Term 3 Week 2

Principal's Message

Dear families,

Welcome back to Term Three at Kimberley College.  A special welcome to the many new families who have commenced their journey at KC this term.  I trust all students had an enjoyable mid-year holiday.

The term has only just started but we have already had several special events.  Firstly in week one, we welcomed back to the College 12 of our alumni to speak to our Year 11 and 12 students. Amongst the group we had graduates from KC from as far back as 2006 right up to those who graduated last year.  There was a chef, a couple of teachers, engineers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, a dance school owner and the list goes on.  One of the alumni even has their child enrolled into prep for next year which is fantastic.  There was a common thread to the message they gave to our students and I shared elements of this to the whole secondary school at assembly this week: finding your passion; seize opportunities; work on your brand; persistence; and the importance of networking.

Also in week one, the Nunukal Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Group led our assembly to celebrate NAIDOC week.  

This week on assembly our Musical for 2022, Legally Blonde was announced.  Auditions will happen later this year with further information to follow. 

Our Year 11s participated in a whole day leadership workshop with Y-Lead on Tuesday as part of their SEL program.  The event culminated in students publicly acknowledging each other’s leadership strengths; this was incredibly touching and powerful to observe.  Our Year 12s will undertake leadership training with Y-Lead next week.

Two of our big signature events also occur later this term.  The Invictus Wellbeing Conference and the College Fair.

I have included below more of the results of the parent survey completed recently.  We now have the results of the staff and student surveys and are using this feedback as we plan for the future of Kimberley College.  It was very pleasing to see responses for almost all questions was above 80% either strongly agree or agree.

1.  Overall I am satisfied with my child/children's education at Kimberley College.

2.  I am satisfied with the pastoral care provided to my child/children by their teachers.

3.  I am satisfied with the level of focus on student safety at the College.

4. I am satisfied with the standards of behaviour set by the College.

5. I am satisfied with the standard of uniform expected by the College.

6. I am satisfied with the quality of teaching and learning at the College.

7. I recommend Kimberley College to others as a 'school of choice'.

Finally, the primary and middle school parent teacher interviews are on next week along with subject information evenings for students entering year 10 or 11 next year.

Glenn Johnson 

Middle School News

Welcome back! What an exciting term we have planned for Middle School students. We started the term with a captivating cultural performance from the Nunukal Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Group to celebrate NAIDOC week’s theme “Heal Country”.

What’s coming up this term?

Coming up in the term we have many activities and events for our student body to get involved in.

• parent teacher interviews will run in week three. If you were unable to book via parent portal please contact your classroom teacher to book a time with them. These interviews will be run slightly different to our Term One conferences, where students were the main driver in the discussion. The focus of these sessions will be on academic progress and any report questions you might have.
• ‘Write a Book in a Day’, is a literary competition that will take place on Friday the 13^th of August. The invited students will have 12 hours to write, illustrate and publish a book.
• Our ‘Invictus’ takes on the theme of Thrive and Flourish. We look forward to some inspiring guest speakers and taking the opportunity to continue to build relationships with those around us.
• This year we are trialling Tournament of Minds, students have chosen their teams and are getting ready to choose their challenge.
• Next year is Musical year, so we are starting preparation early and getting a jump on auditions.
• And last, but not lease is of course our school Fair. This year hopefully Covid will not interfere with our opportunity to welcome our community to join us as we celebrate our students.

As you can see we have a jam-packed term for our students and we can’t wait to share their achievements with you.

Margherite Rigden - Middle School Co-ordinator

Primary School News

Welcome back to Term Three!  Wow, this year is flying.  Across the Primary School we have started exploring our topics for the term. 

This term in Kokomini, the students will be exploring the theme ‘World Travellers’.  The Prep students started their term by presenting a ‘Round the World’ ticket for the adventures ahead.  They also had a wonderful experience when they joined Year 12 Art for some art lessons with the Senior Students and Ms Roya.  Kokowara is looking at the theme ‘Around the World in 80 Days’.  As part of their Rich Task learning, they will be following ‘Alex the Adventurer’ as he travels around the world. Each week the students will visit a new continent and explore the cultures and traditions of different places.  The theme in Waka Waka this term is ‘Who’s your Neighbour?’ The students will be learning more about Australia’s neighbouring countries, looking closely at their cultures and customs.  ‘Global Communities’ is the Gubbi Gubbi theme for term three. Throughout the term, student will be choosing countries and working toward a model UN to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals.

