PRINCIPAL

HOT, HOT, HOT! That was the start to the year for the students and staff this week.

Welcome back to the start of 2024. I trust everyone had an enjoyable and fun filled break, along with the opportunity for some rest and relaxation. It is certainly great to see all the students return to the College to commence the new school year.  A particular welcome to the new students who are attending the College for the first time and becoming part of the Harvey Ag family. 

This year there is a total of 171 students made up of the following: 50 Year 10 students, 63 Year 11 students and 58 Year 12 students. The Boarding facility is full with an even split of male and female students, which is a first for the College.

I encourage all students to make the most of the opportunities provided to them over the coming school year.

Staffing Changes and Update

Over the school break there have been several staffing changes and updates that have occurred. 

Principal Position - In late  January I was contacted by Dainon Couzic, Assistant Director of Education South West, asking if I would extend my time from Term 1 and continue in the role of Acting Principal for Term 2, which I was happy to do so.

Vice Principal – as indicated at the end of last year Mr Paul Dyson will continue in the role of Deputy for Term 1. Given the recent timing of the extension to the Principal position the process of filling the Vice position for Term 2 is still being finalised. Once confirmed details will be provided. 

Farm Manager – with Geoff Howell on leave and his pending retirement, the College undertook a selection process to appoint a new Farm Manger. I would like to welcome Tony Abel to the College and into the position of Farm Manger. Tony comes to the College from the ACT with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the agricultural industry.

Assistant Farm Manager – During January, Assistant Farm Manager Craig Sullivan, resigned from the College and has taken up employment with DMIRS.  On behalf of the College, I would like to thank Craig for his time and contributions he made to the College. We wish him well in his new area of employment. 

Following Craig’s resignation, the College ran an internal process and Chris Curran has been appointed the Assistant Farm Manager for Semester 1. During the first semester the College will underake a selection process to appoint a permanent Assistant Farm Manger to commence at the beginning of Term 3.

Technical Officers – with the above staffing changes to the Farm management the College would also like to welcome Tessa Ferraro, Michael Campion and Nicole Lawerence who will assist in providing training and assessment for the students for Semester 1.

HOD Farm Training – with Paul Dyson continuing as Vice, Patrick Swallow has been appointed to the position of HOD Farm Training for Term 1 also.  Congratulations Patrick.

Agricultural Teachers – with the appointment of Patrick as mentioned above, there has been some staffing changes in the class area. Tania Pfitzner and Mel Butler have helped to pick up some of the required classes. In addition, Peter Gelmi (recently retired Ag Teacher from 2020) has kindly made himself available to assist on Monday and Wednesdays. Welcome back Peter.

Admin Clerical – Emma Strand, previously in the Catering area, was successful at the end of last year in securing a position in the admin clerical at the Front Office. Congratulations Emma.

Catering and Cleaning – following Emma’s change in role at the College, Kate Charles was successful in being appointed to the catering area in the kitchen. Welcome Kate. 

The College would also like to welcome Mimma Penny who has secured a position with the cleaning staff. It’s great to see Mimma back with use following her retirement five years ago from the kitchen area. 

So as you can see there have been a few staffing changes to commence the year.

College Handbook 

The College Handbook provides guidelines, information and processes as to how the College operates and functions for both staff and students. It also indicates and provides details in relation to sanctions/consequences/loss of privileges that may be applied as required based on student behaviour.

As part of the enrolment process, students and parents were asked to read and familiarise themselves with the handbook and sign off on the forms which were required to be returned to the College on enrolment day.  By signing this students and parents have indicated that they have read and understood the required sections within the College Handbook.

Stronger links have been made to ‘Good Standing’, refer to page 25 of the College Handbook and the loss of this in relation to certain behaviours. Some of the regular and common issues, with reference to page numbers in the College Handbook where these stronger links have been made are:

• Mobile phone and smart watches (page 21).
• BYOD (Page 34).
• Uniform (page 29).
• Attendance (page 11).
• Behaviour Management (page 24).

Part of the induction processes over the first couple of days this week has seen all students having been addressed and reminded of these changes. I encourage parents/carers and students to make themselves familiar with these so there are no surprises when sanctions are imposed. 

A student who has lost their ‘Good Standing’:

• Cannot leave the campus or the inner residential area during the week, except for essential purposes or fixtured team events. This includes not being able to access motorbike and mountain bike tracks.
• Cannot drive Farm vehicles and tractors.
• Horses may only be fed and not ridden.
• On weekends can still participate in all recreational activities.
• Will not be able to attend any non-essential activities or excursions such as Country Week, College Ball, agricultural shows and competitions.
• Will lose the privilege of having a motor vehicle at the College as per student Motor Vehicle Policy.
• May be required to go home for weekends depending on the circumstance.

There has been flexibility with some gentle reminders this week as returning students are reacquainting themselves and the new students are familiarising themselves with the expectations and College processes. This leniency will be reduced and removed next week.

Thank you in advance for your support and understanding.

Upcoming Calendar Events

Term 1 is a nine week term. These are some of the events that are on the calendar:

• Busselton camp - Week 3
• Swimming carnival – Week 5
• Closed weekend - Week 5
• PARTY Program Year 11- Week 5
• Wagin Woolorama - Week 6
• WACoA Sports Carnival - Week 7
• RAC bstreetsmart Year 12 - Week 9
• Parent/staff Interviews - Week 9

This makes for a busy and productive term and no doubt the time will pass very quickly.

Finally, it was great to be able to meet some of the new parents and catch up with some of the parents of the returning students on Tuesday afternoon. 

I look forward to seeing parents/carers as they come to the College to pick up their child when going on leave, returning their child after leave or at the College for other business.

I wish everyone a positive start to the year and that you have a great weekend!