Issue 2 2024 - Residential Manager
Residential Manager
John Overton
We kicked the start of Term 2 off with one of the College’s signature events, the College Ball. The Ball was held in the first week of the Term on Saturday 20th April and set the tone for what has been a busy start to the Term so far. Preparations for the College Ball also made for an enormous week for staff and students so a massive thank you to all who were involved is in order.
Photo taken by Jenny Feast Photography
Whilst week 1 was action packed, we had the unique situation of a closed weekend from Wednesday – Sunday in week 2. Week 3 felt like the official start to the Term where we could navigate the days with a more “normal” trend and settle back into our weekly routine, which was beneficial for staff and students.
Term 2 bookends with Country Week in week 11. It is a longer Term but certainly not short of movement and activity. In between weeks, our Residential Team have included an AFL trip to Perth, hiking activities, themed dinners, quiz nights and pizza nights. This is in addition to our regular Albany runs, movie nights, and the increase to community sporting commitments during the winter season. There is always a lot happening at the College.
Please be mindful of our second closed weekend for the Term at the end of Week 7 – early close Friday 31st May at 2pm and residence re-opens from 2pm Monday 3rd June.
The College Ball
The Old Diary in Torbay was the venue for our College Ball this year with a beautiful setting and strong connection to Agriculture. The venue is open for event hire but is primarily a fully equipped farm and dairy. I must make a very special mention to all members of the School Ball Organising Committee who were so invested in making a student-centred ball. The Residential team also deserve a significant amount of credit as they carry the bulk of the work within their portfolio to provide a memorable experience for our students. We sold over 160 tickets and had more staff attend this year. Thank you to everyone who joined us on the night.
Quiz Night
We have introduced some themed dinners into our schedule for residential staff and students to have some fun. This Term our Quiz night team created a music theme event with staff and students wearing their favourites music t-shirts or wigs to pay respect to their favourite musicians. Jesse Oldfield, who is our Events Portfolio Prefect, did a great job as MC and the feedback was fantastic. It was also pretty refreshing to hear our students knew about some old classics which made our residential team feel good.
Real Man – Project
This initiative is led by our Student Services team and College Chaplain for our Year 12 Male Residential students. The project aims to talk about what constitutes being a real man and how perceptions, ideology and influencers can play a role in shaping young people either negatively or positively. It is an open conversation between our young people and I was invited to attend the first session. Being passionate about education and in particular the value of sharing experiences has been helpful in my own journey. I felt I had a story worth sharing. Through lived experiences as well as my own values, I tried to frame key moments within different stages of my life that led me to make certain decisions. I hope the boys took something away from the evening and the stories that were shared. These discussions will continue each fortnight with Chris and guests will be invited throughout the sessions.
Pizza Nights
The College has recently invested in a pizza oven and we invited our student leadership group to make and create beautiful pizzas to share. Our Deputy Principal Alf Mungioli leads the way with his passion and enthusiasm for making yummy pizzas which staff and students really enjoy. These will continue fortnightly with each week recognising a year group or specific group of students.
Upcoming Events
Closed Weekend – 1st June.
AFL Trip – 8th & 9th June
Bingo Themed Dinner – 5th June.
Porongurup Hike – 15th or 16th June
Country Week – 23rd – 28th June
Laundry
Our laundry staff have discovered plenty of clothing items without name tags which is not being collected or allocated. We have placed the items out for students to look through but if we could request all clothing items have a name tag or label on it, it will be allocated to our students.
Whilst this Term is longer than other Terms, there is plenty within the calendar and in particular the big-ticket events such as the College Ball and Country Week that make for a Term full of impact. It is rewarding to see the efforts of our staff and students and the investment they make to provide great events and activities.
John Overton
Residential Manager
WACOA - Denmark