Junior School

Walk Safely to School Day

I wanted to thank the Junior School Community of students and parents for their impressive support of the Walk Safely to School initiative. It was so wonderful to see our parents and students gather at Tivoli Gates with joy on their faces after starting the day the right way with a spot of incidental exercise.

We were delighted to announce the following House Points. For Parents of Students in Year 5 and 6 I take this opportunity to plant the seed that it may be time to look at other pick up and drop off locations besides carline as the students are old enough to come to school under their own steam. This would assist in alleviating some of the congestion.

	Gurney	Hawthorne	Roseby	Wentworth
Massie	28	26	34	38
EJ WATT	48	45	52	48
Overall	76	71	86	86

da Vinci Decathlon - Junior School

Two teams, from Years 5 and 6, recently competed in the annual da Vinci decathlon at Knox Grammar School. Inspired by the talents and accomplishments of Leonardo da Vinci, the da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition in which student's complete tasks across ten disciplines: Art and Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking, Creative Producers, English, Engineering, Ideation, Legacy, Mathematics and Science. Over 1000 Stage 3 students competed in the competition, from over 100 schools across New South Wales. This year’s tasks were designed around the theme of Utopia.

The challenges require higher order thinking skills, problem solving and creativity. Cooperation and teamwork are crucial, as challenges are completed in teams, within tight timeframes.

Our Year 5 and Year 6 students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and achieved impressive results, with Year 5 scoring 15th place in NSW for Art and Poetry, and 12th place for Legacy.

Year 6 was awarded 1st prize for Art and Poetry, 8th for Creative Producers and 13th for Mathematics. Overall, the Year 6 team was ranked 15th in the state.

Participating in the da Vinci Decathlon Competition was an exhilarating and deeply enriching experience, filled with moments of intense challenge, spirited collaboration, and invaluable teamwork. The atmosphere buzzed with excitement as we immersed ourselves in diverse tasks, from complex Maths problems to creative writing in English, all of which tested our skills and ingenuity. The thrill of working together, brainstorming solutions, and pushing our limits, brought immense satisfaction. This fantastic opportunity offered every one of us an amazing chance to grow, learn, communicate, work together, and celebrate each other’s strengths, leaving a positive and lasting impact that everyone involved will remember forever.

Karina Wu, Year 5

My experience at da Vinci was truly amazing. I had so much fun! Walking into the colossal entrance, I felt small like an ant, but so excited at the same time. I felt like I was in the clouds, happy and excited. My favourite activity was definitely Engineering. Engineering was fun and challenging, and I had so much fun making a bridge. Da Vinci was truly an amazing day for me and I'm sure for my team as well.

Francesca Cochineas, Year 5

The da Vinci Decathlon was a challenging and pleasant experience as it pushed me to my limits and made me think outside of the box. It helped me collaborate with my peers and learn to persevere through the questions.

Helen Le, Year 6

da Vinci was a great opportunity that I am happy I took part in. Even though we did lots of tests throughout the day, I had an amazing day. I did English, Engineering and Creative Producers. We promised each other we wouldn't cheer, but when they called out our school’s name for first place for Art & Poetry, we couldn't help ourselves! There were so many schools there! Overall, I had a great time that day.

Araminta Dusseldorp, Year 6

Congratulations to both teams!

Mrs Anna Koutsoukis

Learning Enrichment- Gifted and Talented teacher

National Simultaneous Story Time 2024

”This is it.

I have found it

at last.

All this time,

it wasn’t blue …

… it was YOU.

Always you.””

With the multi-purpose room full of happy Hampshire House and Massie faces and an air of excitement, National Simultaneous Storytime 2024 was here and happening at Kambala again. This fun and cheerful event takes place each year across Australia, when a new Australian picture book is read across schools, childcare centres, and libraries bringing together children and adults to share in the joy of reading.

This year, over two million people participated in the event, and joined with a beautiful Australian Satin Bowerbird searching for blue and something more. “Bowerbird Blues” by Aura Parker was read with wonder and joy by Ms Moore to a very appreciative audience. This little story was a reminder that connection with others and friendship is very important for our wellbeing and happiness.

In Library lessons the students read about bowerbirds, asked questions about bowerbirds, found out about bowerbirds, viewed informative videos about bowerbirds, and enjoyed creating craft work with a blue and bowerbird theme too. We were also able to learn some important social lessons about hope, resilience and friendship.

