20 August 2019

Editor: Jenny LeSouef
Technology: Nola Regan

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

It is a pleasure to write my first report as Principal of Willetton Senior High School. My commitment to Willetton Senior High School is for the long term. It has been my goal for many years to lead this great school and continue to develop and enhance its many achievements and traditions. I sincerely thank all community, students and staff members for the warm welcome I have received. Many thanks also to Colin Marshall whose committed and able leadership this year has enhanced Willetton’s flourishing learning environment.

I am steadfast to the maintenance of the Willo Way where that balance of high academic achievement, personal best and service obligations is a priority. It was enlightening to attend as a guest at the Upendo quiz night and see our amazing students in action. Their dedication and organisational skills were a tribute to all involved. I was impressed by staff and community support to the project which was also of the highest level. It is very visible that this school is part of a broader Willetton community where participation, innovation and involvement are the norm.

I am impressed with the spacious and attractive grounds, buildings and technology the school possesses but it is the open, friendly students and the positive and respectful relationships they have with each other and with staff which is particularly evident.

Over the next few months, I will be visiting classrooms and holding meetings and discussions with teachers, committees, community groups and individuals. My goal is to fully understand how the school operates. Any change will be gradual and considered. I recognise that I have a lot to live up to with the legacy left by Chris Booth whose service to the school was exemplary.

My philosophy of education is all about providing a diverse curriculum which caters to the individual needs of students of all abilities and interests. A curriculum which encourages and supports students towards the brightest future possible. This formal curriculum being enriched by a wide range of extra-curricular activities to develop emotional as well as intellectual intelligence. I see community input as vital – these are your children and your participation through forums such as the School Board, Willo Parent Group, teacher/parent meetings and school events is welcomed.

I look forward to working with all of you to ensure that Willetton is a great place for students to learn and for teachers to teach so that the Willetton community is confident that their children are getting a great education.

Trevor Hunter

BOARD CHAIR REPORT

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Welcome back to the second half of the school year.

As this newsletter goes to press we thank Colin Marshall for his caretaking role as Principal. It has been wonderful to work with him on the School Board. Both staff and parents have commented on the positive influence that he has shown and a presence amongst the teaching staff at ground level. We also thank, Nathan Harvey, and many other staff who have stepped up to backfill tasks over the past nine months.

This also marks the beginning of a new era as we warmly welcome our new Principal, Trevor Hunter. Trevor has already shown a commitment to the school’s ethos and culture, with a song sung in his honour at the very successful Interact Upendo Charity Night for Africa fundraising event, as well as his attendance at school a number of times prior to his official commencement last week. We look forward to the future of the school under his leadership.

Recently, the school celebrated the Academic Awards Ceremony where we again fêted outstanding abilities across a range of disciplines with the most parents I have seen in attendance over the years I have been here (six years). Most heart-warming for me was a recent conversation I had with a parent who was proudly informing me of her son’s plumbing apprenticeship, academic success at school, part time work and getting his licence. It is this well-rounded emersion and preparedness for life after school that Willetton can be proud as the school strives to nurture all students in their pursuits across a range of academic, vocational and sporting areas. While it is easy to celebrate these amazing achievements, we also need to recognise the many individual achievements and personal goals that students have worked hard to achieve throughout first semester with the support of our school’s dedicated teachers, loving parents and caregivers, and the broader Willo community. Not every student can be the best, but every student can pursue their personal best and it is important for us to tell our children how proud we are of them (often).

The recent accident of a Willetton student at the end of Term 2 is a timely reminder about all our behaviour on the road. The traffic issue in front of the school has been raised several times at a Board level during my time at Willetton, and various measures taken by the school to minimise impact at the beginning and end of the school day, however any changes to the road are beyond the control of the school. As parents and caregivers it is important for us to reinforce road safety messages to keep our students safe. A UK website has some relevant advice I have also placed at the end of this item.

I read with some frustration the ABC news article Rich school, poor school: Australia’s great education divide by Inga Ting, Alex Palmer and Nathanael Scott (Aug 13, 2019) on the facilities and infrastructure spending in public versus private schools. In our current funding environment, it is timely to reflect and appreciate the wonderful facilities we have been fortunate to receive through government funding, but also recognise that the fantastic learning environment provided to our students goes beyond the bricks and mortar, but is embedded in the ethos and culture of our school. Select the ABC School Income Ladder Article link to read the full article.

I wish everyone a great second half of the year and wish our Year 12s all the best in the final leg of their preparations for their end of year exams. Remember, rest to refresh, eat well to power up, and exercise to energise AKA a good night’s sleep, healthy breakfast and a walk/ride to school before an exam is a great way to begin.

Dr Paola Chivers: Board Chair

All young people are loved and safe, have material basics, are healthy, are learning and participating and have a positive sense of identity and culture.’ ARACY The Nest vision.

HEAD BOY AND HEAD GIRL REPORT

Semester 2 is now well under way and how busy it has been! We hope everyone is getting back into the rhythm of things quickly, especially the Year 12 students, whose mock exams begin in almost a month.

We congratulate all the students who were award-winners in the Semester 1 Academic Award Ceremonies, we are in awe of your achievements and the hard work which you all put in, regardless of whether you were recognised during these ceremonies or not. We’re all working towards our own goals, be they academic or not, so don’t ever question the validity of yours. Keep at it.

The past month has been jam-packed with fantastic events. A myriad of activities was organised to celebrate NAIDOC week, including face-painting and many more. The Year 9 drama students’ performance of Aladdin blew away all who saw it, and we look forward to the Year 11 students’ upcoming performance of the Crucible, written by playwright Arthur Miller. We encourage everyone to attend. The Charity Week projects being developed by each year group’s Student Council are well into their planning and some even underway. Shout out to the Year 10 cohort who have already collected dozens of cans of food to be donated to the Food Bank, and the Year 8 councillors who are in the process of creating stuffed toys with their cohort to donate to Castlereagh School, both great initiatives.

Another major event was the recent Upendo: Charity Night for Africa run by the Interact Club. Months of planning and the generous support of dozens of staff, students and local community members culminated in a fantastic Friday night of fundraising fun through trivia, games, challenges, smooth jazz and singing, raising thousands of dollars to support Water for Africa and Mercy Ships, two worthy charities operating in Africa. Massive thank you to everyone who attended or supported the event in any way, and congratulations, it was a wild success. It’s also now the perfect time to join Interact as we slow down a little following our major fundraiser and begin to do more simple activities which anyone can play a part in. We are both heavily involved in the club and recommend it to anyone who is seeking to meet new people from all year groups and serve a cause greater than themselves. Just come along to F13 at recess on Thursdays, we’d love to have you there.

To our fellow Year 12 students: We’re approaching the finish line but don’t slow down now, keep giving it your all until the very end. We are in this together and need each other’s mutual support now more than ever, so we implore you to look out for your peers and don’t be afraid to seek support where you need it. There is always someone willing to help.

As for the rest of the students you are halfway through 2019, and regardless of how this year has been for you so far, keep your head up. Semester 2 can be a chance for you to turn things around and start the uphill climb to where you want to be, and if you’re already there, take a look around, you might be surprised to find a higher peak within reach. Don’t let exhaustion bring you down in the second half of the year, look for extracurricular activities both in and out of school which you enjoy and can look forward to and always remember the reliable support system available to you both through the school and through its incredible student body.

