From the Principal’s desk
The business end of the school year is quickly approaching. As you will see from the many articles in this newsletter, our college has been providing additional opportunities for students to engage in activities they enjoy and are highly interested in.
Book Week was certainly a highlight this term. It was wonderful to see so many of our students and staff embracing the spirit of the theme “Find Your Treasure”. Valuable funds were also raised for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in the process. College spirit and comradery was certainly evident throughout the day.
This week, our Year 7 and 9 students will be receiving their individual NAPLAN results. Overall, the students have performed as expected in the NAPLAN testing. We will review the data in the coming weeks and use the information gathered to identify possible strengths and weaknesses, to plan for all students’ ongoing progress. I would like to thank all of our students for doing their personal best in the NAPLAN testing earlier this year, and our teaching staff for their work to support literacy and numeracy development.
As many of our students enjoy their holiday break, our Year 12s will be busily preparing for their mock exams. We wish our Year 12 students all the best with their preparation for these exams, as well as their final exams in Term 4. We will be celebrating their achievements at the Presentation Evening on 25 October 2018, which will signal the first graduating class in the history of Fremantle College. We look forward to this significant occasion and will be excited to hear about their post college destinations.
With the weather warming up, we remind all parents to send their children to school in full school uniform, with all of the equipment they need to be ready to learn. It is an important life skill to be organised and ensure that your day starts on a positive note. It is wonderful to see our staff out greeting our students every morning, and we would like to ensure that these interactions continue to be positive, rather than being about non-compliance with the college’s uniform policy. Thank you to all of those students who turn up every day in uniform and ready for school.
I have been speaking to our students about perseverance at our recent year assemblies. It is one of our college values and an important determinant for a successful life after college. Whilst learning is often challenging, it is important that our students persevere and try their best. I encourage all parents to have conversations with their children about perseverance and the challenges that you have overcome to gain success in your lives.
We recently acknowledged our students who have demonstrated positive leadership skills, kindness to others and enthusiasm for learning. It is fantastic to see our students commit to our core values and persevere and strive for their best self. It has also been great to see our Student Voice Team starting to organise activities across the college for students to donate to charitable causes.
To help you plan your calendars and childcare arrangements, our School Development Days for 2019 will be:
Term 1
Thursday 31 January 2019
Friday 1 February 2019
Term 2
Monday 29 April 2019
Friday 31 May 2019
Term 3
Monday 22 July 2019
Term 4
Friday 20 December 2019
Students will not be in attendance on any of the above days. These development days are important for planning, performance reviews, professional learning and the continued professional development of our college staff.
As Term 3 comes to a close, I would like to thank all of our families for their ongoing support of their children at the college.
Project Planet
This term Fremantle College was front and centre on the ABC as Project Planet screened on ABC Me. Filmed throughout Terms 1 and 2, the eight-part series followed the students in our Year 7 Gifted and Talented program as they looked at ways we could make our college environment more sustainable. Episodes are available to watch through iView.
NAPLAN Online
In 2019 Fremantle College will be completing the annual NAPLAN online, which means all Year 7 and Year 9 students will be working from laptops for the testing. In order to ensure that the college’s network is able to operate effectively during this time, all schools are required to complete a School Readiness Test. We completed the SRT in August and our network easily took the tech load. The SRT also gave students the opportunity to see how the tests will differ from paper copies.
