Term 2, Issue #2, 2016

ISSUE #2
TERM 1 • 2016
IMPORTANT DATES:
Term 1 Commences
School Ball
Tues 26 April
Sat 30 April
ADIDAS Fun Run
Bibbulmun Trek Info Night NAPLAN Testing
Thurs 28 April (Yr 7-10)
Friday 29 April (K-6)
Tues 3 May
Yr 10 WACE Info Night
Wed 4 May
Tues 10-Thurs 12 May
Primary Assembly
Thurs 19 May
Secondary Assembly
Fri 20 May
Woolgar Ave
MERREDIN . WA . 6415
Phone: 08 9041 0900 . Fax: 08 90412 008
MERREDIN COLLEGE
Congratulations
Congratulations to:
to:
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•
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•
•
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•
Trent Starcevich, Year 12 who has been selected to take part in the 2016 PACES
program in one of his ATAR subjects (Maths Methods) based on his exceptional
Year 11 results.
Jenna Muir, Year 11 who attended the United Nations State Conference recently. In
July, Jenna travels to China for 12 days since she has been selected to attend the
Envision Global Young Leaders Conference.
Corey Crane, Darcy Dixon, Tom Lane and Jack de Lacy who as a result of their
success in the Regional Schools Tennis Classic competed in the final in Perth last
Friday.
The K-2 and Year 4-6 Glass of Class winners who enjoyed lunch with Mrs Stanes
, Mrs Herbert and Mrs Shreeve on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mrs Shreeve and the Primary Student Leaders as well as Mr Baltovich, Mrs Ryan
and the Year 10 students who ran the Anzac Commemorative ceremonies on the
last Friday of term.
The secondary students who represented Merredin College at the Interschool
Swimming Carnival held at Wongan Hills and especially our champions and
runners up.
Primary
certificate
winners
and
secondary
Students
of
the
Month
who
were
acknowledged
at
recent
assemblies.
Secondary Interschool Swimmers
Haologen Leaders Camp
t his issue :
“
NEWS
ANZAC Service
Year 6 Camp
6
7
14
Principal’s
Principal’s
message
ICT News
Mrs Beverley Stanes
Principal
Staffing - Term 2
Merredin Show
Goodbye to those who are leaving:
Mrs Shirley Johnston (primary teacher) has been on long
service leave this term and has enjoyed it so much that she
has decided now is the time to retire. Mrs Johnston has made
an invaluable contribution to the primary students of Merredin
over 41 years with the last four being at Merredin College.
She will be greatly missed but has promised to visit us as
a relief teacher. We wish Shirley the very best for her wellearned retirement.
I was very proud of the Merredin College display at the Show
and wish to thank all teachers who provided student work.
Thanks also to the EAs who helped set up the boards and to
Ms Rebecca Wallace and Mrs Di Giles for their coordination
of the event. Our gardeners, Mr Max Law and Mr Scott
Bevis transported a great deal of equipment to and from the
Recreation Centre and a number of staff helped with the pack
up – thanks to all! It was also terrific to have our Merredin
College Choir on show, courtesy of Mrs Caryn Adamson.
Mrs Narelle Millington has won a position at St Marys PS.
We thank her for her professionalism and support with junior
primary DOTT throughout Term 1.
C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o Tr e n t
Starcevich and Jenna Muir
Miss Renee Gerrand has supported us in backfilling Mrs
Johnston and Mrs Kudas while they have been on leave.
Renee is off travelling the world. We wish her all the best
and acknowledge the great job she has done as a versatile
teacher at Merredin College.
Welcome to new staff and those who are returning:
Mrs Tracey Cornish will assume the positions held by Mrs
Millington (Junior Primary DOTT) and team-teaching with
Mrs Patricia Downsborough in the Year 3 class. Mrs Claire
Kudas returns from leave in Term 2 and will assume her role
in Preprimary 2, team-teaching with Mrs Sue Goodier. In the
secondary learning area of Humanities and Social Sciences
(HASS), we welcome Ms Sarah Johns
Long Service Leave
As parents are no doubt aware, many staff (teaching and nonteaching) have been instructed to take long service leave this
year. We have endeavoured to plan this to minimise the effect
on students, however I am aware that this impact cannot be
reduced to zero. A suitable replacement is always our first
priority when staff are on leave. Unfortunately as we move
into Term 2, the demand for relief increases as we have more
staff who will succumb to various illnesses. Sick leave is
something we cannot plan for.
School Ball
Year 10-12 students who meet the basic criteria for attendance,
Good Standing and completion of school work are invited to
attend the School Ball to be held on the first Saturday next
term (30 April). Our Year 12 leaders, under the guidance of Mr
Baltovich, have been working very hard towards this event.
Students are reminded that external partners are required to
have prior approval before being allowed to attend. Please
see Mr Baltovich, Ms Heinrich or Miss Smith if you have any
queries. Trent Starcevich (Year 12) has been selected to take part in
the 2016 Purposeful Academic Classes for Excelling Student
Program (PACES) in one of his ATAR subjects, Maths
Methods. Exceptionally high achieving students are invited
to attend the PACES program based on the data collected
from the Department’s Year 11 ATAR predictor. In my time at
Merredin College, Trent is the first student to be invited to take
part in this prestigious program which offers tutorial sessions
at Curtin University so that they are given the best chance of
excelling in their ATAR exams. We congratulate Trent and his
teacher Mr Mike Gibbon.
Congratulations also to Jenna Muir, Year 11 who was selected
to attend the United Nations State Conference which was
held recently in Perth. The conference was themed around
issues of Indigenous rights, equality and reconciliation. Jenna
participated in workshop, and games, listened to many
inspirational speakers and took part in the UN model debate
where Jenna represented the country of Haiti. In July, Jenna
travels to China for 12 days since she has been selected
to attend the Envision Global Young Leaders Conference.
300 people from 145 different countries will attend along
with Jenna. She will visit Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing and
Xian. During the conference she will be focusing on global
leadership, cross cultural communication and international
peace along with a very exciting schedule which includes a
Photos
of prac
visit to
the Terra
Cottateachers
Warriors, the Great Wall, old China and
many other fantastic places.