Araan Kousari and Jae Brieffies Head Boy and Girl

CONGRATULATIONS

NATHAN HARVEY - AUSTRALIAN PRESIDENT

At the National Assembly of the Australian Federation of Modern Languages Teachers Association held in Hobart during the mid-year vacation, Nathan Harvey was elected president of the association. Nathan was formerly vice president.

As a peak national body, the association is entrusted with the leadership role in enabling young Australians to engage meaningfully in local and global contexts. Their goal is to provide vision, leadership, representation, advocacy and support for quality teaching and learning of languages.

Nathan’s role includes influencing state associations, informing and lobbying politicians, designing and implementing Australian and state professional learning modules, advocating for funding and providing support for all language teachers across the nation.

SEMESTER 1 2019 ACADEMIC RESULTS

Congratulations to the following students on their outstanding achievement. The number of A grades is shown after each student’s name.

YEAR 7

YEAR 8

YEAR 9

YEAR 10

YEAR 11 AWARDS

THE ARTS

ENGLISH

HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION

HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES

LANGUAGES & EAL/D

MATHEMATICS

SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGIES

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING

YEAR 12 AWARDS

THE ARTS

ENGLISH

HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION

HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES

LANGUAGES & EAL/D

MATHEMATICS

SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGIES

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING

CURTIN UNIREADY COURSES

GENERAL

LIBRARY UPGRADE

We have bright new modular furniture in the reading area in our library. The seating enhances the mood in the area and will encourage growth in student use. Quiet reading time is still an essential component in developing command of our English language.

The original seating was donated to the English learning area who have established reading nooks.

In our Library

AVIATION CAREERS DAY

On the Friday June 21, I was invited by Airflite, a flying college, to join them so we could get information and choices about a future aviation career. Firstly, we were given an introduction by a chief pilot and an engineer. Their presentation was in two sections, one about becoming a pilot and one about becoming a maintenance engineer for aircrafts. I was mostly interested in becoming a pilot.

I learned that becoming a pilot needs discipline, motivation and setting goals not allowing anything get in my way and to always try my best. The best way to pursue a career as a pilot is either by the Air Force Cadets or Airline Cadet.

We were then given to opportunity to try the flight simulator. It was a very realistic experience.

After leaving Perth Airport we were given a tour of the main facility of hangars and different aircrafts. I learnt that most aircrafts are now made of composite materials like Carbon Fibre, Titanium and Aluminium.

I am glad I went as it has now confirmed the decision that aviation is the career pathway I wish to follow.

Rastin Assaedi Year 11

Rastin at the Aviation Careers Day

NAIDOC DAY CELEBRATIONS

We have been privileged for the past three years to receive the PALS Grant which has enabled us to embrace and learn through music and story about Indigenous culture and specifically the Noongar Culture that relates to our region of Perth.

This year as part of the NAIDOC celebrations, the PALS grant allowed us to bring a different perspective and have a celebration of indigenous dance from the Noongar women and girl’s perspective. The Djurpin Djindas dancers won the hearts of the Year 7s and other students and staff during recess in the main quad with their performance – the youngest performer being a two-year-old who joined in with the main group of performers.

The Welcome to Country at the assembly was undertaken by Noongar Elder – Cecilia Anderson, our own Tanaya’s Grandmother who kindly agreed to come along and perform this important connection between the Noongar culture and our own westernised assemblies. Cecilia also spoke about the importance of NAIDOC and Noongar language, giving a brief translation of some everyday words to the Year 7 students.

Sirpa Lahti Education Assistant Resource Unit

The Djurpin Djindas dancers

ROTARY YOUTH PROGRAM OF ENRICHMENT (RYPEN) CAMP

Friday September 27 to Sunday September 29, 2019 at Serpentine Camping Centre, Jarrahdale. This is a Rotary run program, not a school organised event.

Do you have a child 14-17 years of age:

• Wanting an opportunity to develop and challenge themselves
• Looking to develop their self-esteem and confidence
• Interested in developing skills including leadership, teamwork, communication, goal setting and problem solving
• Wanting to build a network of young people and to make new friends
• Excited for a weekend of fun

You are invited to nominate them to attend the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment. The program cost is $300, but is heavily subsidised by the Rotary Club of Willetton, with participants only required to pay $50. An application form can be emailed to you upon request to helen.s.wong@education.wa.edu.au. Please get your application in quickly as only four subsidised places are available. Applications close August 30 unless places are filled beforehand.

From a past participant:

RYPEN is a camp where teens between the age of 13 to 17 come to learn some skills that they need help with. Usually skills that involve social activity. These skills are improved through different activities that are planned throughout the weekend.

The camp is supervised by multiple adults, but during, before and after the activities they never take over, leaving the teens to be able to work things out. All of this is to help them gain confidence in working together.

The activities overall are fun, creative and helpful, making each and every one of them special in their own way, since they are tackling different skills (teamwork, trust, communication).

The food is great, and you can get seconds without any worries.

I enjoyed the camp and I would recommend it to others, it’s fun and helpful in improving social skills for the future. I do hope this program keeps going for as long as it can.

Facundo Rodriguez Boly Year 9

WOLF PACK PROGRAM

During the course of last term, I participated in the Wolf Pack course run by Alpha Motivation. Throughout this course we learned about organizational skills, study habits, goal setting and many other topics to help reach our potential. The course was provided for students from Years 7-10 and was hosted for eight weeks in Term 2 for an hour a week straight after school.

I think that the course was very good, and it helped me with my studies and to persevere to personal achievement. It wasn’t all work and there were fun games as well and it was great to interact with other students and the presenters who made us feel keen to learn and improve ourselves. The course was great value and I would recommend it to any other students. Thank you to the Rotary Club of Willetton for helping subsidise the course for us.

Anton Andrew Year 9

Wolf pack tips

INTERACT REPORT

This term in Interact, we were lucky enough to receive a visit from Simba Mak, a lawyer-turned-rapper from Zimbabwe with a truly inspiring story to share. Simba shared his experience, from a family of a single mother, to the top-tier law firms and then to stages all around the world, with our Interactors and the wider school community during an incredible live presentation. Simba’s visit acted as a fantastic reminder to our students that one’s origins does not determine capacity to impact the world, a message that we at Interact seek to make manifest in our actions each day.

On another note, Interactors have been working tirelessly over the last term to organise and our largest event to date. On Friday, August 9, over 80 volunteers, thousands of dollars of prizes, three hours of entertainment, quizzes, and fun combined to produce Upendo: Charity Night For Africa. All funds from the night were directed towards two incredibly worthy charities: Water for Africa, a Perth-based charity working to provide sustainable water sources to remote villages in Tanzania, and Mercy Ships, a mobile hospital ship which ports around the coast of Africa, bringing essential medical aid to those who need it most.

