International & Regional Engagement
Round Square International Conference 2023
The 2023 Round Square International Conference was held at Brookhouse Schools, Nairobi, Kenya. The theme for the conference was ‘The New Africa’, and how we can shift our world perspectives to explore this.
Pre-conference tour – Singapore
We started our trip in Singapore, where we began our adventure heading to the Singapore Zoo, spending the whole day admiring the many species of animals they had to show. In the following days, we ventured out to the Gardens by the Bay to see the extraordinary plant structures and pillars of nature. These gardens had a theme of Avatar: The Way of Water, where we did small activities based on this theme such as turning ourselves into avatars and flying a Toruk. One of our favourite days was going to Sentosa Island to explore the rides of Universal Studios and, even in the 35-degree heat, we had a lot of fun. The following morning, we went kayaking past floating fish farms and through the mangroves on a small Island in the North of Singapore. We made sure to check out the markets right next to where we were staying, seeing what they had to offer, and we made sure not to miss the delicious food vendors and Hawker stalls that had amazing South-East Asian cuisine. At the end of our time in Singapore, it was an incredible experience seeing firsthand a different culture and setting us up for our Nairobi adventure.
RSIC23
We arrived in Kenya on Sunday and were taken to one of the two campuses to sign in. We started meeting people right away and finished the arrivals day with a performance from lots of local singers. We were then taken to the hostel, which was our accommodation for the week, and we met our room and floor mates.
We started the conference on Monday, with the Opening Ceremony. One hundred and twenty schools from over 60 countries were welcomed into Bomas Stadium, where each school was then introduced. During the opening ceremony, we watched many musical performances by famous Kenyan singers, a dance performance from the Brookhouse students, and heard inspiring speeches. We then headed to the school and had our first Baraza groups. The term ‘Baraza' is a Swahili term that means meeting place. Each baraza had about 10-12 delegates from different schools across the globe, which allowed us to make new connections with people and cultures. We met in these groups every day, and discussed our views on keynote speeches, important issues, how our respective schools work, and played lots of games. We were also able to swap pins with schools from all over the world which was a great way to meet new people. After some free time, we ended the night by learning a line dance, to a famous Kenyan song.
Service Day
On day two we woke up, put on our matching Kipekee shirts, and left for our service project. Arriving at our respective schools, we were confronted with the poverty these children faced and were inspired to help them. We began by pumping and carting water, and clearing debris from the classroom floors so that we could cement them. We also painted the walls in the classroom. After we had finished these tasks, we joined the children for their lunch break. We played soccer with them, and they taught us some of their local games, all of which included singing and dancing. We finished the day with a tour of the rest of their school before heading home to prepare for the cultural night. The cultural night was an opportunity for each of the schools to represent their own unique culture and traditional dress. We saw traditional and Bollywood dances from India, as well as an amazing guitar solo from Fateh, a traditional Romanian folk dance to ward off evil spirits, a German song sung by one of their incredibly talented delegates, a traditional Polynesian dance, ABBA songs from Sweden and a vast display of diverse acts from South Africa.
Adventure Day
On Thursday, we had the Adventure Day. Our day started out with being put onto buses and then taken over to the Nairobi National Park which is in the heart of Nairobi city. We were greeted straight away by baboons surrounding the buses on the main drive up towards the campground which really set the day off to an exciting start. As soon as we put our bags in our tents, we headed out with our baraza groups for our first game drive of the day. We were an arm's length away from herds of zebras, impalas, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles and so so many ostriches. The evening game drive was the highlight of the day as we were lucky enough to spot a family of rhinos with the cutest little baby and a pregnant lioness who came and walked along the side of our bus as she was out on a hunt for the night. As we were headed back to the camp for dinner, two more lions put on a show for us proving just how loud and impressive they can be. The evening was filled with a delicious dinner around campfires where many card games were played. The cultural dance performed by the Maasai tribe in the smoke of the burning fires was a definite highpoint of the day as everyone got involved and it was such a beautiful display of Kenyan culture. We had a final baraza group meeting for the night talking about our day in the park as well as what stereotypes about Kenya had been proved or disproved since arriving there. After our long day, we all headed to our tents for the next and last day of our rotation.
Democracy
The final day of our rotation was democracy focused. We started the morning with a panel of keynote speakers, with notable Kenyans who were asked questions about leadership, democracy, environmentalism, and altruism and provided many different insights into the importance of these areas. We then had democracy-focused barazas and the afternoon was spent doing a scavenger hunt around the school. We than met and left with our allocated Kenyan families for a traditional homestay. Whilst on this homestay the activities varied from trying traditional cuisines like intestines and goat, to minigolf. The next morning after saying goodbye to our families, we had our final baraza groups and a keynote address from Henry Wanyoike, a blind Kenya Paralympian. That afternoon we headed to Carnivore restaurant where the closing ceremony featured lots of photos, mocktails and a performance by Sauti Sol, Kenya's number one Afropop group, before heading back to our accommodation. We had a fantastic time and have learnt so much. Thank you to Mrs Gavin and Mr Ryan who this trip wouldn’t have been possible without. I highly encourage anyone interested in going to apply when it's your chance, because it is defiantly a trip you will remember forever.
