6 December 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal’s Desk

As we near the end of another school year, I take this opportunity to thank my staff who so often go beyond the call of duty to provide amazing learning opportunities for our young people. I recently had the pleasure of attending a presentation by a group of Year 9 students who are promoting the Young Australians Plan for the Planet project. Under the guidance of Suzy Urbaniak, a team of students ranging from Year 12 to Year 9 took part in this initiative this year and the Year 9s were showcasing their findings to Science teachers from Como Secondary College, Willetton Senior High School and Southern River College with a view to our students mentoring theirs in 2018. We have also been invited to go global and it is very likely that we will be working with Mauritius next year as well. It is exactly this sort of experience which stretches young people’s hearts and minds and helps them to become active citizens of the future. I consider myself exceedingly fortunate to lead such a school where opportunities like this abound.

Chaplain’s Chat to return

This year we have struggled to be appointed a full time Chaplain owing to a general shortage of staff in this area. We were very fortunate to gain the support of Matt Denholm for two days a week in semester two. Matt is a relieving chaplain who was already back-filling for a colleague the other three days per week. I am very happy to report that we have secured Andrew Findlay as our full time chaplain effective as of the start of 2018. Andrew is relocating from Albany where he was working across a range of schools and we are very lucky to have scored him. I trust that you will look forward to reading his Chaplain’s Chat in future editions of the newsletter. More importantly, I am sure that he will be a great addition to our Student Services team.

Staffing in 2018

Next year marks some change and some added stability on the Kent Street staff. We undertook many processes and resolved many fixed term positions to permanent. I am happy to announce that the following current staff will be permanent at Kent Street as of 2018:

• Phil Hulbert – Deputy in charge of Student Services as of 2018
• Nadira Naidoo – EAL/D and Student Services Year 7/8 Coordinator in 2018
• Rachel Grant & Amy Chinnery – Health & Physical Education
• Celine Turton & Ingrid Hills – Home Economics
• Helen Bresloff-Barry – HASS
• Oisin McFadden – Science
• Bianca Hewett – English
• Miwa Yamaguchi – Japanese

Some staff are staying on in a fixed term capacity because they are relieving for permanent staff:

• Stacey Tylor – Photography (relieving for Ken Lindsay in semester one)
• Claire Heeney – D&T (relieving for Eddie Mearns who is seconded elsewhere)
• Ben Jacobsen – Health & Physical Education (also relieving for Ken Lindsay in semester one)

Some new faces include the following people:

• Cath Cowan – HASS (replacing Lee Bott who is retiring)
• Kate Rowe – HASS (replacing Francisco Mora Balaguera who is taking LSL next year)
• Felicity Farrelly – Science (replacing Chris Broom in term one)
• Grace Laneaux – joining the Drama/English team
• Julia Moore – Fashion/Art
• Giverny Rogers – English
• Julie Miller – Health & Physical Education
• Ben Jackson – T&E (relieving for Mark Nickels in semester one who is on LSL)
• Amy Patience – School Psychologist (four days per week)
• Andrew Findlay – Chaplain (five days per week)

Murray Green will be returning to Maths as of the start of the new school year and Ken Lindsay will be back in H&PE/Photography mid year.

We wish those staff who are transitioning elsewhere all the best for the future. In particular, we wish Mr Lee Bott a fabulous retirement from teaching and hope that he makes the most of the opportunity to travel.

Have a happy and safe summer break. I look forward to another great year in 2018.

Kath Ward
Principal

Principal Kath Ward

Colour Run

Kent Street hosted the Year7 & 8 Colour Run on Wednesday 25 October 2017 to raise funds for a beach volleyball court. We raised $4707.25 - this is a great effort to all who raised this money.

The winners of the major prizes drawn on Friday 1 December 2017 were:

1st Kaedon Morcomber – Samsung TV
2nd Zoe Creach – xTreen Drone
3rd Ashvinie Nadarajah – iPad Mini
4th Kate Youds – Beats Earphones
5th Tahnee Woods – Beats Headphones

Some wonderful moments captured during our Year 7 & 8 Colour Run

From the Manager of Corporate Services

Payment of Contributions and Charges

Thank you to those families who have paid their 2017 Voluntary Contributions and Charges. Letters and reminders were sent out in October for outstanding charges. School Contributions enable the school to purchase essential resources to assist in the best possible educational outcomes for our students. Statements of projected 2018 contributions and charges were sent out in November. If your child has changed subjects and it is not reflected on the statement, please contact the school Office on 9262 0500.

The incentive prizes of 6 x $100 OfficeMax vouchers will be drawn 8 December 2017. Families who have paid $300+ towards their 2018 contributions and charges will be included in the draw.

Senior School Charges (Year 11 and 12), Specialist Program Charges (Year 7 to 12) and Elective Charges (Year 9 and 10) are compulsory as per Department of Education Policy. Unpaid compulsory charges are referred to our debt collection agency.