The events of the night included silent auction, a raffle, live painting, food provided by Year 11 and 12 hospitality students, live entertainment by WSHS musicians, games and spot prizes. I congratulate every Interact member who gave their time on the night to make the event such a success. After many months of organising and correspondence, every Interactor took charge of their specific roles and fulfilled them perfectly, making the night run smoothly. The total fundraising of the event - over $7500 - is a testament to the hard work and passion of Interactors to make a better world around them, but also to their impeccable planning, organisation and teamwork skills. I congratulate my wonderful team for all they have contributed towards the event, the school, and the wider community through the club.

We must also extend our thanks to the many supporters of the event who enabled its success:

• Our facilitators, Helen Wong, Pip Peake, Sue Thorp, Debra Lievense and Jan Kulasekera for their tireless work
• Corey Rynvis (Year 10) and Rowan (Class of 2018) for their management of sound and lighting
• Dev Venugopal (Year 10) and the Year 11/12 music students, particularly Tom Walker (Year 12) for their organisation and for providing entertainment on the night
• Each of our community sponsors and donors
• Mr Curran, Mrs Gibson and the Year 11/12 hospitality students for providing canapes and desserts to guests

• The Interact Executive Team leaders who each led a committee in charge of organising the event, and executed their roles over many months: Araan Kousari Year 12), Mutia Daruso (Year 12), Emily Ong (Year 10), Duli Jayalath (Year 12), Talisha Jayarangsri (Year 11), Min-En Seet (Year 10), Janelle Portia Misamen (Year 11)
• And of course, each one of our Interact volunteers who worked hard on the night to produce a successful event

If you are interested in the work of our Interact Club, want to give back to your community but don’t know where to start, or are looking to find a community of passionate, like-minded, and innovative young people, the Interact Club meets every Thursday at recess in F13. We raise funds and awareness for charitable causes throughout the school year, and provide community service and leadership development opportunities to young people in the Willetton community. If this sounds like you, pop on down and bring your recess and your friends - we are always looking to welcome new members.

Jae Brieffies Interact President 2019

GIFTED AND TALENTED

CONGRATULATIONS

Further congratulations to Mihan De Silva for winning the inaugural Australian National University ANU All-Rounder Scholarship valued at $32,000 over four years.

In a letter to the school Mihan expressed thanks for the care he has received over his years here and in particular the support and confidence shown to him throughout the application process.

Ms Lana Warner-Gillon with Mihan De Silva

YEAR 9 ECOLOGY EXCURSION

On July 3, the Year 9 Gifted and Talented students travelled to Murdoch University for an all-day ecology excursion. Here, we had the privilege of working with real ecologists to further our understanding of this major branch of biology.

Students participated in a range of activities both in the classroom and out in the field, to learn about the jobs of ecologists and how our ecosystems were protected from threats like wildfires. This included playing a fun board game to learn about the quenda, a species of bandicoot which provides important ecosystem services but is threatened by human activity; sampling an area of woodland on campus using quadrats and transects; calculating the biomass of different trees using their diameters; and creating a 10-year restoration plan in response to a forest fire scenario.

Thanks to the efforts of the capable staff at Murdoch, the ecology excursion was exciting, memorable, and a valuable learning experience for us all. We left that afternoon having gained an increased awareness of the environment, as well as a new appreciation for the amazing work ecologists undertake.

Allan Wu Year 9

MURDOCH UNIVERSITY OCEANS CHALLENGE

We are the members of Trash4Splash, a group of Year 9 Gifted and Talented program students. We are dedicated to saving marine life, specifically dolphins, from the dangers of littering and rubbish in the ocean.

As you may know, in August 2018, a dolphin called Highnitch died due to an infection caused by a fishing line entanglement. Her calf, called Splash, also died from a lack of nutrients that only Highnitch could provide - and in her weakened state, she too was caught up in a rope. It’s not uncommon to see dolphins and other marine animals dying in our rivers. We want to change this.

Using a 3D printer, we created a model of a dolphin, representing Gizmo, Highnitch, Splash and all dolphins that have been injured or died in our rivers. We hope that this will raise awareness of the way marine life is affected by litter. Trash4Spalsh aims to get people to pick up four pieces of trash in memory of Splash.

We gave a presentation at the Murdoch University open day on ocean conservation. The presentation won first place in the oceans challenge, earning us a prize of $1000. We plan to spend the money promoting Trash4Splash.

All we ask is that you do your part in taking care of our marine life by picking up litter near waterways. It will prevent dolphins, and marine life swallowing or getting entangled in our rubbish. It would also be appreciated if you could post photos of you and/or others picking up four pieces of rubbish to our Instagram or Facebook group. Pleases consider sharing our Facebook page and Instagram account to raise awareness of this issue as well.

Thank you for everything that you’ve already done, and will continue to do, to help us protect our natural environment.

Trash4Splash – Teacher: Mr Hamley. Students: Olivia Anderson, Charita Byndoor, Kelsie Dowley, Jade Woods. Absent: Myra Boeve, Krisha Thakar

YEAR 7 MATHEMATICS

At the end of Term 2, all the Year 7 students participated in a practice statistical investigation. Their research involved investigating the heights of all the Year 7s in our school. These were their questions:

PROBLEM ONE: Of the Year 7 students at Willetton Senior High School, are the males or females taller?

PROBLEM TWO: Are the heights more spread out for the male or female Year 7 students at Willetton Senior High School?

PROBLEM THREE: Are you short, tall or average when compared to other Year 7 students of your gender at Willetton Senior High School?

All students enjoyed investigating their own data and developed some great analysis.

THE ARTS

WHY CHOOSE AN ARTS SUBJECT IN SENIOR SCHOOL?

Selecting an Arts subject be it a General or ATAR course will benefit the student with the skills for future life choices.

Statics show:

• A student involved in the Arts is 4 times more likely to be recognised for academic achievement
• A student involved in the Arts is more likely to participate in a maths or science fairs
• At risk students with a higher level of arts engagement are 71% more likely to attend university than their peers
• The Arts reaches students by increasing their motivation to be lifelong learners
• Learning styles used by the different Art subjects promotes lateral thinking and exploration
• The Arts create a feeling of connection and cooperation between students: By physically making people work together and by exploring important themes of community and self-expression
• The Arts makes school an exciting cultural place of discovery for students to facilitate their learning
• The Arts supports the required skills in the work force: collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thought which supports the global community that our students will contribute to and live in.

YOH FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 IN MANDURAH

Act-Belong-Commit YOH Fest is a health promotion festival, using the Performing Arts to promote positive health messages that can help empower young people. The festival has been making a difference for over 21 years, having reached thousands of young people over that time. Through the festival, the organisation continually searches for new and innovative ways to engage young people in their communities.

This festival gives young people in Willetton SHS, through Dance and Drama, the opportunity to create, develop and perform, encouraging them to become recognised leaders in their community.

This year, we have 60 students participating in the festival held at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. The day is filled with workshops, technical rehearsals and the competition in the evening. Importantly, the students are collaborating and sharing their ideas, and youth voice with their peers. Thank you to the Willetton School Board for their financial support in transporting our students to and from the festival.

Thank you to our wonderful choreographers: Bianca Harle, Emily Garton and Ava Smith. Best wishes to the Dance and Drama students in their preparation for the YOH festival. Mrs Venter and Miss Goldsmith are very proud of what they have created so far and can’t wait to see the performance at the festival.

