Issue 2 Term 1 2022

The season of Lent is once again upon us.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and Kildare College began preparations for our Lenten journey by distributing pancakes on Shrove Tuesday 1 March. As Lent is a time for fasting, traditionally, pancakes were made to rid the household of all dairy products before the fast.

For Ash Wednesday, students in their Pastoral Care classes participated in an Ash Wednesday Liturgy of the Word. During this liturgy, we reflected on the significance of the Ashes (made from burning palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday) which traditionally, in non-Covid times, is placed on the forehead. Essentially, this is done to remind us of our mortality. There is, however, more to it than just this.

Ash Wednesday also provides us with an opportunity to look beyond our mortality to a hope in God. The Ash reminds us that as mortals, one day we will return to Ash. Ash, as we know, is worthless. It has no use, and more often than not it is a hindrance. But, in God, we look to something much more hope filled. The death of Jesus is God’s way of placing a sign of significant worth and value on that which would otherwise be worthless. The Ash helps us to remember that though we are all destined to one day die physically, God has chosen to give us some other life, more than the one which leads merely to Ash. A life of eternal love.

Enrico Caprioli
APRIM

ATAR scores in the 80s and 90s

Caitlin Anchor
Anusha Balakrishnan
Amity Berry
Lucy Birch
Georgia Covino
Tiannah Field
Ina-Gabrielle Figueroa
Alyse Hannam
Adrijanna Jurkovic
Sophia Keys
Mia Larkin
Angie Lim
Laura Lines
Salma Mansurwala
Monique Mazzarolo
Danielle Mower
Rebecca McMahon
Kiera O'Neill
Soraya Rezaee
Alexia Rillo
Karlia Salpigidis
Abbigail Schmidt
Tameeka Stagg
Grace Stefanidis
Olivia Sutton
Darcy Taylor
Daniela Tosti
Aleisha Yates

Our Year 12 student leaders gathered for the annual Adelaide International Women’s Day Breakfast virtually at Kildare College this year.

The Adelaide International Women's Day Breakfast supports UN Women Australia and is the largest event celebrating IWD in Australia.

The Year 12 Leaders shared breakfast with staff, before listening to 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame and Senator the Hon Penny Wong discuss the 2022 theme of "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow".

The Year 12 Leaders felt that the breakfast was a great opportunity to reflect on their role within the Student Leadership Team at the College and how they can continue to lead change.

Emma Ward
Senior Years Coordinator

Keeping Connected in the Middle Years 

Establishing, nurturing and maintaining healthy connections across and with all members of our College community is very important, particularly to us in the Middle Years, as we welcomed many new families to our Kildare family this year.

Here at Kildare, we dearly value that strong and healthy relationships are foundational to our young people’s growth and wellbeing. Similarly, we as adults also like to feel connected, as this is good for our own wellbeing, sense of belonging and purpose. Just as you want your daughter to stay connected with her teachers and school during this time of social distancing - it is equally important for us to ensure that you, as parents remain actively engaged with your daughter’s teachers and our College community.  

We have relished the opportunity to meet and connect with many of our new families during our Kildare Coffee and Catch Ups in the last fortnight. It has been a pleasure to take time out of our busy schedules to get to know each of you better, as we work together to educate, empower and raise your daughters. We look forward to having further opportunities to bond with you in the near future. 

On the theme of nurturing connections across our College community and relishing each other’s company, we also have many fun and exciting activities planned for your daughters in the coming weeks! Our Year 9 students will keep cool and experience Waterworld in Week 8, our Years 7 and 8 students will run, bounce and jump whilst enjoying a day of Epic Inflatables fun in Week 9 and our Year 7 students will also escape to nature at Point Malcolm in Week 10.

We are thrilled that your daughters are so excited for these upcoming activities and look forward to taking some time away from our everyday routines to enjoy some time together, develop and consolidate connections and have some fun.

Information has already been sent home to our Year 9 families and further information will come for our Year 7 and 8 families early next week.  

Angelica Paussa
Middle Years Coordinator

There is every chance your Middle Years daughter has become caught in a vicious time loop in recent weeks: tasks that were handed out a month ago (but started a week ago) resulting in a sudden compression of all their waking moments into an anxious frenzy whereby there are never enough minutes in the day for them to get everything done. Yes, it’s okay - you can take a big sigh of relief - it’s not just you or your daughter feeling this way.  

As students move from Years 6 to 7 to 8 to 9, there is obviously an incremental increase in the degree of difficulty of tasks, the size and scope of assessment, and the length of time required to complete tasks to the year level standard. Many students get caught out in Term 1 - falling back on strategies that allowed them to previously ‘get by’ - only to find that bar has been raised and they desperately need to re-evaluate their approach. 

The Middle Years are the perfect time for students to grapple with many of life’s big-ticket items and ‘work/life balance’ is certainly one of them. In the coming weeks, you will have an opportunity to connect with your daughter’s subject teachers during our Years 7, 8 and 9 Learning Reviews. We encourage you to cease this opportunity to have your daughter sit beside you and listen carefully to them.  

