Kiara College Newsletter - August 2022
Principal's Message
Kaya to all families, friends and communities.
Term 2 is always a term where we get the job done! Certainly, busy and some challenges for staff, students and family, whilst also maintaining our collective health and safety as a priority. Events in Term 2 were numerous, including: Year 9 and 10 Lightning Carnivals; Reconciliation Week – involving such activities as Walk for Reconciliation and On Country Learning at Yanchep National Park; Careers Expo (Years 10, 11 and 12) where students explored some of the businesses and industries they could potentially work for in the future, as well as courses of study at universities and other further education providers; ABCN Goals program events; whole school Reporting evening; Implementation of the Butterfly program; GRIP Leadership conference for students; and, of course NAPLAN.
The Shooting Stars program has made a significant and positive impact in its first full term of operation. The program for our Aboriginal girls also welcomes Shanya Bell to the team of Talicia Jetta and Faye Foai and the Regional manager Lowana Corley is based at our College when in Perth. The opportunity to engage, grow and learn about culture and success is really appreciated by all those involved. Our aim is to build a parallel program for boys in 2023.
Welcome new Kiara College staff: Mr Michael Monroe who is supporting staff and students in refining and developing teaching and learning pathways; Mr Jarrod Dimanlig – Program Coordinator Student Services – Years 7-9; our school nurse Rachel Puffette working with Shelene McGee; and our new Chaplain Leisl Mahood.
Term 3 is underway and the end of the first week saw the inaugural Production in our new Performing Arts Centre. Three performances of “Heathers” commenced from the Friday night and continued on the Saturday with both matinee and evening performances, and 33 students enjoyed performing to nearly 400 people. Singing, acting and dancing, all playing a part in this fabulous production! We were all treated to a professional performance that highlighted so much talent, commitment and dedication from our students, staff and indeed their families. Special thank you to the Production manager: Jodee Vause, Choreographer – Hayley Zaffino, and Music and Drama Director – Kezia Hamer.
As always, we continue on a pathway of continuous improvement in providing the best possible educational opportunities for our students. We aim for equity across all platforms of learning for our students and to achieve this provide customised pathways to cater for diversity and need. Thank you to parents, carers and family for your continued support. This enables change and improvement. The partnership between College and Community is one that we endeavour to build and foster into the future.
Take care and be well.
Warm regards
Grant Brown
Principal
GRIP Leadership Conference
GRIP Leadership is an independent organisation that exists to train and develop leaders with a special focus on school students and the educational sector and are well known for the “GRIP Student Leadership Conferences”.
Our Student Council were excited to attend this year’s conference that was held at the Perth Conference Centre and attended by 500+ students from schools across the Perth metropolitan area. Kiara College was well presented with our students participating and contributing in a variety of sessions that were designed to support leadership development including:
- Top Tips for House Captains
- Leading with Integrity
- Raising the standard of fundraising
- Raising the Standard of Public Speaking
- Working Effectively as a Team
It was a day well spent with our Student Council getting some great ideas and strategies that they are looking forward to putting into practise.
Aboriginal Dancers Applauded
A group of our Aboriginal students recently danced ad Caversham Valley Primary School. Their dancing was outstanding and they were wonderful representatives of Kiara College.
We were very pleased to receive the following feedback from the Deputy Principal at the Primary School:
"It was fabulous! Thank you so much for organising and supporting us with the NAIDOC performance. The students and teachers were totally engaged and got so much out of the experience. Such a great authentic learning experience for our students.
Your students were so polite, friendly and well behaved! What an absolute amazing bunch of kids! They performed with confidence and represented your school in such a positive way. Please pass on my thanks and congratulations to them.
It was so good to get to meet staff and the production crew and start to make links. I loved the teaching, role modelling, didj and singing that they did. Please pass on my thanks to the entire team.
Lets do it again sometime soon!"
2022 Careers Expo
On the 12th and 13th of May students from Years 10, 11 and 12 attended the 2022 Careers Expo at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was here that students learnt about some of the businesses and industries they could potentially work for in the future, as well as courses of study at universities and other further education providers. This helps them with multiple subjects in classrooms, specifically in English where they, create and analyse texts related to the workplace. They also explore workplace issues and perspectives.
Whist at the Expo, students were required to complete a scavenger hunt to help them engage in some professional dialogue about the exhibitors. This included interviews with industry professionals, developing an awareness of business names and industries and reflecting on their favourite part of the expo. The students who completed the most detailed scavenger hunt were Mark and Dylan, and these students won a canteen voucher for their amazing effort!
The staff at Kiara College hope this provided an engaging learning opportunity for students to investigate potential career options whilst also allowing them to network for work experience possibilities. We look forward to doing this again in 2023 and seeing the successful pathways it helped them forge for after they leave Kiara College.
Follow the Dream to Yanchep National Park
Kaya all,
Follow the Dream students from Hampton SHS, Kiara College, Morley SHS and Dianella Secondary College went to Yanchep National Park on Wednesday last week for an On-Country Cultural Learning Excursion. The day was facilitated by Derek Nannup, please see pictures attached.
Yanchep National Park is located close to the border of Wadjak and Yued boodja (country). Students began the excursion in the Wangi Mia (Yued dialect for Talking Place) by learning about traditional Noongar tools, the Noongar Six Seasons and making fire the traditional way with a balga (grass tree) stem. We then went for a walk, learning which leaves can be used as soap, other traditional uses of the balga, and dreamtime stories from the area.
After morning tea, students were back in the Wangi Mia learning the history of the didgeridoo, the different sounds, Noongar iconology, how stories were told with Noongar iconology drawn in the sand, then dances created to be performed on the sand. In contemporary times, we now see sand murals using the same cultural principles in Perth for different events.
After lunch the students learnt the different designs of the boomerang and their specific uses. They were given the opportunity to learn how to throw the boomerangs and spears. To finish the day, Derek lead the students on a walk to some caves in the Park. Derek has a wealth of Noongar kadadjiny (knowledge) and it was fantastic for him to transfer his kadadjiny onto our Follow the Dream students.
After 150 km were added to Kiara College’s school bus odometer, a moorditj (awesome) day was done.
Boordwan (speak to you later)
ABCN Launch
Staff and students were excited to attend the launch of this year's ABCN Goals Program. They had the opportunity to explore what success means to them, and begin their goal setting. Most students have set the goal to achieve a better grade and/or pass upcoming tests.
Make sure you take some time to chat to your child if they are participating in this program, and find out what they are aiming to achieve over the next term. They are all very focused and keen to succeed and we can't wait to share their successes.
Heathers The Musical
Our inaugural school musical production ‘Heathers - The Musical’ opened to a full house recently. The atmosphere inside our new state of the art theatre was exhilarating and buoyed the anxious spirits of the cast and crew backstage. Students stepped onstage and delivered such powerful and practised performances, you would have thought they were seasoned performers.
Our students brought to life a great story with a strong message about youth, individuality and acceptance to lively laughter and deserved applause and then did it all again TWICE on the Saturday! They performed with such enthusiasm and enjoyment and as a group, these young people supported each other so completely that their bond was infectious, and was something truly wonderful to be a part of. Kiara College is extremely proud to have been able to provide students with the opportunity to undertake such an ambitious endeavour in the first year of our new theatre’s operations, the bar was set high for students and they worked hard to ensure that a very high standard was presented. Well done!
Providing this type of performing arts experience would not be possible without the support of the school community and I would like to acknowledge the hard work, commitment, dedication, enthusiasm, expertise and talent of our staff and students in pulling together the experience that was Heathers – The Musical!