King’s 2021 Cross Country Captain, Brad Course, graduated last year after modelling extraordinary perseverance and leadership in our school community. Brad had been in a bike crash during 2021 that resulted in serious injuries to his hip and both arms. Despite the physical pain and restrictions Brad faced during his journey of recovery, he maintained his commitment to training and to mentoring our younger athletes. Brad attended every Cross Country Carnival, even in torrential rain, to warm up our athletes for each race and support them from the sidelines. His courageous attitude has continued to shine through and has spurred Brad to achieve even greater success, since the accident.
Brad maintained an intense training schedule in the lead up to the Australian Triathlon Championships, where he competed in Tasmania recently. His Dad, Ashley, recounted the exciting experience:
As a member of Australia's High-Performance squad for the event, Brad was given an official Australian tri suit to wear, adding to this unforgettable experience in the young athlete's sterling Triathlon career so far.
As the winner of the Australia Triathlon Championships, Brad has automatically gained selection to represent Australia at the 2022 Junior World Triathlon Championships in Canada this June. Having just collected his very first individual National Title and Oceania Title, we hold high hopes for Brad’s continued success when he wears the green and gold again - this time on the world stage. Congratulations Brad and good luck!
Each year our College libraries celebrate Library Lovers' Day to acknowledge the valuable role libraries play in our student's lives. This year, the event was so big that King's decided to run it for a whole week. It coincided with last week's rainy conditions and provided a perfect excuse to head into our libraries during break times to enjoy a great book or two. Our library staff wrapped hundreds of books for high school students to give them the chance to have a 'Blind Date with a Book.' They loved the element of surprise and the chance to read something they may not have ordinarily picked for themselves. Any student in Years 4 – 12 who loaned a book during Library Lovers' Week also went into the daily and weekly draw, with 14 lucky prize winners overall. Our 'Show the Love' competition also had over 500 entrants with six prizes given out. In Primary, there were 80 Prep – Year 3 students who entered the colouring competition with seven book prizes awarded to the most creative entries. Library Lovers' Week was incredibly popular at King's this year, getting the largest response across our library events to date, and showing that our students really do love our libraries!
Amanda Roberts
Librarian
Each year, our Prep - Year 3 students participate in a Swimming and Water Safety program as part of their PE curriculum. This important program includes a one-hour lesson each day for four days, and is designed to cater for all abilities through differentiated small group lessons. Last week, our Year 1 and 2 classes took turns travelling by bus to Palm Beach Aquatic Centre where they developed their swimming skills with the professional AUSTSWIM-accredited instructors. The students had a great time participating in this program and it was exciting to see their swimming techniques markedly approve after the four days. Our Prep and Year 3 students will take part in this program in Term 4.
'Humble' and 'kind' are just some of the words used to describe King's KTTC student, Charlie Mitchell, whose hopes of sharing his God-given talents with a worldwide audience, look set to become a reality. Charlie is enjoying studying Construction at KTTC but also has plans to pursue his dreams in singing, once he completes his trade.
‘I started singing four years ago but I've always loved it.’ Charlie said. ‘Jazz is my preferred genre and I enjoy performing to entertain people and make them smile.’ Charlie’s dad is the person who inspires him most and is possibly his biggest fan. ‘My dad inspires and motivates me because he drives me to all my gigs, even as far as four hours away. He always waits for me to finish... sometimes very late at night.’
Charlie started sharing his music on social media and received an Instagram message from someone in America who is a friend of famous music producer, Narada Walden. Narada has produced for some legendary names, including Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Eddie Murphy, Ray Charles, James Brown and Lionel Ritchie, to name a few. Narada saw Charlie’s remarkable talent and contacted him to produce a song together. At only 16 years old, Charlie feels very fortunate that a break like this has come so early in his career. And while the reality of this exciting news is still sinking in, the promising partnership looks set to be the start of something huge for our talented King’s kid.
Charlie has already learned some big life lessons in the early days of his music career and offered some advice to King's young performers. ‘The truth is you’ll get plenty of criticism as a musician.’ He said. ‘I’ve just learned to take criticism as a way to continually improve. You need to be able to accept it, and not give up if it feels like you’ve failed the first time.' Perseverance is a King's Foundational Value that we continually develop in our students, and we applaud Charlie for showing such perseverance as he reaches for the stars.
Congratulations Charlie - we look forward to watching your singing career with expectancy for many great things to come!
Every student has unique interests and talents, and so King's provides many opportunities to explore a range of subjects in Years 7 - 10 so that students can be confident with their final subject selections for Years 11 and 12.
Years 7 - 10 students have the chance to explore their creative sides, immerse themselves in another language, conduct new science experiments, engage in the diverse world of technology and innovation, and more! We encourage parents to spend time exploring subject information available on Compass. Your child can point you to their Year Level page where you can select My Study > Changing Subjects to see information and links to videos about each subject. It’s important to investigate what each subject is about and what is expected at senior level before students make decisions to remain in, or change a subject.
