From the Leadership Team
Rob French, Principal
A warm welcome to all our families from ELC through to Year 12, especially those joining Kilvington for the first time!
It has been a busy start to the year. We enjoyed connecting with parents at our morning teas last week and have already held the Year 7 and Junior School information evenings. Upcoming events for Years 8, 9, 10, and 11 will take place on Monday, offering valuable opportunities for parents to hear from key staff members and connect with others from their children’s House and class.
It’s fantastic to see our Junior and Middle Years students settling into their learning spaces in Barring-buluk, our newly refurbished and renamed Middle School building, meaning 'many footprints'.
Importantly, the administration building and The HIVE are now connected on two levels, and our Junior School classes are all learning in close proximity to one another again.
We look forward to officially opening Barring-buluk on Wednesday, March 26, and warmly invite parents to tour the newly refurbished classrooms. Further details and an invitation will be sent out in the coming weeks.
In addition to the opening of Barring-buluk, our new playground equipment in The Green is now complete and currently being enjoyed by our Junior School students. You will also see the meaning of barring-buluk reflected here with many foot prints leading the way!
New canteen
Later this year, we will commence work to convert our two older science laboratories into a cafeteria, benefiting our entire school community.
This new space will offer indoor dining options and an expanded food selection. Parents will also gain the opportunity to enjoy a morning coffee after school drop-off.
Importantly, the re-purposing of the labs will not require any disruption or relocation of classes, as the works will be completed internally while using the existing footprint of the building.
Class of 2024 VCE results
On behalf of the Kilvington community, I congratulate the Class of 2024 and thank them for their outstanding contribution to the School over the years.
They are to be congratulated as a cohort on the manner with which they tackled their studies and how they supported one another. This is a wonderful group of young people who led the school community with compassion and enthusiasm.
I'd like to congratulate Tina Qi for achieving an ATAR of 99.9 and becoming Dux of the School. Congratulations also to Proxime Accessit Victoria Hu (99.8), Jude Teo (99.6), Matthew Yang (99.55), Milly Eyres (99.35), Sofia Semechko (99.25) and Darcy Donohue (99.0), who all obtained scores over 99, placing them in the top 1% of the State.
This is outstanding, and certainly the largest number of students we have had scoring over 99 in recent memory.
Further congratulations to Tina Qi for achieving a study score of 50 in EAL, Jude Teo for obtaining 50 in Physics and Caleb Mendez (Year 11) for scoring 50 in Psychology.
Focus on teaching and learning
In recent years, we have established several staff committees to review areas of school life and recommend changes where appropriate. Recent examples include a Camp Review committee and Timetable Review committee, both of which proposed significant changes now implemented this year.
Over the second half of last year, our Head of Teaching and Learning, Alice James, convened the Learning Innovation committee, bringing together teachers from across the school to evaluate our teaching practices, student learning, and how we maximise academic potential.
The committee formed three sub-groups, each focusing on a key area: 1) Artificial intelligence and technology to assist learning, 2) 21st century skills across subjects and 3) Best teaching practice. The groups are still in operation this year.
As part of the investigation of best teaching practice, the committee identified the need for a more uniform approach to teaching in Senior School, and is developing a new pedagogical model to guide our teaching.
With the move to 50-minute classes, we are conscious of wanting to make every minute count. The new model is aligned to the Junior School Learning Structure model, which has been in practice for the past three years and is reviewed regularly.
Alice will share more insights into this new model in an upcoming edition of In The Know, outlining how each lesson is segmented for maximum student engagement and learning.
Kilvington Fair - 22 March
There is much to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead, and we're particularly excited about our biennial Kilvington Fair on 22 March! This event will be a wonderful celebration of the Kilvington community and is not to be missed!
Stay tuned for updates on opportunities to volunteer on the day, as any assistance you can provide will be very much appreciated.
Best wishes to all families for an amazing 2025.