The school offers a variety of payment options:

• Qkr app (preferred online payment method), cash, cheque, EFTPOS including credit card facilities (credit card payments are also able to be phoned through).
• Direct deposit to our bank account: BSB: 066128 A/C No: 00900195
• (Please ensure that the following format is adhered to, this will ensure the correct account is credited: (EG: If you are paying contributions & charges please enter Joe Smith Yr 8 CC)
• BPay: Code and reference are listed on account statements
• Arrange a payment plan. If you have any queries or would like to set up a payment plan, please contact the Finance Officer – Julianne Vaitekenas on 9262 0500.

A Starry Night

At 6.30pm on Wednesday night, 22 November 2017, families, friends and ex-students began to arrive at school to sit under the stars to watch the entertainment of multiple talents of over 30 acts in music, dance and drama. The canteen quad was transformed by the hardworking music teacher, Mr Sanderco and his technical team, with lights and sound controlled from the new mixer desk, which allowed the performances to run smoothly, with stage action projected live on to a cyclorama, courtesy of the media crew on cameras. Drama was funny and enthusiastic, and well-rehearsed by all the lower school drama students who are developing into excellent thespians. Sadly, the Very Hungry Caterpillar couldn’t perform because his head fell off waiting in the wings, but everyone closed the gap professionally as directed by the very efficient stage manager, and the excellent showcase of our Arts talents was well received. High points of the evening were solo singers who held the audience spellbound, and the rock & roll ending – altogether a lovely evening under the stars and the new moon. And it didn’t rain! Well done, everyone who performed, planned, helped set up and take down, provide and encourage; if you missed it this year, enjoy looking at the photos taken by our lovely photography students, but come and watch in 2018.

Design Expo

The inaugural Kent Street Senior High School Design Expo, held in mid-October, was a showcase of the school’s design talent. The school’s design courses offer students the opportunity to develop their creativity, imagination and problem solving skills.

Held under twinkling fairy lights, the Expo featured displays and performances from the school’s specialty courses of Fashion and Design and Aviation, as well as work from Art, Media, Music, Photography, Japanese and the Design and Technology departments.

Kent Street students provided musical entertainment all night on the main stage, with lighting and smoke used to great effect. The two fashion parades made their way along the catwalk at the end of the stage, the models then continued their showing by walking the fashion runway throughout the exhibition rooms.

The photo booth in the photography room produced multitudes of funny photos throughout the night and the room featured fantastic photography from throughout the year. The Art room was full to the brim with artwork and design from across all year levels. The Japanese room offered some hands on fun with origami, and Japanese symbol painting.

Aviation had a display of work created by students across the year levels, including model planes, spaceships and even a replica of a 5-cylinder radial engine.

Certificate in Hospitality

Certificate II in Hospitality students from year 11 and 12 have had a very productive and busy 2017. As part of this course, they catered for numerous functions, which included planning and preparing dishes, setting up for functions and serving guests. They prepared and served a sit down menu for a Melbourne Cup luncheon for Kent Street staff as well as lunch for the Kentian Society, the school’s association of past staff and students.

The Hospitality students also prepared and served food for the school’s inaugural Design Expo, made and sold cup cakes for Pink Stumps Day and prepared and served sandwiches for sale at the School’s Athletics Carnival. They made morning and afternoon tea for several functions including the school’s Resources Challenge, the Fashion & Design camp, fashion workshops and a fashion excursion. They also provided lunches and afternoon tea for several Curtin Education Community professional learning days held at Kent Street. The glowing praise received from these events is testament to the hard work of the students in Hospitality this year.

The Design and Technology department showed large-scale metalwork including BBQs, braziers, a trailer and a cubed sculpture as well as woodwork and intricate, detailed digital design projects.

Certificate II in Hospitality students prepared and served tea, coffee, slices and a sausage sizzle to all who came to see the design spectacle.

Year 11 Media

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!!

The year 11 Media class have been very busy this semester, having been in production for a pilot presentation TV show concept called “Culture Clash”. It’s a show concept based on a variety of subcultures including hippies, gangstas, a Rasta, a Natsu and a sporty chick! All on camera and crew roles were performed by class members and involved learning how to shoot on location. To this end students braved the streets of the CBD dressed in their allocated and relevant costumes to address the issues of external light and sound and overcome the fear of being “on camera” in a public place.

We shot in Supreme Court Gardens, outside various shops, on Hay Street Mall and outside the law courts.

Well done to all involved… a challenging job accomplished and now to pitch the concept to “producers!” The best edit of the show will be sent to a script writer in Sydney for feedback as to its feasibility as a production concept!

CHANNEL 9 TOUR

Prior to this afternoon of location shooting, students participated in a tour of the new Channel 9 Studios in Perth. Students were guided through the various departments involved in news gathering, editing and presenting. Some students were able to sit at the news desk and read from the autocue to get a feel for on air presenting. They met with the Chief of Staff who explained how the camo’s are sent on a job, how they source stories and legal and ethical constraints of news gathering.

