Kardinia eNews – Wednesday 18 May 2022

Home Kardinia eNews – Wednesday 18 May 2022

From the Principal

This week we received the wonderful news that our College has been named as an Excellence Awardee in The Educator’s Australian Education Awards 2022 for the category of Best School Strategic Plan.

Our 2022- 2032 Strategic Plan that was launched earlier this year has been an authentic collaborative effort by all our staff, our students and many members of our School Community. As such, it is something that we should all be proud of, but the work does not stop here. Creating the plan is the easy part, bringing the plan to reality is the more challenging and most important part.

We are already taking small steps to bring this plan to life. One excellent example is the Careers Week we are celebrating this week. There are so many interesting activities happening across the College during this week and more planned for throughout the year. Thank you to our fabulous Careers Team, Danielle Flack, Joe Madunic, Manfred Pohlenz and Kloe Woods for these excellent initiatives.

A reminder that COVID, colds and flu remain a constant presence across the College community. Thank you to everyone who is staying home when symptomatic and following all recommended protocols.

We are maintaining our COVID cleaning regimens, keeping doors and windows open where possible (even with heaters on – not great for the environment but better for air ventilation) and reminding students of hand hygiene. The number of students wearing masks on buses does seem to have dwindled. This is still a requirement for students travelling on buses. We can make sure masks are on when students leave the school but please remind your children of the protective element that masks provide and that they should be keeping them on throughout the journey.

The Department of Education has advised us that the provision of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will continue past this week (it was going to end in Week Four). This means RATs will continue to be distributed to you, as they have been throughout this school year, for the remainder of Term two.

From Monday 23 May 2022, students will no longer be recommended to undertake twice weekly RATs, however, they will continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7-day period) or who have symptoms. The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.

Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform us if any of your children are household contacts.

Thank you also to all families who have had their child vaccinated. Vaccination continues to remain the best way to protect students and staff in our school. Getting vaccinated is easy and bookings can be done via the coronavirus website. If you have any questions about the vaccines, I encourage you to speak to your GP or a health practitioner.

We are currently still managing well with our staff numbers and I want to publicly thank our Daily Organisers, our staff who are offering additional coverage as needed and our amazing Casual Relief Teachers for their efforts to provide consistent learning for our students.

From the Head of Senior School

Dear Parents,

This week we farewelled Ms Katherine Fitzgerald, who leaves us after only a short stay, but with our great appreciation for an exceptional contribution to our level D, E and Senior Maths classes. In her place we welcomed Dr Mohsen Khalife, a highly experienced Mathematics teacher in both secondary and tertiary institutions.

Last week the Senior School competed in the Geelong Independent Schools Sport Association annual athletics competition. Kardinia won every age group and were the overall winners of the event. Congratulations to the students who participated and to their coaches, led by the Director of Sport, Mr Jarrod Waight.

On Friday this week, students in all year levels will participate in the first of a series of four workshops on ‘Respect’. The workshops will promote an even stronger culture of respect at Kardinia, by deepening students’ practical understanding of the word and by encouraging them to reflect on their interactions with others, both within and beyond the College Community. The workshops have been devised by the Deputy Head of Senior School – Pastoral care, Ms Kath O’Neill.

On Tuesday, 31 May, all Senior School students will attend a presentation on safe and responsible use of information technology delivered by Senior Constable Robbie Noggler of Victoria Police. On the evening of Tuesday 7 June, Robbie will present on the same subject to parents of KIC students in the Katsumata Centre. Further details will be forwarded separately.

The New parent Welcome Night will be held on Thursday 26 May from 7.30pm in the Katsumata Centre.

From the Head of Junior School

International Families Week

This week is International Families Week in the Junior School. The week combines the United Nations International Day of Families last Sunday 15 May, and National Families Week from 15-21 May. Key events taking place this week include a collection for Geelong Mums, games and fun at lunchtimes led by student committees, and a dress-up day this Friday. Check out your child’s Seesaw blog for further information. When deciding on a costume for dress-up day, we ask that families are respectful and considerate of other cultures. I know some children have thoughtfully researched countries or cultures they are connected to this week and are looking forward to wearing their special costume with pride on Friday.

Student Action
Well done to Year 4 students, Gus and Jamie, who have been making and selling library book bags for $2. The bags are made from material found around the house and are great for protecting library books. The profits of the bags are being donated to Geelong Animal Welfare Society. Year 4 students have rallied together and are supporting this cause with gusto as you can see below. Well done boys!

COVID Contacts
A few families have contacted the school recently to ask about protocols when you are a COVID contact. There are different types of contacts, and the protocols are different depending on the type of contact you are. Information about the types of contacts and what to do can be found on the government’s coronavirus website.