Both Trent and Jenna show just what is possible with some grit
and determination. Well done to both students who are terrific
role models.
A Thought...
‘Every morning you have two choices - to continue to sleep
with your dreams or to wake up and chase them.’ – Anonymous
message
2
Merredin College has recently undergone a Bandwidth upgrade from 10
megabits/sec to 20 megabits/sec. Along with WAN Optimisation and our move to
upgrade some of our older computers this should help make our network faster
and more Vision,
efficient. School
The secondary IT committee met recently and committed further funds to improve
the
currency
Values andof IT
resources in the College. Forty five new laptops have been ordered. A number of rooms have been identified
Priorities
as requiring E-boards, new data projectors or Smart TV screens. These will be ordered based upon staff needs as
outlined in discussion between staff and Mr Gerard Rennie (Deputy). A professional learning workshop - ‘Leading and
Teaching in a Digital School’ held at Merredin College on Monday 21 March has helped set our IT direction for the next 2-3 years.
Staff are keen to look at a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ program. More information will be provided as it comes to hand.
The Primary Device Program provided the school with $50,784 to allocate to ICT. This has meant that we have ordered 52 IPad
Air 2s as well as a number of other peripherals which are discussed in the primary section of this newsletter.
2015 Annual School Report
The 2015 Annual School Report has been uploaded to Schools Online and can be found at:
http://www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolsonline/home.do
Independent Public Schools (IPS) - New Opportunity for 2017
In the last newsletter I wrote briefly about IPS, and now is the time to provide some more information which describes the thinking behind IPS.
Schools serve their communities and as such Independent Public Schools are given more autonomy to address the specific needs of the students
from their own community. IPS is not all about privilege as there are substantial responsibilities which come with being an IPS school. It is a
commonly held view, that non-IPS schools have ‘things done to them by the Department.’ As an example, in the past the Department tended to
roll out system-wide professional learning or initiatives. All schools had to take part whether it was appropriate or not. That is, a’ one-size fits all’
approach operated. With increased autonomy the school makes more of the decisions based on the particular needs of the school and community
context. In an IPS school the school makes the decisions but wears the consequences of those decisions!
With centralized control, schools have little decision-making ability. In the past staff were assigned to schools whether suited to the context or
not and schools were told to spend their allocated funds in specified ways. The problem with this model is that it creates dependency and stifles
creative thinking. School improvement processes were run from central office. The shift to increased local autonomy moves the locus of control
from an external one to an internal one. With an external locus of control someone else (central office) makes the decisions and then schools can
blame them when things go wrong! With an internal locus of control schools make the decisions and are responsible for the outcomes. Ideally
everyone (teaching and non-teaching staff) in an effective school should have an internal locus of control. Think about two teachers in terms of
the locus of control. Which teacher behaviour do we want to nurture for the benefit of students?
A) Every time Teacher A has a problem he/she tries to work out how to solve it. Teacher A takes responsibility for every child to learn as has well differentiated programs of work. If students are not engaged Teacher A tries new approaches until all students are engaged. If there are
‘off task” behaviours, Teacher A looks at what he/she could do differently. Teacher A personally calls parents and ensures there is a relationship
between him/her and the parents – Teacher A has an internal locus of control as takes responsibility for & solves his/her own problems.
B) Every time Teacher B has a problem he/she blames someone else - the students (learning difficulties, home situation etc), the parents or
the school (poor behaviour management processes). Teacher B takes little responsibility for every child to learn as has a set program of work
(sink or swim approach). Teacher B rarely looks at what he/she is doing if students are not engaged or there are ‘off task’ behaviours. His/her
attitude is ‘don’t expect me to change as it is not my problem.’ Teacher B makes little or no effort to call home as doesn’t believe it will make a
difference – Teacher B has an external locus of control as takes limited responsibility for issues and blames others for the problems.
Becoming an IPS school involves a mind shift. It is about moving to an internal locus of control. We are fortunate that for most of our teachers
this is already present.
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•
An IPS school is not a private school. It is still part of the public system & benefits from the strength of a large system.
An IPS school cannot make its own rules. It is bound by the legislative and policy obligations, particularly all legislation including, but not
limited to, the School Education Act 1999, Public Sector Management Act 1994, Financial Management Act 2006 and School Curriculum
and Standards Authority Act 2012 and all industrial instruments.
In becoming an IPS, each school must be confident that the increased flexibility will improve the learning outcomes of students. In other words
two questions must be answered by the leadership team:
a. How will IPS make it better for students in classrooms?
b. What do we need to do at Merredin College to make a difference in the classroom?
If we decide to apply for IPS, we will be required to present to a panel of IPS principals in August in which the following three criteria will be judged:
• Does our school have the capability of becoming IPS? I have no doubt that it does.
• Does the school have local support (from staff and community)? This we need to find out.
• Can we describe how we will use our increased autonomy to improve educational outcomes for students? Already staff have suggested
the introduction of specialist programs like Football to more effectively attract, engage and retain students. There are lots of other ideas
worthy of consideration. In saying this, we do not need to introduce specialist programs if not deemed necessary.
If you would like to read more about IPS, go to:
http://www.education.wa.edu.au/home/detcms/navigation/about-us/programs-and-initiatives/independent-public-schools/?page=1#toc1
Secondary
Secondary
update
update
Ye a r 7 – 9 P r e p a r i n g Yo u r C h i l d f o r
a University Pathway
Students who are planning on attending university when they
finish high school need a long term plan to ensure that they what
they are doing now is setting them up for the future. To help with
this planning, in Week 7 parents and students of Years 7 – 9 were
invited to attend a presentation at the school so that students and
their parents could begin the discussions and thought process
about which pathway they want to take. The meeting outlined
the importance of regular attendance and Ms Smith graphically
displayed the impact on a child’s education of missing school. A
child who misses ½ a day per week from P-12 (this is regarded as
regular attendance) will miss one whole year of their education. In
the competitive world in which we live in this could have a huge
impact.