Janelle Mittonette, Associate Principal
Gifted and Talented Update
Primary School Visits
“Seven of our Year 7 students recently visited eight primary schools in the Fremantle Area: Spearwood Alternative, East Hamilton Hill, Coogee, Phoenix, White Gum Valley, Coolbellup, Beaconsfield and Hilton primary schools. We visited the primary schools to talk to their students about coming to Fremantle College and everything we have to offer. We talked about our Specialist Programs, Gifted and Talented Program, Academic Excellence Program, our Academies, our successful Music Program and our new and improved facilities. We spoke to the students about the opportunity of being involved in Robocup, via the ICT program also. We explained to the students one of the positives of being in the Gifted and Talented program, participating in Debating. Many Year 5 students were interested in the Marine Studies program, as they had attended the Year 5 Marine Taster Day earlier this year. The students had many questions about our college and its qualities. At the end of each visit, the students were very excited and hopeful about coming to our school. “
By Chloe Jackson, Year 7
Science – Year 7
Our Year 7 Gifted and Talented Science class are well underway with their STEM project. Students were given a 2.5m length of pine and were asked to design and build a trebuchet. Once the construction is complete, our students will analyse the forces involved in the operation of the trebuchet. The project will wind up with all trebuchets competing in a golf ball flinging competition!
Nicholas Glorie, Science Teacher
Fremantle Debating League
Fremantle College was invited to participate in the Fremantle Debating League this year and we have grown from strength to strength. Last week we hosted Melville SHS, Rossmoyne SHS, Harrisdale SHS, Lakeland SHS and Lynwood SHS, running debates in our College Hall and the library.
Student hosts helped to ensure that the debating venues were organised and had the necessary equipment. They also made sure that the teams from other schools were not disoriented and were well cared for.
All our teams did very well against the opposing teams, and our Year 7 and 10 teams won against Harrisdale SHS and Lakeland SHS respectively. The final round of the competition will be held in Term 4 at Rossmoyne SHS. The debating teams will do their best to bring home the glory for Fremantle College.
Kartini Signa, Humanities and Social Sciences – HoLA
Marine Industry School Pathways Program Career Expo
A select group of our Year 10, 11 and 12 students recently had the opportunity to attend the Marine Industry School Pathways Program Career Expo held at Fremantle College. The expo aimed to:
- increase student awareness of marine science, engineering and defence industries as an employer of choice.
- provide secondary students with positive career experiences in marine science, engineering and defence industries.
- support student awareness of and access to pathways into the marine, science and defence industry sector.
Feedback from our students was very positive. They were all excited to hear from a range of industry representatives such as marine scientists, engineers and submariners.
Nicholas Glorie, Science Teacher
Music News
Specialist Contemporary Music Program – Concert Prac with ECU/WAAPA
In Week 5 our Specialist Contemporary Music students were joined by a group of trainee teachers from the Bachelor of Music Education Program at Edith Cowan University/WAAPA for Concert Prac. Each band performed and then received feedback from members of the audience. Our guests were very impressed with the high standard of performances and the detailed critiques that were offered.
Primary Program Testing
During Week 6, we were busy conducting testing of approximately 80 Year 4 students for entry to our School Instrumental Music Program for 2019. All students had the opportunity to review our state of the art facilities, try out different instruments and learn more about our successful music program. We are now in the process of making our final offers for places in the 2019 program.
WA Government Schools Choral Festival
Our Vocal Ensemble performed at the West Australian Government Schools’ Choral Festival 2018 recently. Our students were an absolute credit to the college presenting themselves impeccably throughout and delivering a stunning performance, which received the highest possible ‘Outstanding’ mark. The adjudicator singled out our performance for particular praise during her feedback to the audience at the end of the festival. Congratulations to the students and staff!
Our Term 3 Showcases
We have three Showcases in Week 10, featuring 20 bands including a group of students who have been working with our visiting artist, Indian Classical Music Guru, Dr. Sadinand Mankar. The showcases will take place on Tuesday 18, Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 September in the Calvert Music Centre. Each run from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door. Come along and support our talented students.
Year 12 Specialist Music Students Final Performance
In Week 2 of Term 4 our Year 12 students will give their final high school performance. Details will be published soon. This promises to be a highlight of our performance calendar for 2018, so be sure to secure a ticket and support our talented Year 12 group.
EXTRAVAGANZA 2018
On Tuesday 30 October at 7:00pm over 250 performers from 12 schools, an Orchestra, a Choir, Bands and more will come together to present our specialist music EXTRAVAGANZA – Hits from the Movies! This spectacular concert will be the biggest event of the year for our Specialist Contemporary Music and IMSS Primary program students. Come along and share in this celebration of what our students can achieve together in music.
