From the Principal

Welcome

We’ve had a very smooth and enjoyable start to the 2020 school year with our new students settling in well and our ‘old’ students appearing to return in a positive frame of mind.  Many thanks to our Year 12 Student Prefects: George Rowe, Emma Gillespie, Murray Findlay Sophie Cuthbert, Bianca Roth, and Ethan Edwards (pictured above) who returned to school earlier than their peers to assist with the orientation of our new students.

We’ve started this year with an enrolment of 138 students, consisting of: 42 Year 10’s, 51 Year 11’s and 45 Year 12’s.  There are still some vacancies for boys and girls in our College Residence.  Please contact our Head of Residence, Kelli Gillies, or myself if you’re interested in securing one of the vacancies for your son or daughter.

2019 Year 12 Achievement Data

Overall, we were delighted with our 2019 Year 12 student achievement data.  We had a WACE (Western Australian Certificate of Education) achievement of 96% and a 100% achievement of the Certificate II in Agriculture.  Thirteen of our graduating Year 12’s also completed a Certificate III in Agriculture.  Every student who graduated last year achieved at least two Certificate II level industry qualifications, and the majority achieved at least three.  Once again we had some outstanding individual ATAR results with Olivia Miller, Deahna Keam and Tom Darwin all achieving rankings in the 90’s.  But what was particularly pleasing last year was that 60% of our ATAR class achieved ATAR’s of 70 or higher.  This is the best result we’ve ever had with a graduating ATAR class. 

Congratulations to Deahna Keam, Olivia Miller and Neroli Weatherhead who received School Curriculum Standards Authority Certificates of Distinction for their excellent school-based achievement. 

Congratulations also to: Shakira Clark, Tara McKay, Jayne Thompson, and Caitlin and Paige Wheatley who all received Certificates of Merit. 

A more detailed breakdown of the College’s 2019 student achievement data and overall performance will be available to parents in the 2019 Annual Report which is currently being compiled and will be published online early in Term 2.

New 2020 – 2023 College Business Plan

One of the first jobs for our ‘new looking’ College Board this year will be assisting staff with putting together the College’s new 2020-2023 Business Plan – our second business plan since becoming an Independent Public School in late 2016.  Following parent and staff member elections late last year we have five new members on the Board: Lisa O’Farrell, Lawrence Cuthbert and Stuart Stevenson are the new parent members; Tracy Milton (Head of Cleaning) and Rob Calcraft (Science teacher) are the two new staff members.  They join our continuing parent/community Board members: Josie Keam, Steve Jones and Mick Pratt, and our continuing staff members: Kevin Marshall, Daniel Gibbins and myself.  We look forward to sharing the new 2020-2023 Business Plan with parents when it is finalised later this term.

Practical Uniform Policy Change

Just a reminder to parents that students are no longer allowed to wear shorts with their practical uniform.  Due to occupational safety and health concerns, particularly in relation to sun exposure, the College Board made the decision late last year that from the start of this year students will be required to wear long cotton pants and long-sleeved cotton HiVis shirts when working on the farm or in other industry areas.  The Board did recommend that existing students be allowed to transition to the long-sleeved cotton HiVis shirts during 2020. 

New Dairy Position

As we flagged on our Facebook page late last year, the College is seeking another Agricultural Technical Officer to work and train students primarily in our Dairy enterprise.  The position will be advertised shortly and we hope to have the successful applicant commence at the start of Term 2.  If you would like to discuss the position please contact either myself or our Farm Manager, Kevin Marshall.

Environmental Scan of Equine Program

As the parents of our Equine students already know, the Deputy Director General, Schools, Mr Stephen Baxter, recently requested an environmental scan of the Equine programs at each of the WA Colleges of Agriculture (WACoA).  Horse riding is, of course, a high risk activity and the aim of the review is to ascertain if there are any improvements that could be made to the Equine Policy and Procedures across all the WACoA sites.  Mr Brett Hunt, Public School Accountability, and Mr Bernard Beatty, Principal, Boyup Brook District High School, visited the College on Thursday 13 February and interviewed a number of our staff. Parents and Agricultural Advisory Committee Members were also offered the opportunity to contribute to the review.  We think we already have a very safe Equine program in place at the College but look forward to seeing the outcome of the scan and any areas we can improve.

Early Finish on Friday 28 February - Barbecue Lunch for Parents

The College would like to extend an invitation to all our parents/carers to join us for a late barbecue lunch on Friday 28 February from 12.45 – 2.00 pm.  With the 2.10 pm finish on the Friday before the Home Weekend, there’s an opportunity for parents/carers picking up students to arrive a little earlier, have a barbecue lunch and socialise for an hour or so.  The College’s Farm Manager, Kevin Marshall, will also be available to take interested parents for a farm tour on the College Coach from 1.30 -2.00 pm. 

Kevin Osborne

Principal

Trio Win Scholarships

Congratulations to Year 11 students Roreigh Curran-Jones, Josh Coole and Georgia Dalton. All three won scholarships awarded by Rylington Park Research & Training (in Agriculture), Boyup Brook. The generous scholarship of $1,000 each required the applicant live in the shire of Boyup Brook and able to put forward a compelling case outlining their desire to attend an agricultural school. Roreigh, Josh and Georgia (pictured below) said that their main focus was to be able to expand their knowledge in agriculture and take that knowledge back to the community of Boyup Brook. 

I am thrilled that the College was chosen by such motivated and inspired young people. We strive to encourage our students to take part in study streams that matter to them and gain knowledge and skills that they can take with them into every-day life when they graduate. I have no doubt that Georgia, Roreigh and Josh will be able to take back to their communities a wealth of learning during their time here.