Student application and performance throughout Years 7 - 9 are
important indicators on likely success in a University Pathway
with students needing to strive for Band 8 in NAPLAN when in
Year 9. By way of introduction to university courses, the entrance
requirements were briefly explained so that students can start
to become familiar with the language and demands of such a
course.
At Merredin College we offer an effectiveUniversity Pathway and
have had very good success rates for our students who wish to
attend university. Our ATAR dux student in 2015 was in the top 7%
of all Western Australian students applying for a university place.
O L NA
Students in Years 10 – 12 who had not meet the Literacy and
Numeracy standard requirements for their Western Australian
Certificate of Education (WACE) have just completed the Round
1 sitting of these assessments. I am pleased to see the growing
confidence of our students and the maturity in the way they have
approached this online assessment. Students have been well
prepared by their teachers.
NA P L A N
Students in Years 3,5,7 and 9 will be undertaking NAPLAN tests
from Tuesday 10th May – Thursday 12th May. Students will
be tested in the areas of Reading, Writing, Spelling, Language
Conventions and Numeracy. Teaching staff will be supervising
all tests. If you have any queries please contact Jayne Smith on
9041 0900.
4
“Impro
Mr Gerard Rennie
Deputy Principal
C o m p u t at i o n a l a n d A l g o r i t h m i c
T h i n k i n g ( C AT )
For the first time at Merredin College, Tuesday 22nd
March saw 18 Merredin College students undertake the
challenge of the Computational and Algorithmic Thinking
(CAT) competition. The CAT competition is a one-hour
problem-solving competition which seeks to identify computer
programming potential—something which students might not
normally have an opportunity to demonstrate.
Students chosen to participate in the competition are drawn
from the mathematics extension classes in Years 7, 8 & 9, and
given the growing curriculum emphasis on algorithmic thinking
and the inclusion of digital technologies in the Australian
Curriculum, this special opportunity provides a unique chance
to expose students to this exciting new discipline.
The CAT is not a programming competition and no
programming experience is required. Results in the CAT often
enable a talent to be discovered that is not always apparent
or sought in normal classroom activities. Some questions test
the ability to accurately perform procedures; others require
logical thought, while the more challenging problems require
the identification and application of algorithms.
The original problems are designed to be quick to solve and
highly approachable, and range in difficulty from very easy to
challenging. The competition employs a mixture of multiplechoice and integer answers, and incorporates unique ‘three
stage tasks’ that encourage students to develop informal
algorithms and apply them to test data of increasing size or
complexity.
The CAT gives students external recognition of their
achievements. All students receive a certificate showing their
level of achievement and a detailed report showing how they
went on each problem compared with others in their own year
and Australian state.
Congratulations to the 18 students who challenged themselves
in this exiting competition. We look forward to receiving the
results.
ving sc
ho
priorit ol attendanc
e is a
y in 20
16”
Miss Jayne Smith
Deputy Principal
Attendance
At the end of Term 1 it is encouraging that 71% of our students in Year 7-12
have maintained regular attendance! Of that 71%, 66 students have not missed
a single day of school! These students are listed below and will be presented with
a certificate at the first assembly in Term 2. Please remember that for students to
be able to participate in non-curriculum based excursions or incursions they must
have a minimum of 85% attendance. Students attending the School Ball, Country
Week or the Canberra Excursion must have 90% or higher!
School Ball
100% Attendance - Term 1
YEAR 7: Arlo Adams, Emily Berryman, Sebastian ClarkWatts, Shannon Clarke, Alyssa Coelho, Jay Fuller,
Brooklyn Garlett, Benjamin Geier, Riley Hanson, Felicity
Hasson, Jack Laffan, Kyrah Lane, Mikayla Mason,
Tre Ring, Gabrielle Smith, Jordi Smith, Luke Watkins,
Campbell Woodfield.
YEAR 8: Trent Caplan, Rex Clement, Ashton Feifar,
Robert Fitzsimons, Kiara Flanagan, Holly-Rose Franich,
Chloe Garlett, Brock Holman, Thomas Lane, Blair Morris,
Panashe Mudimu, Amberley Nita, Chloe Partington, Riley
Price, Carrissa Sutherland-Scott, India Tieland, Jade
Watkins, Layla White, Esmerelda Yoresongo.
YEAR 9: Liam Adams, Jack Carroll, Chloe Coomber,
Reilley Ferguson, Ebonie Harwood, Maddison Lane,
Maddison McWilliam, Callum Penny, Alexander
Rajagopalan, Jacob Richards, Cameron Scaddan, Ashton
Tieland.
YEAR 10: Eli Adams, Joshua Burrell, Sophie Caplan,
Alexander Clement, Lana Drakeford, Patrick Stone, Tyren
Stones.
YEAR 11: Joshua Dixon, Hudson Onn, Benjamin
Rousseau.
YEAR 12: Salome Adams, Jamie Arthur, Geoffrey Doncon,
Maroushka Houareau, Hannah Robartson, Ashleigh Silver, Trent Starcevich, Brittney Sutherland-Scott, Brock
Tieland, Lochlan White, Bonnie Wilkins
The Merredin College School Ball is on Saturday 30 April at the
Cummins Theatre. The theme for the evening is ‘A New York
Night’, featuring the best of what New York City has to offer.
Students may begin arriving at 6:30pm, with the official entrance of
the Year 12 students and their partners from 7:10pm. Parents and
family of Year 12 students will be invited to attend for the official
introduction.
All tickets have now been sold for the event and it is expected that
the majority of our Year 10 to 12 students will be in attendance.
All students must remember to bring their tickets with them on the
night to ensure prompt entry to the theatre. Students have been
briefed on the behaviour and etiquette expected on the night, and
any student found in violation of these rules will be asked to leave
the event. For those students bringing external partners, they
are to be reminded to abide by the rules to ensure a safe and
enjoyable evening.
Upon entry, students with external partners must introduce their
partner to the Acting Principal and Deputies. Once inside Cummins
Theatre, students must stay inside the complex for the duration of
the event. If a student leaves he or she will not be allowed back
in and parents will be notified. No unprescribed drugs, including
alcohol and tobacco, are permitted before, during or after the
event. Finally, no student is able to leave the Cummins Theatre
until 11pm. The College discourages pre and post Ball parties.
