Celebrating Reading Success!

On Friday 2 May, the English Faculty and Library celebrated our keenest readers with a fun-filled Rewards Party for students who met or exceeded their reading targets in the Accelerated Reader program. Accelerated Reader is a powerful tool that encourages reading growth by matching students with books at their level and tracking progress through quizzes. The party was a well-earned reward for their dedication and love of reading. Congratulations to all who reached their goals! If you didn’t make it this time, there’s still plenty of time in Term 2 to read, quiz, and aim high for the next celebration. Let’s keep turning pages!

Rebecca Partridge

HT English

ASC Open Girls Softball Team – Gala Day Recap

On Tuesday 6th May, our ASC Open Girls Softball team took part in a fantastic gala day in Tamworth. The girls played two strong games—securing a great win against Narrabri and putting up a solid effort in a tough match against Oxley.

Throughout the day, every player showed noticeable improvement and displayed great sportsmanship and team spirit. They were wonderful ambassadors for ASC, both on and off the field.

Well done, girls – we’re proud of you!

Buckley Shield Update – U14s

Our U14 Buckley Shield side had an impressive showing yesterday at the Pool A Gala Day in Guyra! The boys went undefeated in their pool matches, securing wins against Tamworth High, Glen Innes High, and Guyra Central.

They fought hard in the final, but unfortunately went down in a tight contest to Tamworth High, finishing 16-5. A fantastic effort from all the players!

A huge thank you to Mr. Watkins

and Mr. Polson for their time and dedication in organising and coaching the team on the day.

Well done, boys – great teamwork and sportsmanship all round!

Livestock Team Update

We sent 10 Suffolk x lambs to compete in the Northern Schools Prime Lamb Competition at Glen Innes—and came home with some fantastic results on the hoof!

1st – Lightweight Pen of Lambs

Champion – Lightweight Pen of Lambs

3rd – Middleweight Pen of Lamb

5th – Heavyweight Pen of Lambs

We’re now eagerly awaiting the hook results to see how our lambs stack up on the rail. In the meantime, our hardworking Livestock Team students are busy preparing our three pens of Prime Lambs for the Dubbo Show at the end of the month. Fingers crossed for more great results!

A huge thank you to the amazing staff and students from Peel High who attended the show and looked after our lambs while

we couldn’t be there—we truly appreciate your support!

Touch Footy Success in Tamworth!

Thursday 15th May saw two ASC 9/10 Touch Football teams travel to Tamworth to compete in the All Schools Touch Football Gala Day.

Both the boys’ and girls’ teams played three exciting games in the pool rounds:

Boys:

Win vs Muswellbrook High

Loss vs St Joseph's

Win vs McCarthy Catholic College

Girls:

Win vs Carinya Catholic College

Win vs St Joseph’s

Loss vs Muswellbrook High

Both teams finished 2nd in their pools, progressing to the minor semi-finals — and both teams came out victorious!

Unfortunately, their journeys ended in the major semi-finals, with the boys going down to Glen Innes High and the girls falling short against St Joseph’s. Despite the drizzly weather and slippery conditions, ASC players showed incredible ball control, producing high-scoring games and narrow losses.

A special mention goes to our younger players who stepped up and were mentored beautifully by their more experienced teammates — a great display of leadership and teamwork

All students displayed fantastic sportsmanship and represented ASC with pride throughout the day.

Shout out to Alexis Lockwood, Kai Prater, Dano Friedman, and Jake Rowbottom for reffing multiple games in between playing! Their officiating was of a very high standard and was noted by event organisers — well done!

A big thank you to Mrs. Drielsma for driving and supporting the teams.

ASC Livestock Team - Wingham Beef Week excursion

Since the start of this year our team of staff and students has been working hard to prepare our cattle for the Wingham Beef Week, a huge annual cattle competition that draws large numbers from all around the state. This year ASC was well represented with our outstanding students and quality Limousin cattle.

We arrived on Monday to find hundreds of people battling through the mud at the Wingham Showground. We set up our camp of tents, marquees and swags in the mud and rain and braced ourselves for the week ahead and what a great week it was!

Students persisted and worked well as a team all week to present themselves and our cattle to a high standard into the various competitions. We won three second places for our cattle that were very well presented in the show ring by Aliyah Snape and Britney Tarrant. A big congratulations also to Sophie O’connell who came second in the 15 year’s junior judging competition where she successfully judged 3 classes of cattle and gave her verbal reasonings with a microphone in front of hundreds of people. A fantastic effort!

Winning prizes was just a small part of this fantastic excursion where students also attended learning seminars, networked with industry professionals, competed in the Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition in the meatworks and attended social events with hundreds of students from other schools including a trivia night and disco.