PYP Exhibition Request – A message from the Year 6 Team
We are reaching out to our KIC community to identify parents (or their connections) who may be able to support the students with their PYP Exhibition inquiries. We have noticed that in the past almost all of the research being done by the students is primarily from websites. It is REALLY important for the students to connect with primary resources to gather authentic, expert information. If you are willing to be contacted by a student/group, can you please click on the link below and complete the survey form.

PYP Exhibition Primary Resource Survey

Alumni Reunions

Recently we held our 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 year reunion functions! These belated reunions consisted of the Class of 2020, Class of 2016, Class of 2011, Class of 2006, and Class of 2002. The 1 year reunion was held at Beavs Bar, while the 5, 10, 15, and 20 year reunions took place in the Katsumata Centre, run by our fantastic Alumni Relations Manager, Fiona Russell.

Sum Pun resort opening to the KIC community

As you are aware since COVID began in 2020 we have been unable to have KIC Year 9 groups attend our Kardinia Sum Pun Campus in Chiang Mai. The team at Sum Pun have nevertheless remained at the campus and have been undertaking upgrades. They have been busy running a coffee shop, restaurant and a Boutique Hotel, mainly for locals, but now are opening up for some international travellers as well.

The logistics, challenges and additional risks associated with taking large school groups overseas during the ongoing pandemic has meant that we won’t have groups travelling to Chiang Mai until 2023. However, more and more Australians are beginning to venture overseas again, and Thailand is a now an option for independent travel.

As such, we are letting Kardinia families and community members know that Sum Pun is now taking family bookings for the rest of 2022. We have attached a brochure for your interest here. The hotel side of Sum Pun is run independently of the school and all contact should be made directly through Sum Pun, who can give you more details on cost and other tour information. It would be great if some of our community are able to take this rare opportunity to spend time at Kardinia Sum Pun before our full programs are up and running again.

Kind regards
Catherine Lockhart

Co-Curricular News

Whether students are just starting out in soccer or looking to further develop their skills, the Co-Curricular’s Football Star Academy Program might just be for them! Suitable for Junior School boys and girls aged 5-12 years, students meet every Wednesday after school on the College oval. Football Star Academy is Australia’s leading provider of skill based soccer programs and offers our students the opportunity to learn and develop the skills of football while having fun. The skills learned in sport such as team work, resilience, leadership and commitment are skills for life and help our students develop into well-balanced human beings who are confident and empowered. For further information please contact Emily Sutcliffe at Football Star Academy at: vic48coach.football@sportstaracademy.com

National Page: https://www.facebook.com/footballstaracademy.com.au/

Geelong Page: https://www.facebook.com/coachEMgeelong/

Timor Leste Fundraiser

For the next two weeks there will be a Raffle happening to raise money for KIC’s sister school in Timor Leste.

The prize will be a 10kg chocolate bar. The raffle tickets will be sold on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at lunchtime in CentrePoint Cafe, from May 11 – 20.

Tickets will be priced as follows:
$2 for 1 ticket
$5 for 3 tickets
$10 for 7 tickets

Goodfellow Aquatic Centre Cafe – Now Open!

After 2 years of not being operating, the Pool Café is now Open again!

Coffee, Toasties, Cold Drinks and Snacks are now available.

Open Mon-Wed: 3.30-5.30pm, Saturday 8.00-11.00am

Come and say Hi!

Welcome to RollCall

Dear KIC families,

We are pleased to inform you that a welcome letter has been to one carer/guardian of each family to gain access to our new bus management software (RollCall).

Our ‘Go Live’ date for the Parent App is Monday 23rd May 2022, however, we are providing our families the opportunity to download the app, create an account and familiarise themselves with the app prior to next week.

We kindly ask that no bus changes or casual travel bookings are made through the app until Monday 23rd May 2022. From this point, all causal bus bookings are to be made through the Parent App only.

This is a friendly reminder for all students who are still yet to source a Student ID Card, to please do so within the next week. Your Student ID Card is mandatory for travel going forward and there are now only 4 ways to board a private Kardinia International College bus, which include:

Tap-on/Tap-off with your Student ID card. Please provide the driver with your name upon boarding. If you accidentally forget your card, the bus driver will tap you on/off manually, which may result in delays to your bus
Casual bus pass (purchased through the app). A casual bus pass is $8.00 per trip for non-bus travellers or free of charge for full-time Kardinia bus travellers (pending seat availability). This will be charged to your school fee account
None of the above; a penalty fee of $15.00 will be charged to your school fee account should you fail to meet these expectations

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at kardinia@kardinia.vic.edu.au

Kind regards

Nicole Fulco
Bus Co-ordinator

It’s KIC Careers Week!

Welcome to KIC Careers Week!

Lots of great opportunities exist this week and in the coming weeks at KIC, it would be great to see these events well attended by students. It can be helpful if parents and families are encouraging of senior school students to come and visit the KIC Careers events and team.

Keeping the conversations positive and free flowing, we suggest you asking your children about which subjects they enjoy and why, talk about skills from hobbies, interests outside of school rather than asking them what they want to do when students finish school. Keep the conversations open and positive.