The Student Councillors are working hard to ensure the event will
be a night the attendees will not forget.
Are you interested in volunteering and mentoring students
at Merredin College in Term 2 2016?
Merredin College is seeking school volunteers from the community
to offer guidance, support and encouragement to selected
students for at least one hour per week. If you would like to
volunteer and have a valid Working with Children Check, or
want more information please contact Kelly Robins at the school
on 9041 0900.
Secondary
Secondary
update
w
Assembly 17 March
HIGHEST
ACHEIVERS
2015 Highest
Acheivers
Year 7 Highest Acheivers
YEAR 7
YEAR 10
Arlo Adams
Declan Carroll
Carrie Cooper-Lepre
Seabstian Daddow
Rikkia Dalgety
Ellie Downsborough
Brooklyn Garlett
Ben Geier
Baleigh-Rose Grant
Blake Jones
Kane Morris
Jordi Smith
Georgina Squire
Eli Adams
Joshua Burrell
Sophie Caplan
Samantha Cash
Naomi Coelho
Jessica Cox
Jack Fitzsimons
Jayden Gartrell
Kaity Holman
Anahera Huirama
Natasha Luption
Ben Neal
Kaleb Roissetter
Tyren Stones
Joel Taylor
Jacob Turnbull
YEAR 8
Year 8 - Highest Acheivers
Year 9 - Highest Acheivers
Charlee Brooker
Rex Clement
Bridget Dixon
Darcy Dixon
Jorja Downsborough
Tom Farson
Ashton Feifar
Rob Fitzsimons
Kiara Flanagan
Amberley Nita
Sandrina Nunesca
Stewart Watson
Layla White
Patrick Withers
Esmerelda Yoresongo
YEAR 9
Year 10 - Highest Acheivers
Year 11/12 - Highest Acheivers
Chloe Coomber
Marcus Flint
Zacharry Gould
Ebonie Harwood
Siobhan Hayden
Maddison Lane
Hettie Moore
Micah O’Neill
Michel Pelias
Tiana Puglia
Jacob Richards
Amy Robartson
Cameron Scaddan
Chloe Walsh
Simon Watson
Chelsea Willis
Monty Woods
d
r
a
A
YEAR 11
Rebekka Biddulph
Jasmin Corby
Taylor Davies
Elli Hendriks
Jessica Hubeck
Kane Kahika Lewis
Annalise Kearing
Zachary McQuistan
Sonia Powell
Aiden Price
Benjamin Rousseau
Bradley Smith
Christian Subiza
YEAR 12
Kelsey Adamson
Kelsey Cox
Chloe Dayman
Sarah Drakeford
Neeve Fitzsimons
Simon Franklin
Josh Ghirardi
Nadine Jansen Van Vuuren
Declan Karra
Liam Palmer
Chloe Pawlow
Hannah Robartson
Trent Starcevich
Brittney Sutherland
Jamison Watts
Brittany West
VALUES AWARD WINNERS
Year 7 - Kyrah Lane & Corey Cummins
Year 8 - Breanna Charleson
Year 9 - Shayley Hendriks
Year 10 - Joshua Burrell & Tnaya Withers
Year 11/12 - Kane Kahika Lewis &
Jamison Watts
STUDENT OF THE
MONTH
update
Halogen Leadership Camp
6
On Friday 18th of March the Merredin College Year 12 Student Councillors and Year 7-11
Middle School Councillors travelled to Perth to attend the Halogen National Young Leaders
Day. We travelled down Thursday afternoon and despite being held up in a traffic jam, we
made it to our accommodation in Swanleigh in ample time. The next day was an early start,
and everybody was excited about the conference. Before attending the event, we travelled to
Shaun Tan
the new Elizabeth Quay and walked across the newly constructed foreshore
area.Awards
From there
a short walk took us to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre where the conference was
to be held.
Before the speakers began presenting, and during the recess and lunch breaks, there was
an exhibition hall open that all of the schools could attend. This area had many stalls set
up
with11representatives from different organisations. The stalls present included several of
Year
the universities, the Defence Force, Headspace, Volunteer Projects Abroad, Leeuwin Ocean
Adventure, and many others. Also the speakers from the conference were in the exhibition hall
which allowed the students to personally talk to and interact with them.
There were a total of 5 speakers over the day, each with a different and inspiring story. The
focus of the conference was the phrase ‘Master The Little’ wherein the main message from
all of the speakers was to ensure that we, as leaders, would endeavour to focus on the small
achievements as well as the large.
The first speaker was Nathan ‘Dubsy’ Want, a youth speaker. A past personal trainer, Dubsy as
he is commonly known, engaged the entire audience in a highly entertaining and motivational
speech. The auditorium was filled with laughter as he used wit and humour to engage us.
Taku 12
Scrutton was the third speaker, a cultural ambassador, who raised awareness of the
Year
importance of multiculturalism, acceptance, individuality, and of course, good dancing. She
Year 11
engaged the audience with her story where she has passionately strived for equality through
Attendance
her YouTube channel Taku TV and children’sYear
book12‘Multicultural Me’.
The fourth speaker was Dylan Parker, a Paper Pilot. After having a golf-ball sized tumour removed from his brain, Dylan was inspired
to quit his job in advertising to pursue his love of paper planes. His passion would lead him to achieve 3rd place in the World Paper
Plane Championship. Shortly afterwards, he was offered a technical advice position in the making of the film ‘Paper Planes’, and
was instrumental in the creation of the film. He inspired us to work hard at the little things, and follow our dreams no matter how
unconventional they may seem.
The final speaker was Drisana Levitzke-Grey, the Young Australian of the Year, a passionate advocate for the rights of deaf and hearing
impaired people. Being deaf herself since birth, Drisana told the inspirational story of her upbringing and Young Australian of the Year
nomination and subsequent win. She explained her story in sign language, and an interpreter translated and spoke to the audience.
