Term 4 Newsletter 2022

Our Year 12’s enjoyed breakfast cooked for them by their teachers, before they came together to listen to their teachers boast about their time during high school. Many laughs and memories were shared.

In Week 6 we hosted an Activity Day for all Year 6 students from the smaller primary schools (not including Pinjarra PS) and any out of area students planning to come to Pinjarra SHS in 2023, with the aim of giving them the chance to build new friendships in a smaller, fun and casual setting. The students enjoyed team-building games, sports and kayaking on the beautiful Mandurah Estuary and were keen for more Pinjarra High School interactions by the conclusion of the day.

The final part of the transition program for this year was two full Orientation Days at the high school for all 140 Year 6 students enrolled for Year 7 in 2023. These days were jampacked with class rotations through the different learning areas, team games, a scavenger hunt/tour around the school, staff introductions and a drama performance presented by some of our year 9 students. The overall sentiment amongst the year six students following these transition events is that they feel a lot more comfortable and excited about the move to Pinjarra SHS, and we look forward to seeing them in the new year!

Justin Hill

School Chaplain

All our Year 7-10 students who maintained their Good Standing status for this Semester were invited to attend a reward excursion on Wednesday 14^th December. 

Our Year 7/8’s (70 students) visited Flip Out and were involved in jumping fun.  Somersaults, dodge ball, swinging on a range of equipment and multiple styles of bouncing tricks were on display. After the event we progressed to Mandurah foreshore for some lunch, games and ice-cream. 

Our Year 9/10’s (40 students) ventured to Perth Aqua Park for some high energy water activities.  There were loads of laughs and healthy competition to entertain all (including the teachers). 

The student’s behaviour was exemplary at both events. The owner of Flip Out stated that “the students were the most well-behaved school group they had at the venue since being open.”  Wow!!

Well done to all the students, firstly by maintaining their Good Standing status during Semester Two, and secondly for representing the school positively when in the community and continuing to demonstrate the school values of ‘BE TRUE’. 

The Student Services team look forward to running similar events in the 2023 school year.

The 2022 PSHS House Swimming Carnival was a major success. The Year 7-10 students showed amazing house spirit and the grandstands were packed for most of the day to cheer on our swimmers. Some hard-to-beat records were set and the level of competition was very high. A special thank you to all the parents and carers who came down to support their students throughout the day.

Congratulations to EARTH, the House with the most points throughout the day.

Congratulations to this year’s Champions:
Year 7 Boy: Tahj Bombardieri
Year 7 Girl: Jade Eastwood
Year 8 Boy: Devan McBride
Year 8 Girl: Amelia Champman
Year 9 Boy: Max Revell-McElroy
Year 9 Girl: Chevelle Hamilton
Year 10 Boy: Chayce Purser
Year 10 Girl: Sarah Elms

Well done to all of those that participated and spectated, and a huge thankyou to all of those involved in the day.

Students participated in the Myara mine site and Pinjarra refinery tour as part of the support being offered to the Alcoa Aboriginal Student Excellence (ASE) Scholarship holders to engage students and encourage further study aspirations within the group. The Myara Tour considered all aspects of mining and rehabilitation and was punctuated by the many questions of the students as we moved around the site. The workshop tours enabled close up access to equipment and the people that work on the machines including the chance to explore career prospects offered, within Alcoa, in a variety of settings. Students were able to observe industry practice and ask questions of a number of employees. The lunch break allowed students to listen to inspirational messages about working hard to achieve goals and never giving up on what you want to achieve. Being involved in community was emphasised as a way to be proud of yourself and pro-active in developing skills that are recognised in the workplace. The students viewed the newly developed six seasons garden, met Apprentices at the workshop and toured the laboratory before returning to school. A big thank you to the staff at Alcoa who took time out of their day to speak to Pinjarra students. Mrs Julie Gray, Career Practitioner.

Year 10 Prospects Tour and Presentation

This year, 40 Year 10 girls joined the Prospects one-year Program, and the Pinjarra refinery and Myara mine site tour were part of the ongoing, learning to demonstrate the varied pathways into work (on-the-job training, apprenticeships, traineeships, graduate positions, and student vacation placements as well as the opportunity to be involved in Workplace Learning while still at PSHS) and the career opportunities in the resources sector. Students were able to access areas that are usually restricted and had a walk tour of both the workshops at the mine and refinery and the laboratory. For some, it was the first taste of wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The students had the chance to understand the process, see the equipment used, observe industry practice and ask questions of apprentices right through to management staff. Students have heard a whole range of amazing career journey stories from a huge number of workers. This was the culmination of a range of incursions and excursions over the year.

The day concluded with a Graduation for the Year 10 Alcoa Prospects Program students. Pinjarra Refinery Manager, Mr Mark Zaborowski, presented a financial scholarship, for Most Outstanding Student to Bella Chalwell (Scarp/Kadamordo). Congratulations.

