Kambrya is a derivative of “Kamberra”, Aboriginal for “meeting place”. For the college, the word means a meeting place in the physical sense: a meeting place for the students, their friends and the community at large as well as a meeting place of hearts and minds to share ideas and to travel along on the journey of learning. It is a meeting place of intellectual discourse, a place where Socratic dialogue is part of the everyday culture and a place where students are provided with the skills to help them meet the demands of a changing global society. Kambrya College is preparing students to live and work largely within a society that doesn’t yet exist. Schooling needs to be seen as a way for students to gain the necessary skills to continue learning throughout their lives and not seen as an end in itself. The college believes that people’s actions today will become major environmental problems in its students’ futures. Because of this belief, Kambrya aims to develop awareness of these problems and give students the necessary skills to provide some long-term solutions that will lead to a sustainable future. Students are made aware of the implications of social issues, political agendas and economic rationalisation. At the end of 2011, Kambrya College celebrated its tenth anniversary and has a great deal to show for it.
Facilities: Kambrya College opened Stage One in January 2002 with an enrolment of 95 students and 12 staff. Stage One includes a library, Middle School block, home economics and science facility, canteen and four hard courts for basketball, tennis and netball. In Stage Two, work was completed on the administration building, theatre, gym and performing arts block. Stage Three began in May 2003 and includes a senior general purpose block and an art and multimedia block. The design of the college has taken into account total learning areas for different year levels. Corridors have been widened to create collective activity spaces, enabling an expanded definition of learning normally associated with the “standard” classroom.
Curriculum: Kambrya College offers a personalised approach to student learning. Teachers understand their students and use learning achievement data diagnostically to inform their teaching and differentiate the curriculum. All teachers are organised into Professional Learning Teams in order to discuss and plan effective teaching strategies that will improve student learning and cater to different needs. The use of Philip Holmes Smith’s powerful Student Performance Analyser database ensures that a broad range of student achievement data is readily available. The curriculum is planned, aligned with standards and assessment processes and is comprehensively organised in each learning domain. Well-resourced literacy and numeracy programs are established at Years 7 and 8 and the school offers a High Achievers Program for Years 7 to 10. Kambrya College also has strong VCE and VCAL programs that meet the needs and aspirations of their senior students. Students also have access to a broad range of vocational education programs and school-based apprenticeships which provide for interests in sport, hospitality, the building trade, dance, media and other areas. Japanese, German and English as a Second Language are on offer and vibrant sister-school relationships have been set up in Japan and Germany.
Sport: All students belong to one of the four vertical sub-schools and work with a team of teachers while they are in Years 7 to 10. There are fabulous inter sub-school sporting competitions for swimming, athletics and cross-country running. Ongoing programs for sporting and non-sporting inter sub-school competitions are held during lunchtime.
Extra-curricular activities: The school offers a rich extra-curricular program with students having access to a broad range of lunchtime activities throughout the year. Opportunity to develop student leadership is readily available with up to 60 leadership positions offered each year. Student leaders have substantial roles and responsibilities and attend an annual leadership camp where they undertake an intensive development program.