Welcome to our School Newsletter for Week 5, Term 2.

Now More Than Ever - National Reconciliation Week

Over this week Kapunda High School has observed National Reconciliation Week. We pause to reflect on the rich history and contributions of our First Nations peoples. It is said that Aboriginal culture is the longest continuing culture in the world, a fact that we acknowledge and celebrate at Kapunda High School. We continue to build on our understanding and acts towards Reconciliation.

Semester 1 final weeks

The past two weeks have seen a variety of opportunities for students to learn new knowledge, lift their achievement and grow new skills. Some of these initiatives have included:

• School Open Day 2024.
• Year 11 Monarto Zoo excursion.
• Year 11 & 12 Boys Football.
• Whole School Assembly.
• Year 9 & 10 Power to End Domestic Violence and Empowered workshops.
• National Reconciliation Week Assembly.
• Year 7 Zoo excursion.
• Governing Council meeting with SRC involvement.
• Year 10 Space Discovery Centre excursion.
• UPLiFT program.
• Year 12 Chemistry excursion.
• New Year 10 Tractor Driving initiative by Ms Bromley.

As we reach the final three weeks of Semester 1 (changeover to Semester 2 occurs from Week 9 Monday 24th June). Students are encouraged to make every effort to put in their best effort and achieve their personal best. Remember to ask staff for any assistance that may be needed.

School Attendance and Achievement

One of our goals in the School Improvement Plan this year is to increase our explained attendance rates to school. We are currently tracking around 97% explained attendance for the year to date. Well done. Our House System recognises and rewards students’ for their individual achievement and attendance to school, with House Point updates published twice per term.

This positive news is in addition to the recent news of our Whole School Grade Point Average growing 5% from Term 4 2023 to Term 1 2024. Keep up the great work everyone!

School Oval signage

Please be reminded that No Dogs are permitted and No Golf is permitted on the Kapunda High School Oval, due to health and safety protection for students and staff.

Unfortunately there have been a number of recent instances where this requirement has not been followed impacting on health, safety and usual school operations.

I thank you for your understanding and cooperation around this issue.

Governing Council Meeting

Governing Council recently met on Tuesday 28th May for our first meeting in Term 2. At the meeting we discussed a number of items, including our school re-build, reviewing road traffic protocols to make accessing school safer for students and also consider long-term plans to re-develop the school canteen. As it’s recently been Volunteer Recognition week Governing Council members were presented with a Department for Education Volunteer’s lanyard. Thank you to our Governing Councilors for the work you do to advance our school.  

Let’s keep working together to ensure an environment where every young person can learn, grow, achieve and strive for their best.

David Marino

Principal

Casual Day Friday, 7th June (T2W6)

Golden Event- Staff v Student Footy Friday, 7th June (T2W6)

King's Birthday Public Holiday Monday, 10th June (T2W7)

Student Free Day Tuesday, 11th June (T2W7)

Year 12 Prefects Emily, Caitlin and Lachlan at Open Day.

On Sunday, 19th May we held our annual Open Day. There was an excellent turnout, and it was fantastic to meet future students and families. The classroom displays were all excellent, and really showcased what KHS has to offer.
Thank you very much to the students and staff who worked tirelessly to ensure the day was a success.

In Week 4, from the 20th- 26th May, we celebrated National Volunteer Week. Kapunda High School is very fortunate to have the assistance of many volunteers without which our school wouldn't be the same. Volunteers are absolutely essential in running our school canteen. Two of our canteen volunteers are Cherry and Tam, who both dedicate hours each week in the school canteen preparing food, cleaning, and serving students at recess and lunchtime.

Volunteer Cherry with new canteen manager Deb

Another group of volunteers who are essential to KHS is our Governing Council Members. The Governing Council are made up of parents, staff volunteers and community members.

Thank you to all our volunteers who make Kapunda High School the school it is today. We are so grateful for your commitment, dedication and drive to better our school.

This week, we celebrated National Reconciliation Week, which is held every year from the 27th May- 3rd June. 

From the Reconciliation website: "The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024, Now More Than Ever, is a reminder to all of us that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will —and must —continue."

On Monday, we held a special Reconciliation Week Assembly. 

Several of our students spoke at the assembly, explaining the significance of the dates.
Jada spoke about her personal connection to land and culture.

