Principal Report
Dear Parents, Guardians, Friends and Students,
This is an exciting and somewhat nervous time for all of our Year 12 Graduates. The end of our academic year always brings tender moments when we say goodbye to them. They are starting a new part of their learning journey. All of us at Edmund Rice College wish them every blessing and know that they will take with them all that they have learnt. We look forward to watching what they each achieve. Congratulations Year 12’s, you will be missed.
We had beautiful fine weather for our Open Day and Presentations and Awards Ceremony. It is always wonderful to see our families who are able to join us on these days. A particular thank you to our families who travel long distances from the north of our state to join us at this time. This was the largest number of family members we have ever had travel in. Our Presentations and Awards are a celebration of the achievements of all of our students and staff and a time to acknowledge those students who have achieved outstanding results in the academic learning and in exemplifying the values of our College: Respect, Honesty, Tolerance and Excellence.
We are all looking forward to the start of the new Academic year and the return of your young people. Enjoy this time with them over the next two weeks. We look forward to welcoming them all back.
God Bless
Marie Barton
Principal
Prayer
We thank you Lord, for this term.
For the challenges, the successes,
and the mistakes from which we have learnt.
Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.
Give us strength and courage to do what is right:
to be witnesses of our faith.
Help us to be a practical Christian these holidays, to appreciate what
others do for us, to give time and effort to help others.
To be peacemakers in our family.
Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun.
Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.
We thank you for our classmates, teachers, houseparents, parents and guardians
and a community that cares for us.
May we always be conscious of you in our lives.
Amen
Goodbye to our Year 12’s
Year 12’s Final Assembly
Final assembly for the Year 12’s Class of 2023 was held in the College Chapel. It was a very emotional assembly with a few tears and lots of laughter, followed by a final blessing. The Year 12’s were then led out of the Chapel and through a Guard of Honour and onto the bus for their day out.
Year 12’s Day Out
The Year 12’s had an exciting final excursion to Powerplay Go Karts in Joondalup, where they enjoyed quite a few laps around the track followed by pizza for lunch, before heading back to the College to get ready for the Graduation Mass & Dinner.
Graduation Mass & Dinner
The Year 12’s were finally farewelled at the Graduation Mass & Dinner held in the College Chapel and student dining room. Staff, students and families enjoyed a delicious dinner before being presented with their final certificates and gifts from the College community.
Deputy Principal Report
Nurturing Excellence at Edmund Rice College: Upholding the values of Honesty, Respect, Tolerance and Trying Our Best
As we approach the end of the term, we would like to share some important updates with you regarding academic reports, NAPLAN results, Year 12 graduates, VET studies, and the upcoming break.
Academic reports will be sent to all parents and guardians via mail. We kindly request that you carefully review these reports and take the time to discuss them with your children. The reports will highlight specific goals that have been collaboratively set by your child and their teachers. This open dialogue is crucial for your child’s academic progress. We are pleased to inform you that the NAPLAN results for our Year 7 and Year 9 students will be included in the academic reports. These results provide valuable insights into your child’s academic development. If you would like to schedule a meeting with your child’s class teachers early next term to discuss these results, please don’t hesitate to contact our administration team for inquiries.
Congratulations to our Year 12 students who have recently graduated! We are proud to announce that some of our graduates are embarking on exciting apprenticeships, while others are beginning their journey in university. On behalf of the entire college community, we wish them every success in their future endeavours.
Our VET (Vocational Education and Training) students will continue their VET studies next term. The assessments for these courses will take place later in the term. We encourage parents and guardians to motivate and support their children in making the most of these classes, both in theory and practical components, as they significantly contribute to their Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) achievements.
As the term draws to a close, we want to wish everyone a safe and restful break. It’s a time for students to recharge and spend quality time with family and friends. We look forward to welcoming all students and staff back in a few weeks, refreshed and ready for another successful term of learning and growth.
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in fostering the academic and personal development of our students at Edmund Rice College. If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Wishing you a wonderful break and looking forward to the exciting term ahead!
