kangaroo island community education
Meet the Principal

Kangaroo Island Community Education (KICE) was formed in 2005 as a multi campus school from the three KI Area Schools – Penneshaw, Parndana and Kingscote. The background of each campus, as they are now known, is very rich, and connects with Kangaroo Island’s history and their unique qualities and endeavours which reflect our island community.

The revised model of education delivery is an outcome of the community initiated “Review of Care, Education and Training Across Kangaroo Island”. The final report of the committee (August, 2003) has a whole of island perspective on delivering services from birth through to post school training. Consequently it is important that our school works collaboratively with Children’s Services and Penneshaw Preschool. The KI Partnership is strong, dynamic and always has children and young people as our central focus.

Peter Philp
Peter Philp - KICE Principal

Meet the Principal: 

At KICE we aim to meet the vision encapsulated through the review which includes these key points: 

  • Education on KI is birth to adult 
  • A collaborative and cooperative model will serve KI students more efficiently and equitably 
  • KI is recognised as a learning centre with links to the whole community with its unique resources, environment, people and profile 
  • Learning opportunities are integrated and interactive across the curriculum offering relevant programs and promoting lifelong learning 
  • Curriculum options will be enhanced for both students who choose to stay on KI for employment and those leaving the island for tertiary education and employment. 

Our school is very complex with approx. 670 students located widely across the island and supported through a network of 15 school buses to attend their local campus. The KICE facilities include camp site accommodation, the KI Aquaculture Skills Centre (which farms barramundi as part of a teaching and learning programme) and a 10 hectare Agriculture Science ‘Block’. We have three Recreation Halls and a Performing Arts Centre across three campuses. In 2015 Automotive and Engineering, Food Processing, Construction and Hospitality facilities were built. This has enabled the school to develop a much broader curriculum including VET programs and multiple pathways for our students to achieve the SACE. 

Following the devastating bushfires of 2019 / 2020, working hand in hand with the community KICE staff and students have shown amazing resilience in the face of adversity. Our results and achievements are to be celebrated and to be proud of.   
Recent achievements have been highlighted by KICE being announced Australian Regional School of the Year over the last 3 years; 2018, 2019, 2020. KICE is again a finalist for this prestigious award to be announced in December this year (2021). 

KICE has achieved outstanding SACE results over recent years, which have been acknowledged and praised by the Department. In 2020 we received a letter from the Minister for Education acknowledging our 2020 SACE Results and in a year of extreme adversity.      
Our school is committed to the development of significant student learning opportunities available through interactive technologies through the utilisation of laptops/iPads for teachers/students, screens in nearly all classrooms, video conferencing facility in each campus and the expansion of curriculum and connections with mainland and international schools to enable online learning. 

Being in an isolated/rural community with a water gap brings unique opportunities for students, staff and our island community. 
Kangaroo Island Community Education acknowledges our students and their families, local industry and employers as partners in the process of building the connections between our school and community. 

 

Peter Philp 
Principal