From the Principal
Today, I would like to highlight the work of our College Community Council (CCC), a group of volunteer parents and community members who are working hard to build connections within our College community.
They have had some fun and successful events this year including a trivia night, coffee mornings, a wine and cheese evening and the first of what we hope will be regular business club gatherings.
The final event of the year is the inaugural Principal’s Dinner which will be held at The Geelong Club on Saturday 16 November. Tickets are limited so please get in early and join me for this opportunity to connect, celebrate and reflect on the 2024 school year.
The CCC is also holding their AGM on Wednesday 13 November preceded by a meet and greet with the opportunity for interested people to come along and find out a bit more about the CCC and meet some of the current members. We would love to have more people join the CCC next year either on the committee itself or as willing volunteers for some of the CCC events.
Details for both events are listed later in this e-news bulletin.
We have a wonderful community of families and friends here at Kardinia International College and it is something that I am very grateful to be a part of.
From the Head of Senior School
Our Year 12 IB students commenced their exams this week and have been very focused and determined. Our VCE students are on Swot Vac this week, with their exams commencing on Tuesday next week.
It was wonderful to enjoy some sunny weather this week. The warm weather, however, has brought a few uniform issues to our attention and would appreciate support from families to ensure that all our students are appropriately attired. Firstly, the College broad-brimmed hat is to be worn every recess and every lunch, and all students are expected to have this hat with them each day. Secondly, it is apparent that some students have grown between wearing their summer uniforms in Term 1 and now. Please take a moment to check the fit of uniforms, ensuring that they meet our expectations. A copy of the College Uniform Guide is available on the College website if further detail is required.
Finally, a reminder to families that the College will be closed on Tuesday 5 November for the public holiday; however, IB exams are still scheduled on this day.
From the Head of Junior School
Year 4 Science Experiments
Year 4 students have been inquiring into the natural world and its laws as part of their How the World Works unit of inquiry. Yesterday, with the support of Senior School Science teacher, Nicole Holton, they developed their knowledge of states of matter through some practical experiments. Creating gas to fill a balloon using liquids and solids was a fun challenge enjoyed by all.
Year 2 Sleepover
Congratulations to Year 2 students who participated in their first overnight camp at school last week. Sleeping at school proved to be a walk in the park for these courageous adventurers. Thank you to all staff involved!
Lower Primary Athletics Day
Congratulations to all students for their participation in today’s Lower Primary Athletics Day. Everyone did their best and encouraged each other. Thank you to all the staff and parent volunteers who helped make the day a special one for our Lower Primary students.
Year 5 and Kindergarten Buddies
Year 5 students enjoyed reading books that they had made for their Buddies this week during a kindergarten excursion to the Grove campus. What a great initiative and memory for these students.
Upcoming Events
Please be reminded of the following upcoming Junior School events.
• 24-25 Oct – Y3 Camp
• 1 Nov – Casual Clothes Day (a touch of orange)
• 5 Nov – Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
• 13-15 Nov – Y5 Camp
• 20 Nov – 2025 Kindergarten Parent Information Session (parents only)
• 21 Nov – SS Orientation Day (Y6 students only)
• 21 Nov – 2025 Parent Grove Information Evening (parents and students)
• 25-29 Nov – Japanese Week
• 27 Nov – Middle Primary Swimming Carnival
• 27 Nov – 2025 Parent FY Information Evening (parents only)
• 2-6 Dec – Christmas Book Fair
• 2 Dec – Morning Melodies Assembly
• 4 Dec – JS Orientation Day (K4-Y5 only)
• 5 Dec – JS Christmas Picnic
• 6 Dec – Senior Primary Swimming Carnival
• 9 Dec – Y6 Graduation
• 10 Dec – JS Celebration Assembly
• 10 Dec – Final Day of Term 4 (3.15pm dismissal for K3 and 3.20pm for FY-Y6)
OSHC Newsletter - Camp Australia
Scholarship Applications for 2026 Are Now Open!
More information and registrations are available on our website, (under the 'Admissions' menu or via the following link - https://www.kardinia.vic.edu.au/admissions/local-students/scholarships)
Registrations for academic scholarships (Year 7) will close on Monday 10 February 2025, and the academic scholarship exam for 2026 will take place on Saturday 22 February 2025.
Registrations for music scholarships will close on Friday 24 January.
No late applications will be accepted. To be eligible for a scholarship at Kardinia International College, students must have an application for enrolment at the College.