It was a new experience for many, and opened our eyes to the problems faced by the deaf community on a daily basis.
Year 11 - Jessica Hubeck, Year 7 - Georgina Squire,
Year 9 - Simon Watson, Year 10 - Kaleb Roiseetter,
Absent: Year 8 - Ashton Feifar,
Year 12 - Brittney Sutherland-Scott
MIDDLE SCHOOL
COUNCILLORS
The whole event was extremely inspiring, and was an experience that will greatly enhance our skills as effective and approachable
leaders. We would like to thank the teachers who organised the trip and accompanied us, Mrs Heinrich and Honorary Paper Pilot
Boltovich. We extend our thanks to Collgar Windfarm, without the support of which, we wouldn’t be able to attend the event.
Ashleigh Silver & Trent Starcevich
HEAD GIRL & HEAD BOY
The weeks of Term One are already flying pastYear
and 7
the Student Councillors and I
have been busy fundraising and planning for the 2016 Merredin College School
Ball. We have raised money through several catering events for the staff of Merredin
College, and two very successful sausage sizzles at Two Dogs Home Timber and
Hardware. It was great to see the community come together to support the school.
The school ball, the theme of which is “A New York Night”, is to be held on the
30 April 2016 (the first Saturday of Term 2), at Cummins Theatre. We have been
working hard as a team to create a fantastic night and we really hope that it will
be a great success.
Year 10 - Sonny King & Jessica Cox
Year 9 - Jack Downsborough & Chelsea Willis
Year 8 - Darcy Dixon & Jorja Downsborough
Year 7 - Paige Tiller & Blake Jones
We are happy (and relieved), to confirm that the 2016 Year 12 Leavers Jackets are
Secondary School Leaders
currently in production, and are scheduled to arrive at the school during Week
& Middle School Councillors
1, Term 2. Below is an image of the front and the back of the final design for the
leaver’s jackets. 
Values Awards
spotlight
Interschool Swimming Carnival
spotlight
8
Mr David O’Neill - Teacher In Charge
PHYSICAL EDUCATION & HEALTH
The Merredin College Swim Team competed at the Interschool Swimming Carnival held at Wongan
Hills last Friday. It was a team of 26 keen swimmers who were up bright and early being on the
bus at 6:30am for the long trip to the pool. The road trip to and from the pool was almost as long
as the carnival itself, however, all our swimmers were keen to impress. The weather was beautiful
for swimming and the pool temperature was warm. Our students swam some great times and
represented the College admirably displaying sportsmanship both in and out of the pool.
ANZAC Commemorative Service
The 2016 ANZAC secondary commemorative service was hosted by the 10.1 English and
HASS class on Friday 8th April. Throughout Term 1 students had conducted research
into the experience of soldiers who fought in the Vietnam conflict and in particular the
Battle of Long Tan. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this battle and the class
was amazed by the courage and skill the Australian soldiers fought with under perilous
conditions where they were significantly outnumbered by Viet Cong. Speakers from
the 10.1 class included Sean Sandercock, Jack Fitzsimons, Lana Drakeford, Courtney
Garlett, Cooper Creek, Brooke Thornton and Nicola Beck. Sonny King, Josh Burrell,
Samantha Cash and Tyla McFarlane presented their reports on two important men
from the battle. Eli Adams, Liana Craine, Bowden de Waal and Jessica Cox recited
moving odes they had written especially for the occasion
Merredin College finished the day second overall, which was a fantastic result for the team and a
valid reward for our swimmers most of who swam 5 or more events. We had some terrific individual
achievements as well with two Champion Swimmers in Amy Robartson (Yr 9) and Hannah Robartson
(Yr 12) and 5 Runner-Up Champion swimmers in Paige Tiller (Yr 7), Charlie Brooker (Yr 8), Febe
Irving (Yr 9), Kaleb Roissetter (Yr 10) and Lana Drakeford (Yr 10). Well done to all members of the
team in what was a big day of competition.
I’d like to thank the parents of the swimmers for dropping their child off so early in the morning
and collecting them up in the early evening. It is a great opportunity for our students to be able
to test their skills against other schools at an Interschool event such as this and I know from their
enthusiasm that they enjoyed the competition. I’d also like to thank those parents who helped with
timing at the carnival and those who also made the drive to support the team.
We would like to thank the veterans who attended, Mr Johnstone and Mr Tompkin,
Mr Hayden for performing the ‘Welcome to Country’, the Primary choir, cadets as well
as other special guests and parents. The 10.1 class with the guidance of Mr Baltovich
and Mrs Ryan did a stirling job and led a very moving ANZAC service. Lest we forget.
Tennis Tournament - Perth
On Friday 1st April Merredin College students competed in the Country Schools Classic Tennis finals in Perth. The team was made up
of four Year 8 and 9 students; Corey Craine, Darcy Dixon, Tom Lane and Patrick Withers. These four won the regional competition
earlier in the term held in Cunderdin against Northam schools. On the day the weather was against us as rain had stopped play for
a period of time, until the sun eventually came out. The boys played against three country schools; Bunbury Catholic College, Great
Southern Grammar and Kulin DHS. All three rounds were very close on the score board with many coming down to a tie breaker.
Unfortunately our boys could not overcome some of the talented opposition and narrowly missed out on second place. It was a
fantastic opportunity for our students to compete at this level and a special thanks is given to Di and Charlie Dixon who offered their
help to drive the boys to Perth and back. Well done to our players. We look forward to having another attempt at the championship
next year.
Design & Technology
Year 7 - students have been using hand tools in order to create wooden spoons.
Year 8 - students have been practising their design skills by creating laminated chopping boards
with a Western Australian theme.
Year 9 - students have been working hard to design and produce a crocodile box.
Year 10 - students have been busy updating the workshop by producing new bench hooks for
the rest of the school to use. They have also completed a Joints Portfolio demonstrating their
abilities with hand tools. The class is currently producing boxes using a variety of hand tools and
machines.
Year 11 and 12 - students have also created a Joints Portfolio in order to demonstrate their
abilities with hand tools. They are currently producing an occasional table using both hand tools
and machines.
