International & Regional Engagement

Portfolio of Achievement  

The following is an outline of the Portfolio of Achievement which every student in Years 9 and 10 will complete. At Kinross Wolaroi, the school acknowledges that student achievement occurs both inside and outside the classroom. The Portfolio of Achievement is a celebration of the student. Students in Years 9 and 10 will need to set goals that reflect the School's values and Round Square IDEALS and reflect on these goals each Semester. The Portfolio of Achievement will keep students accountable and celebrate their achievements. Students can provide evidence in the Portfolio of Achievement to illustrate that they have achieved their desired goals. Their success can be acknowledged and signed off by mentors, teachers, coaches, heads of houses and parents.

The aim is to make a simple but challenging pathway for students to measure their school and community involvement / achievements. 

COMPONENTS OF THE PORTFOLIO OF ACHIEVEMENT (KWS VALUES/ RS IDEALS)

1. COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP

 2. COMMITMENT AND SERVICE

3. ADVENTURE AND RESILIENCE                           

 4. INTERNATIONALISM AND INCLUSIVENESS

5. FUTURE ENVIRONMENT                                     

 6. DEMOCRACY AND RESPECT

Mr Callaghan will present information about the Portfolio of Achievement to students in week 4 during year meetings.

For further information please contact lcallaghan@kws.nsw.edu.au.

Toby Gough - Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award

We are thrilled to announce that Toby Gough, Year 12, has taken his commitment to personal development to the next level by completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award program at the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels! This prestigious international award recognises young people's achievements in developing essential life skills, community service, physical fitness, and adventurous journeys.

Toby demonstrated his dedication by achieving significant milestones in each of the program's four sections. In the skill section, he developed his drama and theatre skills by completing his Associate Teacher’s Diploma and Theatre Performance Diploma. For his community service, Toby worked with younger students mentoring and educating them in speech and drama.

In the physical fitness section, Toby challenged himself with swimming for competition and for his own health. For his residential project, Toby worked with Bathurst Broadcasting to learn about the inner workings of a radio station and contribute to their programming which included a one week placement at the Bathurst 1000.

Finally, for his adventurous journey, Toby completed the Great North Walk, a challenging trek through the wilderness that required strong physical fitness, teamwork, navigation and leadership skills.

Toby's dedication and perseverance in completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award program at all levels are truly commendable. His achievements reflect his commitment to personal growth and development and make him a role model for his peers. Toby is congratulated on a tremendous achievement that will serve him well for his HSC year and beyond.

Liam Callaghan – TREE Coordinator

Intern Celebration Evening

Our 2022 Year 10 TREE Interns hosted their celebration of learning event last week.  It was a wonderful evening which was supported by parents, friends, staff and of course their wonderful hosts. The TREE Intern program is open to our Year 10 students each year.  The students undertake a rigorous application process consisting of a written or video application, interview with TREE staff and a pitch to their prospective host.  The students complete a 20 week internship with a local business and work towards gaining valuable industry experience and career planning, whilst working with wonderful mentors as they deliver on their goal of completing a project which benefits the business, their learning and the community. Our 11 successful 2022 interns celebrated their achievements and successful projects and presented their hosts with framed posters capturing the experiences of their intern journey.  A big thank you to all our amazing community host businesses for supporting our students as we help them navigate meaningful career opportunities.

TWIG

TREE Captain - Maka Mutyiri 

TWIG has organised with Eat Up Australia to make sandwiches twice a term for schools in our region that have kids that might otherwise go without a meal due to food insecurity. The team has successfully made 400 sandwiches in a session in Week 2 and are going to make another 400 next week to be distributed to schools with students in need. Did you see us on the tv news? Prime 7 did a story this week showcasing the work that we are doing with Eat Up Australia; in case you missed it, see the clip here.

 We have also been working to create products sell for Windemere Open Day. We have produced candles and soaps inspired by the flowers and produce at school and at the farm. We are also working toward a carpark pick-up service for the school community so keep an eye out for our announcement. 

Windermere – Where learning comes alive

TREE Team

Mathematics in Action

While we’ll have to wait until 3 March to officially open the Kinross Mountain Bike Track at Windermere Open Day, our students have had multiple opportunities to put learning into action on the track this year.  Some of our Year 11 Mathematics Standard students under the guidance of Head Teacher, Mr Ben Doyle looked at contextual applications of the speed/distance/time formulae while out at Windermere. During this practical sessions students measured the distance around the track using GPS technology and recorded the length of time to complete laps of the course for later use in classroom calculations.

Bush Tucker garden

Uncle Neil will be officially opening the new Bush Tucker garden with a Welcome to Country next Friday 3 March at Windermere Open Day.  Since it’s completion the beautiful evolving space has been the perfect gathering space for staff meetings and Windermere student induction sessions, as well as the perfect arena for our Year 11 Legal Studies students to learn from Mr Corey McLean, Indigenous Learning Support, about the importance and role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ customary roles.  They were able to hear from Corey about the importance of family and kinship and the significant role that land and water plays in the rituals and traditions of customary laws. With Corey sharing his knowledge and culture within the yarning circle surrounded by native bush foods  is an idyllic setting for our students to be immersed in content and tradition.