The Willetton Break Club led by professional dancer and performer Jafri Yakin of Perth City Breakers is also training and joining the performers at the YOH Fest performance. This small but talented group of young performers has been working hard to build their skills and performance presence. A huge thank you to Jafri Yakin for coming in and supporting our students with his expertise and style.

C Venter Head of Learning Area The Arts

Year 11 DRAMA – THE CRUCIBLE

The Crucible, written in 1953 by playwright Arthur Miller, follows the events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Under the control of the Puritans, the town of Salem in colonial Massachusett, was God-fearing, intensely superstitious and strictly forbade all forms of pleasure.

Whisperings of devil worship were in the air after a group of girls were found dancing in the woods. Paranoia and hysteria quickly built up in the town, as more and more people were falsely accused of witchcraft by friends, family, and neighbours. Trickery and deceit engulfed Salem, as innocent people accused of a crime that they did not commit paid the ultimate price: death.

Come and experience the magic of this chilling production of The Crucible: designed, produced and performed by Year 11 Drama ATAR and directed by Stefan Brand.

Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the link below:

Megan Lilley Year 11

ALADDIN

The Year 9 Drama Club performed an 80s themed pantomime of Aladdin-The Story of a Boy by Tony Nicholls in week 10 of Term 2.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and although we are glad the long process is over it will be sorely missed.

Some of us have been in the drama club since the beginning of Year 7 and some have only just joined us, but we all share one thing in common - our love for drama, this has brought us all together to create a wonderful fun, entertaining and hilarious for both us and the audience.

Through the process of working on Aladdin, all of us have grown immensely in our confidence, dramatic skills and in our knowledge of what goes into creating a play. None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the hard work, time and determination of all the teachers, students, and former students who volunteered their time to help us with this show. Although we much enjoyed working on Aladdin, we can’t wait for the next production.

Jemma Walker Year 9

Aladdin - Year 9 Drama Club students

EAT THE CAKE

In week 10 of Term 3, the Year 8 Drama Club students put on a performance of the comic show Eat The Cake which featured a mish-mash of characters from many fairy tale universes such as Aladdin, Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz and many more.

The Year 8 Drama Club students worked tirelessly to make this event a success with lots of help and support from the Year 10 and 11 drama captains, additional helpers and Mr Brand, of course. Both shows were a success with interval in-between with nibbles provided by the wonderful Year 11 and 12, Certificate ll Hospitality students and teachers. Overall, the performance was a fantastic success, and the cast and crew are thankful for the amazing turnout.

Keira Lilley Year 8 Drama Club

Eat the Cake - Year 8 Drama Club students

ATWELL YOUTH AWARDS 2019

20 Visual Arts students exhibited their artworks in the 2019 Atwell Youth Awards. An annual event, the exhibition is held at the Atwell Arts Centre in Alfred Cove. It is an open art exhibition for young artists of high school age. The Atwell Youth Awards are now in their 17th year, and this year’s exhibit saw 15 schools enter works by their talented and hard-working students.

The awards night was held at the Melville Bowling Club on June 13. Year 9 Visual Arts Extension student Novisa Ganesan was highly commended for her pencil drawing titled Samantha Akkineni- Portrait. Year 10 Visual Arts Extension students were also highly commended for their architectural ink and watercolour on wood drawings.

Congratulations to all students who exhibited their work this year. We look forward to seeing the work of these students in the future.

Year 8: Jasmine Long, Kaelyn Feng, Brooke Marshall and Lilah Floyd
Year 9: Novisa Ganesan and Aaliyah Un
Year 10: Andrew Trunkfield, Sarthak Mehta, Ashley Joseph, Molly Jones, Emily Ong, Xinwei Choot, Jaydine Lim and Rashini Weerasekera
Year 11: Sarah Raphael, Amani Faqihah Binti Aslan, Lisa Nguyen and Sarah Zou
Year 12: Jie Ru Lim and Zahra Haddadpour

Andrew Trunkfield, Jie Ru Lim and Novisa Ganesan, pictured with their work at the Atwell Youth Awards

ST GEORGES ART 2019

St Georges Art, now in its 17th year, is an annual exhibition of artworks from senior school students across all school sectors in Western Australia. It is held in the unique gallery of St Georges Cathedral in the city. This year’s exhibit was held from the 20th-28th of July, and featured 172 works from 61 schools.

Year 12 ATAR Visual Arts students Melanie Tan, Tiffany Toh and Sarah Singho exhibited their paintings from Semester 1. Melanie Tan’s still life painting Kung Hei Fat Choy was highly commended by the judges, one of five works in the exhibition to receive this honour. We congratulate Melanie on her outstanding achievement.

Melanie Tan’s highly commended painting Kung Hei Fat Choy

YOUNG ORIGINALS 2019

Young Originals is an annual exhibition of the best artwork by students in Years 7 to 12 in public schools across Western Australia. The exhibition is sponsored by the Western Australian Secondary School Executives Association and delivered in partnership with the Sangora Education Foundation, Edith Cowan University (School of Arts and Humanities) and the Department of Education (Statewide Services). This year’s exhibit was held at Gallery 25 at Edith Cowan University in Mount Lawley from August 11- 25.

Almost 210 entries were received from a range of metropolitan and country schools, with 70 pieces chosen for exhibition by a panel of judges. Willetton Senior High School had six works selected, an outstanding achievement.

Congratulations to the following students on their selection in this prestigious exhibit:

Year 10

Sarthak Mehta

Year 11

Amani Faqihah Binti Azlan

Sarah Raphael

Sophie Su

Yi Jia Yap

Year 12

Sarah Singho

Student work can be viewed at this website:

DANCE - SEMESTER ONE DANCE SHOWCASE

On Wednesday June 26, more than 250 students performed in the Semester One Dance Showcase in our theatre. Showcasing a variety of dance genres including; Bollywood, Jazz, Contemporary, Musical Theatre and Break Dance, students from Year 7-12 came together to celebrate their love of dance and performance.

Congratulations to all of the performers with a special mention to our Year 12 students performing in their final Dance Showcase. Their passion and leadership within the subject have been invaluable. Many thanks to all the staff involved and guest choreographer Janelle Vaccarro of the Arthaus group. Lastly thank you to our supportive and enthusiastic audience, keep a look out for our semester two showcase later on in the year.

McKenzie Goldsmith Dance Teacher

View some of the performances here:

ENGLISH

WA DEBATING LEAGUE METROPOLITAN DEBATING COMPETITION 2019

In 2019, we had 16 teams of students from Years 7-12 participating in the Western Australian Debating League interschool competition – a total of 81 debaters. Our teams competed in the Novice, Junior and Senior divisions. Six of our teams made it through to the finals which is a great achievement. Three of those teams made it to the Octofinals, which put them in the top 16 teams across the metropolitan area.

Our coaches deserve a special thank you for their support: Alyssa Giangiulio, Charissa Haning, Cristiane Leal, Jamie McLean, Leo Harris, Fiona Coble-Neal and our debating coordinator, Susan Appleton.