In order to prepare our students for the Kimberley College Fair in Week Nine, there will be a focus on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals across the Primary School.  The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognise that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.

Term 3 in Gubbi Gubbi

Gubbi Gubbi are ready to take a trip around the world this term, as they explore all things to do with the theme, ‘Global Communities.’ They are keen to travel, and in Maths, will be planning a ‘Fantasy Flight,’ as they budget and justify a trip around the world to selected destinations. In Art, our focus is Multicultural Australia. The children will choose a country to research and investigate cultural traditions, symbols, foods, landmarks, etc, to then create a canvas celebrating everything about their chosen nation. A major focus of our term, in the lead up to Fair is a look at the UN Sustainability Goals. During English and Rich Task, the children will analyse the goals, before selecting a country that is impacted at large, to discuss at a mock UN Conference. The children will need to persuade the panel as to why their country deserves help with their global issue and why their solutions for sustainability are viable. To incorporate their critical thinking and ethical understandings, in HASS and Science, the children will become economic entrepreneurs, as they consider their own, as well as others wants and needs. We will also be tuning into The Olympics to cheer on our Aussie athletes and chosen countries too! An exciting and engaging term awaits our Year 5 and 6 students! 

Gubbi Gubbi Teachers

Save The Date – Important Dates in the Primary School

26^th - 30^th July - Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday 6^th August – Quota Primary Dance Eisteddfod

9^th – 11^th August - EKKA Holiday

19^th – 20^th August - Invictus Wellbeing Conference

24^th – 30^th August - Book Fair

Wednesday 25^th August - Book Week Dress Up Parade

26^th August – Dance Showcase Evening

Tuesday 31^st August – Prep Vision Screening

Thursday 2^nd September- Father’s Day Event

Friday 3^rd September- Pupil Free Day

Friday 10^th September- Fair Day

PRIMARY ASSEMBLIES

We will be having our Primary assemblies on the EVEN WEEKS of this term. 

Assembly Schedule Term Three: 

Assembly starts at 8:45am.  Unfortunately, due to the restricted room in the Green Space, we are unable to invite parents at this time. 

We wish to congratulate the following students who received a KC Attitude award at our first assembly.  Well done, Rosabella Evans, Jake Clark, Thomas Lawler, Lucas Maher – Capper, Lachlan Dickens, Tyler Hale, Ryan Walden, Ellana Pavey, Chloe Zimbardi, Noah Locking, Gabriella Kwan, Nelson Grant, Jaz Petersen, Jared Mulcahy and Madden MacAulay. 

Also, we wish to congratulate the following the students for receiving Age Champion at our Athletics Carnival at the conclusion on Term Two.

A Few Reminders:

Curriculum Overviews for each class should have been sent home via email last week.  If you have not received it, please contact Miss Shepherdson at kristy.shepherdson@kimberley.college.

On the day of an absence, please email student.absences@kimberley.college and the classroom teachers by 8.30am.  If your child is arriving late (after the bell at 8.45am) you are required to sign your student in at the Student HUB and receive a late slip. 

Kristy Shepherdson - Head of Primary                                                                                                                                    

From our Counsellor

Social Emotional Development

Understanding and managing emotions: why it’s important

Understanding and managing emotions is important for development and wellbeing during childhood and adolescence.

Children and teenagers who can understand and manage their emotions are more likely to:

• express emotions by speaking calmly or in appropriate ways
• bounce back after feeling strong emotions like disappointment, frustration or excitement
• control impulses
• behave appropriately – that is, in ways that don’t hurt other people, things or themselves.

This is good for children because it helps them learn, make friends, become independent and more.

Your child’s ability to understand and manage emotions develops over time. When your child is young, they’ll need help with understanding emotions. This mostly involves recognising and naming emotions and lays the groundwork for managing emotions as your child gets older.

As your child grows, they’ll learn more strategies to manage their emotions without your help.

Understanding and managing emotions is also called emotional regulation. It’s an important part of your child’s self-regulation.

Children 3-8 years: learning to understand and manage emotions

Children develop their ability to recognise and name emotions through plenty of practice. It’s easier for children to practise through play, when they’re relaxed, or before their emotions get too intense.

