Teaching and learning moments are not just confined to the walls of the classroom, but can happen nearly anywhere at any time. It is how well we use these learning moments that can impact how we thrive together during times of lockdown, as we experienced this week. We know that the juggle of working at home and supporting your child to complete schoolwork can be a very real challenge. It is our prayer that parents would not feel burdened or overwhelmed but supported and equipped by our College when learning from home is required. Our teachers have been working hard to provide students with dynamic and relevant content for online learning, and we are very grateful to our parents at home who may have been asked some curly academic questions while working alongside their children to help keep them on track.
King’s has a number of systems in place to provide support. In High School, students have been attending class meetings via Teams to check in with their teacher, ask questions and discuss content. Our Years 5 - 12 students use Compass as their learning platform every day at King’s, so the transition to using Compass full time from home is much easier. In Primary School, students have also received Year Level learning booklets and a daily schedule of tasks from their Year Level Coordinator, via Compass, to continue their current units of work. Thank you to our Primary parents for working with your younger children to cover this content, as time permits.
At the end of each day, it can be helpful to spend time with your child reflecting on something new they have learned or experienced. Recalling these small, incremental lessons to short-term memory increases the chance of saving them to long-term memory, where they can become building blocks for new concepts in the future.
Thanks to our parents, teachers, students and entire King’s community for rising to the challenges of this week so that we can all thrive together!
On Day 5 of the Olympic Games, our campus glowed in green and gold as King's staff and students brought their brightest Australian spirit to school to support our Olympic athletes during our Olympic Games Celebration Day. The amphitheatre atmosphere buzzed with palpable excitement as a number of Day 5 Finals featured Australian competitors on the big screen. It was an unforgettable experience as our College community came together to celebrate the inspirational dedication of all athletes. Their unwavering pursuit of excellence earned them the great honour of representing their country in this year’s Olympic Games and we congratulate them all.
Keegan Palmer was awarded a Gold Medal for Men's Skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics this week, after his impressive performance that earned him the highest score in his event. Keegan was an ambitious King's kid, attending from Prep to Year 5, until he began homeschooling to pursue his skateboarding dreams on the world circuit.
From receiving King's first ever Gold Honours badge for Skateboarding as a Year 4 student, to representing Australia and winning a Gold Medal in Tokyo, Keegan has worked incredibly hard to become an international leader in his sport. Well done to Keegan for such a remarkable achievement and King's looks forward to following his future success for years to come!
Friday, 30 July, marked an important milestone for our Prep students as they reached 100 DAYS IN PREP. The special occasion was a chance to celebrate our youngest King’s kids and all they have achieved at school so far. Prep is characterised by new faces, new places and new lessons, and our amazing students have all embraced their first 100 days with curiosity and courage. From meeting our larger than life King’s lion on Day One, to learning to write, read, count, make friends, and much more, these students have developed in so many ways.
On the first day of Prep, students received their own King’s teddy, and these bears returned for the event to enjoy some celebration cake and a Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Our teachers also joined the festivities and dressed as 100-year-olds who were certainly showing their age. Our Prep community really enjoyed the chance to celebrate 100 DAYS, and we are so excited to continue this learning adventure with them for the rest of Prep... and beyond!
As part of Year 2's Integrated Science unit on Forces in Motion, the teaching team from Street Science came to visit the students for a special interactive incursion on Wednesday, 28 July. The students participated in the Signature Science Show, as well as the Rocket Science - Push/Pull Power Workshop.& The Signature Science Show used memorable demonstrations like fire and smoke rings to uncover ways to combine and describe Earth’s resources, and the effects of applying forces to objects around us. During the Rocket Science Workshop, students investigated Newton’s Laws of Physics by building and launching their own mini CO2 rockets in an unforgettable explosion of push and pull forces.
As part of the Year 6 curriculum, students have been learning about Australian Civics and Citizenship which covers the role, function and structure of the Australian Parliament, and our nation's democratic constitution. As part of their current topic on the three levels of government in Australia, the students enjoyed a special assembly on July 27, with guest speaker, Ms Bates MP. As the MP for Mudgeeraba, Ms Bates shared her parliamentary insights with the students, answered their questions and inspired our future leaders.