Year 9 and 10 students will have an opportunity to have this experience in Week 9.

The Variety Show information 2009 – 2017 and 2018

‘As the Page Turns’ was our 9th Annual Variety Show at Kent Street. We built a story book tree and told stories amongst which was a Very Hungry Caterpillar created from air-conditioning ducting, told the story of Jack in the Box and why you can buy him in a box to this day, watched a knight battle with the Jabberwocky and were treated to a parody of a scene from Wicked – a very green scene! Dancers entertained you, and a myriad of musical talent included the newly formed school band, soloists singing and playing, rock and much more. The media and tech students were able to control a lot of the sound, lighting and filming – and are becoming more adept – but – what is to come in 2018? Let us explain some of the background which those new to the school may not know about.

THE VARIETY SHOWS - What are they? A Kent Street tradition and we are heading towards our Tenth in 2018 – a special anniversary so we are planning a retrospective. Let us remind you of our past achievements. Here is a list:

1st - The Poet Pirates – 2009
2nd - The Whizz Kids of Oz - 2010
3rd - Frankenstein meets Rocky Horror – 2011
4th - Captain Sparkles in Outer Space – 2012
5th - A Tribute to Hollywood – 2013
6th - Phantasmagorical Illusions – 2014
7th - Horrible Histories- 2015
8th - Superheroes – 2016
9th - As the Page Turns – 2017
10th - Untitled Retrospective – 2018

Can you pick which pictures belong to which year? It’s not hard except for 2009 – did anyone take a viable picture? Do let us have a copy for the archives if you did.

Watch this space for more news of our Arts endeavours next year, and if you would like to be involved in any capacity, please contact us and join in what promises to be a very special 10th Variety Show, 2018. Any ideas for a title for the Retrospective would be gratefully received and duly voted upon by our democratic student body. Thank you for reading thus far.

Japanese Exchange Students

Last term we had the pleasure of hosting a group of Japanese students visiting from Osaka, Japan. I am very grateful to the parents who opened their homes to the Japanese students and made them feel part of their family.

I was also very impressed with the hosting students’ willingness to communicate in Japanese and use the language they had learned in class.

The students said this was a valuable experience and that it helped them understand and appreciate the culture of Japan and build long lasting friendships.

A special thanks to the wonderfully supportive staff at Kent Street.

Ruth Tateishi
Japanese Teacher

Japanese Success Term 4

Congratulations to Emma Lim for winning 2nd place in the Japanese Language competition at UWA. Emma spoke fluently in Japanese about her experience moving from Singapore to an unknown country Australia, her experiences meeting students from various countries and the friendships she has built.

Audrey Ha won first place in the Year 8 division in the WA JLTAWA Kanji competition. Well done, Audrey.

Ruth Tateishi
Japanese Teacher

Congratulations – Zoe Britcliffe

Year 10 student Zoe Britcliffe has been selected in the U18 State Cricket Squad and will be attending the National tournament in Canberra from the 27th of November until the 8th of December. Congratulations Zoe!

State Representation – Gaelic Football

Congratulations to Louis Paige, Lachlan Fraser, Copper Faithfull and Jaylen Garlett who represented WA in the Gaelic football competition earlier in this term. We got to the final but lost to Victoria. Well done boys!

LEEUWIN WOODSIDE MARINE SCHOLARSHIPS NOW AVAILABLE STATEWIDE

The Leeuwin Foundation have wonderful news, previously regulated Woodside funding is now available state-wide. Which means, there’s still time for youth in your community to have an opportunity of a lifetime on a Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Voyage!

Due to some fantastic ongoing support from Woodside means that students in your community can join any upcoming Leeuwin voyages for the incredible fare of $750.

A Leeuwin voyage provides young people with confidence, courage and resilience; with tolerance, self-esteem and teamwork skills; with new friends and new interests. At the same time, as a SCASA endorsed program, successful completion of a 7-day Leeuwin Youth Explorer Voyage is equal to one WACE unit.

Students need to demonstrate an interest in a maritime or marine career to be eligible for the Woodside sponsored place – which includes careers as diverse as:

• Naval engineering; Naval architecture; Marine engineering; Ocean engineering; Shipwright / Boatbuilder; Marine electrical; Marine mechanical; Marine tourism; Marine biology; Oceanography; Navy; Fishing industry
• The participant must fill in the scholarship application form – below.

WAAPA Summer School 2017/2018

This summer The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) is again offering an exciting school holiday program for students in years 4 to 12. The Summer School includes classes in dance, drama, acting, screen performance, music theatre and of course, how to perform Shakespeare. For information about the fantastic courses on offer please visit WAAPA Summer School or contact Gabrielle Metcalf at g.metcalf@ecu.edu.au or 9370 6775.