Principal

Term 4 is a time to celebrate. The most wonderful time of the year where we get to celebrate the hard work and successes of our students.

In Week 1 all the Year 12 students and about ten staff attended Rustlers Steakhouse in Albany. Humorous awards were given and speeches were delivered. It’s fair to say a great night was had by all. Our Year 12 students also engaged in a free dress day and were treated to a special table setting for lunch. Many of our Year 12 students have now departed and will return to attend Graduation.

Year 12 Graduation will be held on the 18th November and begins at 11am. Year 12 students are to arrive at 10am.This is a great opportunity to celebrate the successes of our students and of course pay special attention to our graduating class. The guest speaker this year is Denmark local, Louise O’Neill. Louise’s long commitment to improving the mental and physical wellbeing of rural communities saw her recently win the 2022 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award for Western Australia. I’m looking forward to hearing her present as our keynote speaker. 

At the conclusion of the formalities, interested visitors are invited to join us on a farm tour. Farm staff are keen to show-off the fruits of our labours. Our paddocks are looking fantastic and we would love to share with the community some of our hay and silage practices. No pre-registration is required, we will just call for interest on the day.

As in previous years, all families are encouraged to attend graduation. This event marks the formal end of our Year 12 student’s educational journey and the end of timetabled classes for Year 11 students. Families are welcome to join us for a meal afterwards and will then be invited to collect their children by 2pm. Residence then closes for the weekend.

 All Year 10 students, Year 11 ATAR students and those Year 11 students engaging in Certificate II Wool Handling should return for the commencement of regular classes on Monday the 21st of November 2022.

Recent announcements have seen COVID measures dissipate further. The messaging is now around personal responsibility. The reclassification of COVID from a pandemic status to one of a communicable disease has seen a shift in responsibility. The messaging is now centred around personal responsibility. In the event that you or your child tests positive you have a personal responsibility to report it to WA Health and to take personal measures to keep yourself safe. Your measures may include remaining at home and wearing a mask if symptomatic, but there is no longer a mask mandate or isolation requirement. In terms of residence, COVID is a communicable disease, similar to chickenpox, and families will be asked to collect their children should they test positive and asked to remain away while symptomatic.

Our enrolments are almost finalised for 2023. We continue to have more interest than places and I continue to reflect on how fortunate we are to attract such a high calibre of students. Next year sees a small increase in student numbers as we expand some of our Trade offerings. At this stage, we are expecting 150 students across the three year levels. I do know though, in this current economic climate, that some students are exploring work opportunities earlier than they normally would. If you know that your child is not returning to the College in 2023, please let our office staff know as soon as you can.

Take care and I look forward to seeing you all at Graduation.