We also wish our Year 12 debaters - Mihan DeSilva, Mutia Adibarumi Daruso and Yusif Khudhur all the very best for the future and thank them for their outstanding contribution to our debating programme.

Here Junior debater Emily Ong reflects on her experience with debating this year:

Debating this year has been amazing, as always. This year was incredibly competitive, especially with so many teams, and I was lucky to be part of a strong one. Debating allows students to develop many skills, including: self-confidence – speaking in front of people and working well in teams allows students to develop confidence in themselves and their ability to work, self-motivation – you have to motivate yourself in order to succeed in debating, public speaking – speaking in front of people and having to come up with points helps students to gain many public speaking skills (such as eye contact while speaking), and teamwork – teamwork is the most important skill, as the best way to win a debate is to be coordinated and work well with your team to prepare your case. Throughout the years, debating has allowed me to develop my own set of skills and help me to work with others, and I know that others have developed from debating as well.

This year, I had the privilege of being part of an amazing team (Junior 1), as well as coaching an awesome Novice team of Year 7s (Novice 6). Both teams made it to the Octofinals, and I’m very proud of them. This season has been especially full on, but all the hard work that everyone puts into their debating makes it all worth it. As we do every year, we had many great coaches, as well as a lot of new coaches. Especially with the influx of novices, each coach guided their team/s to success.

Thank you to all student debaters, great coaches, parents and other staff who supported us in this journey.

Susan Appleton Head of Learning Area English

Novice Debating Team

Junior Debating Team

Senior Debating Team

YEAR 7 ENGLISH – PEG PEOPLE

My peg person is Princess Diana. I chose her because she is a significant person from the last century. She has influenced many people over the world. We got the idea of making peg people from the novel we have been reading in class, Don't Call Me Ishmael! In the novel the main character, Ishmael Leseur, makes a peg person followed by his sister two years later who makes over 100 peg people. These pegs become a big part of the novel when Ishmael is embarrassed when a peg person falls out of his pants when debating. I really enjoyed reading this novel. It was a great novel to read and had very surprising outcomes.

Lakshika Siriwardena Year 7

Year 7s with their Peg people

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

SYDNEY AND CANBERRA TRIP

During the July school holidays, 23 students embarked on a week long trip to Sydney and Canberra. After a punishing redeye flight, both students and teachers spent every available moment catching up on sleep, whether that be on benches, buses, planes, or inside art galleries.

When everyone was actually awake, we enjoyed being stereotypical tourists in Sydney and taking photos of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Visiting the Sydney Jewish Museum was a profound experience, and we were fortunate enough to have a holocaust survivor share his story with us. Mr Johnson, in an act of infinite benevolence after our constant nagging, allowed us to go on impromptu trips to see Circular Quay lit up at night and a 7am Starbucks coffee run.

After fully appreciating Sydney’s glorious metropolis, we travelled down to Perisher Valley for a snow day. Everyone enjoyed the heated snowball fight, and learnt about the snow’s subnivean layer where the animals live to not get caught by the cold temperatures. A delicious meal was served at the Cooma Bowling Club where students got to show their lawnbowling abilities, none however were able to match the abilities of Ms Hale.

In Canberra, we had a good time appreciating Australia’s marvelous institutions of democracy and governance. Despite the fact that we have had seven Prime Ministers over the past 10 years, they surprisingly seemed fairly stable. Parliament House was an awe-inspiring and impressive building, and shockingly quiet when not during Question Time. We had an intense mock sitting of the House of Representatives, in which parliamentarians crossed the floor and whisperings were heard of a potential leadership spill. The Australian War Memorial was full of fascinating artefacts, and it was a great honour to be part of the Last Post ceremony and lay a wreath of poppies at the base of the Pool of Reflection.

It was a great tragedy when we had to fly back to Perth. We had bonded and enjoyed ourselves over the week, and we are very grateful to our wonderful surrogate parents Mr Johnson, Ms Hale, and Mrs Atkinson for almost always remaining patient with us and facilitating such an amazing trip.

Kate Graham Year 11

THE 2019 YEAR 8 CATAPULT CHALLENGE

Year 8 students concluded their studies in Term 2 with a challenge that tested their ability to solve problems, work collaboratively and develop their creativity. The Medieval World was the major focus of study during the term, which included studies of castles and the siege weapons used in the 11th century CE. The challenge presented to students involved working in pairs to construct a catapult using 30 pop sticks, 6 elastic bands, hot and PVA glue.

Each pair was given four sessions (4 hours) to develop a design and construct a working model.

The first stage of competition was at the classroom level and involved each pair firing a plastic dice from their catapult and the best distance recorded from two attempts. The winning pair for each class then received trophies for their efforts and to acknowledge their classroom winning status.

The final stage of competition involved the classroom winning teams firing off in the Year 8 catapult challenge championship. The rules of engagement were the same as the classroom championships however on this occasion the pairs were competing for the much sought-after Year 8 championship trophies. This year presented a very exciting conclusion to the competition when the winning team of Oliver Timming and Patryk Baluszynski from Ms Grimbly’s class were the clear winners during the Session 3 competition, with a winning distance of 17 metres. During the Session 5 competition, Abdul Rahim Khan and Jahred Kyne Saulon (from Ms Kloosterman’s class) were leading with a distance of 16.8 metres after their second-round firing. The final team to fire was Sam Bailey and Kade McMillan (from Ms Fourie’s class) who needed to fire a distance over 16.8 metres to win, which they did, with a winning distance of 17.4 metres on the final shot of the day.

All the Year 8s conducted themselves in a sporting like manner during competition, cheering the championship participants. The final designs demonstrated high standard of creative ideas and techniques for construction, they also demonstrated willingness and ability to meet the challenge.

John Maxwell Head of Humanities and Social Sciences

ROMAN ARTEFACT EXHIBITION – YEAR 7 HASS

Last semester in Humanities and Social Sciences Year 7 students were given a research assignment to recreate an artefact from an ancient civilisation.

Mrs Eksteen’s classes studied the ancient civilisation of Rome. Allowing us to have some freedom as to what we chose to do the assessment on kept us with an open mind set. We also received a research booklet that asked questions such as the date, what it was used for and its influence on the Roman Empire. By asking these questions we were challenged to find out why such things were created during that specific time. Was it due to war? Was it to allow a better means of comfort? By answering those questions, you could understand what kinds of influences it had on the Empire, if it had a positive or negative influence and if it was a success in its designed purpose. The artefacts created, each with its own museum label, were then displayed in the library for others to admire and learn about the ancient civilisations.

Sometimes, students received compliments or constructive criticism, building confidence and giving us something to work towards. In general, allowing the Year 7 students to do such an assignment kept the us engaged while we learned about the past.

