Kinross Wolaroi Family Bulletin

Around the Senior School

Student Achievements in Textiles and Design

Michelle Hayes attended the opening ceremony of the Shape Exhibition on Monday 18 March. Michelle’s work is one of the exemplar Textiles and Design projects from the 2023 HSC cohort selected for exhibition. Michelle also received a Highly Commended in the Fashion Design Studio TAFE NSW Award.

The SHAPE exhibition features a selection of students’ exemplary 2023 HSC major projects from Design and Technology, Industrial Technology and Textiles and Design. SHAPE will open to the public at Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay Arts Precinct from 2 April to 17 May.

 

Sophie Heath is currently on a gap year in the UK whilst her HSC project is on display at the TexStyle Exhibition. Sophie’s work received the Australian Wool Innovation Excellence Award. The TexStyle exhibition is an annual showcase of excellence in HSC Textiles and Design. The 2024 exhibition features 34 Major Textile Projects selected from approximately 1,550 submitted across NSW for the 2023 HSC. Projects displayed include furnishings, apparel, textile art and costume. The exhibitions runs from 3 March to 26 April at Gallery 76, 76 Queen St, Concord.

 

Cockatoo Island, Sydney Biennale Excursion 2024

Year 11 and 12 Visual Arts students recently took part in a 2-day excursion to Sydney to attend the internationally acclaimed Sydney Biennale. Every two years both artists from around the world and local artists are invited to take part in an exhibition installed in a number of locations across Sydney. “Ten Thousand Suns” as it is called this year, is a celebration of strength, diversity, collaboration and exuberance. 

 

A very early departure resulted in a sleepy journey to Sydney with a quick stop for breakfast in the blue Mountains. We arrived at the spectacular White Bay Power Station at Rozelle in good time, allowing for a bit of time to explore this extraordinary site before our tour started. Towering chimneys soared gracefully next to the imposing concrete and brick power station, with tall Art Deco windows. Inside, gantries and stairs accessed many different levels, while voids provided interesting perspectives on the art installations. Breaking into groups we had the opportunity to learn in great depth from our guides. Some works responded to the extraordinary space, while others spoke to universal themes affecting the artist. 

 

Lunch was found at Circular Quay with the ice-cream shop providing a sugar hit for the afternoon’s activity at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Again we had excellent guides and the chance, this time, to focus on contemporary works by Australian artists. 

 

Getting forty people onto a ferry during rush hour could have been tricky, but everyone was prompt and the ferry trip to Cockatoo Island was a beautiful scenic tour. Once on the island we were shown to the camping area and our tents. It is a striking location with post-card views of the CBD, Harbour Bridge and North Sydney, while the island is a combination of steep cliffs, huge, graceful fig trees, industrial buildings and giant rusting machinery. An excellent dinner was provided overlooking the harbour. As darkness fell, and the fruit bats came out, an exploration of the old industrial buildings and convict ruins was in order. The darker it got the spookier it all became. 

 

Breakfast was accompanied by the sun rising beyond the Harbour Bridge, followed by a quick pack up and a run to get the ferry. A walk through the CBD gave us the opportunity to see some of the permanent art installations on the way to the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW). A leisurely exploration of the Art Express exhibition gave the students a good look at some of the best work from the 2023 HSC students, which was both inspiring and daunting. 

 

Following a pizza lunch under the fig trees in the Domain, we visited the Louise Bourgeoise exhibition in the new section of the AGNSW. A spectacular show, half is subtle and hauntingly beautiful. The other half is housed in the old oil tanks, dug deep into the sandstone. Reeking of old oil, lit with flickering projections and populated with disturbing sculptures, it is a dark exploration of Bourgeoise’s mind!

 

Exhausted, it was a very quiet journey home. A huge thanks to all the students, who were wonderful ambassadors of the school. Twice I received compliments on their behaviour and manners! I would also like to thank my colleagues Toni Bilton and Beck Wansey for their time and expertise and our technical assistant Matthew Thomas for doing the lion’s share of the planning. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to gain a worldly perspective of Visual Arts.

Mr Andrew​​​​ Orme‑Smith, Head of Visual Arts

LET Student of the Week

The Learning Enhancement Team are pleased to congratulate the following students as their selection for LET Student of the Week:

  • Joanie Tink (Year 7)
  • Max Whiteley (Year7)
  • Harry Fielding (Year 8)

Well done to these students for their consistent efforts in class.

Sydney Royal Easter Show

On Saturday 16 March - the Kinross Wolaroi School Cattle Team headed out to Windermere Farm to start the task of packing for the Sydney Royal Easter Show. 

 

On Sunday 17 March, the set up team headed for the ‘big smoke’ to start the job of setting up. Four hours and countless zip ties later – our stall was ready. On Monday 18 March, our steers were loaded and on the road to the show. The steers travelled well, and then we were straight into washing and preparing them for the 8 days ahead! 

 

We exhibited a team of 15 steers, comprising:

  • 14 Angus steers bred by Kinross Wolaroi School 
  • 1 steer bred by Trowbridge Angus purchased for the lightweight section. 

Our team was made up of 15 members across different year levels.

We started off our first competition day with some fantastic results in the F002 State Final Paraders Competition and school’s competition, and had six students qualify for both competitions:

  • Charlie Martin 
  • Maddie Lawry 
  • Izzy Pearce 
  • Ava Rouse 
  • Ollie Mendham 
  • Bree Adam.

We had a fantastic day in the paraders ring walking away with: 

  • Bree Adam 2nd prize in the school paraders competition
  • Charlie Martin 5th prize.
  • Maddie Lawry 4th prize.

Izzy Pearce received 1st prize, which is a phenomenal result – competing against 180 other competitors to make top 13 in the State. This award is for her competence and understanding as a leader and handler of the animal. A very big congratulations Izzy! 

 

We then moved on to our first day of steer judging on Friday 22 March, with an early 4:30am start to prepare for the long day ahead. We worked hard to present our steers despite intermittent storms. It was a tough day in the steer ring, with the Angus Cattle not being the flavor of the day but we were lucky enough to walk away with a highly commended for one of our bred and owned Kinross Wolaroi Steers.

 

Moving on to the carcase results, our steers excelled. We were thrilled to receive four  bronze medals and another four of our steers 0.5 off receiving medals as well. This is a huge achievement for our team and school farm. 

 

Congratulations to everyone involved, it is a collective effort as a team to get each animal prepared, out into the arena and presented before the judges.

 

We must extend very big thank you to, our school for giving us the opportunity to be part of co-curricular events like the Sydney Royal Easter Show.  Thanks also to our wonderful team of parents for giving up their week to follow us around, getting us ready for all aspects of the day and cooking every meal – we are very grateful. 

 

Thank you to our fantastic Farm Manager, Mick Owen, for breeding and helping select our steers,  plus all the support you give our team during the year. We greatly appreciate all you do for our Cattle Team. 

 

And finally, warm thanks to Willandra and Kingham’s Livestock Transport, for hauling us to the preliminary shows and then to Sydney Royal.