The last day of summer, Tuesday 28th February provided a perfect warm day to host Kurnai College’s Inter House Athletics Carnival at Joe Carmody Reserve in Newborough on.
Students from across the College came together and participated in various track and field events, novelty events such as limbo, longest footy kick, or the balloon toss, or simply spent a relaxing day catching up with their friends.
Forty-two Year 8 students from Kurnai College, Churchill Campus went to Karoonda Park for their school camp at the end of February.
The Gippsland Tech School is a high-tech learning environment, with innovative education programs linked with local industry delivering real-world learning to students. Kurnai College utilises the resources and specialised programs offered by the Tech School throughout the year. During 2023 students have already had the opportunity to participate in a number of different programs.
In early February, the Year 12 Environmental Science class went on a three-day camp in the Brisbane Ranges National Park. During camp, students performed a series of tests on the water, soil and air quality of Boar Gully. Students also visited the Mt. Rothwell Conservation Centre (the largest feral predator free ecosystem in Victoria) to learn about the conservation of various endangered and endemic Victorian species of marsupial, including the Eastern Barred Bandicoot – the focus species for the first outcome of the Environmental Science Study Design.
Notice of Election and Call for Nominations – 2023
An election is to be conducted for members of the School Council of Kurnai College
Nominations open on Wednesday, 22 February with nomination forms available from each campus office and must be lodged by 4.00 pm on Wednesday, 1 March 2023.
The ballot will close at 4.00 pm on Tuesday, 7 March, 2023.
Please find below the information regarding the School Immunisation Program for Year 7 and Year 10 students.
Consent forms are to be completed by Friday 10th of February to ensure that they are processed in a timely manner prior to the immunisations days at school.
YEAR 7 Students
Students in Year 7 (or age equivalent) receive two vaccinations on the immunisation schedule:
• Gardasil 9 - Human Papillomavirus (HPV), 2 dose course, 6 months apart
• Boostrix – Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis (whooping cough) booster, 1 dose
All school photos can be ordered online at Leading Image Photography. Please do not bring photo money to school. Photos can be ordered prior to photo day.
To order your school photos you need to log onto https://www.leadingimage.com.au
Click on Order Your School Photos and enter your school access key.
For orders made after photo day, a personal access key is provided to each student.
On Friday, December 16, Kurnai College held its College Awards Ceremony at the University Campus.
The event commenced with a BBQ lunch in the courtyard at the University Campus before all students and guests moved to the Auditorium at Federation University where the official proceedings commenced.
Kurnai College's Dedlee Dancers commenced the event with a welcome chant, followed by the Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country. The College Chior performed the National Anthem before the Dedlee Dancers took the stage to perform Naa Naa Nukendare.
Monday 17th - Thursday 20th October
Sixty Year 10 students from the Churchill Campus and Morwell Campus recently attended a four-day Melbourne Experience Camp.
MONDAY
Dear members of our school community,
Kurnai College’s Careers & Pathways team has been named a finalist for the 2022 Victorian Education Exceleence Awards.
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
On Thursday the 25th of August, Kurnai College's University Campus will be hosting Wear It Purple Day to raise awareness of LGBTQIA+ youth’s struggles and demonstrate allyship in the Kurnai College school community! This event is for all students and staff to participate in to help show members of the community that they are safe and accepted in our community!
SRC have organised nail painting, ally and pride badges, temporary purple hair spray, face painting, music at lunch and many other fun activities to promote pride in our community!
Eighty Year 7 students from the Morwell Campus adventured on a five-day ‘Positive Start Camp’ at Portsea Camp last Monday 8th – Friday 12th of August.
The students participated in an array of activities including High Ropes Course, Flying Fox, Giant Swing, Boulder Wall, Scooters, Bridge Building, Hut Building, Parachute Games, Kayaking, Rockpool Rambling, Swimming, Beachcombing, Bush Cooking and a Disco Night.
The Year 11/12 girls’ team from the University Campus represented Kurnai College at the Gippsland Finals of School Soccer in Traralgon after successfully progressing from the Wellington round in June. The team played in a series of 30-minute round robin games with a chance to progress to State Finals that will be held in late August.
