Issue 7 Term 3 2020

I join with others and welcome you all to the start of Term 3. This term shapes as a busy term for many of the senior students as they begin to conclude their studies with us and we begin to look at 2021. During this term we will start the subject selection process with the current Year 10 and 11 students. Students have received their subject selection form and viewed a presentation regarding the selection of their choice subjects for 2021.

As students move through to the Senior Years, there are subject pre-requisites or recommended minimum requirements for students wishing to pursue that subject the following year. It would be wise for students to reflect on their Semester 1 performance, including exams, with a view to whether they will qualify for the subjects they wish to undertake in 2021. This should then be a gauge of the level of commitment and effort required in Term 3 to ensure that these requirements are well met.

SACE Information

The SACE is a qualification for entry into Universities and further training.  Students need to meet SACE requirements to be eligible for some studies at TAFE level and for all University studies. Each year, we offer parents the opportunity to learn more about the SACE and tertiary entry.

By clicking on the below link parents of current Year 10 and 11 students can find out more information on:

• The SACE and completion requirements
• SACE assessment and moderation
• University and TAFE entrance requirements

https://youtu.be/ghL2tCGSvqw

We look forward to supporting your daughter in making her subject choices for 2021 and encourage you all to attend the counselling afternoon scheduled for Wednesday 19 August 2020.

Raymond Kropinski
Senior Years Coordinator

Term 3 has started well for our Middle Years students with many exciting events to look forward to. Co-curricular sport has recommenced and it is wonderful to see that we have many middle years sporting teams competing in netball, soccer and AFL competitions. I had the pleasure of coaching one of our netball teams in Round 1 and it was wonderful to see how well they played as a team and supported each other.  

Our Year 7 students are heading off to visit Monarto Safari Park this week to investigate different adaptations, ecosystems and environments of animals such as meerkats, wallabies and chimpanzees as a part of their STEM program. They will investigate target audiences and the way in which Monarto Safari Park go about engaging an audience, enabling them to practise skills they are learning in HUMS.

Later this term the Year 7 students will engage in a Positive Education workshop run by Active Education. This day long, active workshop will enable students to further develop their growth mindsets and the way in which they manage their emotions, relationships and their body. 

For the first time we will be welcoming the Carly Ryan Foundation to our College where they will host two workshops for our Year 8 students. The presentation will be in two parts, firstly the whole cohort will hear a presentation covering online safety and the second presentation, delivered to smaller groups will cover healthy relationships. The workshops will aim to cover: 

• Online safety 
• Cyber bullying 
• Impact of inappropriate online behaviour 
• Consent 
• Coercion 
• Protective behaviours 
• Healthy Relationships 

The Carly Ryan Foundation is partnered by the eSafety Office and they have a close working relationship with the Australian Federal Police’s ThinkUKnow program. We are committed to working in partnership with families to help our students develop online safety and awareness and positive, healthy relationships and this program is one way we can offer support. For more information please visit the Carly Ryan Foundation Website. The website also has a large variety of fact sheets that can help parents understand the different apps young people are using, and the controls families can put in place to help keep their children safe.  https://www.carlyryanfoundation.com/resources/fact-sheets 

Later this term, our Year 9 students will be visiting Latitude for a fun afternoon of trampolining and rock wall climbing. This is an event we have run for the past few years in which the students have really enjoyed. It is a great way for our students to be exposed to risk taking in a healthy, supportive and engaging environment while at the same time foster relationship development with their peers.  

Kim Thomas
Middle Years Coordinator

Congratulations to Khyleesha Welgraven (Year 10) who was recently awarded a scholarship through Adelaide University (Karnkanthi Indigenous Education Program) to participate in the inaugural SPIRE Youth Leadership Program during the holidays. 

SPIRE is hosting a three month action-learning leadership program for teens (13-16 years) who care deeply about the social, environmental and economic issues affecting us globally and locally. Teens who are motivated to develop the leadership skills to make a positive difference!

Khyleesha was one of sixteen secondary students who participated in the three day workshop. The students are participating in group projects over a ten week period that aim to develop leadership skills that will see them grow and transform in confidence and abilities as social change makers.   

Working collaboratively with two other students, Khyleesha with the support of mentor Damian Walker (SA Young Citizen of the Year 2017), decided the focus of their project will be ‘In2EdAFrica’. The project objective is to create awareness of the urgent need for the most vulnerable members of society in African countries to receive online learning opportunities during and post COVID. 

Over the next ten weeks Khyleesha and her group members will be researching and working on their project, they will meet regularly outside of school hours as well as juggling their usual school commitments. At the conclusion of the project all groups will present their ideas at a graduation ceremony.

We wish Khyleesha and her group all the best in their endeavours.

