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September 15, 2023 | News
KHS Newsletter : 15th September
15th September 2023
Dear Students, Parents, and Staff
As we conclude our third term, I would like to acknowledge the achievements and milestones that we have reached as a school community. This term always presents challenges with its academic load and getting through the winter term, but our collective efforts have meant that we have managed extra events with positive results. These events have included the School Review, the move into our new building, Ngurrak and lately, working with admirable composure through the background noise of demolition works. Our students have excelled in various fields, from academic to sporting and creative achievements; I want to applaud each and every student for their hard work, determination and commitment to learning and personal growth.
An example I would like to share is from a letter I received last week from the Principal at Newham Primary School:
I would like to express my gratitude to Kyneton High School for allowing your VCE sports education partnership program to partner with Newham PS. Being a small school, this program has enhanced our sense of community and belonging. The relationships between our students and yours has been of such benefit to our students and I hope it has been for yours as well. Our students have been keen to participate, they have looked forward to what your students would be introducing and are so happy to see them every week. Of special consideration has been the way your students effectively guided, supported and praised one of our extremely reluctant ASD students into participating in sport for the first time. We have a number of students with diverse needs and your students were observed making accommodations for them and for all our students to participate effectively. In particular our more disengaged students have experienced a reduction in lateness and also participated with vigour. All our students demonstrated growth in their skill sets and motor skills. I’m sure you will find that the experience has had a profound impact on your students and that their skill set in managing people and situations has increased significantly. We were certainly impressed with their leadership skills and the manner in which they conducted themselves with sincerity and professionalism…. This program and your students have been a credit to Kyneton High School, and we would like to take this opportunity to invite your students to our school anytime be it under this program or another. Congratulations on supporting such a wonderful undertaking.
The highlight this term from a teaching and learning perspective was when we received the results of the 2023 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) assessments. I am pleased to report that Kyneton High School has achieved results that surpass the state averages across all five critical measures: reading, writing, spelling, grammar & punctuation, and numeracy.
The Year 9 results reflect the commitment and hard work of our students and staff over the past two years in high school, as well as the ongoing program of school improvement. In Year 9 reading, a notable 78% of Kyneton High School students achieved strong or exceeding proficiency levels. This achievement surpasses the state average of 60%. In spelling, 79% of our Year 9 students demonstrated strong or exceeding levels of proficiency, exceeding the state average of 67%. Our achievements continue in numeracy. Kyneton High School Year 9 students have achieved an impressive 75% in strong or exceeding proficiency levels, surpassing the state average of 60%. These results reflect the dedication of our educators in implementing excellent learning programs and supporting students’ learning growth.
Last week, we had the privilege of hosting an Indonesian cultural incursion that brought the vibrant traditions of Indonesia right into our school. Our students had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich culture of Indonesia with students embracing the opportunity to learn traditional Indonesian dance and music. The colourful costumes and compelling rhythms showcased the incredible talent and dedication of our students. I extend my sincere appreciation to the dedicated Indonesian teachers who organised this unforgettable experience.
In addition to the Indonesian incursion, we also had the pleasure of hosting our annual Musical Soiree. The Soiree had an excellent turnout, showcasing the development and talent of our students, and rewarding the hard work and passion of our Instrumental Music teachers. From classical compositions to contemporary melodies, the evening was filled with heartwarming performances.
As we approach the upcoming break, I encourage all our students to take time for rest, reflection, and rejuvenation. Thank you to our exceptional teachers, dedicated support staff, and supportive parents. I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday break. We look forward to the return of our students for the final term of 2023.
Ana Rees – Principal
This term, volunteers from the school community have turned Mr Lucky’s vision of a breakfast club into a reality. With Mr Lucky’s amazing ideas and commitment to the project we have been able to provide hungry students with breakfast so that they can learn to the best of their abilities.
Brekky Club will continue to run next term and we hope to see you all there.