Tracey Crisp
Deputy Principal
Matthew 13:31-32 “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants and becomes a tree, so that birds come and perch in its branches.”
Presentation & Awards Ceremony
On Saturday 16 September, following the College Open Day, special guests, parents/guaradians, students and staff assembled for the Presentation & Awards Ceremony followed by a delicious afternoon tea prepared by our catering staff. We thank all of our families for attending.
Above: Congratulations to all of our award winners.
| 2023 AWARD TITLE | 2023 WINNER | |
| Year 7 | Religious Education | Shylock Fernandenz |
| Year 8 | Religious Education | David Gallagher |
| Year 9 | Religious Education | Nyanda Fernandez |
| Year 10 | Religious Education | Maddison Hodder |
| Year 11 | Religion and Life | Ena Graham |
| Year 12 | Religion and Life | Christopher Harris & Esther Councillor Bullen |
| Year 7 | Excellence | Ki-ann Skeen |
| Year 7 | Respect | Tyler Page |
| Year 7 | Honesty | Tyler Page |
| Year 7 | Tolerance | Ki-ann Skeen |
| Year 7 | Edmund Rice Award for Academic Endeavour | Tyler Page |
| Year 8 | Excellence | Erickeeta Skeen |
| Year 8 | Respect | David Gallagher |
| Year 8 | Honesty | David Gallagher |
| Year 8 | Tolerance | David Gallagher |
| Year 8 | Edmund Rice Award for Academic Endeavour | Erickeeta Skeen |
| Year 9 | Excellence | Kobe Hodgson |
| Year 9 | Respect | Tyler Poynton |
| Year 9 | Tolerance | Sommer Alone |
| Year 9 | Honesty | Diona Lee |
| Year 9 | Edmund Rice Award for Academic Endeavour | Zac Camiller |
| Year 10 | Respect | Miles Hodgson |
| Year 10 | Honesty | Zakota Alone |
| Year 10 | Tolerance | Dianne Quartermaine |
| Year 10 | Edmund Rice Award for Academic Endeavour | Beau Vellios |
| Year 11 | Animal Production Systems | Ena Graham |
| Year 11 | English | Ena Graham |
| Year 11 | Mathematics | Ena Graham |
| Year 12 | Animal Production Systems | Alexis Price |
| Year 12 | Mathematics | Jeramya Mair |
| Year 12 | English | Alexis Price |
| Year 10 | VET Award | Dianne Quartermaine |
| Year 11 | VET Award | Ena Graham |
| Year 12 | VET Award | Christopher Harris |
| Agricultural Educators’ Team Award | Keriarkers Farquharson | |
| Cattle Club – Best Member | Zac Camiller | |
| Residential Care Award 2023 – Junior Girl | Zakota Alone | |
| Residential Care Award 2023 – Junior Boy | David Gallagher | |
| Residential Care Award 2023 – Senior Girl | Shanniel Dodd | |
| Residential Care Award 2023 – Senior Boy | Keriarkers Farquharson | |
| Year 7-12 – Sportsperson of the Year Award | Beau Vellios | |
| WA Farmers Agriculture Scholarship (Year 11) | Ena Graham | |
| ADF Leadership & Team Award – Year 12 | Keriarkers Farquharson | |
| Six Year Award | Christopher Harris, Alexis Price, Tyra Adams, Jeramya Mair & Sonnita Ashwin | |
| Bindi-Bindi Award – Year 12 | Orlando Zepeda | |
| Principal’s Edmund Rice Award 2023 | Keriarkers Farquharson |
Blessing of the Animals
Students and staff gathered in front of the College for the annual Blessing of the Animals.
On Monday 12 September, staff and students of Edmund Rice College gathered to conduct Blessing of the Animals. Prayers were offered by Miss Tracey, Miss Angelee, Miss Neha and Mr Robert, with the main Blessing conducted by Miss Marie.
The animals of God’s creation inhabit the skies, the earth, and the sea. May God, who created the animals of this earth as help to us, continue to protect and sustain us with the grace his blessing brings.
