Senior School News

Senior School Update

Learning Focus: The Certificate Experience

The completion of Nationally-recognised Certificate courses presents students with authentic learning experiences which enrich their employability skills. Certificate courses, which contribute towards students’ Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE), can be completed in a variety of ways.

This year, the College has twenty (20) Year 10 students who are completing a Certificate II in Sport Coaching as part of their usual school timetable during 2024. In order to successfully attain this qualification, students must complete a nominal number of hours in relevant work-related activities. Mr Johns and Mr Fiegert are closely working together to ultimately provide students with some exciting opportunities. Earlier this term, this class helped Fremantle Docker guests deliver football activities to primary students, a number of these students are assisting with Thursday morning Auskick sessions, and this week some members of this class are supporting with the Primary School Swimming Carnival. A joy of being in a growing K-10 community is seeing the pleasure on our younger students’ faces as they are being mentored by their older peers, who thrive with the extra responsibilities.

It is also possible for students to complete a Certificate course out of school. In this situation, should the College and the business agree to work with each other, the employer will coordinate for a student to complete a nationally recognised qualification. Year 10 student Storm James is currently completing a Certificate II in Retail Services in this context. Once this 18-month qualification is successfully completed, results will count towards Storm’s WACE attainment.

In addition to the above, eight Year 10 students are completing Certificate courses as part of their one-day-per-week TAFE studies. These students are studying courses from a wide range of disciplines, including Horticulture, Building and Construction, Computing and Electronics. Now that many of these courses have been running for at least three weeks, students Maaya Premkumar, Sophie Phillips and Blair Lawson have some interesting reflections to share:

There are different rules and people treated as mature adults and they depend on you with responsibilities. I have enjoyed meeting new people and seeing how different people are outside of school.

~ Maaya

In Tafe we have more outside time and get to do more practical activities than we would in school. We also get many breaks - about every hour we get a 15-minute break and then get an hour lunch beak. A highlight has been getting to go outside and have a look at many of the plants in the greenhouse and glasshouse.

~ Sophie

TAFE is very different in many different ways, this could be that the way people dress is entirely different and the food is way different. It’s also different as the teachers are so much more laid back.

~ Blair

Careers & Life Hub

As Year 10 students continue to contemplate their Year 11 and 12 and post-school options, the College has created a Careers & Life Nook. Consisting of bookcases, circular seating and a noticeboard, this facility contains university undergraduate guides and information about looming Careers events. If parents are aware of any local casual employment positions that need to be filled, do please let Mr Johns know so we can advertise these to our students.

SEQTA Curriculum Documentation

Secondary teachers have now uploaded three important curriculum documents to SEQTA for each subject they teach: a Parent Outline, an Assessment Outline, and a copy of the College’s Assessment and Reporting Policy. Parents and care-givers can peruse these documents to find out about key learning areas, approximate timing of assessments, and the College’s stance regarding assessment deadlines and student absence.

Quote of the Week:

We learn from failure, not from success. 

~ Bram Stoker

Mr Jason Meynell

Head of Senior School (Year 10)