Student/School News
Year 7 Art Competition Winners
Thank you to all the Year 7 students who entered the Term 1 Art Competition. The standard of work was incredibly high, and it was fantastic to see so much creativity and effort across a wide range of mediums. Choosing the winners was not an easy task!
🥇 1st Place
Scarlett Li
Awarded for her exceptional technical precision and originality.
🥈 2nd Place
Pahul Sidhu
Recognised for her creativity and originality.
🥉 3rd Place
Nusaiba Iram
Awarded for her strong technical precision.
1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
About the Winning Artwork
The first-place artwork is a detailed coloured pencil drawing featuring a range of unique Australian animals, including kangaroos, wombats, platypuses, birds and frogs. The animals are connected by yellow lines representing the “web of life.” Through this artwork, Scarlett communicates an important message: every species plays an important role in the ecosystem, and protecting animals helps keep the Australian environment healthy.
All entered artworks will be displayed in the Art & Technology Building, so be sure to stop by and take a look!
Congratulations to our winners and thank you again to all students who participated!
New School Mural
About The Mural:
This mural was painted on 16/12/2025 by Peek Whurrong woman Bayley Mifsud, professionally known by her Aboriginal name, Merindah-Gunya, meaning ‘Beautiful Spirit’. Merindah-Gunya learnt to create art in the style of her Aboriginal ancestors from elders with connections to mobs across Australia, including Bunurong country, on whose land Kambrya College proudly stands.
At the heart of our college, this mural paints the story of the Kambrya community. All Bunurong artwork is painted from a birds-eye view, as it is done from the perspective of Bunjil, the creator, in the form of a wedge-tailed eagle.
Depicted on the left are our four Sub-Schools: Bulen-Bulen, Gwonowa, Mirrim and Warin, each in their respective colours of: blue, yellow, red and green. The centre of the circle represents a campfire, symbolic in Bunurong culture as a meeting place or “Kambrya”, from which the college derives its name. This complements the design of the Courtyard and the Kambrya logo itself, both emulating a campfire. On the right is each of the year levels of the Senior School, Years 10, 11 and 12.
The lines that connect the Sub-Schools and year levels together represent the connection to one another by land, with the connection to land being a core component of hundreds of First Nations cultures, including the Bunurong people. Depicted through the wavy blue lines is the country’s sacred waterways. Adjoining these waterways are the people of the land, shown in their horseshoe shape to represent a person sitting cross-legged. The placement of these people on the waterbeds symbolises the significance of water to the traditional custodians of these lands, where gatherings would take place, with children playing and learning in these areas.
Student Account:
The mural was designed and painted in conjunction with Kambrya’s Koorie students, where we had the opportunity to leave our mark on the school in a way that would not only make it more visually appealing, but also do justice to the representation of its true heritage. This gave us the chance to bond and connect on a deeper basis than we had ever previously been able to. I was immensely grateful to have been able to paint this mural with Bayley as my final activity at Kambrya as a student. While I was not able to build these relationships for my earlier years at the college, I am deeply thankful that we have an opportunity that many of our people have been denied for generations, to express ourselves and connect with one another freely.
While I am sad that I will not be able to appreciate this beautiful artwork as often as I’d like, I am reassured in knowing that Kambrya College is working towards becoming a more welcoming and inclusive space of First Nations peoples and cultures going forward.
We would like to extend a massive thank you to Bayley and all the staff supporting this project, namely, Assistant Principal Lisa Luck and Ms Jasmine Munzel.
Jesse Barnett, ex-Year 12 student.
Year 8 College Runners
In 2026, we are excited to introduce a new initiative designed to support the development of leadership skills and responsibility among our Year 8 students. Each term, students from one sub-school will have the opportunity to participate as College Runners, with two students rostered each day to undertake this role. In term 1, the Gwonawa Sub School will be the first to participate and so far the feedback from both students and staff has been overwhelmingly positive.
College Runners will be excused from their regular classes for the day and provided with a vest and walkie‑talkie. Their responsibilities will include assisting the Front Office with tasks such as delivering messages and collecting students, as well as supporting the Library with activities such as organising books. Students may experience quieter periods throughout the day, so they are required to bring their laptop and independent work to complete when available.
Please note that if a student has an assessment scheduled, they will return to their class to complete it alongside their peers before resuming their College Runner duties.
We are delighted to offer this opportunity to our Year 8 students and are confident it will help them gain valuable insight into the broader operations of the school. We hope they take pride in contributing to our school community in such a meaningful way.