Angie Selga and Gabbi Rigney
Indigenous Focus Team

Last week, Ms Pezos and I had the pleasure of watching and supporting our three debating teams in their first round of debates. Congratulations to our Year 8 team on their first ever debate where they represented the College with professionalism and enthusiasm. Excitingly, they won their debate against Glenunga International High School. Well done. 

Our Year 9 team worked hard on their debate about dumpster diving but unfortunately the opposing team forfeited on the eve of the debate. Nevertheless, victory by surrender is still victory! Wish them luck for Round 2. 

Last (but not least!), debating against Glenunga International High School, our Year 10 team demonstrated determination and incredible quick thinking. They developed highly persuasive arguments about the street artist Banksy and all three were commended by the adjudicator on their manner and presentation. Though the adjudicator appointed the opposing side as the winning team, we are incredibly proud of their efforts. 

Again, a big congratulations to all those students who attended Round 1 and put on a good show.

Linda Beck
Debating Teacher

Term 3 sport is up and running with Statewide Sport in full swing. We have three Netball, two Soccer, a Badminton, AFL and Volleyball teams entered in this year's competition.

The Kildare weekly sport teams have finished two rounds of competition to date. We have had some huge wins in the netball and soccer on both Saturdays. We have had some very close games, and all teams played with great enthusiasim. The footy team continue to improve their skills each week and have had a couple of near wins. No matter the results we are happy sport is back for the students enjoy and be active.  

Statewide Sport (Previously known as Knockout)

Soccer
With the sun shining, our Year 8/9 Soccer team play the first match with both teams creating chances, but neither converting. Being down 1-0 at half time, Kildare came out more determined. A change in the midfield increased the pressure before Kildare scored an equaliser from a penalty kick. At full time with no result it was left to a penalty shoot-out to determine a winner. Kildare went on to win 3-1 on penalties.

After the break, we played our second game with great sportsmanship to end the first half nil all. Our Year 8/9s continued to apply pressure and had multiple opportunities to score but could not capitalise before the final whistle and only just fell short of going through to Round 2.

Kildare College would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Modbury Jets Soccer Club for allowing us to host the games on their home ground at Smith Partners Stadium.

Year 7 Netball
With the first game being a bye the players had time to scout out the competition, Miss Smith and Miss Whitton put some tactics into play for the players to execute. A super strong first quarter saw Kildare hold a strong lead, from here the team held on for a six goal win. After lunch, our second match saw us walk away with a 17 goal win were everyone showed great skills and teamwork. Kildare now progresses to Round 2. Well done Year 7s.

Australian Rules
Only one match stood between Kildare and Round 2 of Statewide sport for 2020. The first quarter saw an early goal opportunity that hit the post being the only score for the game. Hard defence and strong tackles improved in the second half, but unfortunately Kildare couldn’t put a score on the board for the rest of the game. A very well played game, Miss McAteer and Miss Hughes can’t wait for next year to get a win. They are really looking forward to coaching the team again next year.

Catherine Smith
Sports Development Officer

Lilla Watson is a Gangulu woman of Dawson River in Queensland. Famously, she said,

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, let us work together”.

This quote is an invitation, not just to help, but to share the same ideal of liberation with her, that we stand as one in the struggles and the suffering that our brothers and sisters have, and so work towards empowerment and transformation.

This, is solidarity.

Solidarity erases borders, it deletes margins, and it is achieved when there is no more us versus them.

Sadly, there are many people in our world who have had their humanness and dignity taken away. Let us be conscious of those who have struggled and those who have died at the hands of injustice. These people were some of the most vulnerable in our society, or, they were treated poorly because of such things as their race, colour, or sexual orientation.

As a Catholic school, we follow the teachings and example of Jesus, who stood in solidarity with the vulnerable and the outcast in his community. Those people who were treated as if they were nothing. Jesus allowed them to feel human and gave them their dignity.

At the end of last term a group of students and staff gathered to take part in a Vigil for Solidarity. We gathered to acknowledge and to pray for those who have suffered, and who continue to suffer for a variety of reasons.

We hear in the Gospels how Jesus praises the ones who listen to his words, and then act on them. To be a good Christian, therefore, is to act as one.

As a community here at Kildare College, we are committed to being a community where all people are valued, and where hope, justice and courage are our hallmarks. For these reasons we celebrate our multicultural existence at Kildare College. Nevertheless, it is important to stop every now and then and to reflect on our own actions and words, as this clearly tells others what we stand for.

Enrico Caprioli
APRIM

The Year 10 Art class have had a very creative start to the second semester. They were challenged to create ‘unplanned marks’ using watercolour paint and black pen. Using these marks they then used their unique style to bring the whole composition into one original piece of artwork. This task was a great opportunity for the students to demonstrate their very own creative style.