Carlos Medina
on behalf of the Student Leadership Team
A handful of devoted teachers and parents accompanied a classful of students this year and GOT ON THE KHS BANDWAGON! Like literally y’all . . . and ROCKED OUT to the sounds of our resident Rock band- LIVEWIRE, all whilst handing out freshly picked, bright daffodils to out to the adoring crowds and ensuring smiles on the faces of all in the beautiful springtime sun. 😊
LIVEWIRE are . . .
Drums – Leathan Coates
Bass – Ben Cantos-Hodge
Rhythm/ Lead Guitar – Iain Kosmac
Rhythm/ Lead Guitar – Jett Eklom
Roadie – Mr Hill
Year 7 Digitech
7D and 7E are studying Digitech this semester and undertook a code-breaking scavenger hunt around the school!
They had been learning about various ciphers such as Caesar, Substitution and Pigpen along with other methods which can be used to encrypt messages such as Morse Code and Binary.
Students raced around the school trying to find solutions to each puzzle and it was a great learning activity in the glorious spring sunshine!
Mr Perera
Focaccia Gardens
We got creative with vegetables and other condiments to create a garden lookalike, everyone got busy with their creativity, some making ladybugs, flowers, etc. They were healthy and delicious to eat, even our families agreed! Would definitely use this recipe again to make at home 🙂
Jemma Wilkins and Bianca Oborne
Pugilism
Charlie Thompson
Continuing to demonstrate excellence in boxing & bringing home the gold!
Local boxing star Charlie Thompson has capitalised upon his success this year by recently competing in Queensland and attaining an outstanding achievement! Charlie fought and won the prestigious Golden Gloves event for his 34 kg weight division!
At the event, Charlie said that there were around 400 competitors across different weight classes. Leading into the fight he had to lose 2 kgs to participate had a week to drop 2 kg.
In his first fight, he needed to win to make it to the second fight. Both fights were 3 x 1.5 minute rounds. Charlie said he was happy with the fight. He didn’t feel it was super tough, not compared to his training.
He felt he landed a lot of punches and the other guy didn’t hit much. Charlie spoke about his hard training and sparring that he is involved in with dad taking him all throughout metro Melbourne and regional Victoria to get appropriate match ups for Charlie in his sparring. He does a lot of intense sparing around the same weight.
In his second fight, Charlie thought it was a harder fight. Obviously fighting for the title but this was a much more aggressive opponent. Charlie felt his opponent hit him with a few punches, but he got through and was so happy about winning that he said he was “ecstatic” about winning.
As we learnt in our last interview, Charlie has been training with his dad as his main trainer since he was seven years of age. Together they do lots of training approx. 2-3 hours training a day. This includes punching, weights, gut work, running and biking.
Pictured in the ring with Charlie is local legend Rick Ellis, who has Charlie train at his gym every week. Rick is another huge supporter of Charlie and local kids, providing a safe space for Charlie and many others to train and be their best.
Pictured seated with Charlie is Graham Phillipson, Charlie’s dad’s trainer from the 80s/90s. Graham is a huge supporter and mentor of Charlie, coming to training twice per week and all of his sparring.
Moving forward there is lots to aim for. Charlie and his dad’s next plans are to go to Canberra for another fight day. They are also aiming for another prestigious event called ‘King of the Ring’, that Charlie can compete in once he turns 14. After that there are state titles to chase and another Golden Gloves to aim for next year.
Charlie’s advice for his peers is “Do something you enjoy and are happy with. Train hard and don’t give up”. Wise words indeed from the young champ!
Ryan Maccioca
Year 9 Respect Captain
KHS Student Leadership Team 23
Isabella Bates – Standing tall for Legacy!
Currently one of our Year 7 students, Isabella Bates, is demonstrating our school values like no other. Since March this year Bella has been fundraising for Legacy demonstrating sustainability in helping support the ongoing work of this foundation. Legacy is all about providing support for families who have lost loved ones in war, they provide money and services to those families left behind.
Bella has taken on this initiative because she has grown up with family members having been supported by Legacy and as a result wanted to show respect and give back to this very important foundation.
