Filter Content
- From Our Principal
- Term 3 Canteen Closure - Heads Up!
- New Blazers for Prefects
- New Flags Delivered
- NAIDOC Week
- Cybersafety Sessions
- Farewell, Steve
- Year 7 Adelaide Zoo Excursion
- Year 12 Sports Studies - Personal Endeavour
- Year 12 Sports Studies Camp
- Rodeo Success for Trent
- Operation Flinders
- Australian Business Week
- Open Girls Knockout Netball
- Road Awareness Program
- Thanks to Emergency Services
- Science
- Open Day Success
Welcome to the final newsletter for Term 2, in what has been a successful term for our school with many positive stories and news articles to share.
Curriculum
We’ve continued over the past weeks with a strong finish to Semester 1 subjects and changeover into Semester 2 in Week 9. Subject teachers have been working with students over the past two weeks to immerse students into new subjects, outlining learning intentions, success criteria and undertaking learning activities to activate prior knowledge.
In Week 9 we held Australian Business Week, which was a successful week of learning for our Year 11 students – researching and applying a range of learning in the realm of innovative business thinking. We were joined by Mr Matt Green from Marshall & Brougham (who built the Middle School and Senior School buildings) on the judging panel, along with Mr Jones and me. This was an impressive amount of work by students and facilitated by Year 11 Manager Ms Erin Ewart.
In Week 10 we held a special purpose assembly on Monday to recognise, acknowledge and celebrate NAIDOC week. This included the unveiling of our new Acknowledgement of Country, which has been written specifically by First Nations students at Kapunda High School, together with Aboriginal Education Teacher, Mr Scott Durand and our Aboriginal Education Worker, Mr Luke Karpany.
On Tuesday of this week, we held a Cyber-safety workshop for all students, to provide education around safe and appropriate use of social and digital media technologies. This workshop covered practical ways for students’ to keep themselves safe, as well as educating students about the law involving inappropriate use of social media technology, including e-crime, cyber-bullying and harassment.
Staffing Updates
We have a number of staffing updates to announce.
A congratulations and warm welcome to Mr Sam Milne, who joins us in a new role at Kapunda High School for Semester 2: Assistant Principal for Positive School Culture and Wellbeing. Sam joins us from Playford International College, where he was a Wellbeing Leader and he brings a wealth of knowledge to the new role. Sam’s role will continue to build on the work we are doing as a school to instil, recognise and promote positive behaviours and school culture across our school. This is an exciting journey, building on the strength of our proud school traditions.
A warm welcome also to Groundspersons, Mr Shane Verrall and Mr Lance Crowhurst, who have joined us in recent weeks. Both Shane and Lance have been working hard to keep our grounds looking immaculate and make the physical environment an attractive and desirable one for students to learn, grow and thrive. They have already had a sound impact over the second part of this term.
A warm welcome also to Ms Tiziana Sestili who joins us in the role of English and HASS Teacher, replacing Ms Beth Trigg. Tiziana has been with us doing some relief teaching work in the lead up to the role, getting to know classes and building positive relationships with students.
Wellbeing Coordinator, Mrs Lee-Anne Cummins is taking Long Service Leave over Semester 2 and so Mrs Karen Bromley has been appointed to the Wellbeing Coordinator role for Semester 2 this year. We wish Lee-Anne all the best for her upcoming leave.
We say farewell this term also to Canteen Manager, Maree Thompson. Maree has accepted another role and will be moving on from Kapunda High School. We acknowledge and thank Maree for her work in the Kapunda High School canteen and in the Manager’s role over Semester 1 of this year. All the best for your new opportunity.
A staffing panel has been run by Governing Council for a replacement Canteen Manager and an announcement will be made soon, as we prepare for Term 3.
School Building Updates
We have made significant progress in regards to the re-building our school.
Working with the Department for Education, our six new classrooms on our Hawke Street site have been placed this week. Final works for fitting out classrooms is underway, which we expect to be ready early in Term 3. We are working with the Light Regional Council on making the road safe for students, being able to cross safely to access their learning.
There is also significant work happening at the Front of School for our temporary Front Office and Reception buildings. The majority of this work will occur in the school holidays.
Unfortunately the front of school basketball court will not be accessible to the school community during the school holidays, for safety reasons. I appreciate your support with this.
Further work is happening to clean up the Eringa site. Things are looking positive in this space, and we look forward to providing further information when available. Thank you to the local and wider community for your continued outreach in support for our school.
At the request of the community, Governing Council are investigating a Government registered donation fund regarding the re-building of facilities at our school and will provide you with further information when available.
Well done to students and staff on what has been a highly successful term for our school. I would like to acknowledge the work of our staff and also our relief teachers and relief SSO’s, who have worked in a particularly complex set of circumstances to provide rich and rigorous learning experiences for our students.
I look forward to keeping you updated with more news of our progress as we continue to take great strides of progress forward and build on the rich culture and traditions of our school. Have a safe holiday break.
