PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents/Carers, Families and College Community

Welcome to all of our College community to Term 4. My thanks to those staff who kept the place going over the two week holiday period. This includes cleaners and kitchen staff who undertake thorough cleans and get a head start on catering. Also it includes Farm staff who maintain Farm operations over the holidays. Agricultural Colleges are unusual schools in that a significant proportion of our staff do not have access to school holidays and I am grateful for their efforts to keep our College looking and functioning so well.

I was very pleased with the way our Year 12’s finished up last term. For many of them, this was the end of their formal schooling and they left in a respectful and appropriate way. No doubt many will have mixed feelings about finally leaving school after so many years. 

We will continue to see some Year 12’s as they return for ATAR exams or to finish Trades projects or qualifications.

Congratulations

Well done to Mr Steve Adams and those students involved in various events at this year's Perth Royal Show. 

• First place - AWI Wether Challenge/Future Sheep Breeders Challenge - Blake  Johnston, Kimberley Mannion, Jack Byrne, Breanna MacDonald,  Alyssa Rijkers, Sarah Woods.
• Second place -  AWI College Challenge- Sebastian Omodei, Ashton Lantzke, Tayla Forbes, Willow Willamson, GeoffTozer and Shannon Hewitt.

Best Of The West Stockman Challenge

Congratulations to those students involved in the Best of the West Stockman Challenge at the end of last term, especially Henry Pratley in winning and Paige Fell placing third place in the Junior event.  

My thanks to Brian Edwards who generated the interest and supported the students in their training. See below a letter we received from the organisers of the event;

Dear Mr Watt, 

I am writing on behalf of the Best of the West Stockman Challenge Committee. 

We wanted to commend your school on the behaviour of some of your students during our event held recently.

The Best of the West Stockman Challenge is the only stockman challenge held in Western Australia. This competition showcases the horsemanship and skills unique to Australian Stockmen & Women. 

This year we had several Harvey Agriculture College students enter and compete in the event. There were also a few who came just to support their classmates.

Everyone of your students conducted themselves in a respectful, sportsman-like manner. Not once did we see anyone get upset when things did not go according to plan (which did unfortunately happen), they just kept on with the job, not once did a smile fade. They encouraged not only each other, but other competitors as well.

There were times where they were asked to help, from either Brian or a committee member. Each request was acted on immediately without complaint.

We commend Brian for all the work he has done mentoring these young horsemen and women.

Both you and their parents should be very proud with how they conducted themselves. They represented Harvey Agricultural College with pride and integrity.

We hope to see them all again next year

Congratulations To Olivia Hawkins 

Olivia competed in the Saddles Plus Interschool Equestrian Competition and was chosen to represent Western Australia in the National finals in Victoria which did not go ahead due to COVID. Olivia also represented WA in the Pony Club Nationals which were conducted by video over the holidays and we are still awaiting results.

In-school COVID Vaccination

As mentioned last term the Health and Education Departments have prioritised schools with boarding facilities in the roll out of COVID vaccinations at school. I can now provide some specific information for our situation.

The Pfizer vaccine will be made available to all students, their families and staff who wish to take advantage of the opportunity.

• Dates:   First dose: 29th October. Second dose: 19th November. Times to be finalised, but most likely in the morning.
• The vaccines will be administered by nurses and the process managed by Department of Health staff. Any reactions will be monitored for at least 15 minutes after the vaccination.
• Approvals process:   1. Register on-line at Vaccinate WA – instructions have been emailed to you earlier this week.   2. Parent approval - must be provided through the specific consent form also emailed this week. Please return to the College by 28th October. 

I have been watching the media with interest on how various government agencies and private companies are mandating COVID vaccines for their employees.  I wonder if there will be a point where this is will be the case in the education system.

Farewell

This week we farewell Todd Bracknell who is leaving us to pursue other interests and opportunities. Mr Bracknell has been at the College since 2017 and has been a strong supporter of our students and the College. Our best wishes to Mr Bracknell. 

We welcome Kim Shepherd to the College who will fill in for Mr Bracknell's English classes for the remainder of the year. Ms Shepherd also teaches English at Manea and comes highly recommended and is enthusiastic about learning how our College operates.