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Geraldton Senior CollegeThe Link Newsletter
gsc.wa.edu.au -- phone 08 9965 8400 -- [email protected]
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome!
It’s been a hectic first half term after settling in quickly to the timetable. Our 932 students include around 410 for whom the College is a new expe-rience and staff are in agreement on the good start and positive effect the previous year’s Transition Program has had.
I acknowledge the role of classmates and student leaders for welcoming and assisting new students and thank you for the support you provided at home.
All students have been introduced to the College’s three expectations. Throughout the year we will all partic-ipate in lessons where the explicit teaching of behaviours specific to ‘Respect, Responsibility and Doing Your Best’ is required as part of our school wide approach to positive behaviour.
From form class first thing in the morning, through the different class
settings, in workshops, the library, cafeteria, outside recreation areas, on excursions, and while waiting for buses in the afternoon - all represent contexts where specific behaviours are expected. You will find these statements included in a table con-tained in the Student Diary.
At the recent Year 12 ATAR launch Ms Snell, Mrs Carson and Mrs Harslett outlined specific detail about how support will be provided to ensure our students are successful. Essentially they must be very well organised for an unusually short year (30 weeks), commit to their course requirements, submit everything for assessment and seek staff advice often. Attendance for all aspects of course work is ex-pected. Your support for not planning holidays in the term 3 break will be essential as this is the mock exam and practical WACE exam time.
Taking up opportunities to participate in out of hours tutorials volunteered by staff and accessing Student Services
support staff including Manager Mr Robinson, Chaplain Eric, Nurse Deb Muscio and Psychologist Krystyna McGerr is highly recommended.
About 80% of Year 10’s and 50% of Year 11’s will be involved in the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) program between March 9th and 20th. Achieving the benchmark standard is one of the requirements to achieve the Western Australi-an Certificate of Education (WACE). Again, attendance is essential as the next opportunity to sit the tests will be in September.
Finally, a call for parent assistance for the following events:
• The P&C is catering for the MWCCI Business After Hours event which is being hosted at the Trade Training Centre on Tuesday 24 March from 5:30pm - 7:30pm. Please contact the College or Caroline Rowcroft 0427 641 757
• The College Ball to be held at QEII Centre on Saturday 28 March. Contact Mr Robinson (9965 8416) or email [email protected]
Thank you, Garry Simmons Principal
Upcoming EventsTuesday 10 March 2015P&CAnnualGeneralMeeting@JohnWillcockCollege-6pm
Tuesday 17 March 2015CouncilMeeting@GeraldtonSeniorCollege-6pm
Friday 20 March 2015HarmonyDayCelebrations
Tuesday 24 March 2015SwimmingCarnival
Saturday 28 March [email protected](Ballticketsalesfrom16-20Marchinfrontofficeatlunchtime$70perticket)
Tuesday 31 March 2015StudentLeaderConference
Thursday 2 April 2015LastdayofTerm1
Tuesday 21 April 2015Term2Commences
Friday 24 April 2015ANZACPeaceService-9:15am
March2015
gsc.wa.edu.au -- phone 08 9965 8400 -- [email protected]
Geraldton Senior College is a Health Promoting School acknowledging the relationship between health and wellbeing and education. Healthy students learn better, so our school aims to promote a healthy lifestyle to enhance learning.
The School Health Centre is situated in Student Services and is staffed Monday to Thursday by Deb Muscio (Community Health Nurse). The role of the Community Health Nurse involves assisting students who have existing medical conditions, students who are at risk of health issues impacting on learning and the promotion of health strategies to enhance students learning potential whilst at school.
If your child has an existing medical condition, (e.g. Asthma, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Allergies/Anaphylaxis, ADD, ADHD, Mental Health Condition) information regarding treatment and management of the condition should be forwarded to the school health centre. For new health issues, please contact the school health centre on 9965 8425 to discuss with Deb, so your child receives the best management for their condition.
It is important in case of an emergency for the school to have knowledge of the history and a current management plan for your child and up to date phone numbers so we can contact you.
The Health Centre is not equipped as a clinical setting and therefore un-well students will be sent home after phone contact with parent/guardian
and referred for further medical re-view if necessary.
Analgesia (e.g. panadol) and other over the counter medications are not available at the school. Students are recommended to carry personal medication (i.e anti-histamines or pain killers) in their bag for personal use only.
Please Note: The school recommends families have
Ambulance Cover.
The school does not cover the cost of an Ambulance in the event of an injury/accident or a student requiring emergency transport to hospital.
