Academic Excellence
Write4Fun Competition
Last term a number of budding writers entered a short story and poetry competition. I am happy to announce that the following students have received achievement awards in recognition of successfully completing the first round of judging:
Year 7: Kelly McKie, Summer Pollard, Ana Frances Gabriel
Year 8: Amelie Momus, Amelie Boyle, Hay Marn Mu, Ella Janelle Untalan, Josephine Wong
Year 9: Joseph Costantino
Year 10: Regina Ndossi
Year 11: Erin Pacopac
Their works have been short-listed in the finals and the students have been asked if their work can be published in a book, Write-Along. The finals results will be announced next week, and so I hope we have some good news to share next time. Congratulations to our students for their wonderful efforts!
The Zone Above: The Indo-Pacific Era in Space Conference
Seven lucky students got to attend a fascinating Space Conference on Monday 8 October. Michael Hegney, Aldric Ratnasekera, Dylan Wemyss, Millenium Paneru, Sanjita Ghimire, Isabella Ficko and Selina Tan. Thank you to Mr Nield for accompanying them to the conference.
The 2018 The Zone Above Conference co-hosted by Perth USAsia and the University of Western Australia focused on space security, earth observation and the space environment. Politicians such as Premier Mark McGowan, Governor Kim Beazley, Julie Bishop and Senator Penny Wong discussed the political aspect of space and the role Australia and Western Australia could play in the future. Presenters included Professor Gordon Flake (the CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre), Doctor Megan Clark (Head of the Australian Space Agency) and Professor Peter Klinken (Chief Scientist of Western Australia). Pamela Melroy (former NASA astronaut and director of Space Technology and Policy at Nova Systems) discussed space innovation, Professor Matthew Bailes (Director of OzGrav) talked about the discovering of gravitational waves and David Bird (from Shell Australia) spoke about the VP Prelude and how it uses earth observations and weather predictions. To conclude the conference, Enrico Palermo (President of the Spaceship Company) discussed the Virgin Galactic and the mission of sending people to space on a plane-like spaceship. I would like to thank Mrs Cardenia for organising the wonderful experience and Mr Nield for accompanying us on the day.
Isabella Ficko - Year 10
The Perth USAsia Centre's The Zone Above: The Indo-Pacific Era in Space was a whole-day conference held at the Optus Stadium. We were given the opportunity to attend a conference with some really important people, including Mark McGowan, Julie Bishop, Kim Beazley, Prof. Gordon Flake (who has a lot of children) and representatives from other countries including Malaysia, Singapore, and a few others. We saw a lady who had been into space three times, one of the few women to do so. The day started off very politically with one person (who will not be named) actually devoting half of their speech to why a Shorten-Labor government will be much better in supporting Australia’s exploration of space and the industries related to it, which was interesting. The food provided for us was very good, but since they went over time after a few politicians talked too long, our breaks were cut short, but no one listened and we ended up taking the normal 30 minutes instead of just 10 for morning tea. Some amazing people such as the head of the new Australian Space Agency delivered presentations and we learnt so many cool new things that were happening or planning to happen in Australia, such as the Zephyr pseudo satellites, which are solar-powered unmanned aircrafts that will soon be launched from a base in Wyndham, these would be used for military communications and security monitoring over land and sea as well as precision farming guidance, they are able to stay in flight for three months at a time. We found out that Australia’s GPS accuracy is well above the international standard of 10cm accuracy by being accurate to 3cm. The amazing projects such as the desert fireballs project and the amazing people such as Enrico Palermo the head of the Spaceship Company all made this day extremely interesting. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in international relations and economics in general.
Aldric Ratnasekera - Year 11
The Zone Above conference this year focused on space and Australia’s role and the growing space industry. It was a thought-provoking and informative day where we learned from various speakers about the space environment, security, observation and Australia’s potential to create its own space organisation like NASA. Some notable speakers included Mark McGowan (Premier of WA), Kim Beazley (33rd Governor of WA), Dr Megan Clark (Head of the Australian Space Agency), Enrico Palermo (President of the Spaceship Company) and many more. I would definitely recommend attending the next conference if you could.
Dylan Wemyss - Year 11
The 2018 The Zone Above Conference, focusing on the Indo-Pacific Era in Space, was an incredible experience. Being held at the Optus Stadium meant the view, and food, was pretty much amazing. The conference explored a variety of topics, all to do with space and Australia’s, more specifically WA’s, role in it. The wide range of speakers led discussions on Australia’s strategy to work with the Indo-Pacific partners to secure space, maintain the space environment and enhance earth observation capabilities. Speakers ranged from Senator Penny Wong, who delivered a passionate speech discussing the space environment, to Enrico Palermo, the President of the Spaceship Company, who inspired everyone with Virgin Galactic’s thought-provoking projects to make space tourism possible. Overall this conference was an incredible experience that inspired and educated me and everyone on the possibilities of space and WA’s important role in it. I would highly recommend this opportunity to anyone interested.
Sanjita Ghimire - Year 11
This year’s The Zone Above Conference at the Optus Stadium was about space. We were able to hear from many different politicians and professionals about some of the issues and breakthroughs in space. Mark McGowan, Kim Beazley and Professor Matthew Bailes were some of the few we heard from. Some of the discussed topics included the problem with space junk, colliding stars, commercial space trips, and the use of satellites in space. It was a unique experience and I think it would be beneficial for someone to attend if they were given the opportunity.
Selina Tan - Year 10
Assessment of Languages Competence (ALC) - Japanese
The results have arrived for the ALC testing conducted in Term Three, and the students should be very proud of their outstanding efforts.
All Year 10 students (Amanda D’Cruz, Yen Ngo, Elsa Tan and Selina Tan) attempting Certificate I gained High Distinctions in both the listening and reading components. Brilliant achievement!
All Year 11 students (Chelsea Dato, Maria Lunas and Dylan Wemyss) attempting Certificate II gained Distinctions in the reading component and also did well in the listening component. Fantastic effort!
Year 10 student Shania Cura aimed for the Certificate II, normally for Year 11 students, and gained a High Distinction in both the listening and reading components. She got 100% in the listening component. What an amazing feat!
Ethan Ricafranca (Year 12) attempted Certificate III and gained a Distinction in the reading component. Well done!
Mrs L Cardenia (Academic Excellence Coordinator)