Secondary
Footy V Balga & Warwick
Miss Hickman
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
It has been a whirlwind this term down in the Woodwork room. Before entering the workshop all students had to complete safety
activities that were relevant to the workshop. Since then students have been busy making a variety of woodwork pieces which allow
them to practise using skills learnt so far this year.
Merredin College competed in the annual Football matches against Warwick Senior High School and Balga Senior High School late
in Term 1. These two matches are an annual event and give our students an opportunity to compete with one another against Perth
schools that run a Football Academy program. The first game against Warwick SHS was hard fought and a skilful display by both sides.
Merredin College was smaller in stature, however, they played with passion and a never give up attitude lead by Year 10 Brandon
Zwarecz and Year 9 Sam Alberti. Our Year 9 and 10 students kept the score even for majority of the match with the excellent work rate
of midfield players - Josh Burrell and Brady Alvaro. In the end Merredin ran out of substitutions and Warwick SHS pulled away to win
by 9 points. The ‘Man of the Match’ awarded by the Warwick SHS coach was Jack Dixon for his dangerous kicking in the forward line.
On Tuesday 5th April, Merredin College Year 8 and 9 students competed against Balga
SHS. Our Year 9s were keen for a win in this game and they lead by example for the
younger Year 8s. Balga SHS offered tough competition but the Merredin College players
were too good on the day. There were many stand out players for Merredin College
including; Dylan Hayden, Brady Alvaro, Corey Craine, Darcy Lowe, Jack Downsborough
and Reilley Ferguson. After the third quarter the score was very one sided in Merredin
College’s favour and so two players were given to Balga in the
hope of evening out the competition. Brady Alvaro and Corey
Craine racked up possessions and created goal scoring passages
of play for Balga. The Merredin College students enjoyed the
extra competition and did not make it easy for their former team
mates. Overall the day was successful and our football players
showed fantastic sportsmanship and school pride.
Mr David Pirovich
PHYSICAL EDUCATION & HEALTH
Primary
Our focus value for Term 1 is ‘WORK ETHIC’. Classes
have been discussing what is good work ethic and how
we demonstrate it. Classes are focussing on the positive
rewards students gain by displaying good work ethic and
being able to complete their required work without constant
teacher reminder. Children who display outstanding work
ethic have been given a Letter of Commendation and went
into our draw for lunch with Mrs Stanes held this week.
Primary Device Program
Merredin College has received a large grant from the
Department of Education to improve the access of primary
students to tablet devices. This grant of $26000 was provided
dollar for dollar, with the school matching the investment. We have placed an order for 52 new iPad Air2 with cases,
keyboards and headsets as well as setting up a new portable
syncing station and charging stations in classes. We will be
setting up Apple TV in 5 rooms to allow students to display
their device desktops onto the interactive whiteboards.
20 of the new iPads will be replacing out-dated iPads in the
school and these will be advertised for sale next term.
Over the next 6 months staff will be trained in the new Apple
iPad software which allows for multiple users and will be
investigating ways to better integrate iPad usage into the
classroom.
10
ASSEMBLY Week 8 - Term 1
Mrs Lorraine Shreeve
Deputy Principal
Ms Lynne Herbert
Deputy Principal
Our Year 4/5 class under the guidance of Miss Lockyer hosted our Week 4 assembly
and entertained us with a dance mob singing their 6 and 8 times table jingles! Mrs
Adamson also lead the school through a wonderful rendition of ‘The First Day of
School’.
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W
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Halogen Leaders Day
Thursday 17th March saw our school leaders and deputy
leaders go to the annual Halogen Leaders Day. It was a
day full of inspirational talks, activities and music from a
variety of presenters. The one that struck a major chord
with all students was the 2015 Young Australian of the Year
recipient, who was deaf. She had her speech translated but
the students were in awe of how much she had done and
was still trying to do. Her inability to hear was not considered
a “disability” to her – it was just the way it was!!
Values Awards
They had a chance to meet the man who inspired the Paper
Planes movie and listened to his story, which was very
inspirational. All the presenters had a common message –
MASTER THE LITTLE!! Most
great leaders do not see
themselves as a leader. They
just do the same as everyone
else and others follow. A very
worthwhile day of inspirational
thoughts and messages for
our students.
ECU Practice Teachers and
Student Education Assistants
Xander Boehme
Noah Ghirardi
Chelsea Routledge
Campbell Gardiner
PP1
Harper Purssell
Leila Hayden
PP2
Stella Major
Kozwaie Ledger
Year 1
Kim Nunesca
Tamia Cole
Year 1/2
Kenneth Lara
Dakota Dimer
Year 2
Shaianne Shiosaki
Malik Gordon
Year 3
Archer Gardiner
Kane Osborne
Year 3/4
Madden Creek
Tori Pearce
Year 4/5
Dylan Pelias
Savannah Spencer
Year 5/6
Ebony-Rose Stone Music
Tallie
Jordan Billing
Year 6
Tuscynnie Yardley
Sienna Shelton
Ella de Lacy
GLASS OF CLASS
We would like to welcome Rachael Perry who has been
completing her practical unit as part of her Certificate III in
Children’s Services with TAFE. Rachael has been working
in our upper primary classes mentored by teachers and
experienced education assistants in the school.
We will have 2 Practical Students from ECU who are currently
studying Education in school next term. The students will
be working in the Kindergarten with Mrs Bennett and in
Pre-primary 1 with Mrs Boehme.
report
Assembly
report
Primary Values Program
Primary
TERM 1
Kindy-Year 2
Charlotte Hatch, Noah Hughes, Ambrose McGrath, Sam Brunetti, Chloe
Wahlsten, Stell Major, Malik Gordon, Lianie Coetzee, Amy Batty,
Gracie-Lee Wall
Year 6 Leaders: Ella de Lacy, Emma Irving,
Jaden Willis & Brock Brinkworth
YEAR 3-6
Olivia Kett, Grace Shelton, Shimmilliah-Rose Simpson, Shayla Shiosaki,
Harlie Corlett, Tess Paterson, Matilda Hardy, Sophie Saunders
Siena Shelton, Brandon Parkin
Primary
spotlight
Primary
14
spotlight
ANZAC Commemoration
Year 6 Camp
On Friday 8 April our Primary Student Leaders presented the ANZAC ceremony for 2016. It was
held early as ANZAC Day falls during the school holidays this year. Ella deLacy, Jaden Willis, Emma
Irving, Brock Brinkworth, Alannah Simmonds and Angelique Oelofse presented a respectful and
moving service for our invited Veterans, parents, staff and students. The service highlighted the 50th
anniversary about the battle of Long Tan. The students spoke of admiring and preserving the values of
bravery, mateship, self-sacrifice, initiative and daring, which were evident in our ANZAC heros as well
as by all the men and women still serving to protect our country.