Sophia Kuan Year 7

Present day students with Roman Artefacts

LANGUAGES

YEAR 11 STUDENTS TALK ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATE III IN APPLIED LANGUAGE (KOREAN)

Some benefits include:

• Getting a certificate from North Metro TAFE which would benefit their resume for future jobs
• Learning a second language and being able to add that language skill to the resume, as well as improving the chance for future scholarships
• Experiencing a learning environment that provides many opportunities for expanding vocabulary
• Having the opportunity to communicate with Korean friends
• Gaining 3 Cs for WACE
• Learning a new language for opportunities in the future
• Having the opportunity to gain knowledge in a friendly and relaxed environment

25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SISTER SCHOOL RELATIONSHIP

2019 is the 25th anniversary of the relationship between Willetton SHS and The High School of the University of Hyogo, Japan. This is one of the oldest sister school relationships in WA. Hyogo is the sister state of WA (established in 1982) and the University of Hyogo is the sister university of Curtin University.

For almost 40 years Hyogo Prefecture, Japan and Western Australia have enjoyed a strong Sister State relationship with a large number of exchange programmes taking place in a variety of fields. Education is now at the forefront of the relationship with 35 schools and more than 400 Hyogo school students visiting WA in the past year and around 200 students visiting Hyogo from WA. Twenty-five of the schools travelling are visiting their sister schools, with whom they have established wonderful relationships, some spanning more than a couple of decades. From August 8 - 22, 21 students and two teachers visited Willetton. They stayed with host families and participated in school and home life.

Recently, the Superintendent of the Hyogo Board of Education, Mr Nishiue, met with Minister Ellery to discuss increasing the number of the sister school relationships and number of students visiting their sister region. This meeting followed on from a similar conversation held earlier this year when Premier Mark McGowan visited Hyogo Prefecture and met with Governor Ido. Both Governments have indicated a huge interest in encouraging more sister school relationships and have agreed to investigate cross curricular opportunities in subjects such as STEM, sport, and the arts while encouraging and supporting the Japanese and English language programs in each school.

Our Japanese visitors

LANGUAGES IN OUR LANDSCAPE COMPETITION

Congratulations to three of our students who were prize winners in the Languages in our Landscape competition:

Andrew Liang, Languages Teachers Yumi Sales and Kylie Carroll, Year 10 Coordinator Rachel Harrington, Deputy Principal Nathan Harvey and Millie-Sales

In this competition, students take a photograph of language other than English in their immediate landscape. The language may appear on signage, in artwork, as graffiti, in posters and advertisements or on moving objects in our environment. Students submit their photograph with a written description the location of the language and what they learnt through their investigation of the language.

To view the students’ photos, visit:

LANGUAGES BIG DAY OUT

For the last seven years, we have been the Department of Education’s Teacher Development School (TDS) for Languages. The TDS initiative is a school-based system resource that promotes the sharing of high level curriculum expertise and innovation across schools, networks and professional learning communities.

On the School Development Day Monday July 22, nearly 200 Languages teachers from around WA participated in professional learning at Willetton. Sessions involved implementing the Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework, Western Australian Curriculum: Languages and Senior School Assessment.

YEAR 12 LANGUAGES

Term 3 is a very busy and significant time for our Year 12 students as they prepare for their upcoming Semester 2 and ATAR exams. More than 20% of Year 12s take the challenge of studying one of the Languages courses at our school.

In EAL/D, French, Italian and Japanese the written exam involves Listening, Reading and Writing sections. In addition to this, students participate in a practical exam which assesses their speaking skills. Willetton students are usually very successful in their speaking exams and many impress the examiners with their skill level and knowledge.

In the ATAR practical exam, students participate in a 15 minute interview and discussion in which they respond to unseen open questions, providing ideas and opinions about the issues and topics in the Year 12 course. This is a challenging task and all of our students are participating in additional one-to-one support to help them prepare.

It is a wonderful feeling to be able to discuss such complex issues in a language that is not ones first language.

Language discussions

YEAR 7 LANGUAGES

Moving to high school in Year 7 brings many exciting opportunities for students, including access to specialist teachers, facilities and programs. Students become able to do things that they never dreamed of, such as speaking, reading, writing and listening to an additional language like French, Italian, Japanese or Korean. Students in the EAL/D program strengthen their ability to work and study in an English environment, which helps them learn in their other classes.

The new high school environment exposes Year 7s to different teaching styles. It also provides opportunities for more peer interactions, independence and responsibility. Neuroscience has taught us how the brains of early adolescents are changing and the Languages teachers use this knowledge to provide a challenging program with all the necessary support.

We asked our Year 7 students to reflect on their first semester learning languages at high school. Their comments are below.

YEAR 7 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF LANGUAGES AFTER SEMESTER 1

Sana Pracy – Italian

Italian so far has been good because we learn how to pronounce the words properly. I have learnt how to describe people and introduce myself, pets, adjectives, how to make words into plurals and how to say and describe school subjects. My teacher, Prof Carroll, explains things well and is very helpful.

Caitlin Montani – Italian

We’ve been taught how to change verb endings which helps us be able to write from many perspectives. Also, my grandma is Italian so now I can speak to her. I have learnt about how to introduce and describe myself. I can also describe my family and pets. I also have learnt the days of the week and the months of the year. I can also change words from feminine to masculine and singular to plural. Right now, we are learning about school subjects, why we like them and the teachers we like. I can also now conjugate some verbs. My teacher, Prof Carroll is really good and is the best language teacher I have had.

Rain Low – French

French is a great language because it’s an interesting and fun subject, not to mention Madame Alkins is an amazing teacher who makes French easy. We’ve learnt how to introduce ourselves, how to count, the days of the week, how to say the date, describing ourselves and our family, the time, different school subjects and adjectives. The PowerPoints are cool.

Gautam Naidu Viveakananda – French

French at Willetton has been a mind-blowing adventure so far this year. Now I am definitely sure I can speak some French when I go to France. So far in French we have learnt about greetings, how to greet one another at different times of day. Secondly, we learnt about our family and relatives, then we learnt about Au College (high school) in France. We learnt about intensifiers and how to use them in a sentence. Overall, French is a very interesting subject and I would love to do it every year and learn more.

Pragya Prashant – Japanese

When I stepped into the Japanese classroom, I was immediately filled with joy to note all the beautiful and kawaii drawings stuck on the navy blue wall. I also noticed all the foods that were a part of the Japanese cuisine. Araki sensei is kind-hearted and she created a friendly environment. She happily answered all my doubts and understands that different people have various learning speeds. She revised the characters each session to improve our vocabulary. These factors make me enjoy Japanese and motivated me to work hard. In the first session, my sensei had shown us 46 characters from one of the alphabets known as Hiragana. We learnt the stroke order and the dos and don’ts. After memorising the characters, we learnt the vocabulary for a self-introduction which consisted of my name, age, birthday, zodiac sign and where we live. In Term 2, we broadened our vocabulary further and learnt how to say each family member, phone number and nationalities. Finally, in Term 3, we are learning about the Katakana script which is used for foreign words. We learnt about likes and dislikes, food and hobbies. I am excited to continue learning Japanese and seek more knowledge. Learning Japanese is a truly wonderful experience. I highly recommend Japanese to anyone.

Oadira Anam – Korean

I got to do a language which not many people have learnt. It has been really exciting learning Korean and now I understand words in songs and dramas. It’s also fun to say I am learning Korean because people are impressed. I have learnt how to have a basic conversation with others, how to describe family members, names of day to day items and the names of various countries. It’s an extremely fun experience learning Korean.