Well-structured and organised, the team comfortably won their first game to Bass Coast Secondary College defeating them 6nil. However, Bass Coast still put the pressure on contending with a couple of 1-on-1s that forced our keeper to pull off a brilliant save.
During Term 3 Year 9 students from the Morwell Campus and Churchill Campus attened their retrospective Melbourne Camps.
The students travelled to Melbourne by train where the spent several days exploring the city and engaging in many of Melbourne's attractions including O'Brien Icehouse Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Skydeck, and ArtVo.
Year 11/12 students from the University Campus represented Kurnai College at the Wellington District School Basketball in Traralgon. The teams played in a series of round robin games with a chance to progress to Gippsland Finals.
Last Wednesday, fifty Year 7 Churchill Campus students travelled by bus to Melbourne for a day. The students attend the Jewish Holocaust Museum to engage with activities based on how children survived the Holocaust last Wednesday.
The students then travelled to Lygon Street for lunch.
NAIDOC Week celebrations that are held across Australia in the first week of July each year, to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
Last week of term 2 was an amazing experience for the Morwell Year 9 and 10 students who attended The Summit Camp in Trafalgar. Congratulations to everyone who attended for a transformative experience that will help us to confront our limitations and exceed expectations in the future.
We were expertly guided by our coaches Ella, Cam, Logan, Centauri, Adam and work experience student Josh. They proved to be positive, supportive, motivating and invested in the success of each and every student.
You are invited to our 2023 Parent Information Evening - Wednesday 3rd August.
This evening is for current and prospective families to showcase our college's Year 11 and 12 programs and subjects on offer for 2023 and beyond.
Yesterday, our VCAL and Churchill Year 9 & 10 students attended a Be Wise presentation by the Pat Cronin Foundation.
The Pat Cronin Foundation was established by Matt and Robyn Cronin in memory of their 19 year-old son who died from a coward punch on a night out in Diamond Creek in 2016.
The presentations inform students about Pat and his story, teaching students to reflect on attitudes and behaviours around anger and aggression. Students learn about the impact of violence and coward punches and how they can become part of the solution to end the coward punch.
We congratulate Geoffrey Block (“Blocky”) for being announced in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours roll as a recipient of the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to education in Victoria.
Geoff Block has been a teacher at Maryvale High school/ Kurnai College since 1977.
On Wednesday 1st of June multiple teams from across Kurnai College travelled to participate in various sports at the Wellington District Interschool sports with a chance to progress to the Gippsland Finals in that will be held in July next term.
Kurnai College is delighted to announce that our Dux of 2021 is Sophie Koostra. Sophie’s ATAR of 95 is an incredible achievement and is testament to her dedication to her studies during an unsettled year.
Throughout many of the lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sophie continued through focusing on her studies in English, Maths, Psychology, Health & Human Development, and a Certificate III in Health Services.
‘Sophie is a very hardworking and dedicated student’ as described by her teachers.
Please find below the information regarding the School Immunisation Program for Year 7 and Year 10 students.
Consent forms are to be completed by Friday 4th of February to ensure that they are processed in a timely manner prior to the immunisations days at school.
Churchill Campus - Wednesday 9th February
Morwell Campus - Wednesday 16th February
University Campus - Tuesday 24th May
All school photos can be ordered online at Leading Image Photography. Please do not bring photo money to school. Photos can be ordered prior to photo day.
During the last weekend of November, teams from Morwell Campus are usually participating in the HPV Energy Breakthrough 24hr Race in Maryborough.
However, due to COVID-19 restrictions the annual event unfortunately did not go ahead.
Instead the HPV teams headed down to Casey Fields on Friday 26th November to participate in a 6-hour event to put all their hard work from year into practice.
Last Friday, 18 June, 17 girls from Year 8 at Morwell campus participated in a Making Things That Matter one day virtual workshop, facilitated by Aruna and Hanna from Young Change Agents.
Kurnai College’s Year 12 Business Management class visited the Yakult Factory in Dandenong this week, as part of their studies for “Operations”. The Japanese-owned company sells Yakult (a fermented milk drink) across forty countries, with the factory in Dandenong making all the Yakult for the Australian and New Zealand market.
