Principal's Memo Term One 2025

Dear Kimberley College Community,

The 2025 school year, our 25th as a college has begun in earnest with Term One
showcasing the talents and enthusiasm of our hard-working students. Each term I
like to take the opportunity to share with the Kimberley College community some
of our key events, good news stories and achievements of our students and staff.

I want to commence by thanking our wonderful staff without whom we would not be able to offer our students the rich range of experiences that we do each year. Thank you also to our parents and carers for your ongoing support and commitment to the College.

Celebrating Resilience and Community Spirit

This term, our community demonstrated remarkable strength during Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The way our students, parents, and staff came together in support of one another was truly inspiring. I want to particularly acknowledge the incredible efforts of our support staff, including our maintenance team and canteen convener, whose hard work ensured the safety and well-being of everyone on campus. Thank you for exemplifying the spirit of Kimberley College.

Class of 2024

We congratulate our 2024 Year 12 students, their families and our incredible team of staff on their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to achieve their goals. Our graduates have excelled both academically and vocationally, with many receiving outstanding results and securing placements in universities, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities.  We’re excited for the Class of 2024 as they begin their next journey, whether that’s continuing their education or launching their careers

Rites of Passage Program

At the beginning of 2025 the Year 9 students were enrolled into our signature Rites of Passage Program – This program, has been co-developed in consultation with international expert, Dr Arne Rubinstein OAM and the Rites of Passage Institute. This bespoke wellbeing program is embedded into the College curriculum and is designed to support teenagers, as they navigate the challenges of transitioning from children into young adults. Throughout Year 9, Students learn about self, community and 21st century life skills including: resilience, a growth mindset and having a purpose beyond self. The program culminates with a special Year 9 camp and ceremony with parents and carers as the capstone events for the middle school before transitioning into the Kimberley College Senior School. Rites of Passage Parent Presentation and Workshop will be held on Wednesday11th June from 5.00pm. More information to follow.

Outdoor Education Program

This term has seen students from Years 7 and 8, Year 10 and Year 12 Biology students participate in our Outdoor Education Program, attending camps across the SE Queensland and Northern NSW. These experiences not only allowed students to build teamwork and leadership skills but also fostered resilience and personal growth. Well done to all students who stepped out of their comfort zones and made lasting memories. The reports from the teachers who attended has been excellent – thank you all for your participation and enthusiasm to embrace the challenges and opportunities.

Academic and Co-curricular Achievements

We recently launched our new KC Co-Curricular Program for 2025. Aligned with the College’s Misson to provide opportunities to find their passion and purpose, we have carved out quality time each week for all Secondary School students to come together, strengthen connections and engage in a wide range of sporting and non-sporting activities.  Academic and Co-curricular Achievements. Our KC Kookaburras compete against several independent schools across six sports per season. Our non-sporting activities include arts, theatre sports, photography, journalism, choir, trading cards, gardening, beekeeping, bushwalking, yoga, chess and golf – just to name a few! The continuing wet weather has limited games so far this season but we all look forward to improved weather conditions next term.

Our annual high school swimming carnival took place during the first week of
term and saw Jagera victorious again for the third year in a row. Thank you to
the Head of Sport, Mrs Arnold and her team for another well executed carnival
this year. 

12 Years
William Walcroft
Kayleigh Holden

13 Years
Charlie Pitt
Violet Best

14 Years
Llewelyn Undercliffe
Zalia Peterson

15 Years
Haydn Patterson
Sasha Colenbrander

16 Years
Jackson Bennett
Willow Ramsey

17 Years
Braedon Dal Santo
Lahanna Field

18 Years
William Howes
Kiara Cook

Debating

The debating season for Years 7, 8 & 9 commenced this term in competition with some challenging and thought-provoking topics.  Year 7 explored the world of debating in a supportive, coaching-based
environment with Mrs. Dixon. The focus - Building skills, confidence, and learning
to adapt, persevere, and thrive—no scores needed! 
Year 8 tackled their first competitive short prep debate with confidence. While both teams came away with a loss, the learning was invaluable. Special shout-out to Jagera (Serah, Chloe, Ashton J, and Noah), who were this close to a win—losing only on minor points after matching Ormiston College on majors. What a valiant effort! 
A huge congratulations to our two Year 8 teams who competed in the QDU competition for the first time! Both teams presented strong, well-structured arguments and came away with fantastic wins—what an incredible way to kick off the season!  Well, done to Maikulan and Jagera on your victories! We can’t wait to see what
these dynamic teams bring to Round 2.

World’s Greatest Shave

On Friday 4th April, we will be hosting our World’s Greatest Shave event at the College in support of the Leukaemia Foundation. We will be raising crucial funds that will give people facing blood cancer all the support and information they need, while driving breakthrough research projects discovering better ways to diagnose and treat blood cancer. If you would like to support the team, please head to World's Greatest Shave - Kimberley College2025 or selecting the “Donate” option at worldsgreatestshave.com and search for our “Kimberley College” team to make a donation. All donations are greatly appreciated.

Looking Ahead

Term Two sees Kokoda Challenge preparations commence for our teams (thankyou to all that volunteered).  The P & F is making final preparations for the upcoming annual Trivia Night on Saturday 31st May. It’s shaping up to be a great night with prizes galore donated by the local business community. You’ll be able to register your team shortly.  Support the College and to take the opportunity to meet some other members of the College community.  The demand for places within the College continues to grow each year and are in high demand. Currently we are a capacity in the Primary school, with Middle school nearing capacity. We have now closed enrolments for both our Prep and Year 7 cohorts for 2026. We urge existing KC families seeking places for the Prep and Year 7 intake commencing in 2027 to apply immediately. I would like to wish all members of our school community - families, carers, and students a wonderful holiday and we look forward to welcoming students back to campus on Tuesday 22 April.

Best wishes

Glenn Johnson

Principal