Alice Wilson, Maggie Anderson, Emily Zell, Sophie Smith and Charlie Anderson.
My Internship Experience
By Alice Commins
Towards the end of Term 2, I applied to be a TREE Intern. I had to write an application introducing myself, the subjects I’ve chosen for next year (Year 11) and my future career aspirations. I wrote about my interest in healthcare, in particular, paediatric health. When applying, I had no idea what an enormous impact this would have on my life, and my future goals.
Following my interview, I was delighted to receive an email letting me know where I had been placed, I was connected with Orange District Early Education Program (ODEEP). ODEEP is a NDIS early childhood intervention service providing support to children aged 0-12 years living with disabilities and developmental delays.
I headed to ODEEP with Ms Youll, where I met the Practise Manager Bronwen, and Speech Pathologist Mel (my internship mentor). Following a successful interview, I was accepted at ODEEP.
In my time at ODEEP I have shadowed Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Allied Health Assistants, and Aqua therapy Instructors. I have also assisted in groups such as their school readiness program, parents as teachers, and My Time. ODEEP runs holiday groups which I have also taken part in.
I have looked after a variety of children with different conditions and disabilities such as spina bifida, scoliosis, bronchomalacia (lung disease), ASD (Autism), and foetal alcohol/drug syndrome.
Around 80% of ODEEP’s patients are suffering with ASD and I’ve been able to see varying severities of this. I have had the opportunity to visit a local school with a Speech Pathologist and helped run lessons on social pragmatics. In more low-functioning levels of ASD I have looked after children with little to no speech skills, determined to be able to speak like their neurotypical classmates.
The most memorable session I have had at ODEEP was at a local school visit. I went with a Speech Pathologist, to see a young girl suffering with a disease that is not dissimilar to Parkinson’s. It broke my heart to see her shaking as she tried to move from her wheelchair to a chair in her classroom, and filled my heart with warmth as I felt the absolute effort she put in, giving it her all to make a few sounds in speech therapy.
The staff at ODEEP are among the kindest, most compassionate people I have ever met. The warmth and empathy they show towards the patients and their parents is incredibly admirable.
Going into my internship, I went in with the idea that I wasn’t really interested in working in disability, however my experience has completely changed that. I am thoroughly enjoying working with people (particularly children) with disabilities and enjoy making a real difference in the lives of these children. Without a doubt, I now definitely want to go down a career path in disability services.
I am in awe of the strength and determination I have witnessed among the children I have looked after. They are truly a lesson to us all that no matter what happens, no matter how many setbacks you may experience, there is always a way, and if you work hard, nothing will stand between you and your goals.
My internship was truly a life-changing experience, and to anyone in younger years thinking about applying, I could not recommend it enough! If any Year 9’s have any questions about internship, feel free to approach me at school, and I will be happy to tell you more!
Pink Stumps Project’
McGrath Foundation
We did it! This year Kinross Wolaroi School decided to raise money for the McGrath Foundation in support of the amazing work they do placing Breast Care Nurses into communities across Australia. Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Australia.
We supported the McGrath Foundation to fund more McGrath Breast Care Nurses so that no one goes through breast cancer without care. The Round Square Service goal was set to raise $5,000 by walking 5,000 laps of the cricket oval - $1 = 1 lap. We began walking at mid-day on Friday, and after only briefly stopping, completed our allocated laps at 7am on Saturday morning. Along the way, we were blown away by the support that we received from the School, who showed their support by coming down to the oval and walking a lap with us. Along with this, members of the teaching staff, parents (even very dressed up Graduation goers), siblings and even pets jumped in to help the cause.
Throughout the evening, there was a charity T20 cricket match and barbeque, and we had a a local breast cancer survivor, Sharon, come in to share her inspirational story.
Although this was a massive challenge, and we were tired and sore on Saturday, we loved every minute of the event, and are very proud of our efforts.
Thanks to our wonderful sponsors, we were able to raise $9,378 in support of the McGrath Foundation! Of course, we had to walk the laps… 9,381 in total (that works out to be all the way past Perth!).
Thank you to all the wonderful teachers who made this event possible – without you giving up your time, we couldn’t have done this! Another thanks to Steve Martin (Precision Sports Timing) for donating his equipment and expertise on the day to assist us counting the laps. Finally, a MASSIVE thank you to the sponsors who supported and challenged us to walk the laps – without you, we wouldn’t have an event at all!
Once again, thanks so much for your support, and see you next year!
On behalf of our students, I am truly grateful for your generosity and support of our students and their event. Thank you very much for your support this year, and I look forward to next year!
Will Waterson – Kinross Wolaroi Service