Please visit the link below to learn more about Reconciliation:

On Tuesday 21st May the Tourism and Business Innovations classes went to Monarto Zoo. For Tourism we had to be tourists and just explore and take it all in. The assessment includes the class looking at the sustainability of Monarto Zoo and then providing some justified recommendations. For Business Innovation, we looked at key elements of the business including where they source their revenue, who their main markets are, what makes them unique, and talked about how we could increase their profit.  We thought Monarto could try two key things to help improve their business including: 

• Ensuring that they adapt to changing visitor preferences and trends in the tourism industry including demand for sustainable and wellness-focused travel. 
• Increase the use of technology and digital platforms to enhance the visitor experience and reach a wider audience 

Whilst there was a lot of driving, the experience of the zoo is always an exciting one! Some highlights for the tourism students include:  

Aisha - "I liked the baby chimpanzee; it was holding onto its mummy, and it was cute."  

Alliyah – "The Monarto zoo was very entertaining and relevant to our tourism lessons. My favourite were the giraffes. We learnt that funerals were held for the well-known animals, or they were donated to universities and museums for future research."  

Shannon – "Our excursion to Monarto was educational because it demonstrated the sustainability model we have been researching in Tourism."   

Naiobi - "It was great seeing the giraffes in a more natural environment and seeing the new Elephant enclosures with the moat to keep them in – they are coming in October."  

A huge thank you to Lance for driving the bus on the day.  

Megan Samain, Mike Hemphill 

Tourism Teacher, Business Innovations teacher 

On Tuesday 28th and today, Friday 31st of May, Year 7 students attended an excursion to Adelaide Zoo.

In Science, students have been learning about scientific classification, food chains/food webs, and how living and non-living things interact in an ecosystem. While at the Zoo students completed four animal profiles, paying close attention to the animal’s scientific name, conservation status, physical features that help with survival, and the habitat that has been created for them at the Zoo. The students had a wonderful time getting up close and personal with some of the world’s most interesting creatures.

Steph Thatcher

Year 7 Science Teacher

Friday 17th May saw 15 year 8-10 students have then opportunity to be involved in a series of activities run by the MTA.

The students were able to listen to a career pathways presentation, participate in a pit stop tyre challenge, show their hand at spray painting, match paint colours and identify various parts.

Following this David Warren ran a session speaking with year 10/11 students on pathways to apprenticeships within the automotive industry.

Well done to the students involved, feedback was positive with all enjoying the experience. This is something that KHS will run again next year for any students that were not able to participate this year.

Jason Keep

Assistant Principal

Pathways

This term, we have welcomed several pre-service teachers and new staff members. 

Ella McDonald- pre-service teacher for English, Media Studies and History.

Jordan Nelson (left) & Bethany Rogers- both pre-service teachers for English and Psychology.

Will Branson- pre-service teacher for Music.

Arron Flynn- Laboratory Technician

Tara Alcorn- Curriculum SSO

Student Ella recently competed at the Trinity Interschool Gymkhana.

There were nearly 40 schools competing. With between 9 and 30 horses in her classes. Ella won 3 first place ribbons, 1 second and 1 third. Ella then went on to win  Champion Galloway (her size horse category).

Ella's results made her eligible to compete against all other champion winners in the ring for Supreme Champion. Ella then won this round.

Ella and her horse Barney received the award for Supreme Champion Encouraged Horse, winning a trophy, a bag of chaff and $125 in vouchers.

Congratulations Ella, this is an excellent result!

The Year 9 and 10 students were very lucky to be able to participate in two workshops on Friday 24th May, run by the Port Adelaide Football Club, looking at violence and prevention. Males participated in the Power to End Violence Against Women program which provides the students with the opportunity to discuss the issue of violence against women and explore respectful relationships.

The females sat through a session on empowerment which focuses on promoting a sense of self and identity, and building up their capacity to understand and address the drivers of violence. These two programs were delivered by staff and players from the club including Brett Ebert, Logan Evans, Ashleigh Saint, Amelie Borg, and Erin Gear. 

Students were so engaged in the sessions and felt free to raise their hand and talk through each topic in front of their peers. The overall mood from students was very mature and as staff we were really proud of how all students represented our school in the workshops.  

Michael Raschella and Josh Banks 

Year 9 and 10 Year Level Managers 

The Year 10 Space and Astronomy students travelled to Lot Fourteen in the Adelaide CBD to visit the Space Discovery Centre on Wednesday 29th May.

While there students learnt about the Australian Space Agency and the many career opportunities that are currently available and developing in the space industry in Australia and in South Australia specifically.  They discovered how varied the skills and characteristics needed for the space industry are.

Kathy Coombs

Space and Astronomy Teacher