Stymie is a webapp, that delivers encrypted, anonymous and confidential notifications and where possible, uploaded evidence including screenshots to authorised recipients about issues of abuse, harm and unacceptable
Kurnai has changed the way we will be handling second-hand sales, we will no longer be holding an on campus book sales however we have purchased an online membership for all our families to access at Sustainable School Shop.
The Sustainable School Shop encourages re-use and re-cycling through innovation and technology, enabling schools and families to look for a second-hand item first before buying new. Making better use of current resources builds a more sustainable school community and lowers the cost of education.
Kurnai College’s Inter House Athletics Carnival at Joe Carmody Reserve in Newborough on Tuesday 2nd of March 2020.
Students from across the College came together and participated in various track and field events, novelty events such as limbo, longest footy kick or the balloon toss or simply spent a relaxing day catching up with their friends.
Thorpe took out the Kurnai College House Athletics Championship Cup winning by a margin of 194 points ahead of runners up Forsyth.
Kurnai College wishes to congratulate our 2020 DUX, Chloe Palmer.
In a unique year full of uncertainty and challenges, Chloe remained dedicated to her studies to achieve an outstanding result.
We wish Chloe all the best with her future endeavors.
Our Music students have had the opportunity to participate in the ‘Rockfest Music Competition’ this year. The competition is a national event that gives students the opportunity to develop networks with music students from across Australia and is adjudicated by professional musicians and industry leaders who provide feedback to the participants to grow and develop their musical potential.
The Year 8 students from both Churchill and Morwell Campuses recently visited the Tech School, located in Morwell. The students participated in a range of activities which focused on the students creating their own experiment to test a hypothesis on a topic about energy.
A perfect autumn day hosted Kurnai College’s Inter House Athletics Carnival at Joe Carmody Reserve in Newborough on Tuesday 3rd of March 2020.
Students from across the College came together and participated in various track and field events, novelty events such as limbo, longest footy kick or the balloon toss or simply spent a relaxing day catching up with their friends.
Forsyth once again prevailed and took out the Kurnai College House Athletics Championship Cup winning by a margin of 148 points ahead of runners up Freeman.
Kurnai College, Churchill Campus student, Travis Colson was among one of four Aboriginal Victorians to receive a $5000 scholarship at Parliament House on Thursday 13th February. Presented by Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Gavin Jennings at an awards event at Parliament House, the inaugural Aunty Dot Peters Award supports Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students to complete Years 9 and 10 at a Victorian secondary school.
Once again, Moe Outdoor Pool was the scene for Kurnai College’s Inter House Swimming Carnival held on Thursday 13th, February 2020. While the weather were not ideal, the cool temperature and rain did not dampen the student’s spirits and the enthusiasm from all participants went a long way to making the carnival a success.
Students from across the College braved the cold conditions by participating in the various competitive and novelty events. Others simply spent a relaxing day catching up with their friends, or participated in the Best Dressed Competition.
Recently, 20 students from both the Churchill and Morwell Camp Year 9/10 Outdoor Education classes attended a three day surf camp at Wilsons Promontory. Weather conditions were forecast to be very rainy, windy and cold, however the students were still eager to not let the weather dampen their experience. The surf lessons were pushed forward to earlier in the days to make use of the better weather conditions. Rather than surfing at Wilsons Prom, the group travelled to Waratah Bay for all three surf lessons, as it provided better protection from the prevailing South-Westerly Victorian winds.
On Wednesday 23rd October a small group of Yr 9 students from Morwell and Churchill campuses attended a day at Ecolinc in Bacchus Marsh with a collection of other Gippsland schools. The students participated in a range of activities including:
• A video conference with Tiffany Yao, an electrical engineer at Ad Astra Rocket Company. Tiffany spoke to the students about some of the work she is completing at the moment in designing more efficient rockets for space travel.
42 Year 8 students from Kurnai College, Morwell Campus went to Karoonda Park, during the first week of term 4 for their school camp. On the way there, the students stopped off at Buchan Caves and went through the Royal Cave. The limestone cave consisted of many chambers, filled with calcite rimmed pools and stalactites crystals covering the cave’s roof. Jumping back on the bus the students travelled the last part of the journey before arriving at Karoonda Park. Excitedly the students exited the bus ready and wanting to explore the place they would call home for the next week.
