Issue 7 2024 - Principal

Principal

Wayne Austin

Where did this year go?

This term has been busy with us saying our final farewell to the Year 12 students. The Awards Ceremony was well attended, and we were able to recognise the outstanding work that the students have completed over the last few years with the presentation of so many subject prizes and scholarships. It was a pleasure welcoming our special guests and parents to WACOA Denmark to see their children at their final assembly. I was also excited to present the Year 12 Prefects to our community and then announce our new School Captains for 2025, Macy Seaman and Zachary Butler.  I look forward to working with our new leaders and the whole prefect team next year.

We enjoyed great success at the recent Albany Show earlier this term. Our students performed exceptionally well in the cattle and sheep competitions, showcasing the College’s values to the public. They returned with numerous ribbons in cattle parading, cattle classes and they undertook sheep judging. Our equine students also competed at the Albany Show under the guidance of Ms Pagan. This achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of our students who competed and the support they get from their teachers and trainers.

We have now hosted the new students for 2025 through the enrolment days in Week 8. It was great to meet the students and parents and have them come into the College and begin their journey with us. It was fantastic to see them being fitted into their new uniforms, join us for lunch in the dining room, and then undertake some team building and ice breaking activities with the student services team in the afternoon. The overnight experience certainly gave our students, particularly the residential students, a real taste of life on campus. We will be contacting all families regarding the orientation that will occur over the first few days of term 1 in 2025.

Rebecca Kirkwood has been successful in her application for a permanent principal position in Perth. She has informed the school community that she will not be returning in 2025. Due to the late appointment, I have been asked to cover the position for term 1 in 2025, whilst the advertising for a permanent replacement occurs. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with the students and staff as we prepare for next year.

Next year we will welcome some new faces into the College on our teaching staff. As I reported in the last newsletter, we were working on filling some vacancies. This has now been completed and we will welcome Mrs Tia Hughes and Mr Peter Riley into the Mathematics Learning Area, taking over from Ms Trudi Romano and Ms Deborah Hatch. We will also welcome back Miss Sarah Johnson into the English Learning Area, meaning we will say farewell to Mr Tim Maisey at the end of this year. In the Science Learning Area, we welcome Mr Nicholas Virgona who is replacing Mr Chris Kirkwood. Mr Virgona is returning to the College, as he worked here in the past before taking a position at Denmark SHS.

I wish all of our students a wonderful break and we look forward to welcoming our new students and returning students to WACOA Denmark in the new year.

Wayne Austin
Principal
WACOA - Denmark