Kambrya College Newsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Community Members

 

 

What an outstanding start to the 2025 year! More than 2400 students walked through the gates, and 280 staff were here to greet them! The college is full of energy, and we are off to a great start. I extend a very warm welcome to our 440 Year 7 students and their families, and also to any other new students and families. A hearty welcome also to all of our new teachers and support staff who have come on board for 2025. 

 

I must open the year by publicly thanking Mr Martin McDonald who filled in for me whilst I took the entire 2024 academic year off on long service leave. He did an outstanding job, and unsurprisingly he was well supported by our amazing staff. I also thank all parents and students for giving him your support. The College continued to thrive, and we have continued to achieve great results. Martin will resume duties as an Assistant Principal at our college, but he will also continue to be engaged in some higher responsibilities. 

 

2025 focus

Our results from 2024 again demonstrated that we are one of the highest performing schools not only in Southern Melbourne, but in South Eastern Victoria. Our VCE results matched or surpassed many private schools in the district, and we had the strongest results of all non-selective public schools in the area. Our NAPLAN data for Year 7 and 9 was outstanding, and it surpassed state, similar school and local network results. And yet again our school culture data again demonstrated outstanding positivity, with results that would rank us in the top 20% of the state for students, and the top 10% for staff. Parent satisfaction was also high, and it exceeded state, similar schools and network averages. 

 

With all of that said, the job is never done, and we will be continuing our strong focus on whole school improvement. Literacy and Numeracy will continue to be a key focus area, with both instructional practice and intervention strategies in place. We’ll also be continuing to focus on maintaining an orderly learning environment, including positive student behaviour; I ask all parents to support us with high expectations for students in this regard. Our transition to the new senior pathways One VCE model has been a fantastic success, but we will be continuing to refine our program to deliver even greater opportunities for students to excel in academic or vocational pathways. Our teachers will be continuing to collaborate and refine instructional practice in the classroom to provide consistent and high quality instruction. Student wellbeing is always a priority and will be targeted for further improvement through a range of new initiatives. 

 

LAB reports and online Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences 

At Kambrya College, we conduct these conferences online. This provides greater flexibility for parents, and also ensures that interviews remain on schedule. These will occur on Thursday 6 March and Friday 7 March. On these days all students (7-12) will be provided with instructions for independent learning from home for each of their classes via Compass. In the event that you require supervision for your child, please contact the school. LAB (Learning, Attitudes and Behaviour) reports will be released to parents in the week of the conferences. Notifications will soon be sent to parents with information on how to make bookings via Compass.   

 

Grounds and Facilities

We’ve just opened up some brand new facilities! For those of you who aren’t aware, over the last two years we designed and constructed some outstanding new facilities in the College. These included the expansion of our existing science wing to include two new chemistry laboratories, and also the construction of a new two storey Junior School building that hosts 18 new classrooms, including four new STEAM laboratories. It is fair to say that we are ecstatic with these new buildings. See photos below. We have a to do list for 2025 and will be continuing to enhance the grounds and facilities as quickly as possible. 

 

Uniform

All students are required to wear full school uniform to, from and whilst at school. Please support us by ensuring that your child has the full uniform, and that they wear it. 

 

Drop off and Parking 

It is busier than ever around the school at drop of and pick up times. 

  • Please DO NOT enter any of the staff car parks for drop off or pick up. This is an OHS requirement for our staff, and is very dangerous for students. 
  • Please utilise surrounding streets for drop off; students don’t all need to be dropped off/picked up at the front gate. There are multiple access points around the college. 
  • Please respect our neighbours and do not park in front of their driveways.
  • Please drive carefully around our school (and at all times!). There are more than 3000 children between us and Brentwood Park Primary School. Your care for their safety is appreciated. 

 

Parents on school grounds

Please do not enter the school grounds, unless you are coming to the front reception area. This is a Child Safety requirement. 

 

School Council Elections

2025 School Council elections will soon be upon us. There will be correspondence coming soon about nomination processes. 

 

School Photos

Photo day is next Tuesday 11 February. Photographers will be onsite from 8:15am, and our Year 11 and 12 students are asked to come to school a little earlier if possible, and head straight to the gym. This will get us ahead of the schedule for the day. Year 7-10 students will be done during class time throughout the day. Any sibling photos will be done at recess or lunch time, and siblings will need to coordinate this amongst themselves to go there at the same time. Parents can order photos through their Compass account. A catch up day will be available for any students who are absent on the day. 

 

 

Here are some photos of our new building:

 

 

 

 

Yours sincerely, 

 

Keith Perry

Principal