Issue 5 Term 2 2021

Risk-Taking Behaviour during Adolescence – Part 1 

During adolescence, the human brain undergoes significant change with developmental processes still occurring until around the age of 26. Add this to all the other changes that happen during adolescence, and it is no wonder that this developmental period is sometimes referred to as a period of “storm and stress”. 

It is common for teenagers to test boundaries set by parents/carers, teachers, and anyone in positions of authority. The desire to be an individual, to know oneself involves risk taking, but we have a responsibility as adults to ensure the young people in our care learn how to assess risk so that they minimise harm to themselves and others. Discerning what is the right action to take is not always easy for a teenager because their brains are not fully developed. Raging hormones, the desire to belong and to be accepted, the desire to decide for themselves all increase the likelihood that impulsive decisions will sometimes be made. What we strive to do as parents/carers and educators is to equip our young people with the knowledge and skills to make balanced and evidence-informed decisions that will keep them safe, responsible, self-disciplined and resilient. 

Substance mis-use and abuse (i.e. alcohol, and other drugs) is an area of risk in which our young people need to be educated. The information below is offered as a starting point in the educative process on harm minimisation. 

Glenn Clifford
Diretor of Wellbeing

Year 7 students recently participated in a wellbeing day. Students engaged in a variety of activities aimed at building peer connections, resilience and effective problem solving skills. They undertook physical, mental and social challenges designed to develop a growth mindset and to help them become aware of their own thought patterns and how these influence their actions. The day finished with the ‘Great Race’ which saw students competing in small groups to overcome a variety of challenges. The feedback from the students has been extremely positive, with them all enjoying the day.

Last Friday night, it was amazing to see a large number of our Year 7 students participating in the Vinnies Winter Sleepout. The evening started with a BBQ with families, followed by a presentation from Vinnies to help students' understanding of homelessness and how it impacts people. 

We are very extremely grateful to the families of our Year 7 students and the wider community for their donations. We received so many goods for the Women’s Shelter that Vinnies needed to come back with a van to transport them all.

Thank you to all who supported and attended the evening. It was great to see so many students engaging with Vinnies while having a fun night with friends.

Kim Thomas
Middle Years Coordinator

Each year the Kildare College community supports Caritas Australia's Project Compassion by raising funds with the help of donations from students, their families and staff. This year we held a Colour Run as a different way to raise money for Caritas. The Living Justice Group felt it was also a great way to come together as a school to celebrate, ‘All that is Good!’

During lunch, students dined on BBQ sausages while they watched the minor Inter-House netball final between Kildare and Nagle. This was followed by the grand final where Delany once again was victorious against Brigid. Other activities offered included volleyball and ‘Just Dance’, hosted in the gym and dance studio to cater for everyone’s preferences.

The fun really started with the Colours for Caritas run with many students participating. Staff thoroughly enjoyed dousing the students with water to get them ready for the colour paint throwers; where students did their best to get covered in as many colours as possible. While the day may have started rather gloomy and overcast – it ended in a burst of colour!

The Living Justice Group would like to say a huge thank you to staff and students who helped prepare for the event. To date we have raised approximately $2,000 for Caritas with more to come from photo orders. 

Angie Selga
Living Justice Coordinator

Kildare Senior Dancers were proud to represent the College at ‘Reconciliation in the North’ with a dance performance titled “New Dawn”. Organised by the City of Tea Tree Gully and the City of Salisbury Councils, this was a wonderful event to lead into National Reconciliation Week. Our performance highlighted the importance of reconciliation, equality and union and allowed our dancers a unique opportunity to showcase their talents. 

Thanks to all involved -  

Dancers: Alyssa Naseby (Water Spirit), Chloe Torchio (Rainbow Serpent), Lilly-Anna Hume (Green Tree Snake), Mikhailey Moses (Emu), Lucy Pavia and Lucy Sears (Rainbow Lorikeets), Amelia Pallis (Nature Spirit), Chelsea Cox, Hayley Russell, Emily Sargent, Ivana Maiorano, Mia Ferraretto, Chloe Calicchia, Emerald Blake, Daniela LaVista and Charlotte Evans Altman. 

Support: Khyleesha Welgraven and Tara Hammer 

The theme of Reconciliation Week 2021 is ‘More than a Word, Reconciliation Takes Action.’ In our year of wonder, we questioned - how can we all take action this year?  As strong advocates for reconciliation we think the role of performing and visual arts play an integral role in helping relationships and attitudes move forward, in an understanding of the true history of our country and cultural practices that have evolved over time. 

Special thanks to Carly Didcote for extending us the invitation to perform, as well as the lovely gifts. 

Sue Nairn
Senior Dance Teacher 

The reconciliation theme for this year is, ‘More than a word – Reconciliation takes action’.

The Kildare community came together for our Reconciliation Liturgy, an event that holds a special place in our annual College calendar. Opening the liturgy was Alyssa Naseby, who performed a beautiful solo dance piece.

This year we were fortunate to have Narrunga-Ngarrindjeri woman, Tahnee Sutton share her story. Tahnee was the recipient of the (SA) NAIDOC Young Person of the Year Award (2016) and is also a graduate of the Indigenous Marathon Project (IMP) supported by Olympian Robert De Castella. Tahnee shared her inspiring story of how she overcame traumatic events in her childhood and with family support and her faith, gained the strength to overcome adversity to achieve her goals, in making the team and going on to complete the famous New York Marathon. A truly inspiring story!

