Senior School 

A Celebration of Dedication and School Spirit

As we approach the final weeks of the school term, we find ourselves surrounded by the results of dedication, perseverance and hard work. Whether it is sport finals, assessments or performances, this time of the term brings to light the commitment of our students across many aspects of their busy Kambala lives. As educators and parents, we have the privilege of seeing them reap the rewards of their efforts and growth.

This spirit of achievement was on full display at the recent Tildesley Shield Tennis competition, where Kambala proudly secured third place overall - an outstanding accomplishment. Likewise, our Touch Football teams took to the field with determination and skill during their finals on Saturday, cheered on by a wonderful crowd of family, friends, peers (and many Kambala pets in their best Kambala outfits!). The energy and support from our community encapsulated the essence of school pride, and I was so pleased to see such a large attendance from our community during the day. 

Looking ahead, I am eager to see more of such dedication come to life in the many events still to come. From music soirées to debates and the much-anticipated Year 7 and Year 8 Production, our students will continue to share their passion and hard work with us. 

Thank you to all who contribute to making these moments so special. It is a joy to celebrate our students’ achievements together.

Ms Samantha Gooch 

Deputy Principal - Pastoral Care 

Reminder: ySafe Cyber Safety Education Session for Parents of Year 5 - Year 8 Students

Wednesday 26 March 2025 - 6.30pm

Please CLICK HERE to register for the Webinar

The Festival of Music

What a night!

Who could have predicted such a close outcome? With only half a point separating the first and second place houses, and half point between second and third, it was an exceptional result overall.

While I feel a sense of sadness that the event has come to a close, I truly value the time spent with this cohort. The evening was a resounding success, with the girls doing themselves and their houses proud. They should be delighted with their achievements. 

Congratulations Gurney!

Mr Gene Clarke

Director of Music

Year 8 Bannockburn Mixer at SCOTS College

As part of our Altius program, we are establishing an academic camp for Year 8 in partnership with The SCOTS College. This camp focuses on the notion of ‘stewardship of the land’ and students will utilise skills in Science, Geography and Art to investigate and gather data regarding the Bannockburn site on the NSW South Coast. This will be collated to help students understand how we can use our findings to ‘leave the land better than we found it’. Students will also work with experts such as farmers, indigenous people and individuals from the WWF to develop their knowledge. Specific topics such as regeneration and reintroduction of native species will also be investigated.

This camp is a coeducational experience with The SCOTS College, and in order to introduce our students to the Scots boys, a ‘mixer’ was held in Week 7, prior to the first group going on camp. During the mixer, students embarked on pastoral activities, led by the SCOTS College Prefects, to encourage team building and collaboration prior to spending the week together. This was vital to establish long lasting and impactful academic relationships. It was also an excellent opportunity for parents from both schools to come together and find out about this exciting new initiative.

Ms Freya Campion

Head of Curriculum Experiences

The Bondi Lions Youth of the Year Competition 2025:

Congratulations to Zara Dempsey for her phenomenal performance in the Bondi Lions Youth of the Year Public Speaking Competition 2025. 

A particularly challenging competition, the Lions Youth of the Year is focussed on developing student leadership and citizenship qualities at a time shortly prior to entering the fields of higher education and employment. 

It comprises three separate, examinable, competitive segments. Those segments are as follows: a Public Speaking Prepared Speech Section, a Public Speaking Impromptu Section and an Interview Segment. The interview segment is guided by the candidate's own CV, aimed to explore extra initiatives taken within school and involvement in activities outside the school context, as well as general world knowledge of the candidate.

Zara’s prepared speech presented a phenomenally emotionally engaging depiction of child exploitation in social media today and called attention to the deeply ethical concerns of family vlogging. In the impromptu section, Zara was asked to, on the sport, respond to two questions. One enquired about her views on the benefits and disadvantages of AI in our world today. The second enquired about her views on the tiers of Australian government, and whether they were the right fit for our nation. Zara responded to these questions effectively and comprehensively, grounding her answers with a variety of powerful examples, experiences and data. Zara’s interview served as a fantastic demonstration of her character, initiative and interests, widely impressing  the judging panel. 

We congratulate Zara on all the incredibly hard work she put into preparing for this competition, as well as her engaging, awe-inspiring performances throughout. 

Ms Victoria Tsingos

Public Speaking Coordinator

Organs and Augmented Reality

“Were you able to save the patient Mary?”

“No” 

“Why not?”