She started her fundraising in March and decided that she wanted to aim high and become an official torch bearer. Before being selected she had to select a target goal which was $5000. Amazingly, she met her $5000 start goal at the start of June, and as a result she has set a new goal of $10,000 that she is aiming for the September 19th Torch bearing date! On this date Bella will be carrying the Legacy torch for up to 1 kilometre! The money that Bella raises will be distributed all around Australia to help Legacy recipients and Bella has had the opportunity to meet lots of people who have been helped and heard their stories
Bella has demonstrated excellence by raising the most money in Victoria and is currently no. 5 in Australia! Some of the ways Bella has been raising money this year are doing an Artillery BBQ, shaken the can for coin donations, has worked with a friend from NSW to help raise money (bake cookies and sell them), raised $1000 from military vehicle in Corowa, enabled private Donations (from media/people she knows), contacts big organisations like the RSL, had a presence at the Open garden at Bupa Aged Care and enabled a Casual Clothes Day on the last day of school for gold coin donations.
This is not the first time Bella has been involved in community service in this area. For example Bella has been involved in Anzac Day Ceremonies and Anzac Eve services since a young age. Every March she goes to a military vehicle gathering in Corowa and importantly has been involved in selling Anzac and Legacy Badges.
Congratulations Bella on all your hard work and what you have achieved for Legacy this year, we look forward to seeing what the future brings for a bright young star like you!
Lachlan Bonavia
Year 7 Respect (Values) Junior Captain
Year 9 Humanities
As expected, 9D have nailed their designs and have refined them, which has resulted in some really well thought-out and effective mechanisms.
Mr McCabe
9D Humanities students have been working on the ‘drip rifle’ mechanism. They have engineered an auto-fire mechanism using the same principals that Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry used in his design for the delayed action ‘drip rifle’ which was deployed in the evacuation of Gallipoli.
Year 9 Sailing Camp
“Believe me my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Ratty – The Wind in the Willows
Slideshow: Year 9 afloat
Golf
On this fine sunny final day of term, as part of the year 10 HPE curriculum, we had a group of finely dressed golfers get on the green to demonstrate their newly acquired skills.
VET Sport & Rec
This term the Year 11 Cert 2 Sport & Rec class have been attending Newham Primary School to deliver sports activities. They have done an amazing job at planning, implementing and evaluating some very fun and inclusive sessions. We ended the term with a footy colours day which was enjoyed by all.
Reggie The Raven
Dear KHS Community
Thank you to all our local community who supported us at the Show N’ Shine.
With your support we were able to go the next stage of our work and achieve what we have been working towards.
After a long process involving many meetings, research, planning, discussion, three surveys and more meetings, research and discussion, we would now like to unveil our KHS Mascot.
Reggie the Raven
has landed at our school!
Yes we can now be
The Kyneton High Ravens!
Please see our Raven Word Cloud for the reasons why you told us you wanted the Raven.
From the Yr 12 VCAL PDS 2023 Crew who brought you the Show N’ Shine and the Cricket Pitch. 😉
For the next steps in Reggie’s journey, stay tuned for more info to follow about this student led initiative in next term’s newsletter.
Students Achieve Their Goals
Hi everyone! We are Eden, Allegra, Ewan, Bryn, Phoebe and Maverick; Year 10 students.
Last year we attended a School for Student Leadership in which we gained so many life skills. Returning home, we brought along a community project that we have been working on. This month, September, is ‘Body Kind Month’. The Butterfly Foundation is one in which we keep very close to our hearts as it affects communities worldwide. This foundation solely focuses on promoting healthy body thoughts and image, as well as preventing and providing resources to help those struggling with eating disorders.
Our vision is creating a supportive, healthy and body kind community starting right here in Kyneton.
Last week we ran a BBQ and information stall in the green space outside of the Kyneton Library from 10am until 2pm.
Here we spoke to the community about the Butterfly Foundation and gave out free Butterfly Foundation badges, flyers, brochures, posters and bracelets, many of which we made. We also had food available for purchase.
Thank you to our local community for supporting our project. It was a fun day, we got to speak to many in the community and even raised $200 to go to the Butterfly Foundation!
