Principal's Message

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians,

A warm welcome back to you all for term three (even though it has been icy cold and wet!).  

Our term is going fast! Cannot believe we a nearly halfway!

Naidoc Week 

On Tuesday 16th July, Kambrya College celebrated NAIDOC week at our junior and senior assemblies. During the assemblies, Jessie Barnett spoke about the importance of NAIDOC week to him and his family and the students were educated about the significance of a smoking ceremony by Angelina Maricic. The college welcomed Nathan Taylor from Tribal Pride, who performed a smoking ceremony which the students had the opportunity to participate in as they transited to and from the gymnasium (see pictures below).

It was wonderful to celebrate these fantastic student achievements and come together to acknowledge the significance of NAIDOC week. 

Camps

Our Year 7 campers headed out this week, and each sub-school spent three days at Forest Edge camp on the banks of the Latrobe River. The camp has provided a perfect blend of adventure, learning and personal growth, offering each student who attended the opportunity to challenge themselves to build stronger bonds with their peers. From the thrilling outdoor activities to the team building exercise, by all reports every moment was filled with enthusiasm and positivity. Overall, the location of our Year 7 camp continues to leave students with cherished memories and valuable life skills. 

A huge thank you to all staff who have been involved with the organisaton and attendance at camp this week. 

Our Year 8’s are gearing up for their camp shortly. 

Production

Our annual musical production is about to hit the stage! This year it is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hundreds of students and staff (and some parents too) have been working tirelessly to pull it all together. We wish them all the very best over the coming weeks as they bring this very special event together.   

2025 planning and school zone

We are well underway with our planning for 2025. This includes the course direction and subject selection processes for all students in Years 8-11. Thank you to everyone who met the deadlines for submitting forms etc for subject selections, this has given us the clearest possible numbers for our planning purposes. While college students have a wide variety of subjects to choose from, elective subjects will only run if there are sufficient numbers as determined by the Principal. Where a subject does not have sufficient numbers to run, students will be allocated into one of their reserve preferences. 

We again expect more than 400 students to enrol at Year 7 for 2025 (all in zone). As much as we would love to be able to cater for students from further afield, our new school zone must be consistently enforced. To be clear, we do not accept students outside of zone for any special programs, including Select Entry Accelerated Learning Program, the Athlete Development Program, the Musician Development Program, or the Achieving Individual Milestones Program.       

Visit from our Japanese Sister School

After a long hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, it has been great to see the teachers and students from our sister school, Sakuranomiya High School from Japan, visit us for a week.   They were highly complementary of their experiences here with us. We are looking forward to the potential of sending some of our staff and students to their school next year for a cultural exchange. I would like to sincerely thank all of the amazing Kambrya College families who volunteered to play host to the students in their homes for the week. A very special thanks to Ms Ania Siwicki who went above and beyond to organise this fantastic exchange.   

Uniform

Great to see so many students coming to school in our new uniform items. The rugby jumper especially looks to be a hit amongst all of our students. If you are unaware of the recent updates please refer to the previous newsletter. 

As previously mentioned, over the remainder of this term all classroom teachers and Engagement Leaders will be working hard to follow up with students and families who are not wearing correct uniform items.

Bike helmets and pedestrian safety

I again ask all parents to please have a discussion with your children regarding pedestrian and cycling safety. A firm reminder that all students must wear bike helmets; it is the law. Students must also obey all traffic laws and signals, and the instructions of crossing supervisors. Students should also be particularly careful when wearing headphones and should not do so when crossing roads. Parents/guardians, please discuss and reinforce these expectations with your children. We have had enough near misses, and I dread the day when I receive a call about a fatality. 

Kind regards,

Martin McDonald

Acting Principal

Kambrya College