Year Advisers Reports -
Years 7, 9 & 11

YEAR 7

As another term draws to a close, I am reminded of how much Year 7 has achieved (and done) since their arrival to Henry Kendall High School.

We have seen Year 7 this term attending Zone Athletics, trying their hands at fieldwork, and learning the ins and outs of selecting your sports online. All this is topped off with the Year 7 Welfare day where students engage with several presentations and activities designed to build resilience, camaraderie and to better prepare them for school and their future careers. Those some of these things may still seem far away, and for a young person time seems to pass very slowly, these things do tend to creep up.

I wish all of Year 7 a restful holiday – but not too restful as they will need to be ready to ‘hit the ground running’ come Term 3.

Mr Judd Newton

Year 7 Adviser

YEAR 9

I cannot believe we are already halfway through Year 9. This year is flying past. Year 9 have now well and truly settled into this year. This has been a jam packed term with lots of activities, assessment tasks and events.

Firstly I would like to congratulate all the students who qualified for Zone Athletics. This is a massive achievement and I am proud of you for representing HKHS. Congratulations to the following students: Jett Blackett, Jordan Brown, Curtis Chapman, Khyra Dickey, Andrew Grimley, Cooper Hood, Jessica Hunter, Ashlyn Hyland, Hannah Illek, Iona Jeannot, Nakisha Kara, Neve Malicia, Alissa Rutter, Felix Tebbutt, Ava Trundle, Keira White and Malakai Wolfgramm.

Secondly, I would like to congratulate the students who have completed the Top Blokes program during Semester 1.

Jordan Brown, Jack Clayton, Brock Goodhew, Cooper Hood, Sonny Kennedy, Sage Merrett, Alexander Ooi, Bailey Ross, Jack Russon, Vincent Singers, Tyron Fernandez and Will Battin. The Top Bloke Foundation mission to improve young male health and well-being. Their goals are to:

To raise awareness about male issues and strategies that can be applied to improve the development of young male health and well-being.
To inspire young males to reach their full potential through peer-inspired environments, increasing their social inclusion and healthy peer relationship.
To ensure Australian young men have access to personal development and volunteer opportunities.
To increase the positive representations of young men within the community and media.

As we move further into high school and start moving towards senior school, it is important to think about the stress we will face and experience. More importantly how do we deal with it. We can start helping ourselves by thinking about and practising mindfulness. Mindfulness is the idea of learning how to be fully present and engaged in the moment, aware of your thoughts and feelings without distraction or judgment.

This month's theme is all about finding the joy in life, even when things are difficult. Research has shown that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones leads to a tipping point beyond which we naturally become more resilient to adversity.

So during the holidays let's try to find the joy.

Each day try and complete the following actions:

Week 1:

Monday- Say positive things in your conversations with others.

Tuesday- Re-frame a worry and try to find a helpful way to think about it.

Wednesday- Take a photo of something that brings you joy and share it.

Thursday- Think of 3 things you’re grateful for and write them down.

Friday- Get out into green space and feel the joy nature brings.

Week 2:

Monday- Find joy in music: sing, play, dance, listen and share.

Tuesday- Ask a friend what made them happy recently.

Wednesday- Bring joy to others by doing something kind for them.

Thursday- Eat good food that makes you happy and really savour it.

Friday- Write a gratitude letter to thank someone.

I would like to wish you all a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday. I will see you all ready to start the new term. Stay safe and be kind.

“Self-belief is the secret to success”

Miss Crystal Reynen

Year 9 Adviser

YEAR 11

Year 11 students have had an incredibility busy term and they should feel proud of their efforts and commitment to their studies. Their teachers have been commenting on the level of their engagement and also their attitudes towards their assessment tasks.

At the beginning of the term, 9 amazing students volunteered to go to Year 8 camp as peer support leaders. This camp was run in 2021 as Year 8 , due to COVID did not get to go on camp in Year 7. The positive atmosphere that these students helped create was fantastic. They were able to positively encourage Year 8 students to become involved in a number of tasks and challenge themselves to try something new.

The Mock Trial Team competed in another round in the competition against St Edwards. They unfortunately lost the case, however they did take away the win for the round by a significant number of points. The team has another round coming up early Term 3. They are eagerly preparing their case for the round in hopes for another win.

Our musically gifted students performed at ‘OnTrack’ in May. Their performances were amazing. They should feel incredibility proud of all of their hard work practicing for the night as it really paid off. There were a number of Year 11 students who have created a tradition of performing at every OnTrack performance since Year 7.

On another note, applications for Captains have been released. If students are interested in this please come and speak to me. This is an amazing opportunity for Year 11 students to take on board.

Finally, I would like to wish all of the students who are taking a new path all the best in their future, they will be missed.

Miss Cassie McLennan