From the Leadership Team

The Value of School Camps

I read the last edition of In The Know that detailed the exciting adventures of school camps with great interest and pride. Hearing the many anecdotes of students testing their mental and physical strength was impressive, as was the students’ meeting with his Excellency the Honourable General Sir Peter Cosgrove in Canberra.

However, what struck me as being particularly remarkable was Year 5 student Sam Pai’s air hockey goal against the robotic arm whilst visiting the National Science and Technology Centre (Questacon). For those not familiar with this exhibit, the robotic arm uses a variety of sensors, including a high speed camera that takes 167 photos per second to calculate the puck’s angles of incidence when it hits and rebounds from the table’s edges. It then instructs a mechanical arm to block the incoming puck and return it in the direction from which it came - usually at an increased velocity! Having attended numerous Canberra camps during my career, I have had many opportunities to test my skills against this technological marvel. Despite my greatest efforts, and the occasional lapse in sportsmanship, I have never scored a goal. Much like the school camps held during the last month, Sam’s goal was a triumph for Kilvington.

School education has evolved throughout recent decades, however one constant is the value and importance of school camps to developing young men and women. Despite the comprehensive regulatory requirements necessary to undertake such activities, schools have forged ahead with this rite of passage for their students. Similar to the students that attend, each camp is unique and provides groups with an original experience that is difficult to replicate anywhere else. The social and emotional benefits of attending camp are endless. Most students can easily attend an eight hour school day with their peers without difficulty, however spending a whole week in each other’s presence is a different matter. Spending this time together can develop understanding, acceptance, patience and mutual respect among cohorts. Students build personal skills such as independence, responsibility and accountability during camp. These attributes are integral in later life as students eventually leave home and commence tertiary education or join the workforce.

Camps also provide students with opportunities to build leadership and team-work skills, through enabling them to overcome numerous challenges and share in each other’s success. Camp also provides students and teachers the opportunity to create the positive meaningful relationships that research has identified as having above average effects on student achievement. Teachers can learn much about students during camp that would take longer to learn in a normal classroom. This positive student-teacher relationship supports learning and academic success in other academic areas.

Lastly, camps provide teachers with an opportunity to spend quality time with each other, sharing ideas, attitudes and approaches towards their practice. Much can be said for the benefits of students seeing teachers working together collaboratively and overcoming challenges with a positive attitude.

The school camp program is essential to the Kilvington Curriculum. We encourage all students and families to support the program by attending where possible, and face each challenge with an open-mind and positive attitude. I relish the opportunity to attend school camp and am just hoping I can visit Canberra next year to settle a score with my mechanical rival.

Sebastian Earle - Head of Junior School

Lucie Dickens Bestowed Modern Languages Award

Lucie Dickens, Academic Dean of Languages at Kilvington, was recently awarded the Modern Languages Teachers' Association of Victoria (MLTAV) certificate of Merit Award due to her outstanding contribution in establishing two highly successful student activities - the ‘Concours Lycéens’ for VCE French students and the ‘Soirée Trivia’ for Years 9 and 10 students of French in order to promote the learning of the French language.

Her high level of organisation has enabled the above events to be very successful and of growing popularity. She was able to engage the support of the French Honorary Consulate of Melbourne to support such events in the distribution of prizes to students. She has also been actively involved in ensuring that the values taught through languages promote intercultural understanding, tolerance and an appreciation of different value systems.

A worthy recipient indeed! Congratulations Lucie!

Awareness of Netflix Content

The Netflix series 13 Reasons Why has been generating a great deal of commentary in the community since it premiered in April.

Responses to the series have ranged from praise for tackling serious issues such as suicide and bullying to concerns about the graphic depiction of suicide.

It is recommended that parents maintain a reasonable level of awareness of the content that their children are accessing on platforms such as Netflix, as these are programs that young people will often watch alone or away from their parents. If your child has watched the show, it is recommended that parents take the time to discuss the content and messages as they have understood them.

Headspace has created a resource in response to the series with suggested ways of discussing the program, which can be accessed at https://www.headspace.org.au/news/dangerous-content-in-13-reasons-why/ .The Headspace page also has links to educational resources and advice regarding issues raised.

Our student support staff with expertise in identifying and managing mental health concerns, Janet Costello (Counsellor) and Sally Kenney (Psychologist), are also able to provide counselling support to students who have watched the show and have found it distressing.

Some other links to read:

Matt Brinson - Head of Senior School and Sally Kenney - Psychologist

Staffing

Matthew Cliff, one of our Board members, has resigned due to his busy work schedule. I thank Matthew for his valuable contribution to the Board and to Kilvington over the past 5 years. His wisdom and efforts have been greatly appreciated.

Jon Charlton - Principal