Message from 

the Principal

My period of sabbatical leave at the conclusion of last Term provided an excellent opportunity to examine how a number of leading British Independent schools express the Round Square philosophy through their holistic educational offerings. Round Square schools share a commitment, beyond academic excellence, to personal responsibility through service, challenge, adventure and international understanding. The three schools visited - Gordonstoun in Scotland, Windermere in the Lakes District and Felsted, situated one hour northeast of London - shared many similarities and distinct differences.  Each are located in regional areas, and are K–12 day and boarding co-educational schools who have implemented Round Square to best meet the specific needs and advantages of their unique contexts.

To observe these schools in operation, and meet with Heads, staff and students allowed me to see many excellent initiatives and establish strong relationships that will enable many new and exciting opportunities for our students. Each schools’ magnificent geographic setting provided wonderful opportunities for adventure, meaningful ‘hands on’ service activities, experiential learning, student leadership and international engagement. I am greatly looking forward to continuing our relationship with each of these schools and exploring how we can continue to enhance our rich and diverse offering at Kinross Wolaroi School. 

Guys and Dolls

It was a delight to arrive back in Orange to attend our annual musical staged in the Orange Civic Theatre. What an amazing production of Guys and Dolls! I hope many of you were able to see this outstanding musical. It was highly entertaining, dynamic, energetic, and thoroughly professional, a production that revealed the extraordinary talent that we have at Kinross Wolaroi. Over the years I have enjoyed a number of school productions of Guys and Dolls, but never have I had the pleasure of seeing such an outstanding performance. Every aspect of the production demonstrated the immense talent, skill and dedication of our cast, musicians, designers, crew and staff.

All involved should be immensely proud of what they achieved. I know that many in our community certainly are.

A very special thank you to our dedicated and inspiring staff, who along with our talented students made an immense commitment of time and energy to achieve such excellence. A very special acknowledgment of the Musical Director, Ms Alex Dunkley whose leadership, passion and enthusiasm have been an inspiration to us all. Thank you.

Kinross Wolaroi is so fortunate to have such amazing staff and students. Kinross Wolaroi School is indeed a very special place. 

Textiles and Visual Arts Exhibition

Following the disruptions presented by COVID over the past two years, it was tremendous to once again stage our annual exhibition of our Year 12 HSC Visual Arts and Textiles major projects. 

The quality of artistic work, creative thought and technical skill was superb and reflective of the considerable commitment and dedication of our gifted students. The breadth of subject matter and considerable media employed by our students is a great credit to our students’ creative capacities and to our teachers’ inspirational guidance and technical skill. Congratulations to all involved. 

The presentation of the Textiles projects on the Catwalk was first class and would not have been out of place in the Paris Fashion Show. I am amazed at what our students are capable of creating. Once again, a great credit to all involved.

To our staff, Ms Beck Wansey and Mrs Penny Chandler, the immensely gifted Year 12 teachers of Visual Arts and Textiles – a very special thank you. Such works and exhibitions are also reflective of the skills and efforts of all members of the Visual Arts and Textiles staff, as each of them have contributed to the significant success of our students and our Exhibition staged last Friday evening. 

Senior School Student Leadership

Emerging from COVID lockdowns over the past two years has given us an opportunity to reflect on our student leadership roles and, in accordance with the progressive nature of the school, realign our student leadership roles with our changing needs. 

After much discussion and consultation, we are eager to embrace a more streamlined leadership model that brings a more cohesive and productive collaboration between the prefect body and the Wellbeing Houses, allowing for a whole-school focus, while also giving each Wellbeing House a powerful purpose and mission statement. 

The new student leadership structure refocuses Kinross Wolaroi School into a servant leadership model, pursuing social justice causes, and aligning us more with the ideals found in Round Square. 

Our Prefect Body will be made up of 15 students.

We will maintain the two Head Prefects, the two Deputy Prefects, and the two Boarding Prefects, and these six students will be known collectively as School Prefects. The SUO of the Cadet Corp will be the seventh School Prefect. The role of the School Prefects is to represent the School at external events, and to guide whole school initiatives such as supporting Round Square.

The School Prefects will be in a working team with the House Prefects. We will have eight House Prefects, one from each of the Wellbeing Houses. House Prefects will be responsible for representing their House at the Prefect level, sharing initiatives and challenges, and working as a whole body for improving school culture. 

Each House Prefect will be supported by two or three House Captains who will be in charge of the daily running of the House, including sports events, social justice causes, and developing positive behaviours and attitudes.

All of these positions will be badged. They will all be earned through an interview process, and of course we will ask for input from staff and students. 

We value our leaders at Kinross Wolaroi, and believe the streamlining of these roles will bring an even greater sense of unity and purpose to the student body. 

The application process for Year 11 will begin next week. I wish all our candidates for school leadership positions the very best of luck.

Congratulations

A number of our students have achieved representative selection in various sports. Congratulations to the follow students:

• Arnie Tancred, Year 12 – NSW Rugby Open Schoolboys 2nd XV
• Josie Clarke, Year 12 – U20 Girls National Youth Squad Touch Football
• Bianca Fuller, Year 12 and Kyla Brown, Year 10 – will represent KWS in the National All Schools event later this Term.
• Erica Stuart, Year 9 – represented Australia in a Polocrosse Test Series against New Zealand

World U23 Rowing Champion Bella Scammel (2021) rowed in the Gold Medal winning Women’s Coxed Four (Under 23) at the World Rowing Championships held in Varese, Italy. Her crew smashed the World Championship best time in the heat and set a new record in the final. Remarkably, their time was only 1 second off the Open World Record! An exciting future for Bella!

Triathlon – Annual Club Presentations

Sophie Martin, Year 12 – was named as the Orange Triathlon Club’s ‘Performance of the Year’ for her win at the Western Region Area Schools event last year.

George Hogg, Year 9 received the Junior Male Encouragement Award and Kinross Wolaroi School received the Central West All Schools Shield. 

Male Club Champion was awarded to Tommaso Cornelius-Feltus.

Kart Racing

George Proudford-Nalder, Year 7 recently won Round 3 of the Southern Stars Series which is a State level competition for drivers aged between 12 – 16 years of age.

Chess

Our Chess Team have made it through to the Western Schools Chess League finals. The team is made up of Harrison Crisp and Ben Jones, both in Year 12, and Kasjan and Krishan Kandeepan, both in Year 9.