St John Ambulance offers Ambulance Membership to cover Emergency Transport (available Australia Wide.) For Membership enquiries contact St John Ambulance on 9938 0900
- Deb Muscio School Health Nurse
1. Get organized! Plan ahead and never let tests and exams sneak up on you.
2. Surround yourself with positive people and good influences.
3. Begin each day fresh and clean. Wear your uniform with pride!
4. Start off on the right foot with your teachers. Be conscious of your behaviour and treat them with respect.
5. Join in on activities. Run for student council, join the college ball committee or even fundraise for local charities at lunchtimes. These activities can help you fill up your resume and will come in handy when applying for a job or university.
6. Take notes. Try not to fill up your notebook with drawings – fill it up with notes and jot down key points in the lesson.
7. Get an early start on your home-work. Prepare a snack, turn off your phone and get right to it. Getting your homework over and done with leaves you with plenty of time to socialize or watch TV in the evening (not to mention you’ll never have to stress about leaving it to the last minute).
8. Get out of bed earlier. Give yourself enough time to wake up and prepare for the day before you head to school. Eating a healthy breakfast is a great idea, too!
9. Make today better than yesterday. Think about what you can achieve at school this year and make it the best school year it can be!
Health CentreStart off the
School Year right!
gsc.wa.edu.au -- phone 08 9965 8400 -- [email protected]
Early in the term, we joined together as a school community to welcome the new Student Leadership Team.
It was a moving ceremony. Past Stu-dent Leaders shared their recent experiences and advice including Marlee Sice (Leaver 2013) who has returned from her gap year in Italy while participating in the Rotary Ex-change program.
The 2015 Student Leaders and House Captains received their pins and got the crowd excited about the year ahead. It was a real treat to experi-ence a showcase of the myriad of tal-ent which is in abundance within our current community.
Mrs Penny presented our Senior School Band Captain, Nena Sawyer. Mr O’Sullivan delivered a history of the houses and their origins before announcing the 2015 House Cap-tains. Outstanding students received recognition along with staff mem-bers who had won staff excellence awards for their hard work in 2014.
The Head Boy, Head Girl and their Deputies finished the proceedings by making their pledges to uphold the highest standards and to lead the student body throughout 2015 and beyond. What a fantastic way to kick-start the year!
Induction Assembly
Logan MacGregor, Head Boy • Sharnee Freeman, Head Girl • David Moore, Deputy Head Boy • Zoe Rowcroft, Deputy Head Girl • Braydone Ryan and Katelin Millar, Abrolhos House Captains • Sabre Stone and Layla Hale, Batavia House Captains • Nadene Zappara and Jayden McGlinn, Chapman House Captains • Mariah McAullay and Erin Rowe, Greenough House Captains • Brittany Williams and Paul Mills, Moresby House Captains • Nena Sawyer, Band Captain
gsc.wa.edu.au -- phone 08 9965 8400 -- [email protected]
‘Twas the week before school holidays and all through the College, not a creature was stirring except for the Year 10s. “Let them have fun!” called the staff, “Let them socialise and engage with activities they may not other-wise do. The grading is complete, the season is merry, let us all join together for the last days and be cheery!”
“Is there method to this madness?” asked the Senior Management Team. “Of course there is! Let us build pos-itive relationships with the students and have the chance to get to know them. This will improve behaviour in the courses they will be taking over next two years with us,” replied the teachers.
And did it work? Yes it did. The students had fun and had a chance to choose which activity they participated in. The teachers chose which activities
they ‘taught’ allowing them to ex-press creativity and share their hob-bies with those that might be inter-ested. Some of the activities offered were ‘Glee’ performances, creative Christmas activities, fishing, wind-surfing, bike riding, as well as a swim and a picnic at the beach!
After having such fun and learning new skills, making new friends and creating great memories, the Year 10 students were exhausted. Ready for a well-earned break, they looked for-ward to coming back as fresh-faced Year 11s, prepared to tackle the new school year.
RAT Week Activities
Late last year, all families were posted a copy of the 2015 contributions and charges. Thank you to those families who have settled their accounts or committed to a payment plan.
At Geraldton Senior College we strive to provide an education pathway for all students, but delivering a large amount of different programs comes at a cost. In the current economic cli-mate with government budget cuts, this becomes more difficult.
The wide difference between the cost of the Year 10 program and the Year
11 and 12 programs can be a challenge for some families. The Year 11 and 12 programs involve compulsory fees rather than contributions only.
There are programs out there that provide assistance such as ABSTUDY, Aboriginal corporations, and the Secondary Assistance Scheme (SAS). The Secondary Assistance Scheme is open to all parents who are Pension-er Concession Card or Health Care Card holders. This entitlement gives up to $350 towards school fees and uniforms. Please come into the front office between 8:10am and 3:30pm to complete the application. This must be done by the end of March.