When staff and students fled from school on Friday afternoon, excited for the weekend, no one predicted that by Monday thousands of Southeast Queensland students would be forced to study from home, prompted by a snap lockdown. What unusual times we live in! And yet our High School community has certainly been successful in adapting and responding to change. Our staff were prepared for the unexpected, and have proven themselves adaptable and keen users of purposeful technology in the classroom - wherever that classroom happens to be! This week, students, staff and their families adjusted quickly to ensure learning could continue, and students have remained engaged in their subjects. Thank you all for staying on course and remaining so positive during this time.
This week we had an overwhelmingly high response to High School’s Online Learning Student Survey, as seen by the results below:
| Each day's work can be found easily | 4.16/5 |
| My home learning environment is suitable for me to focus on my learning | 4.16/5 |
| I can participate in my Teams meetings without issues | 3.89/5 |
| I had no technical issues this week | 79.2% agree |
If we remain in lockdown, we are going to survey students next week to see how everything is progressing and identify any adjustments. Based on the positive start, we anticipate continued student engagement with learning and improvement in each category.
Parents - we would like to say a huge thank you to all families for your efforts with balancing online learning alongside everything else that goes on in the home environment, including perhaps working from home yourself.
If you have any further questions about our online learning approach, you can find information on Compass > High School > Online Learning. Feel free to also ask your child to show you their instructions and resources directly on their Compass Class pages as well.
Students - we want to thank you for following the instructions on Compass, checking in with your teachers on Teams, working hard, taking initiative and remaining so positive during this time. Here are some moments that truly capture our enthusiasm while we engage in online teaching and learning....
Every year, King's hosts a Subject Selection Evening to equip families with valuable information for making the important decision of choosing senior subjects for the following year. As Year 9 students going into Year 10, this cohort must decide which six subjects they will study in Year 10 and continue through until the end of Year 12. Selecting these subjects takes into account a number of factors, and this decision greatly impacts a student's tertiary and career options beyond King's.
Historically, our College has hosted the Subject Selection Evening on campus, with presentations from lead academic staff and subject teachers. Due to restrictions this year, King's provided an online 'Live Event' for Year 9 students and their families via Teams. The online format included key information presented by senior High School staff, followed by questions from parents that were answered live. Teachers also provided videos on each subject on the Compass Subject Selection page, for students to explore their interest areas leading up to subject selection. The live event saw 107 join the webinar and those who could not attend watched the recording afterwards. Thank you to our Year 9 community for embracing this new format, to ensure you and your child have the information you need for senior subject selection this year.
Within 24 hours of the Subject Selection platform opening, more than 150 Year 9 students had already made their six subjects selections which was a great outcome.
King's Year 9 STEM students attended the Science and Engineering Challenge at Griffith University in early June. They competed against a number of other schools in a variety of problem solving and engineering challenges. Our students led the competition until the last event, and should be very proud of their efforts.
The Science and Engineering Challenge was developed by the University of Newcastle to inspire young people, through fun and practical hands-on activities, about current and future opportunities available in STEM.
The Pre-Prep children have shown a lot of enthusiasm toward the Olympics over the past fortnight, and enjoyed dressing up in green and gold colours to support our Australian athletes. They have also taken a few adventures to the amphitheatre to watch some races on the big screen, and cheered really loudly until their faces turned red! Watching the amazing Olympians inspired some similar activities in the Noah's Ark yard, including a hurdles challenge and running races. Inside their Noah's Ark classrooms, they learned about the colours of the Olympic rings and painted them during art, and even made their own medals!
For the past three years, King's annual Creative By Design program has included our very own King's Has Talent competition. It has been exciting to see this competition grow in popularity as the number of entries have increased, along with the level and variety of talent.
Years 1-6 students who wish to enter King's Has Talent 2021 should be working on their performances now and may like to spend some time during lockdown fine-tuning their act ready for the auditions in Weeks 6-9 of this term. This year's categories include Years 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6, and performances can be as solos or small groups. Our Primary community looks forward to another amazing King's Has Talent competition this year!
