King’s Pimpama will be celebrating our inaugural Easter showcase this year with an exciting new annual event that lights up our school stage and new Student Services precinct. Our inaugural 'King's Easter Fest' will take place on Wednesday, 30 March 2022 and promises to be an evening of celebration as we enjoy sensational performances from our talented students, exhibit artwork from our budding Picassos, watch the finalists from our students' Film Festival entries, and come together as a College community to share the Easter message of hope in Jesus. Food trucks will also be available providing dinner options for families or feel free to pack-a-picnic. See you there!
The Student Wellbeing team is so excited to see all students back at school for 2022. Our team this year includes Marianne Koops and Misty (therapy dog), Dave Forbes, Lani Grieves and Louise Herrera.
This year we will be running some exciting programs that will empower students to tackle challenges both socially and emotionally, by giving them tools and strategies whilst also having fun. We know that every student can face difficult times and our team is here to actively support our students and families in times of need. Jesus said that in this world we will experience troubles and sorrows, but that in Him we will have peace (John 16:33). We are always out and about, so if you see us, come and say hi!
Every year at King's, our Prep students receive their very own King's teddy bear to welcome them to our school. These adorable teddies are dressed in a miniature King's sports shirt and provide some extra comfort for our brave Prep students as they embrace the new and exciting changes that the first day of school brings. They also celebrated their Day One milestone with a memorable Teddy Bear's Picnic lunch in the Modula Zone. Our Preps enjoyed getting to know all of the new friendly faces in the cohort and explored a new area of the school. The special event was a highlight for many of the students during their first week of Prep and is likely to be remembered for years to come.
Library Lovers' Week is a week to remember that our libraries are a place where we can get lost in an idea we are following, find an adventure we are seeking in a book, discover more about an issue we feel passionate about or get help from someone about something we want to know. These are all the reasons (and more) to celebrate the valuable roles libraries play in our lives and to re-engage with our libraries and 'show the love'. ALIA 2022
This year’s theme is “Show the Love”. We will celebrate Library Lovers’ week from 21 to 25 February. This year’s activities will include competitions, “High school “Blind date with a book”, “Show the love” letters, bookmarks, colouring competitions and stickers and prizes.
We look forward to our school community loving our libraries.
Friday, February 4th saw our new students to high school enjoy Induction Day. The entire Year 7 cohort attended, as well as students new to the school in Years 8 to 10. This year we welcome people from around our neighbourhood, our region and even around the world, coming to King's to live a life rich in the Word of Jesus Christ.
During Induction Day, our students took part in pastoral care activities, an informative tour of our campus and even some terrific games on our multi-court.
The high school operates within our four Houses, and the day was overseen by our Heads of House, Mr John Francis (Rayleigh), Mrs Holly Colloty (Newton), Mr Chris Kearney (Tyndale) and Miss Mikayla Soper (Finney). These staff members revealed to the students the importance of the House spirit, which encourages participation not only in physical activities but also in academic, social and spiritual pursuits. Our Houses act as a family within the school, providing someone for students to turn to in times of hesitation or uncertainty. On the day, our Year 9 House Captains and Year 10 House Leaders joined in, helping our new students with understanding our processes and routines, as well as simply offering a friendly smile and a chat during our complimentary morning tea.
Induction Day 2022 was a complete success, which we pray has set up the new high school students to King's Pimpama with everything they need to live, learn, love and lead well.
During the course of the year, we will introduce our new teaching staff who have joined us in 2022. This week we’d like to introduce you to Mrs Inge Smith and Mr Robert Taylor.
They are both in the High School department and the first of nine new teachers who have joined the department at the beginning of 2022.
Mrs Smith grew up in beautiful South Africa in the towns of Lydenburg, Barberton and Nelspruit, where she completed a Bachelor of Education in 2014, majoring in Languages, Mathematics and Phycology - a scientific study of algae, a branch of life science, and their importance to the ecosystem.
Mrs Smith is teaching Year 7 and 8 HPE and Maths, Year 9 Young Entrepreneurs and Year 10 Business. However, her interest in life sciences delights her every day when she comes to Pimpama and she sees the wonderful “outdoor classroom” we have on campus with the natural waterways and ecosystem.
