Census 2021
The Australian census on 10 August 2021 will provide a snapshot of who Australians are and what is important to us. The census is a key tool that government uses to determine how organisations, schools, church ministries and community groups are prioritised, funded and empowered to best operate in our State.
If your faith is important to you or if you identify with Christian values, please use your voice in the Australian census when asked your religion.
This is an important opportunity to demonstrate the significance of faith-based families in our West Australian community and will support endeavours to secure equitable access to opportunities and resources.
Principal Report
Dear Parents, Guardians, Friends and Students
Welcome back to everyone, it is always exciting to see the faces of our students each term. They were all enthusiastic and ready to start this term’s work. They are all in the last term of our academic year. Staff are preparing to write their Second Semester Reports that will be coming home at the end of this term. The start of next term will see our Year 7 – 11 students transitioning to their new year levels for the 2022 Academic Year.
This term is extremely busy for our Year 12’s who are completing all of their curriculum units and units of competency for their certificate courses in readiness for their graduation on September 18. We look forward to welcoming our parents and guardians later in the term to join us in celebrating all of the students work as they head off to further study or employment.
Curriculum
Our curriculum planning is driven by our ideals and goals for our students, as well as government, governance and system requirements. Teachers are continually referring to School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) to ensure all curriculum standards and obligations are adhered to. The College values the support from SCSA and Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) and regularly send staff to Professional Development opportunities to ensure compliance. Edmund Rice College’s educational programs are developed in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Bishops of WA (Religious Education) and SCSA.
The College is dedicated to finding suitable pathways for the students and focuses on providing a range of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses for the students to choose from. The curriculum is targeted to provide our students with a variety of alternative pathways to further education or employment. From Year 7 to Year 10, the Western Australian Curriculum is taught to all students. In addition, all students complete Agricultural Science Studies. In Year 10, 11 and 12 students have the opportunity to broaden their skills completing Certificate courses in addition to their SCSA subjects. The College is a Registered Training Organisation and provides Agriculture, Equine and Wool Classing Certificates and has partnered with other TAFE providers to deliver certificates in Leadership, Engineering and Sport & Recreation. Additionally students in Year 7 to Year 9 participate in our Options Programs that offer experiences in Outdoor Education, Cadets, Equine, Farm/Cattle and Woodwork.
Our programs develop independent, self-directed learning and critical thinking skills with the integration of technology. The agricultural experiences provides many opportunities for the students to engage in the latest digital technology used for farm and livestock management. The College offers a well-rounded education through Vocational and Tertiary entrance pathways. The College provides many different pathways for our students to pursue after graduation.
Year 11 and 12 students will undertake a minimum of two Certificate II qualifications in their chosen VET areas. All Certificates completed whilst studying at the College are fully accredited and nationally recognised. The education options available at Edmund Rice College are designed to meet industrial training needs, as well as offer a unique personalised learning experience for each student that enables them to study subjects that they are genuinely interested in and passionate about, to reach their full potential and get the most out of their time in Secondary Education.
Many of our students have Personalised Learning Plans (PLP) and our teaching staff implement differentiation strategies to ensure learning is happening no matter what level the students are on. The PLP allow for academic, social and emotional growth to be mapped longitudinally over time. Each student sets an individual Academic and Social and Emotional Goal to work towards each Semester in collaboration with their Teaching Team.
The SCSA, PP – Year 10 Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Policy is used to guide the College Teaching Programs, developing our Scope and Sequence, creating different types of assessments and judging the students work and reporting final grades. Effective curriculum delivery and planning at Edmund Rice transpires when learning and teaching programs and hence assessments are framed around a model of action, evaluation and reflection. This includes an inclusive approach which fosters connections between teachers and students in ways that facilitate and enhance learning. At Academic Council meetings the grading standards and assessments methods are discussed and mapped. Several common assessment tasks are completed during the year to ensure a robust moderation process is conducted. Additionally, the College ensures that moderation of marking and grading of student’s work is being conducted externally.
All teaching staff are involved in the data interrogation. Specific staff gather the data from the appropriate data sources and present the information at appropriate staff meetings.