David Marino
Principal
Our canteen, the Kidman Kafé, will be closed for week 1 in Term 3. Students should bring their lunch that week.
The QKR! App will also be unavailable for the first week.
Prefect blazers were lost in the devastating school fire in March. Now replaced, our KHS Prefects are proud to once again wear their formal blazers to represent our school.
NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. NAIDOC Week grew out of the work done by the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association (AAPA) in 1924 and the Australian Aborigines League (AAL) in 1932 and other groups. National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations.
The theme for this year is Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up. You can support and get to know your local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities through activities and events held across the country.
Students explained why we have the Acknowledgement of Country and the path for creating a specific KHS acknowledgement.
Why have a KHS acknowledgment of country?
- To give it more meaning, our own way of acknowledging of Country.
- No personalised acknowledge - we are learning on Ngadjuri land.
- Uniform for school events and meetings, so we could have a consistent message.
Aboriginal learners, aboriginal learner support team (with special note of the support of Graham Rigney and Luke Karpany (former and current ASETO), SRC, Governing Council all played a role in developing the KHS Acknowledgement of Country. Mr Jack Buckskin, a Kuarna man who provides cultural awareness training, also assisted the group. Jack conducted a workshop on the meaning of the Acknowledgement of Country, teaching us that it had two parts:
- Truth telling.
- Paying respect.
SAPOL Cyber-security officers gave cyber-bullying, harassment and safety presentations to all students this week.
Students were provided information about various aspects; including what these crimes may look like, how to keep themselves safe and of the consequences of participating in cyber-crimes.
Grounds newcomers, Lance Crowhurst and Shane Verrall with Steve O'Donnell (second from left) and Grounds volunteer, Melville Coulter
KHS farewelled our Groundsperson, Steve O'Donnell recently, after 10 year's of service to the school. Steve has developed many areas of the school and maintained our beautiful grounds, giving both staff and students a pleasant environment to work and study.
'I never felt like it was really work, because the staff are so friendly and the school is such a great place to be', said Steve. We wish him well in his future endeavours.
We also welcome Shane Verrall and Lance Crowhurst as Groundspersons.
On Thursday, 23 June and Friday, 24 June, the Year 7 cohort attended an excursion to Adelaide Zoo as a part of their Science and Mathematics studies. Students explored perimeter and area concepts in Mathematics and classification and ecology in Science.
This experience allowed students to see how these concepts play out in a real-life scenario and upon returning to school to design their own zoos. From visiting the Adelaide Zoo students were able to look at how enclosure sizes vary for different species and how the placement of animals is designed based on the behaviour and social activity of the species.
Michael Raschella
Science & Maths teacher
The year 12 Sports Studies students have started their Personal Endeavour assignment, which is a six week fitness program. They will have to complete the majority of the practical component to this outside of school, however some fitness sessions will be run during class.
We have been lucky enough to have Adam Schmidt, a previous student, come in and talk about how to put together a fitness program and also run a few sessions with the students. Adam is a Personal Trainer who has just moved back to Freeling from Waikerie after being in a management role in a gym.
A huge thank you to Adam for taking time out to help the students with their fitness programs, and also the sessions were a big hit!
Megan Samain
Sports Studies teacher
The year 12 Sports Studies class finally got to Murray Bridge after having to postpone earlier in the term.
Monday's weather was looking pretty ‘iffy’, however it turned out to be a great day for learning all the basics – including some early unplanned capsizing for some teams.
Whilst the sun arrived for us on Tuesday, the wind took a little time to turn up making it tricky to sail – but perfect for the capsizing drills in glass like conditions on the river.
Wednesday was the ‘race day’, when we determine who is the sailing champions of the class… however the sun turned up, but no wind making sailing unavailable.
The students all had to work with partners to demonstrate their understanding of sailing, culminating in a race on the Wednesday morning to determine the winner for 2022.
The class demonstrated so much resilience, they were on the water for 18 hours over the 3 days. If only they listened to their teachers when we suggested early bedtimes were needed!
A huge thank you to Mark Leslie for joining me on the camp again and also to Eudunda Area School for the use of their bus.
Thank you to the families of these students, your patience in the camp date changes was appreciated. The grades that the students received were of a particularly high standard, which is great!
Megan Samain
Sports Studies teacher
Year 11 student, Trent Reynolds has recently competed in this year's Australian Professional Rodeo Association (APRA) Junior finals in Emerald, Queensland, having previously qualified in the Australian Junior Breakaway Roping and Steer Riding. He achieved a third in the Breakaway Roping and Fifth in the Steer Ride and finished the year as fourth in the season 2021/22 for All Round Australian Junior Cowboy, ranking top 10 in Australia for these events.
Trent shows tremendous commitment to this sport. Competing with both young people and adults, he has far fewer opportunities to compete than interstate competitors, with South Australia having only summer rodeos.