Here are some ways you can help your child practise recognising and naming emotions:

• Talk about the emotions that characters in books, TV shows or movies might be experiencing. For example, ‘Look at Bluey’s face. Bluey looks sad’.
• Read books about emotions with your child. To start with, you could try The way I feel by Janan Cain, All about feelings from Usborne, or F is for feelings by Goldie Millar and Lisa A. Berger.
• Show your child how you recognise your emotions and help them to recognise theirs. For example, ‘When I broke that glass, I yelled really loudly. Does that happen to you when you make a mistake and feel angry?’
• Help your child work out how their body feels when they’re experiencing an emotion. For example, ‘You look nervous. Have you got butterflies in your tummy?’
• Give your child opportunities to explore emotions through play. Play ideas to develop emotions  include messy play, drawing or painting, puppet play, dancing and music play.
• Do an emotions activity with your child. You choose an emotion like ‘excited’ and act it out with your child. You can turn this activity into a simple guessing game.
  

You can also start helping your child learn simple strategies to manage their emotions. For example:

• Teach your child ways to calm down from strong emotions like counting to 10 or taking five deep breaths.
• Suggest ways to react to strong emotions – for example, clap your hands when you’re excited, ask for a hug when you’re sad, or squeeze your cushion really hard when you’re angry.

Pre-teens and teenagers: strengthening emotional skills

Pre-teens and teenagers often feel strong and sometimes overwhelming emotions like shame and humiliation. They might know the words for these emotions but still have trouble recognising them when they’re upset. Also, because of teenage brain development, teenagers don’t always have the skills to express and manage emotions in an adult way.

That’s why pre-teens and teenagers still need help with understanding and managing emotions. With practice, your child will be able to manage their emotions without you.

Here are some ideas to strengthen your child’s ability to understand and manage emotions in the teenage years:

• Step in calmly when you can see emotions building up. The sooner your child can spot their emotional changes, the easier it will be for them to stay in control of their behaviour.
• Help your child notice early physical signs of strong emotions. For example, ‘When I was stuck in traffic yesterday, my heart was racing and I felt really hot. Does that happen to you when you’re frustrated?’
• Help your child notice early behaviour signs of strong emotions. For example, ‘You’re starting to hit that keyboard a bit hard. Do you need to stop for a minute and get some fresh air?’
• Talk with your child about what you do when you notice the signs that strong emotions are building up. For example, ‘When I start to feel really angry with myself, I focus on something I’m really proud of instead. Would that work for you?’
• Work with your child on a list of things they could do when they notice strong emotions building up, like going for a run, listening to loud music on their headphones, or meditating. Try to include plenty of options so your child can choose ones that feel right in different situations.

Remember that talking with teenagers about emotions won’t be as effective when they’re struggling with the strong emotion. You need to step in early or wait until the emotion has passed.

Raisingchildren.net.au 

Klynton Kelly-Bolt

Art News

There is an emphasis on the concept of 'community' in the Visual Art in Practice syllabus. Every year, Year 12 students are encouraged to get involved with the community to do an art activity. Unfortunately, during the last two years, Covid has made it quite impossible for us to interact with communities such as aged care facilities or child care centres. This year, Ms Roya came up with the idea of inviting our Kokomini students to Year 12 Visual Art in Practice class. Kokomin students were grouped with Senior Art students and together, created colourful artworks with the theme of 'Under the Water'. It was a fun and exciting session where our youngest group of students spent quality time with our most senior students, building connections in our valued KC community.

Dance Showcase

Please join us for a night of fun filled entertainment as we celebrate the success of our 2021
Dance Program at Kimberley College.

Admin News

New enrolments - we have limited spaces for Year 5 2020, Prep and Year 7 is full for next year.  Below is the link to complete an application.

Please remember that it is imperative that students leaving school early must be collected from the Student Hub and be signed out.  Parents are not permitted to walk into the school to collect students.

Golf News

Congratulations to our 2021 Coca-Cola Carbrook Golf Classic Ladies Champion,  Kimberley College Year 10 student, Lilli Dunn

Library News

AG News

Every week the school farm supplies the tuckshop with farm fresh eggs.  They are courtesy of our Hi-Line Brown ladies. 

NCCD Data Collection

2021 Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact Michelle Murdoch at michelle.murdoch@kimberley.college.