The Bugle is pleased to present a fortnightly feature with Kiama High School, bringing you the latest news and events from the school.

Science Week

To celebrate National Science Week, the science faculty hosted a trivia championship for all year groups to see which students know the most about science. There was laughter and there were tears, but in the end, only one team could be crowned champions.

Congratulations to Harrison Burton, Eddie Peade, Marley Giles, Zoe Cox and Lyla Morris, who have earned the honour of having their names forever engraved on the Kiama High School Science Week Challenge Trophy.

This year’s Science Week theme is “Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature’s hidden Language.”

Science & Engineering Challenge

A team of brilliant Year 9 and 10 students had the pleasure of attending the Science and Engineering Challenge day at University of Wollongong.

The expert team of girls who took on the bridge-building competition blitzed the field, scoring third out of 15 schools, a massive improvement from last year's 11th place.

Students participated in brain-squeezing tricky but nonetheless exciting challenges throughout the day, from designing and constructing wind turbines, aeroplanes, sustainable model homes to 'Confounding Communications'.

The hardworking and diligent teams earned Kiama High boundless points, displaying an endlessly bright future in STEM.

Kiama High, led by Ms Giacon and Mr Moeser, were runners-up behind reigning champions, Smiths Hill High School, with an astounding score of 1292.31 out of 1600.

Junior secondary speaking award

Kiama High proudly hosted the local finals of the Junior Secondary Speaking Award earlier this month, welcoming talented students from schools across our Zone.

Representing Kiama High were our incredible Year 7 students, Indi and Frida, who both delivered powerful prepared speeches on topics of their choice and followed up with engaging impromptu speeches on the topic “Walking away”, with just five minutes of preparation time.

Both speakers impressed the audience and received positive feedback from the adjudicator. The top three speakers were selected to progress to the Regional Finals next month and Indi qualified as one of them.

Kiama High also entered a team of five enthusiastic Year 7 students in the Premier's Debating Challenge.

Over the course of three rounds, the team showed remarkable growth, developing confidence, teamwork, and persuasive argumentation skills.

After a challenging first debate against Oak Flats High School, the team bounced back with impressive wins over Albion Park High and Lake Illawarra High. In the final debate, the adjudicator praised their arguments as mature, well-reasoned, and impressively in-depth for their age.

And a huge congratulations to Kiama’s 9A Debating Team – Sarah, Rory, Mahala, and Nyasa!

They’ve gone undefeated in this year’s Premier's Debating Challenge, winning all three of their debates.

National Tree Day

On 4 August, students from Year 7 participated energetically in National Tree Day.

The classes went to Bombo Headland (The Boneyard), Minnamurra Headland Whale Watching Platform, Currys Mountain (Gerringong), Seven Mile Beach, Shoalhaven Heads and Minnamurra Rainforest.

Community volunteers commented on how enthusiastic the students were and complimented their behaviour.

The best workers at each site were rewarded with a $10 canteen voucher.

Tennis team success

Kiama’s girls’ tennis team made the trek to Nelson Bay to play in the state finals of the CHS competition.

The finals consist of all the regional winners and Nyasa Nakhate, Savannah Hedstrom, Mahala Probert and Meg McCorkell got Kiama off to a winning start with an emphatic victory over Gunnedah High.

The opposition faced after this was of a very high standard, but the girls continued to play well and enjoy the two-day carnival with games against Endeavour Sports, Bathurst High and Toormina High.

Kiama ended up ranked eighth in the state - a fantastic achievement.