Thursday the 19th September brought with it fantastic weather and the promise of two weeks holidays for the students.
But before they could celebrate the end of term, a small but talented group of Kurnai students competed against the best student athletes this side of Melbourne's metropolitan areas, at the Gippsland Track and Field Carnival at Joe Carmody Reserve Newborough.
Of the 8 students who attended, we brought home 9 podium finishes which is an amazing effort considering the size of a number of other schools teams in attendance.
Six Year 9 students from Kurnai College recently travelled to India and immerse in a life-changing-three-week cultural experience. The students, along with 40 other year 9 students from across Victoria, participated in the very first Victorian Young Leaders to India Pilot Program.
Kurnai College’s year 10 students recently embarked on a five-day tour of Tasmania.
After a somewhat bumpy flight to Hobart, they boarded an extra-long, pink touring bus and spent the next few days exploring Salamanca Place, Constitution Dock, Battery Point, Hobart City, Richmond, and Russell Falls.
Over two Wednesdays, Year 11 Sport and Rec students at Kurnai College participated in professional Pool Lifeguard training with Life Saving Victoria.
The students interacted in a professional manner with their trainer, and completed a number of online and practical units in relation to gaining their qualification as a Pool Lifeguard.
Kurnai College commends its music's students’ efforts during their recent musical performances. The students performed brilliantly at Churchill Primary School and Yinnar Primary School, and did a wonderful job showcasing the schools musical program.
Proceeding on in their tour, the Music Students from Kurnai College then visited Churchill North Primary School and Morwell Central Primary School the following day. The students once again put on a magnificent performance showcasing their talents to our feeder schools.
On the 6th of August, six VCE students from University Campus attended Sale College for a Model UN Conference run by United Nations Association of Australia. The conference included students from six school across Gippsland with groups split up to represent different countries.
Kurnai College’s two teams were to represent the views and political ideologies of Iceland and Mexico in regards to the issue of Global Action on Climate Change.
Each year, Kurnai College celebrates NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observation Committee) week. This is an important part of our students’ education and a strong step towards honouring and understanding our First Australians.
Each campus takes it in turns in hosting the main event.
Students at the Churchill Campus were treated to a BBQ on a glorious winter’s day and Violet Juracevich explained to our students the origins and meaning of NAIDOC.
On Monday the 22nd of July, 30 students from the Senior VCE Biology classes attended an excursion for the day at AgriBio in La Trobe University Melbourne. AgriBio is a leading Agricultural Research Institute that is funded by the Victorian government, mainly focusing on improving local farming industry through genetic engineering practices.
Throughout the day students engaged in activities that will expand their understanding of DNA manipulation techniques and how they may be applied in various industries in Victoria.
During the second week of the winter school holidays, 16 students from the University Campus enjoyed 6 days of thrilling alpine skiing and snowboarding. The students endured the 5-hour bus drive up the Omeo alpine road to Mt Hotham Alpine resort.
During the school holidays, several of our students attended VIC SRC Congress last week which is a student-led and student-focussed conference. Nearly 200 students come together to talk about the systemic issues that affect all levels of the education system and come up with new, exciting, innovative ways to tackle them...together! These issues become central to VicSRC’s advocacy work as they take them straight to the Minister for Education and work with him on implementation.
L-R: Emily Brabazon, Bridget Cain, Claire Irving, Dylan Dunstall
Thursday 13th June greeted the brave runners from all across Gippsland who came together at Lardner Park for the Gippsland Region Cross Country. Lardner greeted us with a sunny but cold winter’s day, and the head wind on a long uphill section did the runners no favours.
Kurnai had a small but determined group of runners who had qualified for the event after great results at the Wellington Region event held earlier in the year.
On the 16th March, a group of five Kurnai students left for a six-week trip to China as part of the Young Victorian Leaders to China program. The students spent 2-weeks based at the ‘Beijing Language and Culture University’ where they were immersed into Mandarin classes, toured the local cultural attractions, all while living, studying and eating among Chinese students. The students found the language studies to be quite intense.