Claudia Math – Korean

Korean is quite easy for me and it’s fun to write. In our class, we all know each other quite well and it’s easier to do group and partner work. We can also flex on other people with our Korean skills. I’ve learnt Sino numbers, the Korean alphabet, different types of stationery, colours and how to write and speak in Korean. We also learnt about countries and cultures and sometimes we talk about Korean food.

Brandon Ho – EALD

I‘ve met new friends and liked group discussion. I learnt the basics of English, for example conjunctions, grammar and I am learning how to construct essays.

Year 7s in class

CLUB VENN

Club Venn continues this semester and is an after school revision and extension club for students learning Japanese at Willetton. It is run by past students who successfully completed Year 12 ATAR Japanese and are continuing Japanese at university. Students are able to bring along homework, assignments and questions in order to achieve the best that they can in class. There are also fun cultural activities to support the various class topics.

Students are welcome to attend every week, or just drop in when they want to. Each year group is provided with a separate group leader to provide targeted support.

CLUB VESPA

Club Vespa is nuovo di zecca (brand new) and is an after-school revision and extension club for students learning Italian at Willetton. It is run by senior school students studying ATAR Italian and native speaker assistants who are currently working alongside teachers at the school. Students are encouraged to bring along homework, assignments and questions in order to support their language learning and enhance their achievement in class. There are also fun cultural activities for students to enjoy.

Students are invited to attend every week or can simply drop in when they wish. We would love to see you there!

Club Vespa is held every Thursday in LANG5 from 2:45-3:45pm

KOREAN LANGUAGE CLUB

After school activities for students learning Korean will run every Tuesday and Thursday. Students are able to bring along homework, assignments and questions in order to improve their grades or brush up their Korean language skills.

All students are welcome to attend every week or just drop in from 3pm to 4pm.

Marilyn Onishi and Nathan Harvey Heads of Learning Area Languages

MATHEMATICS

The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) has been held annually since 1978 and is an internationally recognised competition with more than 30 countries participating every year.

This year, the AMC was held on August 1, with 350 of our students participating.

Year 8, 9 and 10 students enjoying Maths challenges

The Mathematics department thank our parents, Mrs Kerry-Anne Andrew, Ms Angela Ooi and Ms Chika Murata who volunteered their time to help us with the running of this competition.

Kerry Kalotay Mathematics Teacher

RESOURCE UNIT

TAFE COURSES OFF CAMPUS – TYLER WANG YEAR 11

This year the Resource Unit is again supporting students attending TAFE courses off campus.

Year 11 student Tyler Wang, is enrolled in a Modified Automotive Engineering Certificate I at the South Metropolitan TAFE Kwinana Automotive Technology Centre.

The course runs every Monday and is specifically tailored to students with additional educational needs. The smaller class size means the lecturers can spend more time with each student and education assistants also provide additional support. The campus is designed to provide both class room sessions and a professional automotive workshop setting with the students spending much of their day in the workshop with hands-on learning. This helps develop the foundational skills for the students to be able to participate in further certificates. Students from previous years who completed the Modified Automotive Engineering Certificate I, went on to complete Automotive Engineering Certificate II, and gain apprenticeships which they are on track to complete this year.

The TAFE course also helps students develop life skills. It has given Tyler the chance to experience a tertiary education environment and has helped him establish more independence by using public transport to travel to and from the Kwinana campus each week.

This program allows our students to fully participate in all the certificate activities, and gain practical experience in a real automotive workshop setting. Students are given the opportunity to work on a large range of vehicles, from small two-stroke petrol motors, petrol and hybrid electric passenger vehicles to large diesel SUV’s. Tylers favourite vehicles to work on are off road 4x4s. Tyler says his favourite is a Ford F150 Raptor but he says he will need some time before he can afford one.

James Riley Resource Unit Education Assistant

Tyler at work

SCIENCE

AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE INNOVATIONS (ASI) – BIG SCIENCE 2019

Willetton Senior High school students participated in the Australian Science Innovations (ASI) Big Science Competition earlier this year.

In the 2019 competition, a number of Willetton Senior High School students participated and achieved outstanding results including 11 High Distinction Awards (top 5% of all participants) and 12 Distinction Awards (top 15%).

Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding achievement.

DISTINCTION (12)

YEAR 7

Nicholas Budijanto
Dinh Hai Cung
Wei-Xian Lee
Xinzhu Li
Amity Schmidberger
Dara White
Monique Williams
Yi Yong

YEAR 8

Debopam Bhattacharjee
Ethan Fok
Aidan Steed

YEAR 10

Dylan Fong Chin

HIGH DISTINCTION (11)

YEAR 7

YEAR 8

YEAR 9

Allan Wu

SCIENCE WEEK 2019

On August 13, the Outreach Team from Murdoch University enthralled groups of Year 9 and 10 students with interesting demonstrations.

Caitlin Sweeney pours a cylinder of liquid nitrogen in a pool of water

Year 10 student, Michael Zhang crushes flowers frozen in liquid nitrogen

On August 14, during recess, Mr Lance Taylor turned glass into silver. Year 12 student, Aditya Nagraj and others lined up to collect their silverware.

Before and after

Mita Munshi Science Teacher

YOUTH ANZAAS 2019

In the July holidays, we were offered the opportunity to spend a week in Adelaide for the Youth ANZAAS science conference. It was a week full of discovery, in which we were able to indulge a scientist’s curiosity. From visiting local universities; Flinders, University of South Australia and University of Adelaide, to the Waite research institute and fisheries department, no scientific stone was left unturned.

We met many amazing like-minded people and made some friends for life. Overall, it was an incredible experience and a once of a lifetime opportunity. We would recommend anyone with an interest in science to apply on Youth ANZAAS website for next year’s conference. Many thanks to Mrs Wynhorst and the science department for supporting us and to Malcolm Jenkins and his chaperones for making the experience possible.

Janelle Muir and Jamie Campbell Year 11

Jamie Campbell and Janelle Muir

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

EXPERIENCES OF WORK…. IN THE JULY SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Our students, Melissa Jefferyes, Justin Moro, Joel Giddings, Rebecca Wang, Chloe Mark and Isabelle Shearer were outstanding in representing themselves and our school during their work experience placements of the July school holidays.

It was a humbling experience to visit with each of the students and to hear how far they had come, both in observing work, completing work and understanding more of what it means to be in the work force. Their confidence and capacity to see themselves in a particular occupation was their driving force …. even in their holiday break.

Melissa Jefferyes worked at CHORUS, a community centre for older Australians. They were short-handed on a couple of her working days and Melissa’s abilities to work well in the kitchen and interact well with the luncheon guests was valued. Melissa also worked at Loving Paws in Willetton, where she showed her abilities to manage up to 15 dogs, as they all vied for attention. The spray and a firm tone of NO can come in handy at times to quieten over enthusiastic dogs, all waiting for their grooming and patient caring. Melissa’s capacity to gain the confidence of dogs was evident.

Joel Giddings worked at Greive Panel Beaters in Carlisle. His initial thoughts about his work experience said it all: It’s awesome, it’s great and I’m loving it. His employer, Dean Greive also was impressed with Joel’s enthusiasm and commitment to learn. One important lesson was understanding that this work involved 95% preparation and 5% work for a good job.

