Head of Studies Report

Students are actively involved in developing new skills...

Term one is a busy term particularly in the Animal and Plant Production System courses with the prime lamb feedlot operating, harvesting of grapes and wine making, harvesting and planting of horticultural crops, and tree nursery propagation. We have included a gallery of photos with the students actively involved in developing new skills and showing a keen interest in these practical activities.

Mr. York explaining how the Great Plains Feeder operates, prior to calibrating the feeder.

PPS students calibrating the seeder prior to planting their oat fodder crop in early Term 1

Students removing stems from the grapes that have been crushed

Mark Parre from the Denmark Shire demonstrating how to collect native seed near Ocean Beach

Doug and Jesse picking coastal Banksia seed. This seed will be used to rehabilitate the coastal dune area.

Lucy & Ainslie harvesting Hakia. The seed will be placed in a seed tunnel and dried out. It will be either stored or used to re-plant the Denmark Lime Pit

Viticulture students crushing Chardonnay grapes

Jessica and Abbey testing grape juice with a hydrometer in preparation for harvest

Students press grapes prior to adding yeast to start the fermentation process

Country Week

Training for Country Week will officially commence early next term. Mr Woodruff is leading a dedicated team of coaches from the College and local community members, who are preparing the students for the big event at the end of Term 2. Students are required to attend the weekly training sessions to ensure the teams have enough students for each event. More details on times and costs will be released soon. At this stage we are planning to have a girls netball team, mixed touch rugby team, plus a girls and boys volleyball and basketball team. The teams will depend on final student numbers and I encourage students to talk to their parents/guardians regarding attending Country Week so we can firm up numbers early next term.

Assessment Policy

The College’s policy on subject completion requires students to complete all tasks in the assessment program. If a student does not complete an out of class assessment task by the due date and the student does not provide a reason which is acceptable to the College, the following penalties will apply:

10% reduction in the mark for each school day the assessment task is late.

A mark of zero (if not submitted or submitted more than 10 days late)

This can have serious implications on a student’s final mark and grade for a subject and his/her choice of achieving secondary graduation.

Note: When a student is likely to experience difficulty in meeting a deadline they must discuss the matter with the relevant teacher at the earliest possible opportunity before the due date. For any missed in-class assessment task where the student does not provide a reason which is acceptable to the College, a mark of zero will be recorded. If a student does not submit an assessment task or attend a scheduled in-class assessment task, the teacher will contact the parent/guardian by letter, email or telephone to discuss the risk of the student not completing the course unit and to negotiate a solution.

Please encourage your child to complete all assessment tasks by the due date. Our aim is for all our students to work and achieve their personal academic potential. A list of assessment dates can be located on Connect.

Fodder Crop

Ashley Juers, Area Manager for CSBP and a former graduate of the College, visited to report on soil test results for the Year 11 and Year12 Plant Production Systems Fodder Crop Project. Ashley also spoke to students about a career with CSBP, the technology they use and encouraged them to consider work experience. Future visits are on the calendar when Ashley returns to undertake tissue testing and to assess progress of their fodder crop.

Students from Mr Irwin's Year 11 & Year 12 PPS class, pictured with Ashley Juers (5th from left at front).

HMAS Rankin Excursion

A tour of HMAS Rankin at the Albany Port on 23 March, gave our Year 10B students the opportunity to view first hand, alternative post-secondary employment options. The visit was very interactive with lots of questions asked about working and living on a submarine.

House Competition

On the final day of Term 1 there will be a house sport competition held at Ocean Beach for students and parents. The competition will comprise of two teams - Red House and Green House. All staff will be allocated to a team.

Outline for the day is:

2-3 hours of team building games from10.10am - 2.10pm

Lunch will then be provided at Ocean Beach.

Competition will be ongoing throughout the year and will involve everyone across all areas of the College. Points will be awarded for a variety of activities and the winning team will be announced at the end of the year.