Trent's string of successes during the past two years, includes winning the Junior Steer ride, gaining a first in the Second Division Heeler (adult section) and becoming the SA All Round Junior Cowboy. He was also first in Team Roping (adult section) with his father, Kevin, at Kapunda Rodeo as well as winning the Deniliquin Rodeo All Round Cowboy (adult and junior) - the first junior ever to win this buckle. He also gained a first in Breakaway Roping at Harvey Bay Rodeo, NSW and has won and placed in other rodeos.
Congratulations, Trent!
Earlier this month, ten Year 9-11 boys from Nuriootpa and Kapunda High School along with Miss Reed, participated in the Operation Flinders program. This program creates an opportunity for young people facing challenges in their lives to experience personal development and creates pathways to wellbeing and life success through adventure therapy.
At 5:30am on the cold morning of Tuesday, 14 June, we started our long 8-hour bus journey to the Yankaninna Station in the Flinders Ranges where we would stay for the next 8 days. We were dropped to our insertion point where we met our team leader, Jay and our assistant team leader, Dave. We unpacked our personal belongings into the hiking packs, which we would be carrying on our backs the whole trip, including all our sleeping, camping equipment, and personal equipment. After a 4km hike to our first campsite, the boys learnt all the jobs which they had to complete over the duration of the experience, cooked dinner on the campfire with camp ovens, set up their hootchies, and went to bed ready for what was ahead of us in the days to follow.
Our second day is the most memorable for a lot of the team as we conquered Mount Rose. This mountain sits at approximately 700m tall with rocky, unsteady and VERY steep terrain, making it certainly a challenging climb. With our packs on, we continued up step by step, climbing with our hands and feet, getting to the top in an outstanding 45 minutes! The view at the top was amazing and all of us felt accomplished, with many of the boys saying how proud they were of themselves to achieve this. After this, we still had a long way to trek to our campsite for the second night.
Each day, we hiked between 15-21km through creek beds, rocky terrain, and a crazy number of prickles. The views were unreal, and we even spotted many emus and kangaroos, alive... and dead. Another highlight of the trip was the high ropes course, a new activity for Operation Flinders. This involved each participant working together to get across and complete the course. They had to jump on moving platforms being steadied by the rest of the team below, hold each other's shoulders on a tightrope that slowly got wider, and put trust in those belaying them. This experience challenged a lot of us, but everyone gave it a go and showed courage and resilience. I was particularly impressed with the leadership skills that were demonstrated by a few of the boys during this experience.
We were faced with situations that pushed us well outside our comfort zone and at times, the cracks began to show but I could not be prouder of our team and how resilient they were. We had some crazy encounters ("Nev, Nev, NEVER GIVE UP"), some conflict, some tears, but nobody gave up and we reached day 8, completing our 100km hike! It is hard to describe how it felt to reach the end of the experience and receive our t-shirt and dog tags, which only those who complete the experience can receive. Overall, this was a memorable experience for us all and each person learnt something about themselves.
Isabella Reed
Teacher and Operation Flinders mentor
ABW CEOs, Connon Leilah, Jai and Riley
EcoWears
CEO: Connon Shepherd
Mentor: Brae McConnell
Lyte Sole
CEO: Leilah Pryor
Mentor: Emily Patrick
Court Vision
CEO: Riley Smith
Mentor: Jess Read/Greg McGlachlan
Sandy Cheekz
CEO: Jai Secker
Mentor: Georgia Madigan
On Thursday, 16 June at the Kapunda Netball Courts the KHS netball team played against Riverton, Balaklava, Burra and Clare during a round robin competition.
The day started a little wet, and we had a convincing win over Riverton. Next was Balaklava where they pushed us in the first half, then we put our foot down to secure the win. Clare was our tough competition, however, to the girls credit they played some solid netball to get the win.
Against Burra, we were all out to finish the day on a great game. We had to put Sadie Shanahan into WD for the game and Poppy had to switch back to her position in GS. Burra had all of their available year 11 & 12 girls out on the court, which is great to see them still participating in our competitions. We ended the final half with the ‘super shot’ – two points from the edge of the ring. All girls on court loved finishing the day with a great game with fantastic sportswomanship shown all down the court.
We came away with four wins for the day, which will take us into the Finals in Adelaide in Term 3.
Thank you to Kayla Malkin, who umpired on the day.
The team huddle, & Poppy & Matilda enjoying pre-game donuts
Megan Samain
Whole School Sport/Teacher
Last week, Metropolitan Fire Service officer, Mr Jarrod Stallard, gave a Road Awareness presentation to year 11 students. Mr Daniel Woolley also shared his personal road accident experience, which included his challenging journey toward recovery.
As part of their Biology unit, the Year 8 Science classes have been making a variety of models and movies in their classes. Ms Greenfield’s class were put into teams, who had to create models with a theme. Pictured above are Lochie Cook, Daniel Thurston and James Ambrose’s 'Cake Cells'. Amelia Williams also made an informative and creative cell model out of 'random stuff she had at home'. The rest of the class was equally creative!
Kerensa Greenfield
Biology teacher
Despite poor weather conditions, our Open Day went ahead as planned with many families visiting the subject displays.
