Newsletter 2018 – Term 2, Week 2

View and download PDF version of Newsletter here

From our Principal

Welcome back to Term 2 to all our families and students. The start of any new term is a great opportunity to apply improved habits for learning through having good study routines, being organised, being positive about potential for success and then being prepared to put in the effort. I am sure that this great attitude to learning will be reflected in the semester reports issued this term.

NAPLAN

Week 3 sees Years 7 and 9 students sitting for the NAPLAN tests. They have participated in a trial of the new online format, but it is in its first year of implementation and there is some controversy over the merits of online vs pen and paper.Our school has the technology to make the administration successful, but students may take a little longer to get used to a new way of being tested, particularly as we’ve had little access to practice samples before last term. It is hard to say whether we can actually compare results from the old format with the new online version, so we will have to see what happens with the State average before making generalisations.

Staff Changes

Congratulations to Mr Beau Crum on his permanent appointment to Head Teacher English. I know he will continue to build on the great results already coming from the English faculty.

Farewell, to Mr David Von Kotze, one of our foundation staff members. He has had a great impact on our culture and has been an inspiration to many students. We wish him all the best as he begins his new career in the fire brigade.

Welcome back to Ms Doyle, who is returning part time and welcome to Mr Cassar who is taking the place of Mr Ross during Term 2.

I will be commencing a substantial block of long service leave from the beginning of Week 4 (finally fulfilling a dream of visiting Canada) and will not be returning until mid Term 3. During my absence, Mr White will relieve as principal, with Mrs Matthew and Ms Jeffrey as deputy principals. I am leaving the school in great hands with this very capable leadership team

Ms Anne Vine
Principal

From the Deputy’s Desk

Welcome to Term 2!

I hope all students and their families had a happy and safe holiday.

STAR Award Nominations

Staff are currently nominating students for the STARS Award.
The criteria (listed below) for recipients has been strengthened this year to add value to the award.

STARS Awards focus on rewarding academic effort.

• Aims to reward progress, value learning, positive attitude and application.
• Years 7-10 need to receive 4 nominations
• Years 11-12 need to receive 3 nominations.

The student is not eligible if:

• Their attendance is below 80%
• They receive an N Award (students in Years 10-12)
• They have more than 3 negative entries on Sentral in total (uniform excluded).

KMHS Japan Excursion

During the holidays, I had the privilege of attending a school excursion to Japan with 15 of our students. It was an absolutely fantastic trip, superbly organised by Ms Rose and also attended by Mrs Cutting. The students involved were great ambassadors for our school, their families and themselves. Their behaviour was impeccable, faultless and respectful.

Throughout the entire trip, our students embodied our school values of Unity, Knowledge and Respect to the highest level. Ms Rose, Mrs Cutting and myself would like to thank every student who attended making it such a pleasurable experience. A huge thank you is extended to Ms Rose for the massive amount of work she undertook to ensure that we had such a great time.

Recent canteen voucher winners: Bianca Bowman (8), Joshua Halfnights (8) and Mia Vajngerl (10).

Mr Scott White
Deputy Principal

Music News

KMHS Music students have ongoing collaboration with Grove Studios.

Below is a photo collage showing a selection of photos taken when our music students were invited to be part of the photo shoot for the Grove Studios Academy brochure. Plenty of happy faces enjoying state of the art music and sound editing equipment – and being out of school uniform for a day …

P & C News

Next P&C Meeting:

Term 2, May 14 – 7:00 – 8:00 pm in the Library
Guest speaker: Kate Thomas to speak about the Youth and Mental Health program for Year 9 students.

Sporting News

Netball

On the last day of Term 1, the Open Girls Netball team played an ‘all or nothing’ game against Gosford High School. Our team brought their A-Game, but sadly it was not enough to defeat the competition. Everyone had fun and gained a lot from the experience. The girls are already looking forward to next year’s competition. Great effort and well played girls! Thank you to Mrs Peters for coaching the team.

Touch Football

It is great to see how much sporting talent we have at our school. Congratulations, and well done, to the following KMHS students who represented at NSW Regional Touch football Championships:

• Rachel U18s
• Nathan U16s
• Chris U14s
• Riley U14s

Canteen News

Term 2 Menu is now available, click on the link below to view and download what’s on offer at the KMHS :

KMHS Canteen Menu 2018 – Term 2

Notices