College Art Show
Thank you to everyone who voted for their favourite piece in the 2024 Art Show! The votes are in …
Congratulations to Emily Canepa who has been voted the People's Choice Award for her VCE Year 11 Media photographs inspired by Wes Anderson.
Congratulations also goes to our close runners up who will receive Highly Commended Certificates. Annabelle Lazarevski for her mixed media artwork "Portal to Enlightenment" and Clara Blersch for her wearable artwork "Transience".
Celebrate Diwali with the International Council!
Diya workshops, chai and sweet stalls, canteen specials and a bindi photobooth - come and join in next week! More details to come via the student bulletins.
Happy Diwali!
The Cyber Safety Project is Coming to the Junior School!
A fitting reminder during Digital Citizenship Week, have you signed up for the workshop yet?
In collaboration with 'The Cyber Safety Project', the event is a key component of our comprehensive approach to keeping our children safe online and is designed to equip parents with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape. Parents will learn more about this important topic and take home practical strategies to keep their family safe online.
To secure your spot, please find the link to sign-up in last week's EdSmart notification.
Click below to watch a reminder from some of our very own Cyber Safety Detectives!
Careers News
An excellent opportunity exists for our senior school students in March 2025 to attend the Avalon Air Show Careers Day, Friday 28 March.
Students have been encouraged to register their interest to attend this incredible excursion if they are thinking about a pathway in the following areas:
- Aviation
- Defence
- Aerospace
- Security
- Engineering
- Government Defence Force
- Communications
- Electronics
- Business
- Trade & Manufacturing
- Government Politics
- STEM related careers
Interested students are encouraged to apply to attend using the following link. https://forms.office.com/r/fu44rrYT89
Expressions of interest will close on Thursday 31 October at 2pm.
*Please understand that we are unable to guarantee all applicants will attend as places will be limited.
More information - https://www.airshow.com.au/airshow2025/TRADE/careers-program/index.asp
Community Engagement and Foundation News
Principal’s Dinner - Tickets now live!
The College Community Council (CCC) warmly invites you to join us for the inaugural Principal's Dinner on Saturday, 16 November at The Geelong Club, hosted by the Principal Catherine Lockhart.
With Truffleduck catering this event, it provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and reflect on 2024 for the Kardinia International College Community.
The tickets for the Principal’s Dinner are now live: https://events.humanitix.com/2024-principal-s-dinner
College Community Council (CCC) - Prospective Member Welcome and AGM
Are you familiar with Kardinia’s parent CCC? We’d love to meet and welcome prospective members ready for a new year in 2025.
Join us for an informal gathering (before our AGM) to learn more about what the CCC does, its events and purpose, and how you could contribute to this volunteer parent group (spanning Highview to Year 12).
If you’re keen please then stay on for the AGM or express your interest for contributing or joining the CCC at a later time. We look forward to meeting you.
Wednesday 13 November
Morongo House (Senior Campus, enter via Kardinia Drive)
6:30pm-7:00pm Meet and Greet (Catered)
7:00pm-8:00pm AGM
RSVP- https://forms.office.com/r/ZfN3X4WcMZ
International Teachers’ Day!
This Friday the CCC are hosting an International Teachers’ Day Coffee and Donuts morning, as a ‘THANK YOU’ to all Kardinia Staff, on behalf of the parent community.
With the national theme Hats Off To Teachers, we ‘doff our hat’ to show respect and thanks to all of Kardinia’s dedicated staff, including the Operational and Teaching Staff from across Highview, Junior School and Senior School.
Happy International Teachers’ Day!
Where Are They Now - Lucyna Kanya – Class of 2015
A new species of parasitic wasp has been discovered in the Northern Territory by wildlife photographer and Alumna Lucyna Kania (Class of 2015), and her partner Nick Volpe. The discovery has been verified via expert Ben Parslow, the country’s leading expert on the Gasteruption genus.
The avid photographers are keen to inspire students to explore their surroundings and learn more about the environment and its creatures.
This parasitic wasp “...has been discovered hiding in plain sight near a popular swimming spot in a Top End national park. To the native Australian resin bee, the mam-burrumurl, or ghost wasp, is a ghoulish nightmare. It lays its eggs inside the bee's nest and its larvae eats the bee's larvae alive. But to Lucyna Kania and Nick Volpe, the wildlife photographers who made the discovery, the mam-burrumurl is a thing of beauty.
Ms Kania says the find is a reminder of how much of the natural world remains mysterious, especially when it comes to invertebrates...[and] there was increasing urgency to document species in a world of "shifting baselines" due to climate change and biodiversity loss.
