Secondary News

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through our very busy Term 3! At our assembly last week, I shared with students how blessed they are to have the opportunity to take part in so many activities. Not only do our students benefit from excursions and camps, but they also engage in exciting activities during lesson time, such as learning to play musical instruments, training for Pedal Prix on the go-cart track, or even doing fieldwork for Geography at McDonalds! As I shared with our students, we are able to provide these opportunities because we can trust that our students will behave respectfully and responsibly. Being a student at ACC means that we wear our uniforms with pride, we speak politely to our peers and teachers and we conduct ourselves with maturity. Our community is more successful and is capable of achieving more when we are working together, and I encourage each student to continue to rise to this challenge.

Secondary Choir Performance

Our Secondary Choir performed in front of an audience for the first time at our Secondary Assembly last week. Led by Mrs Goetz, the team performed two worship songs while we all sang along. It was really special to see our students performing with confidence and we are looking forward to their next performance.

Year 11 and 12 UWA visit

Representatives from the Albany and Crawley campuses of the University of Western Australia came to speak with our Year 11 and 12 students about the range of options offered by UWA for tertiary study. Our students were most interested in options such as the UWA Smart Start course, which is a free 24 week uni-prep course that can be completed by any student to gain entry to university. Previous ACC graduates have successfully completed a General pathway and then progressed to complete UWA Smart Start to gain entry to their chosen university course. In addition, the Albany campus offers the Gap Plus One program, where students can complete one unit toward their degree while completing their Gap Year. This is a great initiative that ensures greater equity in regional access to higher education.

Year 9 Career Taster

Year 9 students had a fantastic opportunity to visit the Albany Entertainment Centre and the Hilton Hotel to learn more about careers in entertainment and hospitality. Students were privileged to meet with the cast of ‘Black Brass’ and they were able to go backstage to learn about careers in stage performance, set design, lighting and sound. Additionally, they visited the Hilton to learn about food production and the hotel industry. They were excited to learn that all Hilton employees can access greatly reduced hotel rates for any Hilton hotel in the world!

Book Week

This week is Book Week and we all enjoyed a fantastically fun celebration of imagination and stories in our annual parade on Monday. It is really special to see so many of our secondary students getting involved and setting a positive example for our younger students by dressing up and participating in the activities. This week, we are stopping and reading every day after lunch. This will be extra fun on Friday, when we will be wearing our comfiest trackie pants. The trackie day fundraiser will raise money for the Year 12 Graduation and for Destiny Rescue.

As part of our Book Week Celebrations, our Year 7s will be performing their production of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ This play is part of our overall approach to supporting the development of public speaking skills, plus encouraging a love for traditional literature and performance. The Year 7s have been working incredibly hard to learn some pretty tricky Shakespearian language and to work together as a team. Mrs Downing and Mr Findlay are very enthusiastic about the Year 7’s progress. We are looking forward to sharing the production with parents and families on Thursday 24th August at 5.45pm at Living Water Anglican Church.

Science Week

Last week was National Science Week, and to celebrate all things Science, Mr Meyer put together a whole school Science competition. This daily quiz tested the knowledge of each of our classes while also inspiring curiosity. The Year 3s and Year 11s tied for second place while the Year 9s took out the award - the much coveted ‘Heart for Science.’ Congratulations Year 9!

Pedal Prix

Our Year 9 and 10 Pedal Prix teams have returned tired yet excited after their epic weekend in Busselton. The team competed in the Australian Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) Super Series. The teams pedalled for over six hours on a particularly challenging track along the Busselton foreshore. This was the second event that our teams have participated in this year, after having some success at the Perth event. Our Year 9 team did particularly well, taking out third place! Congratulations to our pedal prix teams and a huge thank you to Mr Pitman for his commitment to building pedal prix in our school. Thanks also to Mr Hunt, Mrs Phipson and the parent volunteers who worked to make this event possible.

Phys Ed News

Next week is our interschool athletics carnival. Each year, we take a team of athletes to Perth to compete in the Associated and Catholic Colleges of WA Interschool Athletics event. This is held at the Perth Athletics Stadium. This is a great opportunity for our students to compete using the fantastic facilities at the state stadium. Selected students will have received their permission slips - please ensure that these are signed and returned as soon as possible.

Basketball season is nearly upon us and we would like to enter as many teams as possible into the Albany competitions. Please see Mr Thomas if you would like to join a team for the upcoming season.

Debating

Our Debating teams have been meeting at lunch and have begun to learn more about their craft in afternoon sessions. Debating is such a useful skill to learn. Debaters become very adept in critical thinking, speaking and listening and working together as a team. We are very excited for our teams to compete in the upcoming WA Debating League competition. Thanks to Mrs Elliott for her efforts in promoting debating in our school.

Year 9 Camp

The Year 9s are busily preparing for their upcoming camp. The Year 9s will travel to Busselton, where they will go caving, complete a high ropes course, traverse the jetty and enjoy some boutique icecream. We are looking forward to teaming up with Cru West to make this a most unforgettable experience.

Outdoor Education / Adventurous Journey

A team of senior students will be exploring the spectacular Walpole and Peaceful Bay regions for the Year 11 and 12 Outdoor Education expedition and the Year 10 Adventurous Journey. These events will take place in Week 8, and the two teams will complete the kayaking component of the camps together.

The Outdoor Education expedition forms an important part of the Outdoor Education course, and students are assessed on their ability to lead and care for the team, navigate the journey and ensure that all participants stay safe and respect their environment.

The Adventurous Journey is a key component of the Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. This international youth award recognises student achievement in four key areas: voluntary service, learning a new skill, physical recreation and completion of an Adventurous Journey. Successful attainment of the bronze award also earns students credit toward their WACE. We are so excited for the work that Mr Wiseman has done in promoting and expanding our school’s participation in the award, and we are looking forward to the upcoming Adventurous Journey.

Year 7 Canberra

The Year 7 Sydney and Canberra tour is coming up very quickly! Some very excited Year 7s have been asking a lot of questions about air travel and airports, accommodation and Starbucks! In Humanities and Social Sciences, students are preparing more formal questions so that they can better investigate and understand the various places that we visit, in particular, Parliament House, the Electoral Commission, the National War Memorial and even Questacon. Not only will this camp form a vital part of the HASS curriculum, it will give students an opportunity to see more of their country and to have some valuable time to learn important skills in self-management and resilience.

We are hosting a parent information night on Monday of Week 7 (4th September) at 5.30. We will provide an overview of the camp and answer any questions that you may have. Please pop this date into your diaries.