Gillian Usher
Teacher
Clontarf End of Year Awards
Over 60 students, staff and program partners gathered on the 11 September to celebrate the achievements of the Clontarf boys at the Edmund Rice Academy End of Year Awards.
We hosted the awards in the Edmund Rice College Hall. Bryce Simpson, a year 10 Academy member did the Acknowledgement of Country, then we were in the hands of our MC for the evening, a job done well by Year 11 Academy member Jabari Trott.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the boys who won awards on the night, those being:
| Junior Attendance | Clayton Brown |
| Junior Academic | Angelo Parfitt |
| Junior Trainer | David Gallagher |
| Senior Attendance | Keriarkers Farquharson |
| Senior Academic | Orlando Fernandez |
| Senior Trainer | Elijah Tressider-Gilbert |
| Clontarf Spirit | Keriarkers Farquharson |
Thanks to our Program partners from Coates and Bunnings, who assisted in the presentation of the awards.
It was also our opportunity to send off our graduating Year 12’s. We would like to congratulate Keri, Nando, Arle and Nick, and wish them all the best for their future endeavours and look forward to having them back as Clontarf Alumni.
All who attended enjoyed an awesome feed following the awards, where it was great to see the Clontarf Boys, Staff and program partners all mingling and sharing great conversations.
Paul Pitchers
Academy Director
Interhouse Athletics Carnival
The Edmund Rice College inter-house athletics carnival was held on 23 August 2023. In a break away from tradition, this year’s carnival was held down on Bothe Oval.
The athletics carnival results are as follows:
| 1st | Westcourt | 712 points |
| 2nd | Waterford | 446 points |
| 3rd | Mt Sion | 301 points |
At right: Congratulations to Westcourt for winning the 2023 Interhouse Athletics Carnival
| Year 7 Champion Girl | Clarice Hester |
| Year 7 Runner Up Girl | Ki-ann Skeen |
| Year 7 Champion Boy | Memphis James |
| Year 7 Runner Up Boy | Tyler Page |
| Year 8 Champion Girl | Erickeeta Skeen |
| Year 8 Runner Up Girl | Andreah Main |
| Year 8 Champion Boy | Malley Lowe |
| Year 8 Runner Up Boy | Angelo Parfitt |
| Year 9 Champion Girl | Shauniyah Hodder |
| Year 9 Runner Up Girl | Diona Lee |
| Year 9 Champion Boy | Clayton Brown |
| Year 9 Runner Up Boy | Zan Camiller |
| Year 10 Champion Girl | Lloydessa Kwilla |
| Year 10 Runner Up Girl | Zakota Alone |
| Year 10 Champion Boy | Beau Vellios |
| Year 10 Runner Up Boy | Boston Sims |
| Year 11 Champion Girl | Doreen Black |
| Year 11 Runner Up Girl | Destiny Narrier |
| Year 11 Champion Boy | William Fawcett |
| Year 11 Runner Up Boy | Jabari Trott |
| Year 12 Champion Girl | Shanneil Dodd |
| Year 12 Champion Boy | Christopher Harris |
Patrick Guretti
Teacher
ACC Athletics
On Wednesday 30 August, selected students attended HBF Stadium at Mt Claremont for the ACC Athletics Carnival. A personal highlight for the College team was placing 2nd in the boys U/17 relay. What an amazing effort!
Farm Report
It was a busy start to 2023 as usual. Work started on rebuilding Meckering soak in January and installing a new pumping system which allowed us, later in the year, to use the water from Meckering to fill the swimming pool after it was drained and repaired.
Due to the dry start to the year the soak has not run at full capacity but all the water that has come through the soak has been harvested as there are no more leaks in the soak.
We purchased a secondhand TR 88 New Holland harvester from Kelly’s who lease the farm, so down the track we can grow and harvest our own crops for the animals on farm and sell some if we have excess.
We also cut a 4 metre wide entrance through the old concrete tank wall behind Musk dorm and turned it into a fancy round hay shed which holds close to 300 round rolls when full.
The rain was a little bit lost early in the year but has now found where we are and has given us some good rain in August and September the oat crops are looking very nice at this stage, fingers crossed.
