A Week in Boarding

The weather has finally turned to the winter cold. It doesn't take much to have us shivering in the cold. It's always a great idea to ensure your daughter has plenty of black tights for school to stay extra warm in the winter uniform.

Staff have been encouraging the naming of clothing as it returns from the laundry. Parents are encouraged to take stock over the holidays of what clothing requires banking before returning to school. We also encourage blazers, skirts and jumpers are to be dry cleaned in the holidays ready for another term in winter uniform.

We're hitting some peak assessment times as we head towards the end of term 2 and your daughter may be feeling a little unsettled or unsure of her abilities. It's important for parents to know that teachers unpack assessments and help plan and chunk actions for students to know how to plan and use their time. Guiding your daughter through realistic conversations and not hyperbolic ones involves encouraging thoughtful conversation and setting a calm tone. Acknowledge her feelings without amplifying the drama. For example, if you're hearing "this is the worst day ever", you might respond with "it sounds like you're having a really tough day. Let's talk about what happened." Encourage specific events and emotions to be discussed rather than broad exaggerations. Being precise can help it be more manageable. You can ask "what made today so hard?" This can lead to a question asking if they need help problem solving rather than jumping straight in to solve.

Sometimes even trying to help your daughter name different emotions can help unpack some of what they are feeling. At School, we use the mood metre for students to help name their feelings. This comes from Yale University's RULER program.

RULER is an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence:

Recognising emotions in oneself and others
Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
Labelling emotions with a nuanced vocabulary
Expressing emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context
Regulating emotions with helpful strategies

Ms Jo Sarmiento

Deputy Principal - Wellbeing & Boarding

Long Weekend Adventures

The girls had a well earned break over the EXEAT weekend with family, friends and day girl families. The highlights were:

“My family and I had a bonfire back home” Charlotte - Year 7

“I enjoyed a delicious Korean bbq dinner with my sister and her friend” Abby - Year 8

“I spent quality time with my Cousins, Aunty, Uncle and Nan and Pop over dinner which was lots of fun.” Layla - Year 9

“I saw the Drone show at Vivid with my parents, it was fantastic!” Eve - Year 9

“I spent my time with my family and went to a lot of dinners. I also binge watched TV shows like The Vampire Diaries and spent most of the weekend sleeping!” Frankie - Year 10

“I went to my friend's farm on the long weekend and shot arrows at a tree. I didn’t hit the target and I didn't really enjoy shooting arrows as it’s too hard. I also watched a lot of movies over the weekend with my friend” Vy - Year 11

“I did lots of work over the weekend and some jobs on the farm. I enjoyed seeing my dogs Abby, Tess, Meg and Bob and my little brother George”. Audrey - Year 12

Weekend Rec Activities

The Kambala Boarders recently enjoyed an outing filled with rhythm, fun, and healthy treats. The boarders embarked on a Recreation outing to a local dance school in Rose Bay, where they participated in a private dance class.

The class catered to all skill levels, ensuring that everyone, from beginners to more experienced dancers, could participate and enjoy. With lively music setting the pace, the boarders learned various dance styles, from contemporary to hip-hop. There was lots of laughter as the girls mastered new moves and routines, showcasing their creativity and teamwork.

After an invigorating session of dancing, the group headed to the waterfront for a well-deserved treat. They all enjoyed delicious acai bowls from local favourite; Oakberry Acai. This outing provided the girls with a chance to be active and try something new and strengthened their bonds while creating another fun memory.

Ms Tenika O'Brien

Boarding

Afternoon Rec Activities

For Tuesday Rec, the Tivoli girls had a blast as Drama Teacher Ms Derrig directed some fun movement games. They warmed up with “Bang!” then played a group game of Charades. This definitely brought out the girls’ competitive side and got them excited!

Later, in celebration of Layla and Eva’s birthday, Gap Student Emma led an activity to make Mars Bar slices. However, the girls enthusiastically took over as they knew the steps off by heart.

For our Wednesday Rec, after a very tiring day, the girls wanted to sit and relax with the Gap students so they decided to have a mindfulness session where we all read our chosen books underneath the heater whilst watching the sun go down.

