Kennedy University

Kennedy University Hiking Club students recorded about 65 kilometres of hiking when they completed the northern half of the world-renowned Cape to Cape Track. While exploring the spectacular south-west scenery, our students put their skills into action with efficient organising of the packs they carried and the embracing of self-sufficient camping.

It wasn’t always the best conditions for a hike, with wet weather and strong winds featuring for most of the trek, including a heavy downpour half-way through leading to a waist-deep brook crossing further up the trail. Our awesome staff experienced the same challenges and, while they were always on hand to answer questions and help, they enjoyed seeing students step up and make group decisions with minimal guidance.

Our university students were treated to a range of different workshops during Extended Form on Wednesday, designed to help them improve and maintain their studying habits on their approach to exams.

Study was a keyword for these events but the approach was a holistic one, with students learning how a healthy lifestyle positively impacts stress levels, how to manage that stress with mindfulness activities, and the importance of creating a study planner for good school-work-life balance. The Research and Study Centre hosted a range of these activities, with students also able to choose workshops that looked at a specific subject, including Mathematics, Science and English.

There was great participation from our students across the board as they found workshops tailored to their needs and personal focuses. Thank you to our staff for providing such a wide range of activities that will continue to benefit our students into the future.

This week is the National Careers Week but our final year students were already ahead of the curve when they ventured out during Week 1 for Work Experience. This initiative was a great success with students in placements across a wide range of sectors, from hospitality and services to trades and arts. For some, it was a challenge to work an eight-hour day with only a lunch break and small tea breaks. However, a great positive was that students were treated like adults and had some autonomy to complete tasks throughout the day.

Thank you to our staff, especially Mr Ramirez, for organising the Work Experience program and helping our students find placements.

It was a great contest all the way on Tuesday as our Girls played in the ACC Basketball Championship Grand Final. Kennedy found themselves outplayed early, before the girls dug deep and fought back to draw level 33-33 at the half. It wasn't enough though and some great plays by the opposition had them run away with a 78-64 victory.

We're proud of the boldness of our team and their 'never say die' attitude, which was on display not only in this game but in the lead up to the Grand Final itself. We know that this contest will have been a great opportunity for growth for our students, and thank acclaimed coach Andy Stewart for his great guidance throughout the championship.

Kennedy University's heritage was on show during our 30 Year Celebrations last Saturday as we welcomed Alumni, staff and families from both Kennedy and our forerunner Colleges, Winthrop and Somerville, and honoured their contribution to the mission of educational excellence in a Christian context.

A Q&A led by Mr Mark Ashby, held some fascinating insights and hilarious stories, as the inaugural Deans of Winthrop, Mr Mike Smith, and Somerville, Miss Tracy Holmes, reflected on the obstacles and successes. After the presentation, our community gathered in the Lower Foyer for a morning tea, shared in their own stories of the past, and explored memorabilia from the Colleges - including some old photos!

The annual Kennedy Music Night was a great opportunity to shine the light on the wide variety of musical talent at Kennedy. Whether our students were hitting the high notes on vocals, or plucking at a bass guitar or guzheng, they continuously impressed the large audience of parents and guardians, families and friends.

Thank you to all those who attended this concert for your support in providing an opportunity for our students to perform in our world-class Auditorium! Thank you as well to our great Music Teachers and Tutors, whose love of music and of teaching was reflected in the performances last Wednesday night.

There are many reasons to dance, but our recent Dance Showcase added one more, with students raising funds for the ‘Kennedy Kids’ of Transform Cambodia. We are delighted to announce that $5000 was raised that will go on to improve the lives of these Cambodian children.

Congratulations to our students for their efforts throughout the night and in the lead up to it. Thank you to Miss Simes, Mrs Mayne and Mrs Del Basso for creating these dances with our students and creating a great event that will help transform lives. ‘Dance for a Reason’ indeed!

The Olympic spirit came to Kennedy in Week 4 when students competed in our Interhouse Athletics Carnival. This huge day of sport offered the chance to perform in traditional events such as javelin and running, alongside tug of war and hoop throwing competitions in the ‘B ‘Carnival’.

Congratulations to Falcon for taking the shield home with a score of over 1700 points. Harrier was the best of the rest, followed by Osprey and then Kestrel. Full results, including individual commendations, are due to be announced at our next assembly on Wednesday 18 September.

Competition created innovation in our Engineering faculty when students were tasked with designing, 3D printing, and programming catapults. A humble marshmallow served as the projectile for the lesson, showing resilience as it was flung repeatedly across the room.

As each contestant stepped up to the plate, they hoped that their unique construction would be able to launch the marshmallow the furthest, with the eventual winner Damon managing a score of 3.85 metres.

Practical tasks like this help our students to understand design techniques and programming languages, and how to use these to overcome physics. Today, they’re launching marshmallows. Tomorrow?

After a wide range of experiments, we’ve confirmed that our students are making great use of our classrooms! These rooms pair regular classrooms with labs, meaning that students can quickly go from learning theories to testing them.

Some recent practical lessons have involved heart and flower dissections, testing the energy levels of different foods and working out the concentration of vitamins in different juices. With our teachers guiding the class through each step of the process, there’s no question that our students are taking advantage of Kennedy’s Science Learning Area and striving to grow and learn.