Principal's Report

It’s beginning to look – and feel – a great deal more like winter on the South Coast with a succession of cold fronts coming in from the Southwest and some substantial rainfall over the past few weeks. Pasture production has been very pleasing at the College for this time of year; hopefully other agricultural areas are getting much needed rain as well. 

Agricultural Advisory Committee

One of the most important committees in the College’s organisational structure is the Agricultural Advisory Committee.  This is made up of a group of local industry experts who regularly volunteer their time and expertise to advise the College on the management and operations of the College Farm.  Earlier this year one of our members Murray Montgomery who provided valued guidance and advice with the College viticulture enterprise made the decision to resign his position on the committee after a period of 26 years.  We are very pleased that Mr Alex Taylor from Poachers Ridge Vineyard was nominated and accepted the appointment to join the College Agricultural Advisory Committee. Alex has already made a significant contribution at Agricultural Advisory Committee meetings and his experience in viticulture and willingness to support the College’s agriculture program is highly valued.

WA State Show Jumping Championships

Willow Donohoe and her horse Echo achieved a First Place for Jigsaw Pairs 70cm and Third Place for Special Two Phase 80cm at the WA State Show Jumping Championships held at the State Equestrian Centre in Brigadoon recently. They were very competitive classes and Willow and Echo have only been working together for about a year. Echo is an ex-racehorse and joined the Donohoe family with bucking, anti-social and challenging behaviour. Echo attends School with Willow every Tuesday as part of the College Equine program and together they have formed a close working relationship. Willow has done an amazing job preparing Echo for local events and the State Show Jumping Championships.

Annika Stone and CJ Hill also performed very well at the event and were very pleased with the way their horses performed on the day. The girls were able to support each other throughout the competition and look forward to more eventing in the future. The State Equestrian Centre (SEC) is Western Australia's premier equestrian sport and multipurpose events facility. It's wonderful to see our students competing there.

Country Week

We are all very pleased that Country Week is back in 2021 after being cancelled due to COVID in 2020. At the moment we have 46 students attending and we will be fielding the following teams:  Mixed Touch Rugby, Girls Netball, Girls Volleyball, Boys Volleyball and Boys Basketball.  The teams have prepared well for the event and can look forward to a successful and enjoyable week in Perth. Our thanks to Brad Woodruff and Kelli Gillies for their organisation and coordination of the event and College staff Nat Hutchinson, Dane Carter, Leon Durrant, Bernie Wong, Jenny Scahill, Eric Bogensperger and Vicky Day for their involvement and support of Country Week 2021.

2022 Student Enrolments

As I said in the previous newsletter, the College’s Deputy Principal, Amanda Gaunt, and I have been busy interviewing prospective students for 2022 on most Tuesdays and Fridays for the past several weeks.   Given the very strong demand for places I would urge anyone who is thinking of trying to secure a place for their son or daughter to do so as soon as possible. Application forms can be downloaded from our website. 

Last Week of Term

While some of our Year 10’s will be participating at Country Week during the last week of term, the majority will remain at the College and continue their educational program.  The College teaching and training staff have put together an excellent alternative program which will see all Year 10’s spending at least half the week completing workplace learning on the College farm and getting the opportunity to further develop their skills and knowledge toward achieving their Certificate II in Agriculture.  Six of our Year 12 students enrolled in the Certificate III in Agriculture will also be on site for the last week of term working on the College farm.  We will finish the week with an early close at 2.10 pm for all students. 

Parent Lunch & Sporting Event

Thank you to the parents /carers who joined us for lunch on Friday 4 June before the leave weekend.  With the 2.10 pm finish on the Friday before the home weekend, there was an opportunity for parents/carers picking up students to arrive a little earlier, have lunch at the College and socialise for an hour or so.  Parents and carers also watched some student sporting events which were being held after lunch between 12.30 and 2.10pm. Our thanks also to Brad Woodruff for organising and coordinating the sporting events and teaching / training staff who assisted throughout the afternoon. We are planning to hold a similar event in Term 3.  

COVID Guidelines

The Premier, Mark McGowan announced on Sunday 20th June that Western Australia will move further out of COVID -19 restrictions to Phase 5 from Wednesday 23rd June 2021. This will mean some changes to the cleaning and sanitation requirements in the College. Recently we have been able to make some changes to College COVID requirements including allowing students to access their own drinks in the dining room and allowing an increased number of students (maximum of 3 students) in rooms in residence. 

Training Update

A Competency Achievement Update will be included with the Semester 1 Report for the parents or guardians of Year 12 students.  This report shows the number of competencies students have currently completed in the various industry qualifications they are enrolled in at the College and how many they still need to complete to achieve the qualification. Please be aware that students may have completed the majority of the training and assessment for a number of competencies but recognition of these competencies will only appear when they are fully completed. 

Commencement Term 3 

A reminder to parents that Monday July 19 – the first Monday of Term 3 – is a School Development Day and a Travel Day for Residential students to return to the College.  Parent/teacher meetings are also planned from 1.00 – 3.00 pm in the College dining room.  Appointments with teachers/trainers can be made using the Schools Online Booking System: www.sobs.com.au

Year 12 Finish

Our Year 12 students have until Friday October 22nd (the second week of Term 4) to complete their school-based education programs at the College. They are really moving into their final term of their secondary education.  Please encourage your son/daughter to work hard and achieve to their full potential over the next few months. There is still significant time to ‘catch up’ on lost time and improve subject grades and complete Vet qualifications.  I wish our 2021 Year 12 Class all the very best for the remainder of the school year and look forward to Graduation day on the 19th November 2021.

Early Finish Friday 3 July 2021- End of Term 2

The College learning programme will continue to 2.10pm on Friday 2nd July and resume 8.10am on Tuesday 20th July. The College is providing an early close of 2.10pm on Friday 2nd July to allow students and parents to travel home during daylight hours.