Mrs Smith has a passion for sport, having played hockey, netball and korfball (ringball) at a national level. She captained the South African Korfball team for five consecutive years.
During the Covid pandemic of 2020, Mrs Smith and her husband immigrated to Australia. She was introduced to the King’s family by a fellow South African family whose children attended the school and when she saw the values that were instilled in the students she said “I want to be a teacher in that school!”
“The values of King’s are close to my heart and the fact that my Christian life could be integrated into my teaching life was just simply a dream come true,” stated Mrs Inge Smith who has been teaching for nine years.
When asked what is the most adventurous thing she has ever done she stated that free diving with sharks in Durban Kwazulu Natal in South Africa was not for the faint-hearted.
Since arriving on Aussie shores, Mrs Smith has continued her love for learning journey by completing a Masters Degree in Business Administration with Cum Laude in July 2021.
With her bubbly personality, love for people and her students as well as her creativity Mrs Inge Smith brings a positive outlook to teaching. She taught numerous cultures and students who came from diverse backgrounds, with one goal to treat each student as a child of God.
On the weekends Mrs Smith loves spending time with her husband and fur-baby as they explore the beautiful Gold Coast and her new Australian friends and family as well as going to church, the gym and kayaking on our waterways.
With a heart for ministry, teaching and music, High School Maths Teacher and family man, Mr Robert Taylor has joined King’s Pimpama since returning from living in Thailand as a missionary and teacher.
Born in Townsville to an English Father and a second-generation Australian Mum and music teacher, who influenced his love for music as a child, Mr Taylor is an alumnus from Grace Lutheran College in Redcliffe.
At school, he was an outstanding and highly disciplined academic student and athlete. He trained with QAS Kayaking Qld Academy of Sport. His involvement in the sport in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, gained Mr Taylor an invitation to be a part of the kayaking series against the best in the world, which also led to one of his proudest accomplishments in his life.
Mr Taylor commented that his other accomplishments included him becoming a Christian, getting married and his selection in a QAFL team of the year.
Married with three children in Years 4,7 and 8, Mr Taylor brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience both in the classroom and on the sports fields. His educational journey includes a Bachelor of Applied Science/Bachelor of Education, Certificate IV in TAE/Personal Training, Diploma of Fitness and he is currently studying for his Master of Education.
His professional background started as a Foundation Teacher at Riverside Christian College in Maryborough. With his love for all things sport, he was the Sports Master at a new school for five years. Mr Taylor also taught Senior PE (OP system), Maths, Science and was a pastoral care teacher. In addition to his teaching component, he has organised school sport from Prep to Year 12 and initiated a sports awards evening.
In his spare time, Mr Taylor enjoys reading, studying, playing board games including Chess, Esports and the ASX, and you guessed it, exercising!
“I love seeing people I coach fulfil their dream,” said Mr Robert Taylor who brings his high-level sports coaching successes to King’s along with his knowledge of the Bible to our community.
His sporting hero is Knut Holmann, World Champion Kayaker who is renowned for his technical abilities and numerous world and Olympic medals.
Mr Taylor is an avid reader who enjoys a good “cliffhanger book” such as Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger with its background diplomacy, political thriller and Sherlock Holmes type twist.
From being a disciplined athlete Mr Taylor does have a pet peeve (just giving his students, and colleagues the head’s up) and that is being disorganised and messy! And… by the way, Mr Taylor is in Rayleigh House!
Our King's maintenance team have worked hard over the past few weeks to complete a crazy paving upgrade at Noah's Ark. In addition, they have also commenced some gardening works to accompany the hard landscaping elements.
"Although we have missed this section of our play space, the children have been very interested and engaged in what has been happening," said Claire Hadfield, Early Learning Coordinator.
"I would like to thank the maintenance team who have been very engaging and patient with their curious support team of Noah's Ark children."
The construction fencing will be removed shortly and our young learners will have a lot more space to enjoy and have fun with their friends.