The Serradella crop did not go in this year as the rains were a bit light on earlier in the year but last year’s Serradella in Gravel Pit is turning into a lovely feed paddock for the sheep and we hope to plant Cemetery paddock to Serradella next year following this year’s oat crop.
The 753 Chamberlain Combine was rebuilt with new seed and fertilizer feed rollers and new bearings, also some of the rust was cut out and rebuilt with the students help in the Engineering Workshop.
In August, the students did their Christian Service Learning, helping Jacob and I to plant 1000 trees on the up slope behind Lake Musk to help with the salinity. Also a big thanks to all the staff, students and teaching assistants who helped out for the week. (The toasted marshmallows on the last day were awesome).
We have ordered 2000 trees for next years Tree Planting Program with 1000 to be planted on the upslope behind Lake Scott in May or June and the remainder will be planted at Lake Musk in July.
Lamb marking was done in June. Our lambing percentages were down on last years due to the dry start to the season. The Poll Dorset cross Merino lambs are really starting to fill out now and should be ready for sale in October.
The cows have given us 17 calves this year, so hats off to Mr Glover for making sure they got help when they needed it and to all the students who helped out. As these calves are Pedro the bulls last offspring, Mr Glover and Brother George headed off to the Big Smoke and brought a new bull (Scoobie) from Murdoch University.
We sheered 200 red tag hoggets and 13 yellow tag wethers on the last 2 days of August so that the year 12 students could be assessed by Owen from Central Regional TAFE and to allow Miss Karen to finish off their paperwork. Mark, our shearer, will be back in October to complete some more shearing for us so stay tuned.
The pasture spray topping with Glyphosate is now complete. It stops the seed set of the weeds in the paddocks and makes it more palatable for the animals to eat and to lower the weed burden for the cropping program next year.
Greg Shemeld
Farm Manager
Above: Things are always busy on the farm no matter what the season.
Year 7/8 Carnaby Cockatoo Environmental Science Project
Over the term the year 7 and 8 options classes have had the wonderful opportunity to be involved in interactive, hands-on learning experiences conducted by Dean from Carnaby Crusaders. Dean is a local Bindoon man, passionate about protecting and rehabilitating the local Carnaby population. Students were involved in building artificial tubes that they are then installing around the school. These tubes will be monitored by Dean and the students over the next 2 years.
Natalie Talbot
Teacher
Students have been busy installing the tubes around the College grounds.
Boarding Report
There have been times this Term that have caused me to struggle, it has been cold and wet in the mornings, and I haven’t wanted to get up, we have had some students that have pushed the boundaries and that has made some days feel harder than most. Being in Musk House with the boys I have definitely not gotten enough beauty sleep. This Term has had some adventures but we have made it through. Football this Year has been full of great games, high marks, and an exciting Grand Final for the Year 10 Bronco’s team. We have been shopping most weekends on Saturdays, to Midland, Joondalup or Carousel. We’ve enjoyed walks, basketball games, board games and weekend sleep ins (for the boarders not staff).
We recently held the Year 12 Graduation, followed by Open Day and Awards and Presentations. It was the biggest Year 12 Graduation we have ever had at the College, with families for the Year 12 Boarders flying down a couple days beforehand and spending time at the College meeting staff, looking around the grounds and classrooms and celebrating this exciting milestone. We also had two Year 12 students, Tyra and Keri, who came first and second in Best and Fairest Awards.
I would like to take this time to wish all students and their families a great 2 weeks holidays. Boarders return Tuesday 10 October.
Sam Jenner
Head of Boarding
Football News
Congratulations to our students Beau Vellios, Keriarkers Farquharson and Tyra Adams who recently attended the WAFC Metro Central Junior Conference. Day student, Beau, won the Best and Fairest Award for the 2023 season. Keriarkers placed runner up Best and Fairest and Tyra won the Best and Fairest for the girls competition. Congratulations to these students.
Above: Keriarkers is presented Runner Up Best & Fairest.
Above: Tyra is placed Best & Fairest in the girls competition.
