, Sue Boase, Vanessa Barrable, Shaharig Shahbazian, Dave Billing, Bozena Sturmer, Amber Bullock who will be either finishing up at the end of the year, or taking leave next year.
We wish Jeni Jorritsma (MCS) all the best for her secondment into a Senior Project Officer position in Central Office to start 2024.
We congratulate the following permanent staff who have won positions and promotions in other schools for next year. Mitch Winstanley will be moving to Bob Hawke College, Hayley White will be moving to Corpus Christie College, Melvina Phillips with be moving to Harrisdale SHS, Richard Gibson will be moving to Duncraig SHS and Karen Stuart will be taking up the HOLA English position at John Forrest Secondary College.
We thank Corey Zinneker, Dani Du Plessis, Jacqui Hampton-Grigg, Jess Baradziej, John Neville, Roslan Abdul Jalil for their efforts this year in covering fixed term contracts, and you may see some of them return next year.
We farewell our language assistants who have been working with us this year – Ilham Akbar and Yu Sato – and thank them for their support in enriching our language learning at the school. We look forward to Davide Gottardi continuing at the school in 2024.
Finally we wish all our students, staff and families all the very best for the festive season and a relaxing holiday break.
Helen Deacon
Principal