Principal's Report
I would like to begin by welcoming new families to our school and hope that all our students are well rested and ready for an exciting year ahead. We begin the school year with a sense of hope and enthusiasm after the Covid cloud of the last 3 years lifts.
Congratulations to our Class of 2022
Our Year 12s continue to do us proud and last year was no exception. Last year we had a WACE achievement of 89%. This is slightly less that we have had in previous years however it reflects a similiar pattern for the state and a larger than usual number of students in this cohort with learning difficulties last year. Of those students who were able to pass their OLNA, 98% achieved their WACE.
Our school is particularly proud of outstanding achievement in English with Morgan Pearce-Smith being awarded a Subject Exhibition by receiving the top mark across the state and both Morgan and Aika Ryan receiving Subject Certificates of Excellence for outstanding performance in English.
7 of our students received a SCSA Award of Distinction or Merit and many of these students received the Principal’s Award at the end of 2022.
Chloe Brands received a Certificate of Distinction and Certificates of Merit went to Darcy Bennett, Lily Hindle, Faith Karlsson, Aika Ryan and Veronica Stevens.
82% of our students completed Year 12 with a Certificate II or III and 21% of our ATAR students received and ATAR over 80.
Congratulations to all our Class of 2022.
Building update
As you would be aware from the last News Review at the end of 2022, the Department of Finance as the delivery partner for the Department of Education has taken control of that project at our school after Firm Construction entered administration. They are currently in the process of working towards appointing a new builder. Until this process is complete, work on the teaching block and visual art facility has paused.
In the meantime, the STEM project is progressing with a tender process to appoint a builder nearing completion. This STEM project will see a new Science classroom and Technologies room refurbished to meet demand in our growing school.
Road and carpark safety
Just a reminder to parents to take care when dropping off or picking up students. In particular, the main car park on Canning Road is a staff only car park and parents are reminded not to use this park. Safer locations to drop off children are:
- Cotherstone Road – Students may be dropped off along the school side of this road. Please do not park during the morning and afternoon bus pick up times. Parents may park during the school day (9.00 – 2.30pm)
- Central Road – Students may be dropped off along this road where they can access the school via the supervised crossing.
- Kalamunda Sporting Complex (Kostera Oval) – Students may be dropped off by the clubs rooms on Recreation Rd and access the school via the oval.
Midland and Airport lines shutdown notification
We have received the following information from the METRONET.
The Midland and Airport lines will close from Friday 31 March to Wednesday 26 April 2023 to carry out essential works for the METRONET New Bayswater Station and Morley-Ellenbrook Line projects.
During the shutdown, Transperth will operate rail replacement buses.
While the Midland and Airport lines will reopen from 26 April, Bayswater Station will remain closed until September 2023 while the southern platform is completed and is made safe for passenger use.
While the station is closed, a free shuttle service between Bayswater and Meltham stations will be provided. Existing, regular passengers of Bayswater Station can apply for a special SmartRider that will provide free travel for three months. Terms and Conditions apply. Details about the application process will be available on the Transperth website in early-March.
Essential station, rail and associated infrastructure works will be completed during the shutdown including replacing 1.8km of track to realign the Midland Line onto the new and higher rail bridge and start works on the Morley-Ellenbrook Line connection.
There will be continuous, round-the-clock works during the shutdown period and beyond as we progress these two major projects.
We will keep the community informed about works and anticipated impacts through emails, our website and letters. We encourage you to register for project updates at www.metronet.wa.gov.au.
Thank you in advance for your ongoing patience and understanding as we continue to progress two major METRONET projects in the Bayswater area.
If you have any queries, please contact us on 9326 3666 or email info@metronet.wa.gov.au
Leadership camp
Congratulations to all our Year 8 to 12 student leaders who recently participated in a leadership camp where they spent time getting to know each other and planning activities for the year. We are looking forward to an engaged and enthusiastic leadership group in 2023.
Year 7 Values Week
We send a huge thank you to our Year 7 staff, Kelly Walker (our Year 7 Coordinator) and all those who helped out during Year 7 Values Week. We hope that our values of Pride, Respect, Resilience, Love of Learning and Community resonate with our new Year 7s as they transition into our school.
Our Year 7s spent two days at the Bickley Camp site participating in activities and challenges. They also spent time at school having an induction to the library and getting their BYODs connected to the network. I also took the opportunity to present a school badge to all our Year 7s to start their high school journey.
Year 7 Swim trials
This year we held a Year 7 swim trial during values week. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to end the busy week. Our school House Carnival will be held on Fri 24 Feb and will be competitors only.
School Board and P&C
I encourage new parents to get involved in our P&C and consider nominating for our School Board.
Our P&C meet twice a term and manage the operation of the school canteen. We congratulate Linda Rademahere on becoming our new canteen manager this year and wish her well as she steps into this new role.
The school board also meet twice a term, and positions are for 3 years. School board members contribute to the effective governance of the school by monitoring student achievement, finances and approving contributions and charges and uniform changes. Board members also provide feedback and advice on school planning and assist in promoting the school vision and values.
This year there are new positions becoming vacant and we welcome parents to nominate.
Online accounts
Students are provided with an online account through our Department (Connect) and this provides email and online learning services. Students will also access the Internet wirelessly from their BYOD. All students sign an agreement at school to ensure they use these services appropriately and stay safe when working online. This is facilitated during the student mentor class. If you have any concerns regarding these services, please make contact with the school to speak with the Associate Principal or one of the Deputy Principals.
School calendar
Each Year Coordinator will be placing a school calendar on their year groups Connect page. A term calendar is also available on the school website and will be updated each term.
Contributions and Charges
I would like to thank those families who have already paid their school charges and contributions. For some families it might be easier to make arrangements to pay the balance over the year via a payment plan. Please contact our manager of Corporate Services, Jeni Jorritsma to finalise your account or to set up a payment plan. These funds are used to pay for teaching materials to deliver high quality programs for your child. All tuition, staffing and infrastructure costs are provided by the Department of Education.
Welcome to our new and returning staff
This year we have some new staff joining our school and we welcome:
Brody Hart (Hass/Arts), Jacqui Hampton-Grigg (Hass), Jessica Ganza and Heini Cattell (Year 7 team – Hass/English), Danielle Du Plessis (Year 7 team – English/Hass), Sophie Gordevich (English), Jo Prichard (English), Jenny Bell (Maths), Anu Priya (Year 7 team - Maths/Science), Sophie Bee (Home Economics), Tom Brkic (Design and Technologies), Haley White (Year 7 team - Science/Maths), and Alex Balsarini and Chamani Marasinghe Wadige (Science)
We also welcome back Teagan Smith from leave.
We would especially like to welcome Davide Gottardi, Ilham Akbar and Yu Sato who are joining us as Language assistants this year in Italian, Indonesian and Japanese respectively. We are very fortunate to have them working with us to enrich the learning for our Language students.
Wishing everyone all the best for the start of term.
Helen Deacon
Principal