Principal

Well, I’m not sure where the time has gone, but here we are at the end of another term. It only seems like last week that we first greeted our new students to the College on that Sunday afternoon, and yet in a few short days we will be sending everyone home for the Easter holidays.

What a busy term it has been! Again, COVID has featured in much of our planning and as I write this, we are only just beginning to feel the impact of the virus. We are experiencing staff absences not only due to staff contracting COVID, but also with their need to comply with close contact isolation requirements. The actual number of students and staff with COVID has been quite low, which is very pleasing. I’d like to formally acknowledge our hard-working team, particularly our residential and cleaning staff, in keeping us protected during this time. To date, we have not recorded one COVID case in residence. The relatively low COVID numbers has essentially seen us operate as business as usual and for most students, learning has continued uninterrupted. I must thank teaching and farm staff for their efforts in continuing the learning program. It’s been really wonderful to see how well the different aspects of the College have rallied together.

As we move into Term 2, I do have some news to share. Camps are still not allowed and we have been advised by the Department of Education that Country Week has been postponed. It will now occur in Term 3, Week 7. We have moved some key dates to accommodate that change. Our annual Open Day will now occur on Saturday the 27th August and Primary Awareness Day will be staged on Tuesday the 30th August. This will also see some changes to the student work experience calendar that Ms Gaunt will report on in her newsletter article.

Next term we will see some further staff changes. I am happy to report that we have resolved some significant staff stress in the kitchen. We had three new staff begin in the kitchen in the last two weeks and a fourth will commence next term. The flexibility shown by the kitchen, residential, cleaning and laundry staff as we navigated through this staff shortage, definitely needs to be acknowledged. Their efforts ensured, that at all times, our students were catered for.

Brad Woodruff will begin a new role next term as the Program Coordinator of Student Services. The Student Services position is a new one for the College and will see him lead pastoral care and wellbeing across the College. I expect his role to evolve quickly and more information will come out next term about his new position in the school. 

Our Head of Studies, Janine-Helen Daniels will not be returning next term. She has made the decision to return to Perth for health reasons. Mark Boynton, a name familiar to many of you, will be returning to the College to take up this position. The role has been retitled to Program Coordinator of Teaching and Learning. I look forward to Mark leading teachers in curriculum support and pedagogy delivery. He will act in the position for 6 months, during which time it will be formally advertised. I’d like to welcome Mark back to the College.

Finally, I’d like to thank our families. This term has been challenging at times and has resulted in me communicating with you all on many occasions. You replied to my emails, text messages and phone calls. I spoke to many of you personally and you each responded positively. I understand that my phone calls sometimes caused you stress as I notified you of a sick child, close contacts or other COVID matters. You each received me well and I thank you for that. This term has definitely shown me how wonderful the WACoA-Denmark family is. I have seen resilience and strength in both our families and staff. Thank you for your unwavering support.

Finally, in a few short days most of us will depart on holidays and the office will close. During the school holidays, we ask that parents and carers do not report close contacts or positive cases to us here. There is still a requirement to report any positive RAT results to healthywa.wa.gov.au/ratregister. You can also visit wa.gov.au/covid19 for further COVID-19 information and guidance.

The office will re-open on Tuesday 26th April 2022. To help staff prepare for when your child is due to return in Term 2, please contact us if they are required to isolate or quarantine at home due to being symptomatic, a close contact (household or non-household) or if they are COVID-19 positive. You can contact us via phone on 9848 0200 or email Denmark.wacoa.adminstaff@education.wa.edu.au 

The same continuity of learning practices that have occurred this term, will continue into next term. If your child cannot attend school because of WA Health advice, classroom teachers will send work home. Please continue to keep us informed and we will work together to forge the best way forward. 

I wish everyone well for the holidays and if you are travelling, please do safely.