Mike Gowland, Specialist Music Program
Fremantle College Performing Arts Academy
Our Year 7 Performing Arts Academy students were involved in a range of exciting activities during Term 3. Our Drama classes have presented their highly entertaining circus and clowning self-devised performances for assessment. This included specific skills in tumbling, juggling, balancing and slapstick routines, all a pleasure to watch.
The group also had the opportunity to review our Year 11 Drama performance of ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’. Our Year 7 students thoroughly enjoyed taking part in a question and answer session with our Year 11 actors after the show. In the final week of Term 3, they were also fortunate to attend a fabulous performance event of ‘Shakespeare As You Write It,’ by Australia Playhouse in our Performing Arts Centre. It was a wonderful opportunity to view professional actors at work.
Our Drama Club continues to operate during lunchtime, enabling our Performing Arts students to refine their skills in improvisation (including theatre sports) and general acting techniques. Drama Club provides a wonderful opportunity for students to mix with a range of students from other year levels who are passionate about performance. Currently, these talented students are working hard in Drama and Music to develop and polish their drama scenes and musical numbers for the upcoming Performing Arts Evening, scheduled in Term 4.
Kim Delury, Performing Arts Academy Coordinator
Maths Zone
A reminder that support sessions for students are available in the Maths Block every morning Monday to Friday from 7.45am to 8.30 am and also Mondays and Thursdays from 2.55pm to 4:00pm. All students are welcome to attend these sessions, which provide assistance with homework, revision, review and consolidation of concepts learned in class and to obtain help with general maths skills to improve knowledge gaps. Students can access laptops to complete their online maths tasks or access class resources on Connect made available by their teachers.
This is a free tutoring opportunity available to all students and we have many regulars who attend multiple sessions per week. An attendance record is kept, with students who have regularly attended the Maths Zone awarded with certificates for displaying enthusiasm for learning, which is a core value of our college.
Maths Incursion – World of Maths
On Tuesday 28 August our Year 8 students participated in a Mathematics incursion run by World of Maths. The incursion was held over two sessions and we had nearly 200 students participate. The aim of the incursion was to build on our students’ mathematical curiosity as well as further develop their problem solving skills. The session provided fun, colourful, hands-on activities for our students and the displays were a mix of two types of activities i.e. solving problems from a given situation and guided discovery, whereby the students could discover or identify mathematical concepts and ideas.
We received very positive feedback from our students. All students were engaged in the activities and had lots of fun trying to solve the problems within their groups. The activities encouraged communication and teamwork, with students who do not consider Mathematics their favourite subject being really absorbed in some of the challenges.
Gail Dirk, Mathematics – HoLA
Follow the Dream
Deadly Dreaming Day – Murdoch University – Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre
Earlier this term, 15 of our Follow the Dream students attended Murdoch University’s “Deadly Dreaming” careers expo hosted by the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre.
Deadly Dreaming is an interactive experience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students, which aims to inspire students to begin thinking about their future aspirations. The event featured a welcome to country from Dr Richard Walley, an ‘Amazing Race’ style group challenge around campus, various inflatable games, networking and interactive workshops from Aboriginal University Students and Murdoch ambassadors.
A key part of the day was hearing about the support that Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre offers students at Murdoch and how their K-Track program can help students get into the university course that they want, preparing them to succeed once they get there. Our students were all very excited to spend the day on campus and visualised themselves one-day attending university.
Nathan Dines, Follow the Dream Coordinator
Volleyball
Our Volleyball students demonstrated excellent team-work and leadership skills at the recent Volleyball Schools Cup Tournament. Overall, 6 out of 7 teams made it into the finals at Warwick on the weekend. Our results were;
- Year 11 Boys – Finished 1st and 2nd receiving gold and silver
- Year 11 – Heath Thorpe won MVP for his division
- Year 10 Boys – Finished 2nd receiving silver medals
- Year 10 Girls – Finished 2nd receiving silver medals
- Year 10 – Amele Sego won MVP for her division
- Year 9 Girls – Finished 2nd receiving silver medals
- Year 8 Boys – Finished 3rd
- Year 8 Girls – Finished 3rd
All games were extremely close, and a State Selector from Saint Hilda’s approached many of our students, as he was amazed by some of the skills they demonstrated and spoke about their future potential for Volleyball.
