From the Deputy Principal - Head of Junior School

From Mr Coppin

Reconciliation Week

Taking time yesterday to acknowledge Reconciliation Week was a powerful experience for our Year 5 to Year 12 Students.  Year 5 to Year 12 engaged in a whole school assembly yesterday led by Aunty Maxine from the La Perouse Indigenous community and our Yalari scholars and timed perfectly with the return of our Year 9 students from their Cape York Outdoor Educational Experience.  For some of our students it was their first opportunity to witness a First Nations smoking ceremony.

 

Diversity within our community is one of our greatest assets. Whether this be ethnic diversity, religious or even diversity of thinking which research notes that the highest performing of company boards.  However, most importantly it is the inclusion part which is also of vital importance.  Historically Kambala has staked it claim as a school of inclusion, embracing decades ago students from a diversity of European backgrounds and now more recently as Australia has come to understand our geographic place in the Asia Pacific region as pathway to renewed cultural understanding.      

 

Creating a culture of understanding doesn’t happen on its own.  It happens through the development of a local and global understanding and through educational experiences that promote social emotional learning such as URSTRONG “The Language of Friendship” which our Year 1 to Year 6 students and parents participated at the end of last term or the Yale University RULER approach embedded throughout Preparation to Year 6.

Harvard Academic in Residence, Dr Ron Ritchhart - Friday 7 June, 2024 

The best teachers and educators are lifelong learners.  Friday 7 June is a student free day.  Our academic staff will have a full day of professional learning reconnecting with Havard Academic in Residence Dr Ron Ritchhart.  

Pupil Free Day - Friday 7 June, 2024

As per above, 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.

 

Monday 10 June is the King's Birthday Public Holiday, so we look forward to students being back at school on Tuesday 11 June, 2024.

Communicating with Parents and Carers - Semester 1, 2024 Reports 

Our Kindergarten to Year 6 teachers are busy at present preparing student progress reports, which we anticipate being distributed via email on the penultimate school day of Semester 1 (Wednesday 26 June, 2024). You may also access past Academic Reports via Edumate. 

Please see the steps on how to access your daughter’s past reports at this link. Please note: to access reports via Edumate, please log in using a tablet or laptop.

Preparation students will also receive a Learning Portfolio at the end of this term. Please check your daughter’s Sundial Learning Moments.

Year 6 to Year 7 - Supporting the Transition 

Transition points are a part of life and as such there is a balance between supporting transitions being seamless and encouraging these to be points of stepping up, learning and growth. 

 

Supporting the Transition from Year 6 to Year 7 or from Junior School to Senior School is not about one thing but rather the multiple opportunities the students have to connect with the Senior School.  One key piece of this initiative will be the opportunity for each of our students in Year 6 to have a House morning tea with Ms Danvers in the Tivoli Drawing Room.  During this time the students can connect with Ms Danvers and our Senior School student leaders and key academic staff.  We look forward to our House Morning Teas with Ms Davners taking place on the following dates:

 

* Monday 17 June - Gurney House

* Tuesday 18 June - Hawthorne House 

* Thursday 20 June - Roseby House 

* Tuesday 23 July - Wentworth House

 

In Semester Two the students will also have the opportunity to participate in taster lessons in senior school teaching spaces with senior school staff such as Science, Library, Art and Languages culminating in Test and Quest Day for Year 6 students that will take place early in Term 4.

 

ICAS Assessments 

Kambala is pleased to offer our students in Years 3-6 the opportunity to participate in the ICAS Assessments, which will take place in Term 3. This year, our students can nominate to sit the English, Science and/or Mathematics assessments. The assessments are designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. 

 

The dates for each competition are as follows:

 

English - Monday 12 August 2024  

Science- Monday 19 August 2024 

Mathematics- Monday 26 August 2024 

 

If you would like your daughter to enter any or all of these ICAS competitions, please submit the online form via the link below. Please note this is optional and the girls will be taken out of class to participate in this competition.

 

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. All students receive a certificate and an individual student report with their score and achievement level. 

 

Please consider carefully before choosing this enrichment opportunity for your daughter. It is a rigorous competition with many questions set beyond grade level. Participants are required to demonstrate a deeper, integrated and thorough level of learning. Please note that most schools only enter their most capable students, so the averages are very high.

 

More information about the assessments can be found at ICAS Assessments: Home

Please submit this Online form as soon as possible so that entries into the competition can be finalised. Please submit one form per sibling. The closing date for notifying your daughter’s participation is Friday 26 July 2024 (end of Week 1, Term 3).

NOTE TO YEAR 6 PARENTS - Year 6 Production - The Little Mermaid - Afternoon arrangements Thursday 20 June, 2024

Please note - there will be NO Extra Curricular activities for Year 6 girls this Thursday 20 June prior to the Evening Performance of THE LITTLE MERMAID. 

 

**Girls will have an early Pizza dinner on Tivoli Lawn at 3.20pm and will then prepare for the evening performance - they will not be going home from school in the afternoon.

 

PLEASE ALSO NOTE - all Year 6 students are permitted to wear their sport uniform from Monday 17 until Thursday 20 June, 2024 (inclusive) to make rehearsals easier. 

 

If you have not already done so, please book your tickets for Thursday Evening's performance.

 

 Please CLICK HERE to book

 

Please see the next page for more Kambala Events and Save the Dates.