Issue 5 2024 - Principal
Principal
Wayne Austin
Term 3 Comes to a Close
This term has certainly flown past and has been a very busy time.
I recently represented the college at the funeral of Mr Ron Wise. Ron was the last of the original group of students who transferred from Narrogin Agriculture College to the Denmark Agriculture College in 1942, when the Australian Army used the Narrogin facility as a convalescence for returning soldiers from the Second World War. Ron was obviously very well respected, and his large family and many other mourners attended his final farewell.
In the last half of this term, we have had students attend the Beverly Show, complete first aid training, attend cultural tours to Perth, undertake OLNA testing, and the list goes on. It’s a testament to the staff that students can engage in such a wide variety of activities outside the boundaries of the normal school curriculum.
Our planning for 2025 is well underway. There were an unprecedented number of students applying for positions in Year 10 and Year 11 for 2025. Mr Mungioli and I spent many hours interviewing prospective students and giving them a tour of our facilities. We then undertook the arduous task of sifting through all of the applications and sending out offers of placement. Unfortunately, we cannot accept everyone who applies to the College but we believe that we have an excellent group of students coming into Year 10 and Year 11 next year.
We are currently working through the development of the 2025 timetable and ensuring we have staff to cover the teaching and training of students. This is a big undertaking and requires planning to ensure we can cater for the student courses desired and maintain a quality teaching and training staff.
It is also that time of the year when our Year 12 students are about to leave us and either undertake external exams or move on to further training or into the workplace. This can be a stressful time for them as they transition out from school. We have a great team of support here to help and the ‘Transition Out’ activities planned for the first week of term 4 will support students as they make this change in their lives. Thanks to our student services team for organising this vital part of the student’s departure from formal education.
Parents of Year 12 students would recently have received from me a letter outlining important dates for the remainder of the Year 12 school year. Key dates to be aware of are the last day of school for Year 12’s - being October 11 - and our Awards Ceremony on November 15. We still have another term at school, so it is business as usual for our Year 10 and Year 11 students for the remainder of the year.
It is that time of year again where our students make the trip up to Perth to participate and compete in events at the Perth Royal Show. Students will be demonstrating and competing in the farm skills competition and showing our cattle and sheep. Given the success we have had at recent shows, we are in good stead to do well. Good luck to all the students who are attending and once again thanks must go to the staff who will be attending and supporting our students for the five days they are in Perth.
I wish everyone a relaxing break over the school holidays and look forward to everyone coming back refreshed and ready for the final term of the year.
Wayne Austin
Principal
WACOA - Denmark