Indigenous Focus Team and Nunga Group

Students in Year 8 Food Technology this term have been researching Indigenous ingredients and trialling recipes such as wattleseed and choc chip cookies and well as many types of damper.

Students researched about where in Australia, the Indigenous ingredients originated, their nutritional content and also what types of meals they could be incorporated into. This lead to students researching and choosing their own recipes to create in groups. Students created meals such as lemon myrtle scones with lemon curd, blood lime tarts, brownies with Davidson plum and pasta dishes using wild thyme and native pepperleaf.

The Indigenous ingredients added interest and a real point of difference to the dishes made. 

Kara Steward and Alana Durka
Food Technology Teachers

Year 10 students had the opportunity to reconnect, build new relationships and develop resilience when they attended the two-day camp at El Shaddai in Wellington. Along with seven staff, the students departed the College with bags packed, eager with excitement to take on the adventures of camp life.

The Year 10 Camp is designed to challenge students and allow them to grow through new experiences. Students were able to safely take risks and face a variety of challenges through a welcoming, caring and safe environment. Over the two days students were able to get up close and personal with a range of reptiles, develop team work and leadership skills in laser skirmish, learn the art of archery and participate in height challenges, including the giant swing, vertical challenge and indoor rock climbing. Thursday night, students also developed their team work skills in a relaxed setting when they took on the teachers in the ‘giant quiz’.

The overnight camp allows the Year 10 students to have a break from daily school life and the chance to further develop relationships with their peers and teachers. It also provides an invaluable opportunity for students to develop new friendships, as well as learn more about themselves by participating in various challenges. These challenges allows students to build relationships with their peers, as many of the activities required a level of trust and reliance on team members.

It was wonderful to see students encouraging and supporting each other, while facing their fears, and to see the courage and bravery in many students when completing these activities. A big thank you to the staff at El Shaddi who facilitated the activities and welcomed us warmly into their community.

We are proud of our Year 10 students who fully participated in the camp and demonstrated courage, wonder and hospitality in all aspects of the two-day adventure.

Emma Ward
Senior Years Coordinator

Art Club is in full swing this term!  Mr Chetcuti and Ms Fairweather have supported many of our young creative students during Art Club with personal art and craft projects.

Art Club is a great after school activity where students can relax with their peers and make connections with students from different year levels while enhancing their artistic flair.

Students have been experimenting with a variety of different art materials and techniques including painting, clay, polymer clay and tie dye to name a few. The works of art that students are creating demonstrate their talents, while enriching and extending their artistic skills. 

Ms Fairweather
Art Teacher

In acknowledgement of Reconciliation Week, Kildare College Nunga students recently participated in activities held at the Holden Hill Community Centre that were hosted by Tea Tree Gully Council.

Members of the wider community came together to listen to the Dreaming story of the Fish Moon read by Kildare students. They also assisted as visitors created artwork sharing their interpretation of this traditional Indigenous story.

The students also helped the local Holden Hill Kindergarten students in painting their fish after listening to them sing traditional Kaurna songs such as Nina Marni (Welcome song). 

Indigenous Focus Team

This year for our Inter-House Netball Compeition, we changed the format a little bit. Instead of getting into finals being determined on how many wins, it was based on how many points. Points were allocated by goals scored, sportsmanship, participation and engagement allocated by a panel.

The points tally was very tight for a place in the big dance! Congratulations to Delany for taking out the tournament in a hard fought compeition with Brigid. Well done Kildare for coming 3rd against a competitive Nagle side. Credit to Chanel for always competing hard and supporting each other throughout the games.

Points going into finals.

• Delany  79
• Brigid   50
• Nagle   46
• Kildare  45
• Chanel  24

Compliments to our House Sports Leaders for organising and coaching the teams. A huge thank you to those students who supported the competition by umpiring. These students demonstrated our core value of courage, through their involvement in the game. 

What a fun few weeks it was. We look forward to next Inter-House Sport Tournament.

Bianca Parker
Sports Development Officer

During the last four weeks, on Tuesdays after school, Year 7 and 8 students have had the opportunity to explore the game of lacrosse with coaching clinics provided by the East Torrens Lacrosse Club.

The students have had a great time and learnt the skills of carrying, passing, catching, defending and shooting the ball into the goal.

Future lacrosse superstars in the making!

Bianca Parker
Sports Development Officer

We recently celebrated Library and Information Week in the Resource Centre with tonnes of fun activities. The theme this year was Adventures in Space and Time. The students had a wonderful time with space themed mindfulness colouring in, Constellation Art to make star inspired artwork, and handmade bookmarks using soft pastels. The students created some really magical pieces of art. Soft pastels especially have been a huge favourite, with soft pastel art becoming a regular lunchtime activity.

The Year 7 and 8 HUMS classes also participated in an activity for Library and Information Week called, “Are You Smarter than Google?” The students used the online Resource Centre catalogue and the book collection to see if they could answer a number of questions instead of using a search engine. The activity was a huge success, and everyone had a wonderful time navigating the Resource Centre collection and building their research skills. The activity wasn’t without reward as well! The students who finished the activity were all rewarded with a prize.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is still going strong for all of the students and so far across all year levels, over 500 books have been read! This is a wonderful effort by all and it is great to see so many students challenging themselves and reading a wide variety of genres.

As always, Happy Reading.

Emma Gay
Resource Centre Officer