College News 

Armidale Eisteddfod 

Our speech and drama students have been comepeting in the Armidale Eisteddfod this week. On Monday Our amazing 9/10 space jump teams put in great efford with their improv skills to come away with 2nd and 3th. Year 10 Drama chased success in their 3 categories. Placing 1st in Group, Shakespeare and Duologue. On Tuesday our Year 8/9 'Space Jump' team gained a Highly Commended and our Year 7 group gained great experience in their entry. 

Tuesday night saw three performances take place involving our O'Connor students. Riley King in her first eisteddfod gained a Highly Commended and Amber presented a comedy about being a teacher on zoom gaining 3rd place. Heather  Bassett and Manon Perrin entered in the 2 minute preparation diaolog for the first time and came away with 1st place. Well done to all those involoved and thank you to Miss Elizabeth Plane for working with these students this year, giving them this great experience.

Employment Success

Blake Tricker 

Congratulations to Blake Tricker who has been given employment with Milestones Early Learning Armidale and had his final day at O'Connor on Thursday this week. Blake is looking forward to working with the children and staff at the centre. While at O'Connor, Blake attained his TAFE Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care which assisted greatly in being apointed in his role of an Early Childhood Educator. We wish him all the best and look forward to hearing about his work at a later date. 

THANKS: Blake presented Support Teacher Mr Kelly with a token of apprecation on his last day.

Alumni News

Sean Skinner Achieves Operational Role in RFS

Sean Skinner (Class of 2016) has worked hard to achieve his goal of attaining an Operational role with NSW RFS.  Sean chose some electives when he studied his Bachelor of Agriculture degree at UNE that he knew would be transferable in the RFS and this paid off for him. He starts his new role as a Community Risk Officer with Northern Tablelands NSW RFS on Monday. Sean also achieved the Outstanding Performance Award for his cohort. Well done Sean from all of us at O'Connor. 

Chess

Last Thursday, our O'Connor chess team played against the best Inverell High could muster on the day in round 2 of the North West division of the NSW Junior Chess League.

We came away victorious, 3 - 1, with wins on Board 1 for Bradley Lidgard, Board 3 for Joe Schmude and Board 4 for Harrison Ross. Our only casualty for the match was John Harris.

Another good performance overall and we now move into Round 3.

Fleece to Fashion Awards 2022

This coveted fashion event has been on hold for 2 years due to COVID, so excitement was pretty high when it was finally announced that it would be held at Deargee Woolshed at Gostwyck.

Three Year 12 Textile and Design students started working on their designs as a Year 11 project, but were put on the backburner due to all of the interruptions we encountered. Once the news came through that the event was back on, they dusted off their half made/thrown in the back of the cupboard  projects and got to work finalising these 1920’s Chanel inspired garments. Here is a little information about each of them.

Emma Gray -

My garment is a 1920’s Coco Chanel-inspired suit set. The set is designed to be able to wear as a pair or separate. It can be worn on formal occasions and may also be used in the corporate world. The jacket and skirt are pastel pink in colour. The jacket has three-quarter sleeves, with a pink lining. The skirt is a straight skirt, with 4 pleats along the front and 2 darts inside, there is also a pleat at the back of the The main fabric is 60% wool/ 40% polyester blend. 

Grace Everett -

My garment is a sophisticated Coco Chanel 1920’s inspired dress. It incorporates different features of Chanel’s styles resulting in    . The dress falls into the apparel category, as it is designed to be both functional and aesthetically suitable to be worn for everyday wear and formal functions. My garment is made from a navy blue wool/polyester blend and silver satin fabric. The dress is a size 12 and about 121 cm from neck to hem. The dress is very tailored with a pleat at the back. The hem sits just below the knees and is very flowy and elegant. The collar and cuffs are in a contrasting silver colour which gives the dress a pleasing finish. The collar is very large, resulting in a low v-shaped neckline. Just under the collar there are two white frog mouths holding the two front pieces together. The sleeves are tight fitting at the shoulders and flow out towards the end which is just below the elbows. The fabric on the dress is a lustrous, shiny, navy blue colour, giving the final product an aesthetically pleasing look. 

Maggie Reinke -

So, on Friday 6th May Mrs Channon and Mrs Healy accompanied some of the Year 11 and 12 Textile and Design students down to the Deargee Woolshed to the morning tea and fashion parade. It was such a lovely experience for all of us to be in this amazing architecturally designed building that celebrates its 150th birthday this year. We were thrilled to witness the students’ work up on the catwalk for all to see.

Some of our very own students modelled the garments for this prestigious event. They were Lauren and Olivia Fenton, Lily Moore and Molly Brazier. Dancers included Molly Brazier, Shanae Wark and Lara Windred.

The morning tea was supplied by the patisserie and it was delicious. 

The Gala event was held on Saturday 7th May, where the major award winners were announced. Some of our students were invited to attend this evening as helpers in a catering capacity.

Year 12 Hospitality Excursion

Year 12 Hospitality students attended the very valuable Industry Immersion Excursion at Opal Cove Resort, Coffs Harbour, May 8 to May 10, 2022. This excursion included a highly valuable two day work experience program with students rotating through a variety of departments to gain an experience in working in the hospitality industry, specifically at a Resort. Students worked back of house in Food Production, Events Management, and Housekeeping and then had shifts at the Front Office and in the Food and Beverage section. 

This excursion gave students an in-depth understanding of the communication across the departments as well as the demands on a hospitality worker in a resort. It was a rich insight that will prove valuable not only as industry experience for the future but also in providing real life examples as the HSC approaches. We are very appreciative of Mr Garry Osborne who accompanied us on this excursion and the generosity of Opal Cove itself in responding to our request for an experience of this nature. Staff at the resort commented that they were very impressed by the skills, the high work ethic and the impeccable manners of our students as they worked through the rotations.

Mrs  Anne Healey, 

Hospitality Teacher