The events don’t stop with careers week, the KIC Careers team have planned lots of great opportunities for our students.

The University of Melbourne- Where can an Arts degree take me?
Monday, 23rd May

Monash University- Where can a Science degree take me?
Friday, 27th May

La Trobe University- Health Science degrees… that aren’t nursing!
Thursday, 2nd June

Deakin University- Where can a degree in Business or Law take me?
Friday, 17th June

RMIT University- Where can an Engineering degree take me?
Monday, 20th June

Link to registration: https://forms.office.com/r/YPsgX4jBDE

KIC Career Resources:

KIConline Careers Page – Please make sure that you PIN this page so that you receive the important information on news feed posts. https://kiconline.kardinia.vic.edu.au/d2l/home/8669

KIC Careers Website – https://careers.kardinia.vic.edu.au/
To make an appointment to see a member of the careers team, please visit our website and click on the ‘book an appointment’ link at the top of the screen. Then click on the white space day / date you wish to attend to make your booking.

Careers Workshop – All the workshop resources can be found here https://kiconline.kardinia.vic.edu.au/d2l/le/content/8669/viewContent/1223664/View

The Careers Team is located upstairs on the landing in The Learning Commons. You are welcome to come and visit any time. A staff member is always on supervision during lunchtimes. Please visit to look at the resources available. You can always contact us via email careers@kardinia.vic.edu.au

Have a great week,

See you in the learning commons at lunchtime!

From The KIC Careers Team

Reconciliation in the Park

This Sunday Johnstone Park will transform for Reconciliation in the Park, a wonderful event that celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through performances, markets, cultural workshops, and much more.

See the flyer below for more information!

From the Interact Club

Dear Senior School Parents,

Over the past year a trial program titled ‘Bathroom Baskets’ has been tested, providing students with pads and tampons in emergency situations. This was a “Give what you can, take what you need” model. Due to the great success of this program, Kardinia International College has funded permanent dispensers in bathrooms across the school. These dispensers have been installed in the A Wing Unisex Toilet, as well as the following female bathrooms:

S Wing
C Wing
School of Performing Arts
M Wing (Lower)
Katsumata Centre
Goodfellow Aquatic Centre
Upper Primary Building

The Products are provided by Pixii, who are a national supplier of Pads and Tampons for schools and workplaces. All pads and tampons are:

Completely Plastic Free
100% Organic Cotton
Free of Bleach, Dye and Chemicals
Biodegradable
Made with 100% Renewable Energy
Shipped by Carbon Neutral Biofuel

These sanitary items are provided to be used in emergencies only. In addition, the College Medical Centre can also provide spare clothing, assistance with cleaning, Panadol, or a call home.

There is an expectation of students that these facilities are respected and remain tidy. Only a limited number of products are available per term, and if these stocks run out more cannot be replenished. Vandalism will not be tolerated, and if it becomes apparent that these facilities are being abused or disrespected, the sanitary products will be removed indefinitely.

You can expect more information about Period Poverty over the coming term, as well as initiatives and fundraisers to help support people experiencing period poverty.

Kindest Regards,

The Interact Club of Kardinia International College.

Upcoming Webinar: Body Confident

This relaxed and informative seminar for carers of primary and secondary age children gives practical tips to help you better understand and promote positive body image in the home. Delivered by the Butterfly Foundation, Australia’s largest not-for-profit for eating disorders and body image concerns.

To learn more about this seminar, find the full information PDF here: Body Confident – flyer

To register for this seminar, click here.

Theatre Studies Student Performance – Little Women

The Unit 3 Theatre Studies class is taking on the production of Little Women. As we undertake this coming-of-age production, we learn about life in the 1800’s and begin to explore themes of love and family. The cast of Little Women have been extraordinary and rehearsals are running very smoothly. We are excited to keep developing this production and then perform it for our Kardinia community.

The play will be performed at 7:30pm on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of June at Kardinia’s College Hall. Entry cost will be a gold coin donation, to register for tickets, click on the link below.

https://events.humanitix.com/little-women-theatre-studies-student-performance

Upcoming Webinar: Gaming & Young People

To register your interest: https://bit.ly/3vrz7Lu

School TV – Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are a serious, potentially life-threatening mental health illness that can have significant physical and emotional effects. It is an illness that does not discriminate, affecting both males and females of all ages and backgrounds. Although often starting during adolescence, recent data shows that it is now becoming more common for children under the age of 12 to be diagnosed. Often, an eating disorder develops as a way for a young person to feel in control about what is happening in their life. It can be triggered by personal, environmental, psychological, biological or social factors. Although the focus is on food, weight and shape, there is often an underlying issue being masked by the eating disorder. There are many things that parents can do in the prevention of an eating disorder, but they do need to be aware of the warning signs.

Click here to watch this episode:
https://kardinia.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/eating-disorders