Year 10 SSL 2022 Alumni
A Happy Tapping Traveller
For the last time our very own Lana Hughes performed at the Victorian State School Spectacular at John Cain Arena in Olympic Park! She lit up the stage, performing in ‘Roam’ and ‘Xanadu’ as well as 4 Chong Lim compositions. Lana brought to life her portrayal of the American photographer Vivian Maier, as the Specialty Acts were the travelling tourists, from a French Café to a tap-hip-off with some Bell Hops.
During the lead-up to the performance on the 8th of September, Lana lived in Melbourne and had early/late rehearsals. Overall she thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Her costume was vibrant with a detachable skirt, and of course a hat – made by Phillip the milliner at the Australian Ballet and Melbourne Theatre Company.
The Spectacular will be aired on December 9th, on Channel Seven, and available for 30 days of on demand streaming, you won’t want to miss this show!
Year 11 Physics
Year 11 Physics have just completed the Motion Area of Study and as part of their learning activities visited APV-T, a crash test facility in Melbourne. General Manager Carl Liersch was incredibly welcoming and spent the day showing the students around the facility and the range of different tests performed at APV-T.
We want to extend a huge thank you to Carl for being so generous with his time and allowing us to be the first school group to ever visit their facility!
Mr Perera
Students were able to observe a child seat being tested at 50km/h, a racing seat being stress tested for a major rear impact, seat belt testing and other calibrations the centre performs on their equipment to ensure fair testing.
Video: the 50 kph crash test
Carl also offered numerous opportunities for students to ask questions of which there were many good ones – Carl specifically commented at the end of the day on how exceptional and engaged the students were!
The students absolutely loved the experience and have said it will help them to understand and contextualise their learning of Newton’s Laws, Momentum and Mechanical Energy.
Year 12 Biology
Working until the very end, the Year 12 VCE Biology class were finalising their coursework by investigating trends in hominin evolution. Analysing features such as the foramen magnum, the sagittal crest and cranium size they were persisting as a united front to determine our evolutionary story as Homo sapiens. This group of students have been an absolute delight to teach and whatever they pursue in their future endeavours I have no doubt they will succeed in leaps and bounds!
Ms Swinden
Indonesian Incursion
During the performance showcase in the hall, some students demonstrated what they had learned. The day went very well, and it was amazing to see Kyneton High School students enjoying themselves while participating in this cultural activity.
A big thanks to Baguskan artists from Bendigo, Aaron and Nita for running the incursion for us.
Quoting Ms. Rees, “It was an awesome day of cultural celebration,” and we look forward to seeing more of this program at Kyneton High School.
Bu Kiky Amelia
Here’s how the Gamelan sounds (YouTube video)
Baguskan!
2023 Indonesian Incursion took place on Friday, September 8th. Year 8 students attended two workshops: one on learning how to play Gamelan and the other on learning some Indonesian traditional dances.
Gamelan is a set of Indonesian traditional instruments typically played in a group, resembling a percussion orchestra. Students learned either the Topeng Edan (Crazy Monkey) Dance or the Jathil (Marching on Horses) dance.
Additionally, some students participated in role-plays from the story of Rama and Sita, a love tale taken from the Ramayana.
No. 5 : Opening Of Tutankhamun’s Tomb
King Tut was buried with all his treasures around 1323 BC and lay forgotten, quietly gathering dust, for 3245 years. English archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his tomb during a systematic search of the Valley of the Kings during 1922, and he eventually broke in and started clearing it out in 1923. Interestingly, it took them another two years to get around to revealing the famous golden mask itself (above), due to the sheer amount of other artefacts they had to deal with in the tomb.
The very first edition of the KHS Magazine!
100 years later, we’re gearing up to produce a special Centenary Edition,
celebrating 100 Years of telling our own story –
100 Years of Only About Us!!!
BIGGER
And because it’s such a special edition,
it comes with a commemorative hard cover.
With a VERY special image on the front.
ANNOUNCING:
KHS YEARBOOK CENTENARY EDITION
$25
Please don’t miss out! Contact the School Office SOON to order.