"It's good to have species out there on the ledger so that we know what has been affected, what are we losing, so we can value it and make better decisions going forward," she said.
"Most people assume that we already know everything about the biodiversity in the natural world around us, but it couldn't be further from the truth," she said.
"The more that you stop and stare and wait, instead of just looking for things as you're walking around, you just take a moment [and] you can find something really exciting that you might have just walked straight over before." Primary school kids in Katherine, not far from where the mam-burrumurl was found, have started to share that passion.”
Back in 2022, Lucy opened her first exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The exhibition was called Tiny Territory and it showcased insects and other species that Lucy had collected and photographed.
Fellow Alumna Martinique Haste (Class of 2014) who worked at the museum during the exhibition, was impressed with their achievements: “I've had the pleasure of seeing the effort and end result which is so impactful! There will be more projects coming in the future and their work on the Netflix documentary "Our Great National Parks" narrated by Barack Obama was just the beginning!”
1 Year Reunion - Class of 2023
The 1 Year Reunion for the Class of 2023 will be held on Friday 15th November.
This function for registered Alumni from the Class of 2023, provides the opportunity to catch up with peers one year after graduation.
Head to EVENTS on The Kardinians to RSVP: https://kardinians.com/
We look forward to seeing you there!
Combined Reunion - Classes of 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 & 2019
The Annual Combined Reunion invites registered Kardinians to celebrate 5-, 10-, 15-, 20- & 25- years since graduating from Kardinia International College.
In 2024, the Classes of 2019, 2014, 2009, 2004 & 1999 are warmly invited to attend their reunion on Friday 8 November 2024. Head to EVENTS on The Kardinians to RSVP: https://kardinians.com/
It has been a while so we look forward to seeing you there!
Kardinia International College supports local Japanese group known as "JAG”
Kardinia International College has been supporting "JAG taiko club" since 2019. JAG is the acronym for "Japanese Association of Geelong", which promotes Japanese culture and enhances connections. JAG Taiko Club is its music club with taiko (Japanese drum). KIC provides practice venues and lends its set of taiko to the club. The club regularly performs in and around Geelong. This year, they have appeared in 2024 Royal Geelong Show, 2024 Vietnamese Spring Festival in Geelong West, 2024 Kyokushin Karate national tournament and so on. JAG sincerely appreciates KIC for its ongoing support.
In the meantime, if you are interested in becoming a part of JAG or JAG Taiko Club, please contact Yoshi Ota (y.ota@kardinia.vic.edu.au).
Fiona Russell - Community Engagement & Foundation Coordinator
From the Archives
The Beginnings of The Art Show
The Art Show has been a staple on the calendar since the beginning of Kardinia International College as documented by Paul Dowie in Kardinia International College- The First Ten Years.
“Many successful Art Shows have been conducted by the Arts and Graphics Faculties. These excellent exhibitions have been an opportunity for students and staff from Kindergarten to Year 12 to exhibit their work in the College Hall. The Show is launched with a grand opening night featuring musical items, refreshments and a discussion of the work on display by a visiting guest artist. Guest artists have included: Melinda Flood, Ron Tandberg, Ann Spudvilas, Anita Lacovella and Tessa Robertson. Students in the Senior School are presented with awards.’
The earliest art images appeared in the first few editions of The Bell, featuring a collage of Senior School artwork from these early years, while the 2000 edition included a broader array of art and visual design extending from Kindergarten through to VCE.
The Bell 1996-1998
The Bell 1999
The Bell 2000
Photos: The Bell 1996-1998, The Bell 1999, The Bell 2000.
Fiona Russell - College Archivist .
School TV - The Cost of Living Crisis
In today's uncertain economic climate, parents and caregivers face the need to discuss the rising cost of living with their children, despite the instinct to shield them from life's challenges.
Starting these conversations requires choosing the right time and setting, aiming for a relaxed atmosphere. Using simple language and relatable examples, parents and caregivers can help their children understand the concept of increased expenses. Transparency about necessary budget adjustments is vital, as it is to involve children in finding solutions and fostering responsibility.
Amid these discussions, it's crucial to reassure children of your unwavering love and support. Seize the opportunity to impart financial literacy, teach your children about budgeting and discerning needs from wants. By emphasising intangible values like love and cherished memories, parents can help children grasp the bigger picture beyond monetary concerns.
Addressing financial topics with children might be challenging, but it is essential. Not only does it equip them with resilience to navigate life's complexities, but it can also effectively prepare young people to understand and handle financial matters in the future.
Click here to watch this episode: https://kardinia.vic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-cost-living-crisis-au