Some girls even took a few sneak peaks at the VIVID lights which they cannot get enough of with this incredible view!

On Thursday Rec, the girls enjoyed a fun game of Uno with staff Kayla and Gap student Sophie.

Saturday Sport

Our hockey girls are braving the cold weather in training at the moment with an extra day girl to support with hot teas in the house!

The wet weather prevented most sports games from going ahead this weekend. However, indoor sports like basketball were able to go ahead! Congratulations to Amarni Year 8 who won her basketball game by 5 points!

Events

Our Yalari girls all had a fun Tuesday night out with Shona, Destiny and Kayla (Yalari Support Team) when they went to see the Bangarra Dance Community Performance at the Opera House - “Horizon”.

All enjoying a hearty dinner at Betty's Burgers before the show, and enjoying a nice view of Vivid Sydney whilst walking around Circular Quay, the girls came back with raving reviews of the night.

“It was such unique choreography and the costumes were amazing!”

Chloe Year 8 - “ it was spectacular and very inspirational watching cultural dances”

Year 7 and 12 got to spend a fun night together on Friday. Sharing in their sisterhood, the girls were able to have fun dressed in fluro colours and spend time with their friends and buddies. The night was a hit for both year groups! Izzy in Year 7 enjoyed spending time with her Year 12 buddy Phoebe and said she was a really good DJ. Izzy also enjoyed playing Just Dance. Charlotte Year 7 said that the night was really fun and enjoyable, the food was good too. Year 12’s had great fun at Fluro Night with Year 7 too. Lots of dress ups and Phoebe’s DJ decks made a special appearance!

Fernbank Fun

Our talented Year 12’s have been rehearsing endlessly for their HSC Group Performance inspired by ‘Toddlers in Tiaras’. Hayley and Natalie have shown us some sneak peaks of scenes for the house in the costumes the whole house witnessed them making.

Starting out from creating AI designs of their portraits in 30 years time, they ironed on their faces and made-up pageant company names to depict themselves as the ultimate ‘pageant mums’. The Dance Moms remake has definitely been making the girls excited to view the real show in the HSC Drama Showcase later in the year.

And it is safe to say, the girls have grown very fond of Hayley’s fashionable tutu!

Year 11’s have been baking up a storm in Fernbank recently for Friday bake sales. They managed to work the baking in between sessions studying for Economics exams, working on Assessments, applying for Prefect positions and performing their habitual Thursday night routine - fake tanning!

DJ in the House - Phoebe - Year 12 - received a belated birthday present in the form of a mixing deck. It’s first run was in the form of a Year 12 bathroom disco. Poppy in Year 11 is helping mix some tunes as well and we hear there is a collaboration coming our way!

What are we reading....

Zara Yr 9 - I’m reading The Dictionary of Lost Words in the evenings before bed because we are learning about it at School.

Kristy Yr 10 - I’ve read “in order to live” by Yeonmi Park, and it is a Biography that tells a tragic story of a young girl's escape from North Korea to China and later to South Korea through overcoming her most difficult memories.

Prep

Year 7 students have alot of assessments at the moment including Maths, Music and Latin.

Year 8 have all been working hard on their English formative task which requires them to turn stories from a family member’s life into an engaging piece of historical fiction.

Our diligent Year 9 girls are already busy revising for their upcoming Maths exam even though it’s not due for two weeks.

Year 10 have been focussed on their upcoming Science exam on Friday, with thankfully a few Staff doing Science based Degrees that have been able to help!

Coming along in leaps and bounds in the Prep study department are the Yr 11’s. They continue to impress with the way they ease into prep each night making full use of their common room space, whiteboard, study nooks, each other and Julia their designated Tutor from A Team Tutoring.

Yr 12’s worked extremely hard over the long weekend on their exams in Wk 7. Business and Maths were particularly challenging and the girls are exhausted and looking forward to the break (even though they are very aware that the next exams they will be doing will be their HSC Trials.)

Quote of the week

“It’s more comfy than sitting on the floor” - Natalie (Yr 12) as staff walk into her dorm to her laying in the foetal position on top of her desk

Boarding Bytes

Issue 6 · 19 Jun 2024

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