Rebecca Wang worked at Opal Murdoch, a residential aged care home where she quickly learned some of the skills needed in working with older people, some of whom were living with dementia. Patience and understanding, reassurance and a ready smile were all useful strategies. Truly seeing a person and not labelling a person was also an important awareness. A highlight of Rebecca’s time at Opal was participation in support of Opal staff, with the visit of Jack, the Clydesdale therapy horse. Jack had perfect manners and welcomed the generous attention of residents, their family, including grandchildren and great grandchildren. My lasting memory is of Jack, who had walked through the two sets of sliding doors into the foyer, then proceeded down the corridor to meet and greet with other residents.

Chloe Mark has confirmed her future career working as a veterinarian. Working at the Shelley Vet Clinic in High Road, she gained understanding of the team work involved in animal care, as well as being able to observe and assist with animal vaccinations, general check-ups, surgeries and care for animal’s post-surgery. Understanding the challenge of achieving an ATAR of 98 to gain entry to the course at Murdoch University, Chloe is ready and willing.

Isabelle Shearer worked at the busy Cannington Police Station. Her work included observing and helping to address requests on the busy counter, to accompany and observe support of the Domestic Violence Advocate, Esther, for someone seeking a VRO from the District Court in the Perth CBD; as well as gaining some understanding of forensics including photographing, DNA samples and fingerprints. Isabelle’s capacity to show initiative, to ask questions to gain understanding and show interest assisted her to fit in with a challenging work environment. What an adventure!

Justin Moro was fortunate to work at Sea Dog International, a television production company, with Leighton De Barros, Jonathan and Jarrod. Mr De Barros is a four time Emmy Award nominee and totally passionate about wildlife in Western Australia. Justin’s work involved observing, cutting documentaries and editing, transcribing interviews and learning different camera techniques from Leighton, including night and time lapse filming. For Justin, his career direction is now confirmed. In working with Jonathan and Jarrod he was also able to gain understanding of the education and training alternatives at TAFE and University as well as avenues to potential future employment. The adventure is beginning to unfold.

I look forward, perhaps, at a future Willetton SHS reunion to learn of the outcomes of these career adventures. They are wished well in their pursuits, confident of their determination and commitment.

Ruth Barratt Work Experience teacher - Career and Enterprise

YEAR 7

YEAR 7 DISCO

On June 20, the Year 7 Fundraising Committee held the very first social event for the Year 7 cohort - the DISCO.

It was the highlight of the year, with over 200 students attending. There were drinks and snacks, a DJ, fantastic music and lots of dancing. Of course, what is a disco without prizes? The most enthusiastic dancers won some cool rewards.

It was a great night and everyone who went thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. Thank you to Ms Frew and the Fundraising Committee for making this night the best. All the money raised went to the Shenton Park Dog Rescue.

WORLD’S GREATEST SHAVE FUNDRAISER

On June 27, Willetton Senior High School participated in the World’s Greatest Shave. Throughout the day, we had many participants who shaved or cut their hair, even teachers and a parent participated.

We raised over $11,000, which is an amazing achievement. We had many students and teachers who helped to raise money for this incredible cause that helps people with blood cancer. Students brought in a dollar to get their hair sprayed in a variety of colours, and many students participated in a Crazy Hair Day to celebrate this occasion. The World’s Greatest Shave was an amazing success and we would like to say a big thank you to Ms Frew, former student Franco Sauzier, the staff, and the Year 7 Fundraising Committee, for making this event a success.

JEANS FOR GENES

On Friday August 2, Willetton Senior High School students wore free dress with a denim garment to school, to raise money for Jeans for Genes. This organisation holds an annual fundraiser to raise money to fund research that helps diagnose, understand and find cures for children with genetic diseases or disorders.

In total, we raised $916 to go toward the Jean for Genes Foundation, which is an incredible achievement seeing that this is the first time that Willetton Senior High School has supported this charity.

We would like to thank Ms Frew and Miss Harrington and Year 7 and 10 Councillors for their work to make this day a great success.

Year 7 Councillors

SCHOOL BOARD

SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS

The next School Board meeting will be held on Wednesday August 28, 2019 in the staff room. A list of Board meetings for this year can be found on the school website, under the School Board information. All are welcome.

WA SECONDARY SCHOOL OF THE YEAR SCHOLARSHIP

The WA Secondary School of the Year Scholarship recognises a student who shows strong leadership skills. The scholarship is awarded in 2020 to a Year 7 student already enrolled at Willetton Senior High School. More information will be available from the School Board office, when applications open in the second half of term 3.

SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS (SOS) PROGRAM

We have registered with Gilbert’s Fresh Market, Southlands to be part of the Support Our Schools Program. Please sign up with them and for every purchase you make in store, 1% of your purchase spend will be donated to the school. It does not cost to sign up, and it’s a great way for you to support the school.

ENTERTAINMENT MEMBERSHIP FUNDRAISER

The 2019/2020 Entertainment memberships are still available to purchase through the School Board. To view a virtual copy, view the link below. For enquiries, please contact Helen Wong on helen.s.wong@education.wa.edu.au or make a purchase at the Entbook website. A limited number of books are left, and available for collection immediately (during school term). Digital memberships can be activated for use immediately following purchase.

As a special promotion, all memberships purchased between August 12 and August 26 will each earn the School Board a bonus $10 WISH eGift card.

Profits raised from the sale of these books will go to a Student Leadership Development Program initiated by the Board. Your support will be much appreciated.

HOW TO CONTACT THE SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE

To find out more about the School Board or how you might get involved, please contact the School Board office on email helen.s.wong@education.wa.edu.au

WILLO PARENT GROUP

WILLO PARENT GROUP MEETINGS

The Willo Parent Group meets each term, coming together for parent information sessions or meeting socially over morning tea, lunch or dinner. This is a great way to meet with members of the school community and find out what is happening around the school. Suggestions for meetings are always welcome. For details of Willo Parent Group events, please contact helen.s.wong@education.wa.edu.au or refer to the school website.

COFFEE MORNING

Our most recent parent event was held on Friday August 16, with school psychologist Nina Mastrantonio together with prac student Jane Wilson speaking on the topic of Empowering Your Teenager to Cope with Stress. Nina and Jane shared some valuable tips on how to identify and understand stress factors in order to help our teens to work through the often challenging times in life.

Some of the best ideas that parents gained from the presentation:

• Strategies to talk to my teenager to limit procrastination and have small goals
• How teens can get stuck in a cycle of negatives thoughts and how we can help them break the cycle
  and promote a cycle of positivity
• How to identify/name the feeling without putting blame to it
• How to speak about stress with my teenager
• Understand the contributors to stress
• Learn to pause, reflect and think

Below is a copy of the presentation

The morning was also a great opportunity for parents to meet our new Principal Trevor Hunter.

Trevor Hunter, Principal meeting parents

Jane Wilson, Nina Mastrantonio and Vesi Crossley

MAILING LIST

If you would like to be included in a mailing list for Willo News and upcoming events, please contact Helen Wong at helen.s.wong@education.wa.edu.au