Kardinia eNews - Wednesday 23 April 2025

From the Head of Senior School - Kath O'Neill

Welcome to Term 2! It was wonderful to catch up with all our staff yesterday and to have our students back with us today. It’s great to see everyone back refreshed and ready for another term of learning and growth.

We have six new students joining us in the Senior School this term and are very pleased to be welcoming them to Kardinia International College. Changing schools mid-year is a challenge but I know that these students will be made welcome at Kardinia.

While this is a short week for us, we are getting straight back into the business of school. Our annual ANZAC Assembly is on Thursday morning this week, where we reflect on the legacy of the ANZACs for us today. Thank you in particular to the students who are ADF Cadets and have volunteered to support us in this assembly.

Next week we have our House Cross Country on Friday 2 May, which is the fourth of our compulsory College events for the year. We expect all students to be involved and are grateful for the support of families in ensuring their children’s participation. Students can run competitively, jog for exercise or walk the course, so it is accessible for all.

Finally, towards the end of last term we found increasing numbers of students coming to school when they were clearly unwell. If your child is unwell please keep them at home to rest until they are well enough to return to school. They have access to the learning materials online and will recover more quickly if they have that opportunity to rest rather than trying to cope with a full school program. This also reduces the likelihood of illness spreading broadly throughout the College community.

From the Acting Head of Junior School - Nikki Petyanszki

Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 2! We hope you and your family had a restful and enjoyable holiday break. We’re excited to begin another term of learning, growth, and connection. Term 2 is always a busy and rewarding time, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with you to support your child/ren’s learning journey.

JS Sports News

Best of luck to our swimmers who are competing in the JS State Swimming event held at MSAC and also to our runners competing in the District Cross Country Championships at Eastern Gardens. Both events take place this Thursday.

We look forward to our Upper Primary Athletics Day next Wednesday 30 April. The event will be held at Goldsworthy Reserve and parents are very welcome to come along and support.

Have a wonderful Term!

Enrolment Withdrawal

If you are thinking of withdrawing your child, as per the College's terms and conditions a terms notice is required. Please contact the Marketing and Admissions Department via email: marketing@kardinia.vic.edu.au to lodge the request in writing.

Japan Study Program

Life in Japan has begun for six Kardinia International College senior school students undertaking a Term exchange at Gotemba Nishi High School! Toby, Merissa, Ari, Sebastian, Cooper and Yuma were excited to meet both Mr Katsumata Senior and Junior, as well as their host families and to catch up with some familiar faces at Gotemba Nishi High School!

We're looking forward to seeing lots more photos from their adventures over the next couple of months!

Co-Curricular News

Charity Cooking

This term students from years 7 to 12 set out to plan and cook for The Salvation Army on Cox Road in Corio. They worked together and brainstormed some meals that could be made from mostly tinned or dry ingredients, easily reheated and nutritious. They also created some desserts for people who drop into the community centre for a chat. They asked for help from the school community to bring in the food required to create these meals. On Monday March 31 students spent four sessions cooking up a storm and made over 120 meals, which included chicken fried rice, lentil soup and a chili lentil stew. Students also create sachets of mug cake mix for people to make at home and 100 orange and poppyseed muffins. I want to thank each of the students who helped make this possible, your ideas and time have made this a great success. I also want to thank the College community for jumping on board this initiative and supporting the food drive and collection.

Here are some student reflections from the day:

This experience was extremely insightful, allowing us to contribute to our community and combine our love of cooking into something that helps the people around us. We were able to improve our organisational skills, planning several meals and raising funds for the ingredients. There was also a great amount of collaboration between year levels, enabling us to become closer with our school community, while helping those who are less fortunate through the Salvation Army – Zayma A, Jessica H, Ameera G, Rameesha A, Shreya V & Sarita M – Year 12

I feel grateful that I was able to provide for the Geelong community today. Sometimes a warm meal or sweet treat can bring solace to difficult times. I had lots of fun cooking a range of foods. I can't wait to see where these meals go and what impact they will make. Thanks again for this opportunity Mrs Lozar! – Swetha R – Year 10

Cooking for Salvation Army has been a delightful experience for all of us.  We have thoroughly enjoyed cooking, coming up with recipe ideas and helping the people in need. It has enriched our learning experience and given us a great sense of gratitude for what we have. It has taught us to be more aware that there are people who need more help than us. Thank you to Mrs Lozar for organizing this experience  – Julia F – Year 8

Child Safe Standards

This term, we’ll be exploring each of the 11 Child Safe Standards in our weekly newsletters. These standards are set out by the Victorian Government under Ministerial Order No. 1359 and form part of the legal and ethical framework that all schools must follow to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. At Kardinia, upholding these standards is not just a regulatory requirement—it’s something we wholeheartedly believe in. We are committed to fostering a culture of child safety through education, training, and meaningful practices that promote inclusion, respect, and the rights of every child.