The last day for orders is FRIDAY 27TH OCTOBER.
We can only print copies for families who have paid by that date.
Payment can be made via BPAY or by card on 5421 1100
School Notices
This term students from Years 9 to 12 have put their hands up to be part of KHS’s first ever team and have started learning about the Energy Breakthrough and what this amazing program involves. Fear not though, expressions of interest are still open. If you think you might want to be part of this program, complete the survey on Xuno sent out by Miss DeMoel earlier this term.
The team is also seeking support and sponsorship from businesses and families to help establish the KHS Racing team. Sponsorship could be services, goods and materials or monetary donations.
As part of the sponsorship your family/business names and logos will be printed and placed on the vehicle, as well as mentioned during the design and presentation section of the program.
Click the link for a brief explanation of the program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQv0AAV5rqk
If you are interested or have any queries, feel free to contact Miss DeMoel via email at megan.demoel@education.vic.gov.au, or students can find her in the Maths office in the SLC outside of class times.
Miss DeMoel
Coming up…
Some dates for the diary
| Friday 15th September | End of Term 3 – 2.30 finish |
| Monday 25th September – Friday 29th September | Year 12 practice exams |
| Monday 2nd October | Term 4 begins |
| Thursday 5th October | Year 10 Tomorrow Man Module 3 |
| Tuesday 10th October | Morrisby catchups (Webex) |
| Friday 13th October | Last day for entries in the Columns 2023 cover competition |
| Monday 16th October – Thursday 19th October | Year 10 mock interviews |
| Wednesday 18th October | Year 12 Celebration day Last day Year 12 |
| Tuesday 24th October | VCAA exam period starts Exams: VCE English 9.00 am. |
| Thursday 26th October | Exams: VCE PE 11.45 am. VCE Literature 3.00 pm. |
| Friday 27th October | Last day for KHS Yearbook orders Exams: VCE Biology 9.00 am. VCE Further Maths 1 2.00 pm. |
| Monday 30th October | Exams: VCE Psychology 9.00 am. VCE Further Maths 2 2.00 pm. Year 11 revision |
| Tuesday 31st October | Exams: VET Hospitality 9.00 am. Year 11 revision |
| Wednesday 1st November | Exams: VCE Maths methods 1 9.00 am. VCE BusMan 3.00 pm. Year 11 revision |
| Thursday 2nd November | Exams: VCE Art 9.00 am. VCE Maths methods 2 11.45 am. Year 11 revision School council |
| Friday 3rd November | Exams: VCE Spec. maths 1 9.00 am. VCE HHD 11.45 am. Year 11 revision |
| Monday 6th November | Exams: VCE Spec maths 2 11.45 am. Year 10 & 11 revision |
| Tuesday 7th November | Melbourne Cup day Pupil free day |
| Wednesday 8th November | Kyneton Cup public holiday Exams: VCE Chemistry 9.00 am. VCE Classical studies, Legal studies 2.00 pm. |
| Thursday 9th November | Exams: VCE Physics 9.00 am. Year 11 exams: English Year 10 revision |
| Friday 10th November | Exams: VET Sport & Rec 9.00 am. Year 11 exams Year 10 revision |
The Wiz!
Is being performed by Kyneton Theatre Company (KTC) at the Bluestone Theatre in Hutton Street, Kyneton over August and September. It should be a lot of fun!!
I would greatly appreciate if you could help promote The Wiz, being performed by Kyneton Theatre Company (KTC) in your school newsletters over August and September. It should be a lot of fun!!
School bookings are also possible.
Click here to book tickets at Trybooking.com
Employment Opportunity for KHS Students
The Kyneton Sports and Aquatic Centre will soon be recruiting for Lifeguards over summer, and we are always looking for Learn to Swim Instructors. This could suit some KHS students after school. We can possibly assist with funding of their courses as well.
For more information contact the KTSAC manager Luke Harrison
Email: lharrison@mrsc.vic.gov.au
KYNETON HIGH SCHOOL