Senior School

From the Head of Senior School 

We are getting to the ‘lasts’ for the Year Twelve students! This week we had the last Kingfisher Concert, this weekend a lot of sporting Grand Finals, signifying the end of their sporting involvement in the school, and next week their final week of regular school classes.

Leaving school is a very significant and often confusing time in the lives of our young people. On the one hand they are ready and eager to get out into the world, and on with their lives – as they should be. On the other hand they are realising that school has been a safe and protective environment where their interests have been prioritised. They have been looked after and guided, and that has been reassuring and comforting. So leaving school is quite unsettling and conflicted for many students – the excitement of new beginnings and opportunities together with the trepidation of stepping into the unknown.

In preparation for the Year Twelve students departure I have spent this week interviewing the students who nominated themselves for student leadership in 2022. This is actually my very favourite part of my job; I get to hear from all these committed and enthusiastic young people, and it is very encouraging – even inspiring! My message to them all is that even if they miss out on a specific leadership role they should ‘do it anyway’. I hope the initiatives and good ideas don’t dissipate just because a specific acknowledgement is not made. The collective energy and ideas from the student body are most valuable to the whole school community.

Mr Mark Bonnin | Head of Senior School 

Hospitality - Guest Chef, Silas Masih

Our Year Ten students have been working on design briefs over the past five weeks as part of the 2021 McCormick Flavour Forecast Recipe Challenge. The challenge is for students to develop original recipes to support current food trends that McCormick has identified and expect to drive global innovation in food.  Yesterday, Chef Silas Masih, from Pepper and Salt restaurant in Denmark, visited the class to provide some clever food photography tips so the students could plate up their recipes.  More to come about the competition next term.

Mrs Teresa McAllister | Hospitality Teacher

Human Biology Midwife Visit

Over the past few weeks in Year Eleven Human Biology we have been learning about foetal development and pregnancy. So, last Friday, Mrs Jude Hartzell from Albany Health Campus kindly visited our class to share some of her knowledge as a midwife on labour and childbirth. 

Jude talked us through the changes to the mother and baby during the different trimesters of pregnancy and the different stages of childbirth in a presentation that was accompanied by some pretty confronting images!

Then, after answering any questions we might have had, Jude brought out a mannequin that came with a realistic baby and demonstrated how she would safely deliver it in a hospital. After showing us how it’s done, we each got to take turns delivering the baby ourselves which was an amazing experience. Overall, the whole morning was really interesting and the firsthand expertise that Jude brought could never be matched by anything we could have learnt from a textbook. Once again, thanks to Jude for visiting, it was an experience which I will not soon forget.

Max Tadj | Year Eleven student

Wilson House Homeroom Challenge 

Over the past two weeks in Wilson Homeroom, we have all been participating in some exciting activities. In Week Eight it was Mario Kart, where we chose drivers at the start of the week and they faced off every day in homeroom. Through this we counted points and awarded the winning homeroom with some goodies. It was a close tussle with Wilson One and Three tying at the end of events. As such they had a ‘drive off’ in the Hall with homeroom representative Luke Harvey just defeating Zac Beeck. Well done Wilson Three. This helped not only bring out the competitive side of people but also bring some extra fun into the mornings.  

This week we have been engaged in lots of different activities, moving around homerooms and joining one of the four Wilson teachers in their area of interest. These activities include; studying British naval history (16th and 18th century) with Dr Mitrovski, enjoying chocolate (which includes eating it) with Mrs Ferreira, looking at AFL highlights and learning skills with Mr Taylor and playing outdoor sports including, four square with Mrs Bascombe.

All these activities have brought Wilson house together as a family and made our mornings more fun! 

Paige Narkle, Holly Blechynden, Kira Pearce | Year Eleven students

WAAPA’s brand new Bachelor of Music is now open for applications! 

WAAPA’s new Bachelor of Music was designed to reflect the music industry of today. The music scene has changed a lot over the last few decades – classical musicians are working with pop artists, pop artists are working with jazz musicians, composers are writing for the gaming industry and artists are creating masterpieces from home. Music streaming and Youtube have created new pathways for success in an industry that thrives on creativity and originality, which is the focus of the new course. WAAPA is also the only institution in Australia where you’ll get to perform with dancers, theatre makers, actors, and in the pit of a musical, all under the one roof. So why wait? Apply now to launch your career with WAAPA. 

https://www.waapa.ecu.edu.au/courses-and-admissions/our-courses/music