Well done to the following students:
| Year 11 | Year 10 | Year 9 | Year 8 |
| Heath Thorpe
Gus Oosthuizen Zak De Angelis-Pritchard Cooper Mencev Luang Phromduang Paulo Pal-et Cameron Boden Lester Manayaga James Kristensen Johnelle Agravante Rodney Bandong Fitz Gerald Florece |
Jefferson Dumael
Neil Agravante Nicko Agbayani Amele Sego Jelaica Nabajo Joshua Ho India Rawlings Skye Ward Trinity Moylan-Jonson Pamela Palor Bethel Paglinawan James Lindley Darell Reyes Marc Rigor |
James Reid
Maria Oliveira Nicole Mcleod Leilani Mumford Grace Holtham Amber Hughes Talia Poole Princess Agbayani |
Tanna Uson
Raven Angeles Sina Jerome Chloe Vernon Haylee Christian-Brearly Angel Sortijas John Sortijas Christina Ho JJ Delos Reyes Mark Abarquez Eldrick Vasquez Bryce Williams Jimi Baird Angelo Pichay Angus Montgomery |
Rachel Wicks and Jordan Langham – Volleyball Program
AFL Academy
There have been plenty of exciting things happening at the AFL Academy throughout Term 3. We started the term with a 3 week AFL umpiring clinic for our Year 8 students, directed by Darryl Sinclair. Darryl has a long history with the WA Football Commission, he was the WAFL Umpire Manager for many years and has now aligned with the Stephen Michael Foundation. His clinic is one of only a few offered to metropolitan schools, giving our students the opportunity to learn the basics of AFL umpiring. The students were engaged from the start, learning the signals and rules, getting involved with field, boundary and goal umpiring and thoroughly enjoying the analysis component, using their knowledge and discretion to make decisions. I think we have some future WAFL and even AFL umpires in the mix!
Also this term our Year 8 boys participated in the Year 8 lightning carnival. The improvement shown by our AFL Academy students was emphasized during the carnival, as we demonstrated a high level of basic skills throughout the day. We went undefeated until we met Melville SHS, the only mark on our otherwise perfect record. Finishing second place in our inaugural year is a considerable accomplishment and goes to show that the Academy is creating very competitive and skilful athletes.
Not to be outdone, our Academy girls successfully competed in the Year 7-9 School Girls Cup. Over the course of the term, our girls played a weekly Monday afternoon game against other schools in the area and managed to win all games except one. The girls team is comprised of Year 7 and 8 students in the Academy, competing against older girls from the other schools. The strength of character and execution of skill that they consistently demonstrated was fantastic to watch. The girls conducted themselves in a mature and professional manner throughout the course of the competition and have represented Fremantle College’s AFL Academy with pride. Our girls finished tied first place in their pool, missing out on top spot due to percentage. In their inaugural year the girls have been incredibly positive during the competition, reflecting the growing interest, skill and determination in female football.
Michelle Traynor, AFL Academy
Important Additional Information
Transperth Service Change
The current Route 532 which departs Cockburn Central Station at 7.44am, to arrive at Fremantle College at 8.20am, has been arriving late. To allow for students to arrive on time for school, this trip will no longer deviate via Fremantle College, instead the trip which departs Cockburn Station 10 minutes earlier at 7.34am will now deviate via Fremantle College, due to arrive at Fremantle College at approximately 8.15am.
Uniform Shop – Changes of Address
The Uniform Super Store will be moving premises to: 30 Kembla Way, Willetton on Monday 1 October 2018. The uniform shop will be closed for the first week of the school holidays.