Families are reminded that our students can attend both the dawn and mid-morning services held in
Merredin on Monday 25 April 2016.
Waste Wise Grant
The school has received a grant from Waste Wise to support our initiative
to set up a complete recycling structure from Kindergarten to Year 6 to
deal with waste generated within the school. Currently shredded paper
is being used for our kitchen garden project for mulching/composting and
for our chicken farm for nesting. We will be extending this to encompass
more paper waste and organic waste generated by school lunches. This
will include the introduction of worm farming, recycling bins for paper in
classes, a reuse centre, recycling bins for organic waste in the playground
and general recycling boxes for batteries, mobile phones
and spectacles.
We plan to introduce zero waste lunch days each term.
We currently have boxes in the Admin Offices for recycling
of spectacles, mobile phones and lithium free batteries.
Week 6 saw the Year 6 students travel to Dwellingup for their
annual Year 6 camp. It was four days full of leadership and
adventure activities. Activities included kayaking, raft building,
team building rope and climbing tasks, nature arts and crafts
and the biggest hit were the flying fox and wall climbing at night.
The evenings were full of games and other activities but the
most enjoyable was our “fashion expo” with famous judges
flown in for the evening. Each morning began with shooting
hoops with Mr Close as a wakeup call and then onto breakfast
set up. The food was fabulous and there was always plenty of
it.
From a teachers point of view the frequent comments at how
well behaved and responsible our students were made the
week so much more enjoyable. Thank you to all the parents
for their hard work in fundraising and paying for camp as we all
know it is a struggle at the beginning of the year. You should be
very proud of your children – we had an amazing time!!!
Primary
Primary
spotlight
spotlight
16
Choir - Merredin Show
Our Merredin College Choir sang once again at the Merredin Show on the
19th of March. We sang three songs which included “Welcome Back”, “Bright
Happy Day” and “Dancing on the Rooftop”. The last song included three of our
students ‘playing’ the saxophone, trombone and trumpet which was one of the
highlights for them. This was the first public performance for some of our choir
members and once again they did an outstanding job. We have heard positive
comments all round. Well done Choir and we look forward to a fantastic year!
Mrs Caryn Adamson
Music Teacher
Year 1/2
Term 1 in the Year 1-2 class this year has been all about
getting to know each other, learning to talk and work with
each other through co-operative activities, becoming ‘mindful’
and moving as much as possible to keep our brains active.
Mrs Amanda Cash
Class Teacher
One of our favourite ‘class building’ activities is ‘Pass the Hoop’ where we work together to pass a hula hoop around our circle without
letting go of each other’s hands. At first it was a bit tricky but now we like to see how fast we can do it!
We have been participating in the Smiling Minds program which teaches us how to find a calm place in our own minds by thinking
about what we are feeling and understanding our feelings. One of our favourite activities was from the beginning of the program and
it’s called ‘Rock the Boat’. We made origami boats, put them on our tummies and made them move with our belly breathing.
‘Wombat Stew’ was the first book we read together as a class and was the inspiration for our class board for the Merredin Show. It
is amazing how many activities one book can inspire. We did recipe writing, acted out the story, explored ways to make 100 (blue
tongue lizard put 100 flies into the wombat stew), compared ants and termites (that’s what echidna put into the stew), learned about
Australia on a map, and investigated Australian animals. Did you know that a baby echidna is called a puggle?
Year 1
Miss Esther Lane
Class Teacher
Earlier this term our class and the Year 2 class made an exciting
discovery. We found bear paw prints around the school, bear fur,
scattered scraps of food, and even some bear poo! After inspecting
the evidence we decided that there must be a bear hiding
somewhere around the school. Of course, we then learnt ‘We’re
Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen during Literacy, which we
did a great job of performing at assembly with Miss Fardell’s class.
Since then have been busy completing lots of bear hunt activities,
such as making our own bear hunt maps and sensory collages of the
different places in the story. We have innovated the bear hunt story
to come up with our own exciting stories about searching for Easter
Mrs Bennett
eggs, skeletons,
sharks, big foot, cake and unicorns to name a few!
Class Teacher
We have been singing a song about the seven continents and
a poem about the five oceans for geography. We have mapped
our town and know the difference between a map and a globe.
The earth revolves around the sun and turns at the same time
so all places in Australia gets sunlight at different times. The
class learnt that there is an Equator, a Tropic of Capricorn and
a Tropic of Cancer.
When the big hand is on the six
and the little hand on the four,
then it is half four. Also in maths
we have been estimating big
groups of numbers, counting
the dots to make the dominoes
equal and looking at 2D shapes
like octogons (8 sides) and
squares( 4 sides). We jump
along the number line and add
numbers to 20.
Noah Ghirardi
Nate Corlett
Fair play rules help us to play
well together to be a good friend.
We can say kind things which
are called compliments. The four
types of compliments are on how
we look, behave, have and do. We
mostly give compliments about
what our friends do and their
behaviours. Another part of our
PATHS health program is being
a good listener. We look at the
speaker, nod our head and don’t
interrupt.
Shaianne Shiosaki
Milla Kett
In Science we have been investigating what happens to water
when it rains - whether it sinks into the ground or runs off
somewhere else. Our class did a water walk around the school
to see where there was water and what it was used for. There is
a fire hydrant near the dance studio in case there is a fire.
