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Stephen Kernutt
Careers Advisor
Tag: Parents
Synthesis Exhibition + Film Festival
August 10, 2017The much-anticipated Synthesis Exhibition + Film Festival is fast approaching.
Join us for an evening of Art, Design, Digital Media, Furniture, Food and Film as St Stephen’s student’s showcase their talents.
Primary Art Display 5.00PM
Primary Village
Exhibition and Awards 6.00PM
Secondary Admin Building
Film Screenings 7.00PM
Duncraig Theatre
A Warm Welcome
August 9, 2017We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Deputy Head of Secondary (Care), Mr Bennet Andrews.
Mr Andrews has taught for more than 13 years both locally in Perth and overseas in London and Hong Kong.
Parent Symposium Success
August 8, 2017
More than 170 parents came to listen to special guest Melinda Tankard-Reist speak on Friday night at our Parent Symposium.
Thanks to all for attending and making this a fantastic event!
Athletics Carnival – Joondalup Arena
August 3, 2017
School sport is an integral part of a child’s development. So many great lessons can be learnt from them participating as an individual or as a team member. The Athletics Carnival involve a mixture of individual and team events. Some of the events include sprints, relay races, long jump, high jump, tug-a-wars, etc.. By trying a variety of sports, students get the opportunity to see if they are gifted in any particular area – that they may not have known about or enjoyed before.
Apart from the physical benefits of sports carnivals there is also the comradery that is formed by being part of a House – the house colours, the war cries, the house mascots – this builds a feeling of team and community and a little friendly school rivalry!
The house results are as follows:
1st Place: Timae
2nd Place: Alethea
3rd Place: Carana
Congratulations to all students and staff.
Year 10 & Year 11 2018
July 1, 2017Dear Parents and Students
At the moment we are building the timetable for the next academic year (October 2017 to December 2018). It has been interesting and challenging to accommodate the changing desires of students. Subjects that didn’t exist in schools several years ago, such as ATAR Marine and Maritime Studies, Cert lll and lV in Business, Psychology etc. have grown in popularity while certain more “traditional” subjects have shrunk. Changes in the workplace are strongly influencing the subject choices that students and their families make.
Many Certificate classes (e.g. Certificate ll in Hospitality; Certificate lll in Design; Certificate ll in Sport and Recreation – Fitness; Cert ll in Outdoor Education) are chosen by both Year 11 and 12 students who enrol in a particular certificate depending on their needs. This mixture of students in Certificate Courses has been common for many years.
As we endeavour to keep other subject pathways open into the future, some very small Year 11 classes which have a significant practical or oral component do lend themselves to merging with small Year 12 classes. In 2018 fewer than 4 students have chosen ATAR French and this will be run in conjunction with the Year 12 class. The same will be true for Drama and Media. Students choosing these three subjects need to understand that they will be working with older students and that they will be required to work at a high and self-disciplined level. I am pleased that there are still bigger numbers of students choosing subjects such as Economics, Modern History and Visual Art.
Our timetable is constructed “from the top down”: we start with Year 11 and 12 simultaneously. Initially student choices give us an indication of how many classes might be possible. We use a very advanced program to satisfy the needs of as many students as possible. Some subjects exist on one grid line only and this complicates things. Subjects such as ATAR English and Mathematics Applications are spread across as many “grid lines” as possible in order to create as many choices for students as we can. Decisions around the viability of classes are based on numbers, the historical number of students who drop particular subjects in favour of a private study in Year 12 as well as whether a subject is a university pre-requisite.
Over this last week of term, almost every prospective Year 11 and 12 student will finalise their subjects for upper school. While Year 11s chose 6 subjects, by the start of next year over 60% of year 12s on an ATAR pathway, will have only 5 subjects and will have a private study as their 6th “subject”. We are in the process of constructing the Year 9 and 10 “electives” gridlines and fitting those into the complicated matrix that makes up a timetable. This timetable will be in place until December 2018. After that timetables will be constructed later in the year and run from February to December each year.
I would like to wish every family a restful time over the extended mid-year break.