Who knew that a bowerbird looking for blue could be so very interesting?

Ms Kimberly Pericles

Deputy Head of Library Services

Problem Solving - Inquisitive Minds

“All children have remarkable abilities to learn substantial mathematics when provided learning opportunities that emphasize sense making and problem solving” (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2020).

Problem solving and critical thinking skills prepare students to understand and critique their world, preparing them to be contributing leaders in society. They are skills that all individuals need in decision-making, in the workforce, in their communities, and in daily life.

When approaching challenging problems in Mathematics, students are required to:

▪ explore and connect mathematical concepts

▪ build understanding and fluency

▪ choose and apply efficient techniques to solve problems

▪ communicate their thinking and reasoning coherently and clearly

Recently, our girls in Years 3-6 immersed themselves in an engaging incursion called Inquisitive Minds. The workshops foster a love of mathematics in students as they learn cooperatively to solve challenging problems and brain teasers using logical reasoning and strategic thinking. The girls were able to apply the skills of problem solving that they have been learning in class. They displayed a growth mindset with their perseverance, resilience and willingness to tackle challenging tasks. We are proud of our girls for displaying enthusiasm, enjoyment and cognitive engagement in their mathematical thinking.

Quotes from students:

We faced challenges and had to work as a team to solve the different levels of Maths activities. Throughout this experience, we were hit with stress, anger, frustration and waves of energy. We have come back from this learning experience with resilience, teamwork and more strategies to approach hard Maths questions. We have all thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

- Jacinta Gerber, Serena Steel and Sophie Yunaev 6U

We all enjoyed working together to motivate each other towards achieving our common goal.’ - Luella Strikis, Nikita Mahtani and Talia Tilman (5U)

Sometimes we got stuck on questions, but we kept trying and stayed determined.

Jintong Li (5N)

Ms Ky-Lee Murphy

Director of Curriculum

Year 3 girls

Year 5: Isabella di Napoli-Long, Chelsea Liang, Yaxi Zhang

ISDA Debating Update: Primary A Debating Team makes the Last Four

Last Friday 24 May, our Primary A ISDA debating team showcased their skills in the Quarter Finals of the Independent Schools Debating Association (ISDA) competition. Facing off against Riverview St. Ignatius, with Kambala holding the affirmative on the topic, ‘that we should introduce fines for families and individuals who are big polluters.’ The Kambala girls displayed an outstanding team performance, highlighted by a strong case setup and thorough rebuttals to take down the opposition, impressing the adjudicator and earning them a well-deserved victory.

Next, the team will compete against SCEGGS in the Semi Finals, with hopes of advancing to the Grand Final of the competition. We wish them the best of luck!

Quote from Elizabeth Criddle, ‘The feeling of getting announced of winning the quarter and the Octo round was amazing! The team are really enjoying the thrill and the excitement of the knockout phases of the competition. As a team we are looking forward to, hopefully, winning the semi-finals and then making the ISDA Grand Final!’

The Primary A team members:

Gabriella Botros

Erykah Skimin

Aurora Wang

Avery Lee

Elizabeth Criddle

Ms Leigh Barlow

Debating

Tivoli Avenue Driveways

The Sydney habit of putting hazard lights on and parking anywhere, particularly in other people’s driveways is frustrating our Tivoli Avenue neighbours. Can I remind our parents not to do this as it reflects poorly on our school.

Recently we counted five cars engaging in this behaviour in a 40-minute block.

Year 4 Drama Showcase - Parent Volunteer (Zoom) Meeting - Thursday 6 June 2024 6.30 - 7.00pm

Calling all parents/carers of our Year 4 students who may like to assist with costuming and props for the upcoming Term 3 Drama Showcase 'The Legend of the Blue Sapphire'.

Please register your assistance by joining the below zoom session.

Date: Thursday 6 June

Time: 6:30 - 7:00pm

Where: Via zoom - https://kambala.zoom.us/j/6782753424

Pupil Free Day - Friday 7 June 2024

We advise our Preparation to Year 6 parents that Friday 7 June 2024 is Staff Development Day and students will not attend school on this day.

Our Extra Curricular Department have advised that there will be an offering of Holiday Camps on this date and a link will be sent to parents in the coming days.

Please also note that Monday 10 June is the King's Birthday Public Holiday.