Year 2
Mrs Deidre Fardell
Class Teacher
College
DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR:
community
LOCALS MATTER
Uniform Shop
You may be aware that Two Dog’s Hardware runs a ‘Locals
Matter’ community incentive at their store here in Merredin. Each
month three different not-for-profit groups have their name and
cause attached to a jar where customers can place a token in
the jar of their choice after a cash purchase. Each month $300 is
donated to the group with the most tokens and $100 each to the
two remaining groups. April is Merredin College’s month! So, remember your P&C (and
your children) when you shop at Two Dog’s this month and pop
a token into our jar. Thank you for supporting Merredin College
P&C!
A new price list for Semester 2 will be available from
Administration at the beginning of Term 2. We have had to
increase some prices as items were being sold at cost!
Remember - profits from the sale of uniforms go back into
the P&C for the students benefit.
Winter uniforms - Sports pants were ordered and expected
to arrive Week 4, Term 2. There are only a small number of surplus stock - if you have not ordered you need to do so
NOW! First come, first served!
MC ON FACEBOOK
We have created a Merredin College Facebook Page! The page
will be used for notifications only, to keep the community up to
date with current information and events.
We are currently looking at different options to upgrade/improve
the way we communicate current information with parents/carers.
Next term will be a time of transition and we will be distributing a
new look weekly update via email.This will replace the existing
Primary and Secondary connects. Please don’t forget to notify
the school if your email address changes!
ADIDAS FUN RUN
This year we are holding a FUN RUN to raise money for the Merredin
School Chaplaincy Program provided by Youthcare.The students will
get people to sponsor them and depending on the amount they raise
they get to pick a prize from that category. All the information is in
the ADIDAS Sponsorship Booklet distributed last term.Please make
sure that the form is completed with all the details filled out and that
students have selected their prizes from the appropriate prize range.
Money will be due back to the classroom teachers or Student Services
no later than Friday 6 May.Good luck and thank you for your support!!
Thursday 28 April - Year 7 - 10
Friday 29 April - Kindy - Year 6
on the Merredin College Oval
26 April Term 2 Commences
30 April
School Ball - Cummins Theatre (6.30pm)
3 May
Bibbulmun Trek Info Night 7pm
4 May Yr 10 WACE Info Night 5.30-7pm
10/12 May NAPLAN Yr 3,5,7 & 9
16 May
School Council Meeting 4.30pm
P & C Meeting 6pm
19 May K-6 Assembly Period 1
20 May
7-12 Assembly Period 1
23-27 May
VET Workplacement Period 1
25 May-3 June Yr 11/12 ATAR Exams
27 May
School Newsletter
30 May Yr 11 Student Council
Election Process
30 May - 3 June Year 12 General Courses
(Externally Set Tasks)
3 June
Musica VIVA
3 June Primary & Secondary
Cross Country
6 June
WA Day - Public Holiday
7 June School Development Day
27 June-1 July Country Week
11 July
Last Day of Term
Who to contact at Merredin College in 2016
An outline of major staff and general responsibilities is shown below. In order to receive a timely response to concerns, parents and carers are
requested to contact the appropriate person directly. This is best done, by telephoning the Merredin College Office and asking for the person
concerned.
Bev Stanes (Principal) – unresolved issues or concerns of a confidential nature
Thelma Motzel/Janelle Millar (Manager Corporate Services) – contributions and charges
Lynne Herbert (Deputy Principal) – K-6 unresolved general concerns, special needs
Lorraine Shreeve (Deputy Principal – K-6) – K-6 behaviour and attendance, Year 6 camp, student reports
Gerard Rennie (Deputy Principal) – Year 10-12 courses and counselling, Year 11/12 behaviour, reporting processes and secondary concerns
of a general nature
Jayne Smith (Deputy Principal – Student Services) – Yr 7-12 pastoral care and attendance, Year 7-10 behaviour, Year 7- 9 courses
Darren Gardiner (Head of Curriculum – Yr 7-12 Mathematics) – Mathematics curriculum/classroom/student progress concerns
Michael Gibbon (Teacher in Charge – Yr 7-12 Science) – Science curriculum/classroom/student progress concerns
Julie Tiller (Head of Curriculum – Yr 7-12 Humanities) – English/History and Social Sciences curriculum/classroom/student progress concerns
Dianne Heinrich (Head of Curriculum – Yr 7-12 Technology and Enterprise/The Arts) – Home Economics, Design and Technology, Art,
Dance, Drama curriculum/classroom/student progress concerns
David O’Neill (Teacher in Charge – Yr 7-12 Health and Physical Education) – HPE curriculum/classroom/student progress concerns,
overseeing carnivals and other sporting events
Fleur Forsyth (Education Support Coordinator) – Year 7-12 concerns regarding students with special needs
Brett Guthrie (School Chaplain) – social and emotional support of students
Jeno Hayden, Chrissi Smith (AIEOs), Tanya Garlett (ALO) – concerns relating to Aboriginal students
Wayne Wallace / Tracey Sutherland (Coordinator of Vocational Education) – Yr 10-12 Workplace Learning, Vocational Education and
Training Courses
Rebecca Waye (School Nurse) – Student health issues
Stephanie Milford (School Psychologist)
For classroom issues or queries, please first contact your child’s classroom teacher before speaking to
anyone else. If your concern is not addressed, then people should be progressively contacted
as shown:
Classroom teacher → Head of Curriculum (if secondary) → Deputy Principal
(K-6) or Deputy Principal (Yr 7-12) if the matter is curriculum related or
Deputy Principal (Student Services) if behaviour related → Principal.
The school has a Complaints Management procedure.
Parents/carers are welcome to request a copy.
Merredin College
Bank Details:
You may prefer to pay school accounts vis direct debit. The school
account details are as follows:
A/c name: Merredin College
BSB number: 066-040
A/c number: 19903610
Please make sure you add students name to the payment details.
The shcool also has EFTPOS and credit card payment facilities.
Contact Details:
Phone: 9041 0900 fax 9041 2008
Email: [email protected]
Website: merredincollege.wa.edu.au
Canteen: 9041 0942