Year 12 Valedictory

We acknowledged our Year 12s at their Valedictory Ceremony at the Curtin Stadium on 15 November this term.  Our Valedictory speaker was alumni Melesha Sands, Deputy Director General of the Department of Education, who shared memories and qualities of Kalamunda SHS students and how these had served her well in her current work.  We wish our Class of 2024 all the very best for the future.

Congratulations to Nicolee McNally who was awarded the Desborough staff award and thank you to former student Lee Fox, Director for her sponsorship.

Orientation Day

On 22 November we welcomed our incoming Year 7 students for 2025.  It was a special day where students met their teachers and students in their classes for next year and familiarised themselves with high school.

Special Program Welcome

At Kalamunda we also acknowledge all our students entering one of our special programs in a welcome ceremony.  Congratulations to all those students who have been successful in gaining entry into Academic Excellence, Visual Art, Music, Performing Arts, Outdoor Adventure or Soccer. 

Special Program Graduations and Academic Excellence Awards evening

Those special programs finishing in Year 10 recently held their graduation ceremonies, along with the annual Academic Excellence Program awards evening. 

Gifted and Talented – Visual Art Exhibition

This was held on 23 and 24 November with the official opening by Kalamunda SHS teacher and local artist Anita Phillips.

VET and Workplace Learning

Year 11 students participated in their Workplace Learning program in Weeks 6 and 7 of this term in a variety of workplaces and job roles.  Many students have been offered employment opportunities through these experiences and we congratulate Leon Jones on receiving an apprenticeship in Heavy Diesel Mechanics from EPIROC. 

Final Assembly

On 9 December we held our final assembly for the year where we present a range of awards including dux, special program awards, sporting awards community, service and leadership awards.  We thank Dr John Owen, Australian Defence Force, Matthew Hughes MLA, Stephen Price MLA, Jenette Graham and the Kalamunda Lions Club for their donations for these awards.  We also congratulate all our award winners.

Reward Activities

During our final week of term our students with Good Standing have been involved in a range of reward activities. 

Minister’s Innovation Challenge

Congratulations to our Year 8 students who participated in the Minister’s Innovation Challenge. 

The students were challenged to create a solution to a local issue or problem faced by the citizens of Kalamunda. Our team decided to tackle the issue of teenagers between 14-16 needing their own space in the local area, to solve this they designed a teenage run market stall with live music and seating spaces. This was run at school and attracted a large crowd of students, a successful end to their well-designed project.

Student Leadership camp

Our 2025 student leaders had their camp at Bickley in Week 8 and used the opportunity to plan for the new year and undertake a range of leadership activities.  They were also joined by Dylan Collard for a special workshop to learn more about Aboriginal Culture.

Academic Reports

Reports will be emailed to parents on Thursday of the final week of term.  I encourage you to share these with your children to celebrate their successes and identify strategies for improvement where needed.

Building update

We are very excited to have been able to move our resources and equipment into the new Visual Arts building ready to start classes there in the new year.  It is an amazing new building and we look forward to a formal opening in the new year.

Farewells and retirements

As we end the year we say goodbye to a number of staff. 

I would like to make special mention of a number of teachers who will be retiring after long and successful careers.  Geoff Sloan has been teaching for 47 years and the last 26 years teaching Design and Technologies (D&T) at Kalamunda.  Dave Billing has also been teaching D&T at Kalamunda for 27 years and 40 overall.  Alanna Ferguson – has also had a long career teaching across various schools, year groups and subject areas with the last 6 years here at Kalamunda.  Bozena Sturmer has worked for 24 years with the department teaching Languages and Humanities and spent the last 19 years here at Kalamunda.  We have been very blessed to have had such dedicated, experienced and committed teachers working here. 

We also formally farewell Amber Bullock who has been on leave and started in 2015 at Kalamunda in our Year 7 team, taught Science and Physics, set up our STEM robotic club and supported them to achieve such success.  We congratulate Andrew Smith who has also been a part of our Year 7 team and who has won a position at Hampton SHS for next year and farewell Sonya Danaher, Yang Xi and Sebastian Denison-Brown as they finish their contracts at the school.

We also thank our language assistants Lufthia Utami and Satsuki Magawa for enriching our language learning this year and wish them all the best as they return home.

We wish Chelsea Walcazk, Katie Haler and Ellen Dandarian all the best for their leave next year. 

Christmas Break and the New Year

Wishing everyone all the best for the festive season and a relaxing holiday break. 

Helen Deacon