In the next few weeks, the Performing Arts Department will be releasing the details of our 2022 School Production which will be a musical (not a stage play). Following the announcement, we will open applications for students to audition for lead roles, or to sign up for the chorus. It is going to be a HUGE production and we will need lots of keen volunteers to be a part of this exciting experience. Stay tuned to find out what Musical we will be producing next year.
Many of King's instrumental students will be participating in the upcoming Gold Coast Eisteddfod and we wish them all the very best as they shine in their passion and talent. Please share any Eisteddfod achievements with Performing Arts staff so we can celebrate your success in our upcoming newsletters. We also wish our ensembles all the best for their entries - the Sax Ensemble, King’s Strings Orchestra and some King’s Souldiers solo drama performers who will compete against other fine students from across the Gold Coast and Southeast Queensland.
King's Deputy Head of Primary, Mr Bristow-Wilson, has created the 'King's Catch Up' podcast series to connect parents, students and staff across our College. His insightful, short interviews offer a lighthearted look into the lives of different members of our community. Listeners will be entertained and enlightened as they discover things they may not know about King's and some of our amazing people.
Episodes are available on iTunes, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker and Radio Public, with new episodes added weekly. Use the link to your favourite podcast platform to follow 'King's Catch Up' and spread the news with members of our King's family.
King's will be hosting Queensland Government's Mobile Dental Van from Monday, 9 August - Friday, 17 September, on the walkway behind the Auditorium. This free dental care service is offered free of charge to any child who meets the eligibility criteria:
- four years or older and have not completed Year 10
- eligible for the Medicare Child Dental Benefits Schedule
- referred by Community Child Health Nurse (Lift the Lip Program) or
- hold, or be listed as a dependent on, a valid Centrelink concession card
BOOK YOUR CHILD'S FREE APPOINTMENT BY PHONING 1300 300 850
Find out More...
[Click the event name for more information. Please check the relevant websites for updated information on changes to these events due to COVID lockdowns]
| SAE Creative Media Institute Virtual event and Open Day experience. For those considering studying creative media, this 4-hour program will give you a taste of the courses and career outcomes. | 8 Aug | 10am - 2pm |
| Gold Coast Fresh Futures Market
Gold Coast’s biggest post-school options expo for people with disability, schools, parents and the wider community, at the Gold Coast Events Centre. | 18 Aug | 10am start |
| The Hotel School Industry Insights Day Year 12 students are invited to this free, interactive experience where they will go behind the scenes at one of Brisbane’s luxury 5-star hotels. They will meet staff from key departments and learn firsthand about the life of a hospitality professional. Saturday, 21 August at Sofitel Brisbane Central, 249 Turbot St, Brisbane. Register early - places limited. | 21 Aug | 9:30am - 1:30pm |
| Airways Aviation's Pilot Training Workshop The Gold Coast Academy has three options available for their upcoming 2-hour workshops where potential pilots can learn more about aviation and how to gain their pilot licence. | 24 Aug, 22 Sept, or 24 Nov | 5 - 7pm |
| GC Trades College Try-A-Trade Experience Expressions of interest are now open for Years 9-11 students who would like to participate in the 'try-a-trade' program at Gold Coast Trades College. For four Wednesdays in Term 4, students will enjoy a hands-on trade experience, without using their VETiS funding. | Term 4 | 8am - 2pm |
[Click the university name for more information. Please check the relevant university websites for updated information on changes to these events, or the virtual Open Days now available, due to COVID lockdowns]
[view the links below for more about school-based traineeships available for Year 10 and 11 students]
See all upcoming virtual information sessions...
The 'Where to Next' Hub is available on CareersEvent.com, and provides an informative Careers Hub for senior students and their parents. Visit the hub for access to tertiary webinars, upcoming events and the latest news on careers and courses.
For a full list of events or to register for the King's Careers Newsletter, visit King’s College Careers.
Tips for Career Planning with your Child Career Conversations with your ChildDid you know that King's have a range of vibrant Instagram accounts showcasing many exciting aspects of our school life? We have pages for our art and sports departments and our central College page: @kings_christian_college. We'd love you to follow us to support our students and see what's happening behind the scenes at King's...