Science Year 10

Some of our Year 10 Science students will be lucky enough to undertake a structured practical unit of work with their teacher, Ms Maddison Jones, this year.  Ms Jones and the TREE Team have expertly programmed units of work that utilise the students’ double periods and Windermere to integrate classroom learning with contextual hands on activities that align with syllabus content. Students have completed their Windermere Induction session and are now ready to see how their learning comes alive at Windermere.

Junior School Windermere lessons

Our students in the Junior School enjoy timetabled Windermere lessons each fortnight.  This allows their teachers to provide a regular time for students to see and experience learning in action.  All Junior School students complete a Windermere Induction session with our TREE Assistant, Ms Jo Howarth, before the programmed learning takes place. 

And of course Pre-Kindy LOVE learning at Windermere, the passion for all things creepy crawly and unusual is fully sated on the farm. Learning how to grow their own food, the importance of bees and flowers and the opportunity to learn about the animals on the farm is always a highlight for our Pre-Kinder classes.

Windermere Open Day 

We are excited to invite you all to our first Windermere Open Day on Friday 3 March 2023.  We have a wide variety of activities and demonstrations that showcase just how lucky our students are to be immersed in opportunities to engage with meaningful, relevant and fun learning activities on our Windermere Campus.  Come along to enjoy some beautiful food prepared by our Senior School Hospitality students, help us plant some trees to attract native wildlife, or take the opportunity to be creative with a Landscape Watercolour Workshop with members of our Art Faculty.  We have a range of demonstrations, workshops and displays to cater to everyone.  Fresh produce and wares will be available to purchase on the day.

With thanks from the Kinross Wolaroi TREE Team: Mr Liam Callaghan, Ms Rebecca Essex, Ms Robyn Youll, Mrs Bernie Sharpe, Ms Jo Howarth, Mr Frank Weymouth and  Mrs Sue-Ann Gavin

Round Square IDEAL Student Committees 

Claire Nelson Year 11 Round Square Leader 

Round Square is once again back in action for the second year at Kinross Wolaroi.  Already the Year 11 leaders have met several times to plan the course of our ideas and how we will be implementing them. At our first planning session we devised our goal for 2023: The 2023 Yr 11 Round Square Leaders aim to create a student community which builds the foundations in providing opportunities, engagement and promotion of the IDEALS and fosters sustained involvement in a collaborative, fun and supportive way.

We have been guided by Dr Parry, who has kindly offered his lunchtimes to give leadership sessions to help us understand and best engage within our roles as leaders of our chosen IDEALS student committees.

This year in Round Square we are aiming to foster and create opportunities for our students that are derived from student voice and are aided by the teachers. We want to create opportunities for all students at Kinross Wolaroi to make a difference based on our Round Square IDEALS and beliefs. 

We invite all students to come along and share their suggestions as to how we can create opportunities for all to engage with the Round Square IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service.

Round Square Student Committee Meetings – All meetings are at lunch in the library Seminar Room

Intergenerational Project 

Nina Smedley Year 11 Round Square Leader

Through Round Square, Year 11 students have had the opportunity to work together to create and ideate projects to be implemented at Uniting Wontama Residential Aged Care. 

We worked with the wonderful Corinna on phase one and two, where we created asset maps and visited the residents. Now that we are moving onto phase three, she is guiding us through project management and planning. Our projects are focused on community engagement and creating an environment where students and residents can meet, interact, and connect. 

We are due to pitch our projects to the schools’ Senior Management Team in the next two weeks with the hope that our ideas will be supported and given the go ahead to proceed.  Keep an eye out for future updates as we will need the whole schools’ support to help us implement our project ideas.

Round Square Year 11 Leaders – Social Justice Day at Pymble

Our Year 11 Round Square leaders have been invited to participate in the Uniting Church Schools Social Justice Conference at Pymble Ladies College.  This event will see our leaders work with student from other Uniting Church Schools to host and lead activities across a broad range of topics.  These include: Human Rights In Iran, Climate Justice, War in Ukraine, Food Insecurity, Women’s Rights and Cultural Diversity. We look forward to hearing all about this great opportunity.

Exchange Programs

It’s so exciting to have our Student Exchange program up and running again.  This year we are lucky to be able to offer national exchange opportunities for our Year 8 students for the very first time.  Ms Kate Anderson is overseeing this program, please see the Hub for more information or contact  Ms Anderson  directly.

Our International Exchange program is well underway with applications closing for interested Year 10 students last week. This year we are offering our biggest ever selection of host schools - it is such an exciting time to be a student at Kinross Wolaroi.  Students who have applied to take part in the International Exchange Program will complete their application interviews early next week.

Round Square International Conference Nairobi, Kenya

Our Year 11 Round Square leaders will be invited to be part of the Kinross Wolaroi Delegation to Nairobi Kenya to attend the Round Square International Conference hosted by Brookhouse School.  The Round Square International Conference is an annual event run by, and for, students aged 16-18. It moves around the world with students from different schools hosting each time. The most recent in-person conference was hosted in September 2022 in the UK, bringing together more than 1,550 delegates from 50 countries around the world. The RSIC2022 started with three days at Oxford University, before splitting out to four UK schools for the remainder of the week. In October 2023 we will once again be face-to-face for the 54th Round Square International Conference, which will be hosted by Brookhouse School in Nairobi, Kenya.