Senior School

Warrnambool Eisteddfod Debating

Last week, from July 25th to 28th, a number of our Senior Students represented King’s College at the annual Warrnambool Eisteddfod Debating Competition.

The Year 7 and 8 debating team spent the afternoon creatively and confidently coercing the crowd in a convincing debate against Timboon and Emmanuel College. The Year 7 team on the negative side of 'The Age of Criminal Responsibility in Australia is Both Fair and Reasonable' won their debate against Timboon. The team consisted of Anneliese S, Rachel C, Zara B and Team Advisor/Timekeeper Miriam W. Anneliese received an ‘honourable mention’ for her role, one of only seven students in a field of over fifty to receive this.

Meanwhile, the Year 8 team on the affirmative side of 'Work Experience for Secondary School Students is Important' came a close second against Emmanuel College. It was such a close debate that it was adjudicated as one of the top four debates out of the thirteen debates within their category. The team consisted of Faith D, Victoria H, Laura A and Team Advisor/Chairperson Tim S.

Our Year 9/10 Team, represented by Dan D, Esther W, Abraham B and Team Advisor/Chairperson Max W, won their debate, arguing that ‘Violence Must Always Remain a Choice.’ Our Year 10 Team also won their debate, arguing against the suggestion that ‘Australia’s Record in Caring for it's Disadvantaged Citizens is Praiseworthy'.

The team included Ruth S, Bianca M, Daisy B and Team Advisor/Timekeeper Isabella R. An additional congratulations goes out to our three speakers within this team who also volunteered to argue an extra debate in our Year 10 English course to balance numbers, meaning that in the space of a couple of days they debated three different topics.

Our Year 11/12 team had a challenging task on their hands as they argued that ‘A Much Smaller Migration Intake is Necessary for Australia.’ This team consisted of Aisha B, Jorja M, Jeremy C and Team Advisor/Chairperson Ebony C.

While not all teams were successful in their debates, all students found the experience to be very positive. They are to be commended on their drive to overcome anxiety and argue strong cases. We look forward to seeing skills develop as we continue to encourage opportunities for public speaking and debating.

Thank you to the English staff who worked with students, especially to Mr. Bergaggard who also attended the debate with the Year 7 and 8 teams. The way that all of our King’s College students presented themselves, not only on stage during their debate, but also while participating as an audience member, was both memorable and outstanding. Great job and congratulations to all.

Kath Haworth & Nicholas Bergagard

Assistant Head of Senior School / Senior School Teacher

Year 9-12 South West Health Care Visit

King’s College has recently joined with the Neil Porter Foundation who organised a career industry field trip for our Year 9 - 12 students, and are keen to organise further opportunities for us as we identify the needs. Our first field trip was held on Monday July 24th and provided us all with the opportunity to hear from a number of people in the healthcare sector as we visited South West Health Care.

We heard from Hayley Keane, Learning and Development Coordinator, about the broad range of opportunities and pathways available through SWHC, an Occupational Therapist who had changed from a Teaching Career, a Social Worker who shared about God’s hand in leading her into the profession, and an Instrument Technician who learnt the role through on the job training and pathways into further training. We also heard from Deakin University, who shared about some exciting new opportunities in pathways to Medicine opening up through the School of Medicine at Deakin, Warrnambool.

Thank you to all who were involved at South West Health Care in giving up your time to speak with us and share your insights. Thank you to Matt Porter and the team with the Neil Porter Foundation for organising the field trip. We look forward to future events being organised through the Neil Porter Foundation including:

August 22nd: ‘Financial Futures’ seminar for our Year 10 - 12 students, looking at taxation, centrelink, youth allowance, how to read a payslip, bank loans, savings and tips, scams and much more.
September 4th: Iona Gas Storage Facility - Careers at Iona and Lochard Energy, geared specifically towards women. This is open to our female students in Years 9 - 12 as an ‘opt in’ activity for up to 15 girls.

Kath Haworth

Assistant Head of Senior School

Food Tech

Year 7/8

This week in Food Tech, Year 7 and 8 made short stack Pancakes.

Year 9/10

Year 9 and 10 Food Tech students practiced their pasta making skills from earlier years. Putting an extra layer to the degree of complexity by combining a coloured pasta (charcoal / black) which didn't flavour the pasta but did make it look impressive. Feel free to now order authentic Italian carbonara (no cream), to be made for dinner from your kids.

Ally Robinson & Rose Pritchard

Senior School Teachers