Students have also been working on another challenging task involving drawing a still-life sketch of chairs using a wide range of drawing mediums. The students produced very well-proportioned drawings displaying all they have learnt about the use of line and tonal variations. The students will continue with the theme of ‘The Chair’ to create their own symbolistic drawing, and we are really looking forward to seeing what they will produce.

The Year 10 students have greatly enjoyed exploring these new artistic ideas and challenges. 

They are all wonderful artists!

Verity Clark
Art Teacher

Learning in Maths Pathway takes many different forms. In a fortnightly learning cycle your daughter will engage in activities such as online modules, rich tasks, mini lessons (small group work), targeted intervention and energisers. Each type of activity builds different mathematical skills and serves different purposes, but together helps students develop a deep understanding of the mathematics they are learning.

You may have heard your daughter mention energisers, small 5 minute activities, which are used to break up each lesson. These activities serve many purposes:

• Enables students to work collaboratively on a task
• Provides students’ brains with a break from processing new information
• Enhances cognitive function, enabling the brain to focus for new work
• Increases students’ motivational levels.

Evidence suggests that incorporating Energisers within a learning program improves academic performance, specifically in Maths, achievement in standardised testing, classroom behaviour and strengthens teacher-student relationship.

As we are passionate about maximising learning outcomes for all our students and strive to include practices that support them in achieving excellent results, we include energisers within each lesson. Please find here a link to 37-Numberphile, an example of the type of task we use in class as an energiser. Maybe you could try it at home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=EJRXWNWJOrQ

Kim Thomas
Maths Teacher

In collaboration with Green Adelaide, the Year 7 STEM classes are exploring climate change through the Climate Ready Schools Program. This student centred program explores adaptation and mitigation issues involving climate change within the College and local community, with the outcome being to problem solve and develop practical solutions to these issues. 

Students engage with the community to investigate what climate change issues are impacting their College and local communities. After choosing an issue to address, students brainstorm solutions, build prototypes, and test and refine them to see whether the solution will address the issue chosen. 

Currently, students are 'heat mapping' our College grounds with infrared thermometers and brainstorming actions to take to help cool our local community.

Julia Groutsch    
Learning Leader

The Year 8 STEM students have been focusing on the engineering design process using the laser cutting machine. The students brainstormed special people in their lives, and chose one for whom they would create a design, which would be lasered into a serving board for them. 

For the task the students set a goal statement, interviewed the person, created a mood board and sketched three designs, all forming their success criteria. The students were able to laser cut their three practice designs to then choose a final design. With the guidance of peer feedback, students made improvements to the final design evaluating the success criteria from prior tasks. 

The students were eager to gift the board to their person to show how grateful they are for them and everything they do. It was humbling to see how excited and eager the students were throughout this task, and it was great to see students show gratitude and reflect on how many special people they have in their lives.

Alicia Whitton 
STEM and Science Teacher 

Kildare's Year 8 students have recently been encouraged to learn strategical mathematical thinking through playing games. The students worked in small groups to design board games based on specific mathematical concepts such as percentages, Venn Diagrams, and quadrilaterals. Their task was to produce a creative and engaging game that effectively taught players Math concepts.

On game day, the students modelled and explained their games to another group and then watched on as their games were enjoyed by others. A fraction sorting game created much excitement as players raced the clock to make ‘wholes’, and deep concentration was required to factorise tricky expressions in ‘Faurgia Factorisation’.

Sally Morgan
Maths Teacher

In order to gain skills in jewellery making and silver smithing, six STEM staff members including myself attended a two day workshop in the school holidays. The workshop, run by Mega O’Rouke (Adelaide College of the Arts), introduced us to the skills used to create silver jewellery, including saw piercing, filing, soldering, polishing, decorative finishes and design principles. 

The results of our efforts were a set of beautiful rings, earrings and pendants in polished brass, copper and silver. 

These skills will be taught to our Year 7 and 9 students through STEM projects in Terms 3 and 4 this year.

Annette Lamont
Director of Learning

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves. Our names are Mikaela and Samara, and we are both in our final year of a Bachelor of Social Work at the University of South Australia. We will be at Kildare for the remainder of the year working alongside the Wellbeing Team.

Our goal is to assist students by supporting them to successfully engage with the curriculum and to nurture skills that promote wellbeing.

Samara’s interest is helping students realise their potential by guiding them to engage with the resources they need in order to maximise learning opportunities. 

Mikaela has an interest is promoting wellbeing and team building through movement and physical theatre, drawing on her experience in Performing Arts. 

We are looking forward to being a part of the Kidlare community and learning as much as possible to support and nurture the wellbeing of students.

Samara and Mikaela
Student Social Workers