Substantial evidence exists showing that parent involvement benefits students, including raising their academic achievement. There are other advantages for children when parents become involved - namely, increased motivation for learning, improved behaviour, more regular attendance, and a more positive attitude about homework and school in general. 

On this topic, I humbly defer to the words of one of my favourite educational bloggers, Tim Elmore: 

“The principle we must remember is personal empathy elicits positive energy. Last night, I met with my children. I was disappointed that they hadn’t followed through on a commitment they had made. I must admit, I was upset going into the conversation. But I knew that would draw a defensive or defeated reaction from them. So, I paused, took a breath and asked how they were doing. I actually invested several minutes, trying to understand their current reality. When the “follow through” issue arose, they were so ready to admit their shortcoming. They felt empowered to initiate a plan to ensure they’d keep the commitment they’d made. No adversarial exchange. Hmmm. When we lean in, they lean in.”  

We look forward to reconnecting with you during our Middle Years Learning Reviews on Tuesday 29 March + Wednesday 30 March in Week 9, as well as Tuesday 5 April in Week 10 of this term. Further information pertaining to the Learning Reviews will be shared with you shortly.   

Angelica Paussa
Middle Years Coordinator

Sleep helps us to fuel, rest and repair our brains and bodies. Teenagers need more sleep as they are continue to grow at a fast rate. Most teenagers are getting   between 6-7 hours of sleep per night, while research continues to show that  the recommendation is between 8 – 10 hours each day for individuals to be at their best.

When teenagers are not getting enough sleep they are more likely to:

• Become overtired and irritable
• Find school challenging
• Have trouble with motivation, concentration and memory
• Have reductions in their reaction times
• Engage in risk-taking behaviour
• Reduce sporting and academic performances
• Be affected by mood changes.

There are many reasons that teenagers are finding it difficult to sleep and activities such as using phones and watching television as ‘downtime’ can impact the quality and time period of sleep.

Suggestions to improve sleep include:

• Implementing a relaxing bedtime routine
• Going to bed at the same time (or around the same time) each night
• Always falling asleep in your bed
• Using your bed for sleep only. Avoid completing homework or using devices in bed.
• Limiting daily naps to 30 minutes
• Limiting after school activities
• Avoiding caffeine after mid-afternoon (including coffee, soft drinks or energy drinks)
• Exercising each day
• Limiting screen time before bed
• Trying to wake up and get out of bed at the same time each morning

World Sleep Day, celebrated on 18 March, is an annual event to highlight issues related to sleep and raise awareness for sleep health. The 2022 theme for World Sleep day is "Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World". Meditation apps such as Insight Timer, Relax Melodies, Calm or Headspace can all support teenagers to develop positive sleep habits that support calming the mind. Mediation can support sleep as it help to increase natural melatonin levels that are important for more restful sleep. Meditation can also support in calming the brain from distracting thoughts that keep the mind buzzing and can prevent us from falling asleep more easily.

Chronic sleep deprivation can have significant impact on teenagers lives and it is best to seek medical support where needed.

Emma Ward
Senior Years Coordinator

Within the first few weeks of the 'How to Science' Unit, Year 7 STEM students learnt to light a Bunsen Burner for the first time.

After completing the practical activity safely and successfully, students received their Bunsen Burner Licence. This licence indicates that students can correctly label the parts of a Bunsen Burner, set up and light a Bunsen Burner safely, and identify the difference between when to use the yellow flame and the blue flame.

Our Year 7 STEM students are licensed to learn and eager to engage in a range of practical activities. 

Julia Groutsch
STEM Teacher | Future Innovation Coach

Pi Day is celebrated around the world by many students, teachers, museums, scientists and planetariums. It is celebrated every year on March 14 since the number Pi contains the digits 3.14159, and so on. By coincidence, March 14 is also Albert Einstein’s birthday! We at Kildare College celebrated this day with many activities, such as code breaking, bracelet making, reciting the numbers in Pi, finding the area and perimeter of pies, and quizzes. It was pleasing to see students getting involved in the activities, particularly in the classroom.

Congratulations to Kitty Vo, Elisha Bradbery and Pastoral Care Classes, BB, DF, and KE who were the competition winners on the day.

Michele Longmire
Curriculum Coordinator Maths

Over the first five weeks of Year 7, the students have practised their scientific investigation skills, through a series of experiments. Their main investigation involved determining if adding marshmallows to your hot chocolate kept the drink hotter for longer. 

The students found that marshmallows did in fact, keep the hot chocolate hotter for longer. This is due to limiting the number of heated particles leaving the liquid, as the marshmallows act as a layer on insulation. 

So this winter, if you like drinking your hot chocolate on the warmer side, don't skip out on those marshmallows.

Nicole Martin
Science and STEM Coordinator