Issue 2 2025 - Residential Manager
Residential Manager
John Overton
Term 1 is always exciting and full of opportunities for our new and existing students to integrate and settle into the College for the year ahead. We are really pleased with the approach the College has endorsed to commence the school year as it aims to provide a meaningful transition and comprehensive induction for our newly enrolled students.
Whilst the Term 1 Calendar is congested and full of activities it has also facilitated a fantastic platform to commence the school year. Our staff have been involved in planning and facilitating some changes to the start of the year constructively which has played a pivotal role in settling our boarders into life at WACoA Denmark for 2025.
Within residence 96 students are enrolled and live onsite, with an even split of 48 Girls and 48 Boys. One boarder has recently accepted a work placement to take us to 95 living in boarding. We have welcomed students from as far as Kununurra, Paraburdoo, Wannamal, Perth whilst we still maintain a strong connection to the South West and Great Southern catchment areas. It is a testament to the College for broadening its profile to become a state-wide institution and appealing to a large catchment area.
Orientation Program
Our newly elected College leaders provided feedback in Term 4 – 2024 and expressed they would like to be a part of the Orientation Program - we listened, and the Prefects were involved from meeting and greeting new students, leading tours and conducting panel interviews on Day 1 of the program. The initiative and ideas were all student led and created such a fantastic environment for our newly enrolled students.
Another aspect of the program that was important to the College Prefects was the integration of Day and Residential students and therefore all students were invited for dinner to conclude Day 1 of the program.
Day 2 - was all about discovering what makes WACoA great and why the Agricultural Industry is a fantastic area to be involved in. Most of our day was spent in the Lecture Theatre hearing from key internal staff and external members of the Agricultural sector to share their perspective on what makes our college and this industry a worthwhile investment. It was fascinating to hear each perspective, and I am sure each student connected with a different presenter. The highlight of the day was conducting a Question-and-Answer panel with all six College Prefects and Board Chair – Mick Pratt. Our newly enrolled students directed questions towards our panel that provided context around student perspective, and it made for a feature of the program and made for an impactful session.
From 2pm our existing students arrived back to the College and were welcomed by our staff and encouraged to integrate with our new students in preparation for school commencing. Overall, the program looked different to previous years, however we believe it went along way to settling nerves, building relationships and ultimately providing a meaningful introduction to life at WACoA – Denmark.
Peaceful Bay Camp
One of the highlights in the Term 1 calendar is the Peaceful Bay Camp. The End of week 6 was dedicated to our first overnight camp experience of the year with almost 50 students rolling out the swags to camp at Peaceful Bay Caravan Park. The College has a great relationship with the owners of the park, and the feedback we receive is always positive. A big thanks to the entire residential team for giving up personal time to commit to the camp over the two nights and a special mention to Kaina from the kitchen team for coming out to camp to provide our delicious meals – awesome effort.
The camp focus is essentially about recreational activities which included:
Fishing
Swimming
Snorkelling
Beach walks
Beach / Camp games
The camp was an enjoyable experience, and whilst the weather was not perfect all involved had the opportunity to unwind and spend some time in nature. Many students assisted with camp setup, kitchen duties, and other tasks that made the camp run smoothly. All efforts that went above beyond earnt dorm points towards their dorm.
Dorm Meetings & Assemblies
This year has seen the introduction of weekly dorm meetings which are 10-15 minutes on a Monday evening to touch base about all things happening at the College, in Boarding or within Dorm. We also ask for feedback from students about their living space and what suggestions they may have to contribute. Our weekly agenda goes through:
Duties roster
Staffing
Dorm accomplishments / highlights
Areas for improvement
Notices
Upcoming events
Open floor
Dorm points
In addition to the meetings, we have scheduled Dorm Assemblies into the calendar for Week 3 and Week 7 of Term. At assemblies we recognise collective information, share new initiatives, provide any staffing updates and celebrate achievements. We also openly discuss ideas or projects we are working on to hopefully round off our communication methods. Whilst the meetings and assemblies have taken some getting used to, overall, the feedback has been mostly positive, and our boarders have enjoyed being kept up to date.
Dorm Points System
Another initiative that has been a result of lots of consultation, brainstorming, and refining but has added a significant amount of value to our boarding community has been the introduction of our Dorm Points Model. The system allows each dorm to operate as a team throughout the Term and to earn points within 3 key domains linked to our College Values:
Supportive Acts – Pursuing personal excellence
Team Building – Building positive relationships
Presentation – Demonstrating social responsibility
Whilst supportive acts and presentation are nomination-based elements, the team building component has encouraged our staff to create more program opportunities. This term the boarders have been involved in:
Footy tipping
Quiz night
Camp games
Fishing competition
UNO Card tournaments
All combined with nominations from our cleaning and kitchen teams to create a holistic and fun (slightly competitive) system. First term winners were D – Dorm who were invited to Wild West Bowling which included Pizza and Hot Chips.
Other Activities this Term
Following the closed weekend the calendar continues to be filled with excursions and activities all involving residential students and staff, which include:
Wagin Woolorama (Wk 5)
Biology Camp (Wk 9)
UNI Tour (Wk 9)
Industry Adventure Tour (Wk 10)
College Ball 2025
I would like to acknowledge the 2025 College Ball Committee for working in the background to organise and prepare for the upcoming College Ball. The event is Saturday May 3rd with all details being shared with families and students through Compass. Please complete the permissions and payment via Compass, with all partners (+1’s) required to purchase tickets via Compass Tix: https://compasstix.com/e/fvyb3zwxtd
A social media post will be generated closer the event as a reminder but will have event information included.
Term 1
Term 1 is fast paced with a lot to learn for our new students, but I must say everyone has handled it so well and it has been a great start to the year. With lots of things happening we remain committed to aligning our students and decision making to the College Values. This ethos provides direction and support to our young people, and I am very pleased with the way the year has started and look forward to continuing that momentum into Term 2.
John Overton
Residential Manager
WACOA - Denmark