Our College ethos very much encourages a whole school focus on the student and the relationships that are necessary for students to feel like they belong and are connected to the College Community. We know when students feel like this then engagement in learning will be enhanced. The concept of personal excellence and accountability requires teachers to be fully aware of their students and their capacities. It also enables teaching and learning to be more effective. At Edmund Rice, many of our improvements can be attributed to the improving culture of the College, in addition to specific improvements in teaching and learning and many professional development opportunities to improve our staff understanding of cultural awareness and improving pedagogies that meet the needs of our student community.
God Bless,
Marie Barton
Principal
Prayer
Dear Lord,
We ask that you be present in this space.
Lord, as we prepare for this new term make us ready, attentive and available to hear you.
Thank You for the gift of being able to rise each day with the assurance that You walk through it with us.
Thank You for the gifts of creativity and uniqueness, and the energy to put them to good use.
May all that we are today, all that we try to do today, may all our encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings all be place in your hands.
May the work we do and the way we do it, bring new hope, new life, and courage to all we come in contact with this semester. We thank you, Lord.
We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Blessed Edmund Rice….Pray for us.
Live Jesus in our Hearts….Forever.
Amen
Deputy Principal Report
It has been an extremely busy start to the term for both students and staff! We welcomed three new staff this term to Edmund Rice College, Miss Danielle, Miss Mel, and Mr Thomas who have been in classes and getting to know the students since the beginning of the term.
Staff Professional Learning
Staff started the term with training in the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM) which provides strategies for teaching and learning that enables teachers to increase engagement of students with complex, unmet learning needs and to successfully improve all students’ self-regulation, relationships, wellbeing, growth, and academic achievement. The pedagogical strategies used in BSEM incorporate trauma-informed teaching, positive education, and wellbeing practices. Staff will complete the four-day course at the beginning of next term and the strategies developed will complement the innovative use of class space and design and the co-teaching model utilised at the College to further support the wholistic growth and development of our students.
Literacy Testing
Literacy testing has been completed for students from years 7-10 and those students who have been identified as requiring additional support will complete a targeted literacy program which will be embedded in and across learning areas in the coming weeks. Mr Robert has been impressed with the willingness and engagement students have demonstrated throughout the literacy testing process, particularly when students have been challenged by some of the testing. Perseverance to continue when faced with a challenge is great trait to have and if students continue to demonstrate this, they will have many successes in their learning and lives well beyond their lives at Edmund Rice College.
OLNA
Students in years 10-12 will be completing the second round of OLNA testing beginning August 30th. Teaching staff have been working closely with these students to ensure every chance of success and providing targeted explicit teaching and tutoring both in and out of the students English and Maths classes.
The OLNA testing schedule will be released in the coming weeks and students are encouraged to continue to be engaged in their learning and persist in working towards achieving their personal academic goals.
Indigenous Opportunities – BHP 2022 Western Australia Apprenticeship Program
A few of our year 11 and 12 students have recently applied for positions with BHP for their Apprenticeship Program for 2022. These students are particularly keen and eager to engage in new opportunities and we wish them all their best in their applications.
I will continue to provide information to our senior school students and their parents/guardians as these opportunities arise and if students require additional information or assistance, they are always welcome to come and speak with either myself or any other staff member as we are all happy to provide assistance where we can.
Tracey Crisp
Deputy Principal
Woodvale Primary School NAIDOC Day Activities
Our year 10’s were invited to attend NAIDOC Day with the year 6’s at Woodvale Primary School. As part of their leadership course, they were given tasks to complete to assist with the organisation of the day. They completed a worksheet detailing what they did and then had to write a comment on how they could have done the day differently.
The day started off with a smoking ceremony and Acknowledgement of Country by Michaelangelo and then Miss Miriam explained the sand art that was created on the grass area. A large part of the school came out and participated in the ceremony.
We then broke up into three groups; Group One cooked damper and kangaroo stew, Group Two told stories to small groups of students and Group Three completed an Art activity. After 40 minutes the groups rotated to the next activity until lunch.
Cooking: Damper and Kangaroo stew were on the menu and Mr Brett was our Master Chef organising the food in the school canteen. The school also contributed a free sausage sizzle for the rest of the students.