Our students were a credit to our school and community at the Wingham Beef Week. Early mornings and hard work with very few complaints in a difficult muddy camp certainly made memories!

A big thankyou to staff and students back at school for a big effort and to Mr and Mrs Cole ‘Lachlandale Limousins’, Forbes for their ongoing support of our Agriculture program.

Our next competition is the Dubbo Show where Miss White will take a team of students, some of our school bred prime lambs and our stud Berkshire pigs.

Mr Mark Fisher

ASC Agriculture Teacher

NRL Country Cup

Monday 19th May, just under 50 students travelled to Inverell to field 3 teams in the NRL Country Cup.

Mrs Campbell coached the under 16s girls team, who were a mixture of seasoned NRL players and some new players to the sport. The under 16s ASC girls team dominated their division winning all 3 games. The girls took on McIntyre High, O’Connor and Guyra, with convincing victories in all 20 minute games, 28-0, 36-4 and 28-4. The girls showed no fear, with a strong team spine, fast wingers and excellent tackling techniques. Each girl showed true talent in their own way and together formed an incredibly tough tackle team. The team progresses through to the next stage, date and time yet to be confirmed.

Mr Watkins coached the under 15s boys team who started the day with a win against Guyra, before losing in close matches to Inverell, Macintyre. The final match against O’Connor was a tight affair which ended up being a draw after O’Connor scored on the siren to level the match. Shoutout to all of the players who put in a fantastic effort and showed great sportsmanship throughout the whole day.

Mr Cranston coached the under 13s boys team who showed some steely determination against some much larger opponents in our first game of the day against Inverell High losing in a close game 10-6. The game left us depleted for numbers with several boys suffering injuries. Leaving us short for our last game against O’Conner. There was some very vociferous support for O’Conner coming from their other teams and supporters on the sidelines however, our boys being one short dug deep and some great induvial efforts led us to a 2 tries to 1 victory.

Thanks to Mrs Campbell, Mr Watkins and Mr Cranston for coaching the teams and good luck to the under 16s girls team and Mrs Campbell in the next stage of the country cup calendar.

2025 Youth Leadership Forum

A big congratulations to Mia Drozdowski and Eli Knuckey of Year 12 for representing Armidale Secondary College at the 2025 Youth Leadership Forum in Tamworth on May 22! The forum brought together student leaders from across the region for an inspiring evening of discussion, collaboration, and insight.

Led by The Hon. Ben Franklin MLC and The Hon. Kevin Anderson MP, Mia and Eli joined fellow students and parliamentary members to explore ideas around leadership, community challenges, and the future they envision. They engaged in meaningful conversations, asked thoughtful questions, and gained valuable experience in civic participation.

We're incredibly proud of their contributions and excited to see how this experience shapes their journey as young leaders!

Maths

Thank you to all parents and carers who were able to come along to Parent Teacher Interviews last week. It was such a pleasure to be able to discuss your students’ progress and achievements this year so far.

May of the students will have their term two assessments coming up in the following weeks. Students are encouraged to carefully read through the notification making note of due dates and ensuring they begin preparing early – see your classroom teacher or the Head Teachers if you have any questions or concerns.

In class, students have been working hard to master concepts and consolidate their learning. Year 7 are beginning to experiment with using Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces to help them work through their problems. This allows them to talk through their steps with peers and seek assistance from the teacher or other groups when they feel they are stuck.

REMINDER: All students should be bringing a calculator to maths every lesson.

Student Term 2 Challenge

Present your solution to the maths staffroom – receive wings from correct solution.

How many squares can you see in this pattern?

IEC Students Explore Sculpture at NERAM

On Tuesday, 27th May, our IEC students embarked on an inspiring excursion to the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) in Armidale. During their visit, they explored the gallery's diverse collection, focusing on sculptures and statues. This hands-on experience provided students with valuable insights into various artistic methods and materials used in sculpture creation.

The excursion not only enriched their understanding of art but also set the stage for their upcoming projects in Art class, where they will apply these newfound techniques to create their own sculptures.

To top off the day, students enjoyed a delightful hot chocolate at NERAM's café, adding a warm and cosy end to their artistic adventure.

A heartfelt thank you to Miss Norma and Miss Hiyam for organising this engaging and educational experience for our students.

U15 Boys Football/Soccer squad.

Our U15 Boys Football team faced Macintyre High School in the second round of the Bill Turner Cup and came away with an impressive 3–1 victory. It was a fantastic team performance, marked by determination, skill, and great sportsmanship from both sides. Congratulations to the squad on their success! ASC will now take on Holy Trinity in the next round of the competition. We wish the team the best of luck as they continue their Cup journey.

P&C