Regards
Bruce Titlestad
Head of Secondary School
5 risky apps children are using to chat and share videos
June 1, 2017We know our kids are on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. But here are some other popular apps you might not know about
Trending apps amongst your kids change faster than you can say Pokemon Go. We’ve compiled what’s trending with young people now, so you know which apps to watch out for.
Family Zone’s experts make it their mission to review constantly changing apps and risks. Want to stay ahead of what apps your kids are using? Subscribe to our FREE monthly cyber safety newsletter (see the link, top right on desktop or bottom of article on mobile).
- Musical.ly
Users upload live videos of themselves lip-syncing and or dancing to music with the objective of gaining likes & followers. With 252k daily active users in Australia, this app is incredibly popular with young people. But there are underlying risks including grooming and cyberbullying, as well as inappropriate sexualised or self harm content. Children often upload videos in their school uniforms, providing an easy means for predators to locate them.
- Meetme
Users create an account to communicate with other random users anywhere in the world. The app currently has 129k daily active users. Young people are at risk of being contacted by predators, being bullied by other users and are also incentivised to make in app purchases in order to boost their popularity on the app.
- Yellow
Often dubbed “Tinder for teens”, users swipe left or right on profiles. Yellow has exacerbated the risks on Snapchat (where teens are sharing sexting images thinking they will disappear when they are actually being screenshotted and shared). Matches are automatically provided with a platform to chat and link to each other’s Snapchat accounts, to increase their Snapchat followers. With 84k daily active users in Australia, this app is rapdily gaining popularity.
- Live.ly
Users upload live videos of themselves doing anything and everything with the objective of gaining likes & followers. The freedom users have to upload anything they want results in a huge risk of young children viewing highly inappropriate content such as nudity and self harm. This app has 80k daily active users within Australia, so it’s not as popular as Musical.ly, however there is a greater risk of inappropriate content given the theme of posts is ‘anything goes’.
- Twitch
Users broadcast themselves playing video games for other users to watch. Users can also chat with each other. Twitch’s online community promotes a pack mentality among users who are predominantly young males. Users who don’t align with this attitude are ridiculed heavily. Currently the app has 69k daily active users.
The potential dangers posed by these apps are alarming. It can be easy as a parent to think that your child will exercise common sense when using apps, but the reality is that it is too easy for even sensible kids to stumble upon adult content or inadvertently place themselves at risk. The good news is that you don’t have to be in it alone – Family Zone and our team of Cyber Experts can help you sort out what apps are appropriate for your child, and provide you with the tools and resources to help you navigate this journey.
Information supplied by Family Zone Team
Drive & Park Considerately
May 7, 2017Recently across from the school grounds, a parked Gray Toyota Rav, was damaged by the tow bar of a large vehicle.
At school pick-up and drop-off times Doveridge Drive becomes congested and we would like to take this opportunity to remind Year 12 students and families to be courteous and considerate when driving and parking. In the event of an accident happening please leave your details (name and contact number) on the windscreen of the damaged vehicle.
St Stephen’s School is committed to ensuring the safety of our students is maximised and that all members of our community work toward a safer environment.
SCSA Information for Year 12 students
May 4, 2017
Parents and students have been sent an email with information in regard to the student declaration and permission form to be completed online.
This needs to be done by Friday, 26 May.
Student information site: https://www.wace.wa.edu.au
Student declaration page via School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s Year 11 and 12 website: http://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace/student-declaration
Parent Information – Online Stident Declaration and Permission: http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/year-12-information.
Useful information from our Careers Advisor
May 3, 2017
Murdoch Mail Volume 4 2017-1e1yujp
Featured in this volume is:
- Law, Business and Governance Evening – join us on Wednesday 17th May to hear more about courses in Law, Business and Governance including new courses in Crime Science, Criminal Behaviour and Professional Accounting & Finance.
- OnTrack Enabling Programs and the Alternative Pathways Evening on Wednesday 7th June.
- Live and Explosive Chemistry Show – Murdoch will be hosting the BBC’s Naked Scientist Dr. Chris Smith for a live and explosive chemistry show on Tuesday 9th May.
Advice for students planning a Career Expo visit.
Stephen Kernutt
Careers Advisor