Around the Senior School
HSC Geography Fieldwork - Philip Shaw Wines
On 28 August the Geography students completed their final fieldwork experience with an investigation of a local economic enterprise at Philip Shaw Wines.
Students investigated the complex process of growing grapes and the constraints associated with growing fruit in a cool climate at the Boree Lane vineyard. They then travelled to the cellar door and winery where they looked at the wine making process and marketing of the product. Students sat down to lunch at the cellar door to complete the experience on a superb sunny winters day.
Year 9 Commerce Develop Entrepreneurship
Year 9 Commerce have run multiple markets and selling days during Term 2 and 3, including at Careers Night and the Junior School, all part of their ‘Running a business/Promoting & Selling’ unit of work.
This year’s groups have shown particularly excellent operational, marketing, financial and human resource management while collaborating on the production and selling of their goods. After forming businesses, creating partnership agreements, delivering an elevator pitch for funding, and developing detailed business plans, the Year 9 students have enjoyed the fruits of their labor with their selling days. Burgers, sausage sandwiches, cake pops, rocky road, jelly cups, milkshakes and homemade ice-cream have been popular items for customers that have included parents, teachers, and students alike.
The Career’s Night and Junior School Markets were a 2023 initiative and have been a big success. The chance to market businesses to a broader community such as the visitors at Careers Night and then the cross-campus event at the Junior School have led to deeper learning, greater connection and provided our younger students an insight into what is waiting for them when they move into the Senior School.
Within the unit of work, students learn about promotional strategies, conduct market research with surveys and maintain financial records to produce a final profit and loss statement. Profits are “taxed” for charity, with groups this year committing proceeds to Cowboy Hats For Kate, Black Dog Institute, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Dolly’s Dream to name a few.
The group that demonstrates a thorough and sophisticated understanding and application of business planning, promotion and operation is crowned the “Entrepreneurs of the Year”, with past winners including The Creperie (2018), The Ice Cream Team (2020) and Stumpt (2021). The final proceeds for charity and award winners will be announced early Term 4.
Thank you to all students, staff and parents who have supported our students with their business projects. In particular, thank you to those parents that have become de facto employees and silent partners in their child’s project!
Learning Enhancement Team
Every week, the LE Team put their heads together and voted on a 'Student of the Week'. The student is chosen based on observations made by the LE Team, within the week. This week, the title goes to Gigi Huxtable (Year 12) for her consistent approach to her HSC Trials study and her wonderful results in her Mathematics Trials.
Keep up the good work, Gigi!
Youth Council Nomination
By Ashton Quinn-Woonton
My name is Ashton Quinn-Woonton, and I am enrolled in Year 9 at Kinross Wolaroi School, located in Orange. I am passionate about utilising my vocal abilities to their fullest potential. Whether it is through my singing or public speaking, my voice is one of my most powerful attributes. Some might say I use it too much.
My passion lies in advocating for the concerns of my peers and myself. This is why I was happy when I received the news that I had the opportunity to take part in the ACYP’s Youth Advisory Council Recruitment Event during my holiday. We had the opportunity to fly to Sydney and attend this meeting in the State Library, right next to the Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful! The 12-person Council is an independent statutory office that reports to the NSW Parliament. I had the good fortune to be chosen to attend this event. This year, there were over 700 candidates, and only 80 people were chosen to attend.
I had the unique opportunity to participate in insightful conversations about improving our community. The ACYP meeting proved to be an excellent platform for me to articulate my views and express the concerns of numerous individuals. Furthermore, it presented a thrilling prospect to advocate for the interests of others in my regional community.
We were all able to participate in engaging talks about our prior experiences. We had a diverse community that included persons who identified as LGBTQIA+, immigrants, people in foster care or home care, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
We were busy all day long. This included talking to the Council's creator and founder, with people who have served on the board in the past, and staff employed at ACYP.
After that, we had to make a short movie on young people to clarify the challenges and distinctions between a public and private school. Then we were asked to propose a solution to a problem to the ACYP Council members. Our proposal was to establish a company that aids university students who are either unable to live at home or are locked out of the housing market due to the current state of the economy. Our focus here was to determine whether they are getting a fair deal in the rental market. We also aimed to provide leasing assistance, among other services.
I met a lot of interesting people and made many new connections. A lot of these people came from truly diverse backgrounds, and it was interesting to hear their stories. I feel like I learned a lot and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to voice my story. I hope people learned something from me and my experiences as well. It was an enjoyable day, and I'm thrilled that I was able to attend.