Each week, we will focus on one standard – unpacking what it means and how it’s reflected in our practices at the College. We invite you to follow along and share any questions or reflections you may have.

We begin this week with Child Safe Standard 1: Cultural Safety for Aboriginal Children.

At Kardinia, we are deeply committed to creating a culturally safe environment for all children, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. This means valuing their unique identities, listening to their experiences, and ensuring that their cultures, knowledge, and communities are respected and celebrated within our school.

We recognise that building a truly culturally safe environment takes time, care, and ongoing commitment. As a College, we are taking meaningful, long-term action to strengthen our cultural responsiveness and to ensure that all Aboriginal students feel safe, supported, and respected.

Our policies and practices – including the Student Wellbeing Child Safe Policy (available on the College’s website) – clearly reflect this commitment, and we are working closely with staff, families, and community to uphold this standard every day.

As partners in your child’s learning and wellbeing, we invite you to reflect with us on how we can continue to promote cultural inclusion and safety. If you have feedback or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact one of the College’s Child Safety Protection Officers – the Acting Head of Junior School or Head of Senior School.

Mothers' Day Classic!

Every day in Australia 63 people are diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. Every day 12 people die from those two diseases. The Mothers’ Day Classic provides hope that the day will come when no more lives will be taken.

Mother's Day Classic aims for another record breaker to boost women's health and save lives uniting for breast and ovarian cancer research. Our Kardinia International College Community has been actively running, volunteering and supporting the MDC for the last 9 years. It is not a college event but we encourage all our families and friends to be part of it, to volunteer or to run / walk on the day. We encourage all parents to accompany their children this Mother’s Day and join our team and the battle together

The event is held at Eastern Gardens, Oval 3 on Mother's Day: Sunday May 11, 2025

For event details https://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/event/mothers-day-classic-geelong

Here is the link to join the team: https://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/join/kardiniainternationalcollege

And here is the link to view our Team’s page: https://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/fundraisers/kardiniainternationalcollege

Wellbeing Hub News

Happy Families

It’s well established that sleep is vital for children and adolescents’ learning, physical health, mental wellbeing and emotional regulation. Yet, a concerning number of Australian children and adolescents aren’t meeting the national sleep guidelines according to a recent study*.

There are many reasons for young people’s poor sleep habits including school demands, co-curricular and/or work commitments, perceived pressure from parents and educators and consumption of energy drinks. Young people’s digital device habits can have a significant, negative impact on their sleep.

For more, Read the Insight article here.

*Make sure you’ve logged in first with the details below to access the Happy Families resources.

Happy Families School Login:

https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/login/kic

Password: happykic

We recommend bookmarking this link. You should only need to put the password in once and the site will remember you.

Cybersafety

In today's digital world, young people are more connected than ever, using technology for education, social interaction, and entertainment. While the internet offers incredible opportunities, it also presents significant risks, including cyberbullying, online predators, exposure to inappropriate content, and excessive screen time. Cybersafety is about equipping children and adolescents with the skills and knowledge to navigate the digital landscape responsibly. This includes fostering open communication between parents and children, implementing appropriate parental controls, educating young people about privacy and online etiquette, and encouraging a balanced approach to technology use. By promoting digital wellbeing and responsible online behaviour, we can help young people harness the benefits of technology while staying safe in an increasingly connected world.

Specialists in this edition include:

Susan Mclean Susan is Australia's foremost expert in cyber safety and was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years. Known as the 'cyber cop', Susan was the first Victoria Police Officer appointed to a position involving cyber safety and young people.

Yasmin London Yasmin is Executive Director of ySafe, Australia’s largest provider of cyber safety education. A regular media commentator, Yasmin addresses the importance of online safety education and is an advocate for gender equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Dr Elizabeth Molivodov Elizabeth is the founder of the Digital Parenting Coach, as well as an eSafety Consultant in Europe and member of Digital Citizenship Education. Her core work involves researching solutions for parents as they embark on the digital journey with their children.

Jen Hoey Jen is the founder of "Not My Kid" and a Parent Cybersafety Consultant, offering online training and private coaching with a focus on empowering parents to keep their kids safe online, with an emphasis on delaying exposure to screens and prevention of child exploitation online.

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

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