“Because the patient was already dead”

-Mary Margaret Jabbour (Year 4)

Every Wednesday afternoon 28 future surgeons and scientists gather in the Junior STEM Club to complete a challenge, build a project or explore an area of Science or Engineering. Wednesday 19th March happened to be a very special day that I was a bit nervous running with our young scientists. The main event of this week involved the students exploring various body systems with real organs sourced from a butcher. Future cardiologists were able to trace the pathway of blood through the chambers of the heart, see how lungs expanded and contracted with every breath by inflating a set with a pump. Feel the inside of an eyeball and even hold a lens and cornea in their hands. Brains, kidneys and liver rounded out our exploration of the organs. 

We might even have a few orthopaedic surgeons on our hands as the students got to see all the tendons and ligaments of a femur, knee and shin bone and how our joints move by sliding over each other. As the bones were sawn in half students even got to feel the soft bone marrow and trace the blood vessels inside the bone.

While most of the students were able to brave the yuckiness to have a play with the organs there were two other activities for everyone to further explore the body systems with slightly less blood and guts.

Augmented Reality is a tech buzzword that has been floating about for a few years. The most famous example being the mobile video game Pokemon Go, but it has also found a place in construction, architecture and high-end retail therapy. Augmented Reality is simply using technology like an Ipad or projector to scan our surroundings and apply digital information or images to observe and today was the first time Kambala students got to use Augmented Reality in education.

A simple request of “I need three volunteers to be dissected” saw 28 little hands shoot up in unison. Amazing after the real-world organs so many were so keen to be dissected. Three lucky students were chosen and they put on special t shirts while iPads with the software loaded were handed out. Their classmates then got to see through the iPad camera the shirts change to show all the internal organs in their correct locations. With a quick touch the skin is peeled back, then rib cage cracked open and one by one the major organs can be removed to reveal what is behind them. Each organ came with a short educational video explaining its function and students could take a first-person journey through the heart chambers or the intestines if they wanted too.

Finally, we had a very adorable plushie frog, complete with internal organs to be removed. A simple flash card game had students describe an issue with their froggie that they had to diagnose and remove the affected organ.

You can find more info about the schools STEM clubs on the extracurricular page on Sundial or by emailing me. For those whose daughters have missed out on STEM club this term, the Augmented Reality app and dissection froggies will be used in Ms Jones (Junior school Science Specialist) classroom to teach body systems for relevant year groups and real organ dissections are part of the year 8 science curriculum.

Mr Mark Goodwin

Science Laboratory Manager and STEM Club Coordinator

United in Difference

As we continue to cultivate a sisterhood of peers and centre the importance of collaboration and the power of our collective learning journeys, students across Year 7-10 began their year by considering the power of difference, contemplating not the things that unite us or make us similar, but the things that make us unique. 

In the English classroom, students moved beyond conventional icebreaker activities to consider their own uniqueness and the things that are important to them that shape their identity and sense of belonging. We witnessed connections forged and conversations about important differences that shape who we are. Students were prompted to consider and connect over:

‘What makes me different?’ 

‘A difference that I embrace is…’, 

‘A difference that is a strength is…’

Students were then invited to be part of setting the expectations of themselves and others for their year of learning. Inspired by differences, students constructed working norms, using their own voices to set their own expectations of what the Kambala sisterhood looks like in their classroom. Students subsequently created statements that captured how we can demonstrate each of our core Kambala values (curiosity, respect, humanity and courage) through our interactions with our peers, in order to foster awareness of our different perspectives and values, and the opportunities to hear and celebrate these. The importance of cultivating a collective culture of thinking that harnesses the power of sisterhood continues to be a priority in the English classroom.

Ms Greta Beaumont-Kennedy

Head of English

Global Politics for the International Baccalaureate

As part of her studies in Global Politics for the International Baccalaureate, Zara Dempsey (Year 11) demonstrated great curiosity and tenacity in securing an interview with Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this week. Zara prepared diligently for this interview and discussed such issues as the role and efficacy of climate litigation versus structural reforms in achieving Australia's net-zero goals, the influence of non-state actors in shaping climate policy, the importance of the state remaining democratically accountable for sustainably developing to ensure the wellbeing of future generations, and importantly, the potential weakening of Australia’s international legitimacy should it choose not to do so. Zara has returned to campus keen to share her learnings with her peers, in an expression of her role in the sisterhood present within our classroom. 

Ms Paige Zavaglia

Year 8 Head of Year