Before rushing off to request a subject change, students should consider that a short stint in a subject is not enough time to get a good grasp on what it's really all about. Students must ‘give it a go’ before opting for a change. We suggest they have constructive conversations with their parents, teachers, peers or older students in their PC class about subjects they are considering. PC peers offer valuable and recent insights about course content, skills learned and the demands of senior subjects. If a student still really wants to change after giving it a decent try, they must book an interview with Ms Lean. She will ask about their intended pathway beyond school to make sure that any changes complement their plans.
"But none of my friends are in my class!"...
Your child might offer this as their reason for swapping subjects. We encourage them to stick with this subject as this is a great opportunity to make new friends, establish other connections and learn new things. It’s bound to be beneficial in some way - no learning is ever lost!
"I have no idea what I want to do in the future!"...
In their 'Set for Success' lessons, students investigate their learning styles, their interests, and look ahead at actual career events. Lessons are designed to ensure they are well informed when it comes time to make decisions about subject selections and future pathways. Students should chat about their career ideas at home too, as family discussions provide valuable insights as students navigate their thinking about pathways beyond High School.
It’s very important for students to undertake their subject research and complete the SET-plan in Year 10, so that they are in the right subjects for their final two years of school study. Senior subject selection requires careful consideration, and includes an understanding of which compulsory subjects might be required to achieve their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), and to be eligible for certain university/TAFE courses or trade options. Changing subjects in Year 11 or 12 can have an adverse impact on the accumulation of points required for the QCE (20 points); therefore, it is important to minimise any subject change. Students can risk their QCE and ATAR by changing subjects.
We hope this article helps equip parents as you navigate subject discussions with your children.
Richard Yang was our Highest achieving ATAR student in 2021, successfully earning himself an incredible score of 98.60. We interviewed Richard to find out about some of the things that help him reach his goals.
King's are fortunate to have amazing new staff members join our teaching team each year and in our early editions of the 2022 College Newsletter, we will introduce some of these staff to our community. In this edition, we hear from Mr Robert Smith, who has joined the Music Department as a Violin and Viola teacher, and whose class you should always be on time for!
As part of our Easter Fest celebrations, King's will be curating an exhibition of art from our budding Prep - Year 6 Picassos. Entries are now open for the Easter Fest Art Competition and we invite all primary students to participate by producing a piece of art that symbolises 'Hope' - our theme for Easter Fest 2022. All entries will be displayed at the event on March 29 and judged by a panel of local artists, with awards given to their favourite pieces. We encourage students to think about what 'hope' means to them this Easter and to channel their creative side as they produce colourful and imaginative masterpieces for our community to enjoy.
ENTRIES NOW OPEN - CLOSING MONDAY, 14 MARCH 2022
To register: email Mrs Wendijk (our Art Teacher) with your child's name
The Premier announced last week that some COVID restrictions will be easing from Friday, 4 March, meaning King's can now offer the majority of our before and after school activities from next week (commencing Monday, 7 March). Bookings are now open for these programs and you can view the list via the buttons below to register and pay for these. Some providers have chosen to wait and return with their full program in Term 2 and we look forward to welcoming them back then.
REGISTER VIA PARENT PORTAL
We are using Parent Portal this year for most of our before and after school activity registrations. This is exciting as it allows us to generate a roll call for each activity and sign students in and out when they attend.
Follow these steps to register:
View all of these activities via the buttons below:
View PRIMARY list View HIGH SCHOOL list PARENT PORTAL LINK
King’s has reimagined our Easter showcase this year with an exciting new annual event that is about to light up our school stage, King’s Table precinct and Prep Centre. Our inaugural 'King's Easter Fest' is happening on Tuesday, 29 March 2022 from 5pm - 7.45pm and promises to be an evening of celebration and fun.
We look forward to welcoming you to King's for Easter Fest 2022, as we come together as a community, to reflect on the Easter message of hope in Jesus. See you there!
There are a number of traineeships available and these vacancies are listed on King's Careers site. These change on a weekly basis as new positions become available. Students who cannot find anything that appeals to them will need to source their own employer.
View Latest School-Based Traineeships for Year 11 & 12
YEAR 12 PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT
Thursday, 28 July, 5.30pm | Southern Cross Gold Coast Campus
Southern Cross University is hosting an information night for parents to answer any questions you have about your child starting university next year. They will cover the application process, QTAC, scholarships, university costs, accommodation, and more. Canapes and refreshments included.
ON-CAMPUS OPEN DAY
Saturday, 30 July | 11am - 3pm
Throughout Bond's Open Day, guests will enjoy abundant opportunities to get to know more about the university, hear keynote presentations, take a campus tour, have one-on-one chats with experts, and much more.
UPCOMING INFORMATION SESSION
Monday, 25 July | 6pm - 8pm
If you are interested in learning more about the wide range of roles available in the Navy, Army and Air Force, register for this upcoming information session and speak with current serving members to see which Australian Defence Force career is best suited to you. This will be held at their Brisbane Defence Office.
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.
View the latest Options Career Newsletter Tips for Career Planning with your Child Career Conversations with your Child Career Tools NewsletterDid 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...