Office staff are available to help fill in the form where needed – just ask! From there, we will sign the bottom of the form and submit it on your behalf. Students who are living inde-pendently and recognised as such by Centrelink can also apply.
If you would like to discuss contri-butions and charges, please get in touch with our Finance Officers on 9965 8407. An updated copy of any outstanding statements have been posted out this term, so if you haven’t yet received yours please be mindful that it is on its way.
- Janette and Sylvia, Finance Officers
A Note from the College Finance Department
gsc.wa.edu.au -- phone 08 9965 8400 -- [email protected]
Excited faces greeted the Fremantle Dock-ers Team as they were welcomed to Geraldton Senior College. As part of their AFL Community Camp Pro-gram, the Dockers visited over 25 different schools all over the Mid-west. Our students were eager to meet their football heroes and hear their important message about living a healthy and active lifestyle.
The famous footy team carried out some training sessions during their visits, and some of the Football Acad-emy students were lucky enough to have a kick with their favourite players, including Matt Taberner (pictured right).
Thank you for the visit, and good luck this footy season!!
2014 was a great success for the Year 12 students and their teachers. Their last year of schooling was frantic with studying, exams and more studying - but it was all worth it! GSC students impressed us all with their fantastic exam results.
Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) achievement was at 99%. 139 students achieved the WACE.
Vocational Education and Training (VET) participation has slightly im-proved from last year and 76% of our VET students attained a Certificate II or higher.
The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is the primary criterion for entry into undergraduate-en-try university programs in Australia. Congratulations to Laurren Duncan, who received the highest ATAR score in the school – 94.4%.
Our teachers are more determined than ever to improve scores as much as possible, so it looks like this year’s bunch of Year 12 students have some big shoes to fill!
Check out our ‘Start out the New School Year Right’ article on page 2; it’s full of great suggestions for getting organised this year.
Fremantle Dockers Visit GSC Success!
gsc.wa.edu.au -- phone 08 9965 8400 -- [email protected]
As we set sail for another year I would like to acknowledge the Class of 2014. Last year over 75% of the STEP boys were employed by the end of the year, with several more finding work before the start of this year. I extend to those boys my sincerest congratulations and look forward to running into them in future and hearing of their successes.
A few of last year’s STEP class students have returned to school this year to continue their education. It is good to see them around as they continue to develop and move towards their individual goals. They may even be able to offer a few wise words to the new group coming through.
The Class of 2015 has commenced and the crew have covered a lot of ground already. We started our coursework, discussed ideas relating to professionalism in the workplace and by day 4 had completed our first nationally recognised certification – The White Card (worksite safety).
For this year’s STEP class there is an array of support networks and mech-anisms in place that they can draw on to enhance their chances of success including independent profession-al career guidance and hundreds of hours of well organised and mentored work experience within their preferred trade area. This is in addition to the well-structured learning experiences and knowledgeable, approachable staff. The excellent reputation of the STEP program within the wider com-munity has been further accentuated
by last year’s students and this year’s group will benefit from and hopefully contribute to contin-uing that tradition. Feedback from employers, employments agencies and group trainer indicate that STEP is already regarded as a go-to source of work ready young people.
On top of the regular coursework we have already managed a tour of the Crayfish factory and an expedition on the Batavia Longboat courtesy of Vince Nock and his deckhand Markus - who generously donated their time once again. There are several other excursions in the pipeline this year! At lunchtime there is currently a highly spirited game of cricket played daily and in the classroom, the atmosphere is positive. With all this in the mix the future is exciting and I look forward to seeing our boys make their mark this year.
If you have any questions regarding the STEP program I can be easily con-tacted during school hours by calling the school.
- Enan Hann STEP Coordinator
We have recently introduced an app for parents, students and the general community to stay up-to-date about what is happening around Geraldton Senior College. Simply download the ‘School Stream’ app onto your Apple or Android device and add ‘Gerald-ton Senior College’. Choose which notifications are sent to you and stay up-to-date with the school calendar with a swipe of your screen!
Our school website has had a bit of a make-over, too. Head over to www.gsc.wa.edu.au to look at our new lay-out. If you have any feedback, do not hesitate to contact us and let us know.
Zoe Rowcroft has been selected for the State School Girls Squad for water polo. Zoe has also been awarded the first scholarship for water polo from the Midwest Academy of Sport. The scholarship includes technical and tactical coaching, sports science, strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition advice, career and education guidance and sports psychology. Well done, Zoe. All the best with your scholarship!
STEP News
Waterpolo Scholarship
Future of Communication