Story telling: A group of students practiced their stories the day before and each were given four to five students and 15 minutes to tell the students about themselves. They then rotated the students so that the Woodvale Primary students listen to all our students’ stories.
Art: Miss Miriam spent a few days collecting leaves around the Ellenbrook area and these were used for our art piece. The students used these leaves and painted a dot pattern on them. They were given two leaves each to paint and then a piece of paper bark to glue them onto. The ones that didn’t finished were told they could finish it the next day. The students also got to rotate through, so every student had an opportunity to have a go.
We had a shared lunch which was quickly devoured, and the damper was also a huge success. After lunch we wrapped up the day with a dance session in the hall before heading back to school. We are looking forward to this being an annual event with Woodvale Primary School.
Miriam Ifould
Teaching Staff
Above: Year 10 Leadership Students attended Woodvale Primary School to help celebrate their NAIDOC Day.
Central TAFE Excursion
On Friday 26 June, during the VET Block, the Year 10 students had the privilege of spending the day at the Central TAFE for the “Get Into Resources” day. GIR is a unique careers event which showcases the opportunities available in the resources industry to secondary school students.
On arrival, each student received a show bag that contains information from various industries. The Year 10 students were then guided to the Expo area where they were actively engaged. They also had the privilege to meet various industry personnel who were keen to share their personal experiences and discussed the pre-qualifications needed to get in. A visit to ‘The Cut’ underground training mine and other ‘hands-on’ sessions had given students a real feel for the jobs. All the year 10 students including Lisa (the year 10 teaching assistant), Greg and myself had a great time and we all returned with lots of freebies.
Salonee Poongavanon
Teaching Staff
Above – Year 10 Students attended Central TAFE for the “Get into Resources” day.
Year 8-10 Boys Football Carnival
Above – The Year 8-10 students didn’t quite bring home the shield this time but have vowed to do it next carnival.
We had a great day in the rain at Ferndale reserve for the boys lower school carnival. We started off a bit rough and took a little while to gel as a team and went down in the first game by only a goal. The next few games were really well played as the boys came together and listened to the Year 12 coaches and stuck to the game plans. We won the rest of our games and came second overall. The boys were very disappointed as they said they should have played the first game like the rest of their games and won the whole thing.
We learnt a lot and will come back next year and hopefully bring home the shield.
Scott Smith
Pastoral Care Coordinator
Farm Report
The last week of term 2 was a busy one on farm. On the 29 June staff and students marked 297 cross bred lambs. These lambs were from 289 ewes which is just over 100% lambing. Marking is the use of identifiers that are required by law for the livestock industry, and to show people who owns which animal. Lambs are marked by ear tags and ear marks. At the same time the lambs are injected with a three in one vaccine and give a scabby-guard scratch and their tails are cut off. Cutting their tails off is for hygiene purposes to help prevent fly strike. Ram lambs (little boy lambs) are castrated by the use of a little green rubber ring. All of these practices are performed by the students and staff on the day. When students returned for Term 3 we tailed a small mob of 19 lambs left over from the sale of the Border Leister Cross Merino ewes.
Our 32 hectare crop of oats, which you will see as you drive into school on your right near the houses and 10 hectares of Serradella in Bulls orchard, which is located east of the oval went in just before the end of term 2. 2 July started with the skies opening up and it began to rain. The rain continued from the beginning of July and only stopped for two full days to mark one of the wettest winters for a while. We recorded 190mm of rain in July alone. The school has recorded 437mm of rain for the year, 56mm in the last seven days. We have had so much rain, that there were thoughts of sowing in rice paddies instead of oats. With the rain comes the insects, who had all obviously received an invite to feast on our Serradella crop. Due to so much rain, spraying the blighters isn’t an option without a set of snorkel and flippers, so the insects have won this time. Staff and students found out the hard way, that after a lot of rain, farm paddocks and access roads are off limits until the water subsides. There was a lot of mudslinging, laughter and sopping wet people hauled back to the college for warm showers and Milo after those days.
Greg Shemeld
Farm Coordinator
Above: Lamb marking is in full swing on the farm and the students and staff learnt the hard way about the amount of rain we have had.