A huge thank you to all Alcoa workers that have given up their time to be involved with the students. Many are past Pinjarra SHS students and the program now has a large number of volunteers that really enjoy sharing their experiences with the students and have been involved for a number of years.

Quiz Questions – How much does one big truck wheel cost? If there are six wheels and they change them every 18 months or so…. how much does it cost for tyres for just one truck over five years? Year 9 Girls in 2022… join the Alcoa Prospects Program in 2023 to find out the answer to this and soooo much more. Year 9 Girls, you will participate in an introduction session next year and then you will have the opportunity to be involved in this fantastic year-long interactive student mentoring initiative. Be prepared to step-up and be involved in this amazing experience.

Mrs Julie Gray, Career Practitioner.

Recently, as part of the Alcoa Academic Student Excellence (ASE) Scholarship, students participated in a careers workshop and were presented with Certificates by Mark Zaborowski (Alcoa Pinjarra Refinery Manager).

‘Colours of the seasons’ by Bindjareb Noongar artist, Gloria Kearing featured in the Acknowledgement of Country at the beginning of the session. Students were involved in an overview of Alcoa’s mining and refinery process and a careers workshop giving them the opportunity to learn about the many entry level talent career pathways offered through Alcoa and to discuss the concept of personal branding. For the Year 10 scholarship holders, there was the chance to present their Cover Letter and/or Resume to the attending Alcoa team for valuable feedback. Students were given insights into excelling at interviews and participated in a Speed Careering activity where they discussed the varied showcased career journeys of the Alcoa team. Thank you to Stephanie Gardner (Alcoa Pinjarra Community Relations and Communications Lead), Montanna Kearing (Alcoa Aboriginal Administration Trainee and past PSHS student), Bevan Whitby (Alcoa Aboriginal Engagement Lead) and Emily O’Malley (Alcoa Pinjarra Community Relations Administrator) who worked with the students over the day, to provide valuable insights into the world of work and the opportunities available to those that wish to work hard to achieve their goals.

Congratulations to Senior School recipients Anthony Hansen and Bailey Jokic, Year 10s Cameron Raabe, Jaida Penny and Kateeka Josephs (absent) and Year 7s James Hill, Abbie Agnew, Tahlia Wensley and Bonnie Winmar.

Next year, students will be invited to participate in the Alcoa ASE Scholarship program available in 2023 based on academic performance, attendance, behaviour, and community involvement. Put your best self forward.

Mrs Julie Gray, Career Practitioner.

An exciting pilot partnership with South Metropolitan TAFE for the presentation of a Unit of Competency – Early Career Discovery was delivered to a group of twelve Year 9 students. This was a unique opportunity to be involved in an adult education experience at Mandurah Campus. Students began their learning journey, before the event, by applying for their Unique Student Identifier. As we were on the second floor, the lift got a work out or for those that took the stairs – still a work out! Students considered their values by trading cards – those that thought they were happy with their three values soon became ‘a trader’ as they heard discussions and trades for the other values from the deck. The TAFE Lecturer had a heap of interesting stories and many great activities later and the students had completed their Unit of Competency. As this is a TAFE unit, students will either achieve the unit of competency or they will be given the opportunity to resubmit as they have not yet achieved what was needed. At the completion of their program, students had a quick tour of the campus comprising: the facilities at South Metropolitan TAFE, the Jobs and Skills Centre and Murdoch University before heading home. The students attending were engaged throughout the day and excellent ambassadors for the school. Mrs Julie Gray, Career Practitioner and Mrs Lelaine Boardman, VET Manager.

As part of the Alcoa Girls Prospects Program, Alcoa very generously sponsored a table for Pinjarra SHS students to attend the Women in Mining and Resources WA (WIMWA) Annual Summit at the Perth Convention Centre. The Summit, with four sessions throughout the day and an amazing group of guest speakers, is to inspire leadership, increase an awareness of career opportunities, and allow students to network with positive female role models and industry representatives. There were 1400 attendees with Pinjarra SHS being the only school. The students (Bella Chalwell, Shayla Eyre, Heather-Jane Scott and Jody Wopereis) were approached throughout the day by a range of industry people interested to know about the students and their future plans. The scrumptious Morning Tea and Lunch were part of a resource’s expo with many informative stalls and a range of ‘goody bags’ to be had! The day acknowledges the amazing, positive contributions women are making in the resources sector through panel interviews and career experience stories. Annabel Crabb was MC at the event and took time during the day to talk to the Pinjarra SHS students and as the only students attending, the students were interviewed during the Summit. The students took the opportunity to learn, network with a variety of people from all facets of the resources sector and were excellent ambassadors for themselves and the school.

“Thank you for the amazing opportunity to attend the Women in Mining and Resources Summit. I’ve never had such an incredible experience and the benefits I’ve gotten are immeasurable. This experience is one of the best things I’ve done at school, and I will never forget it. I’ve never met so many inspiring women in one room. I do have to say it was a little intimidating, but it showed me that it doesn’t matter where you start it matters where you want to go, and how you’re going to do it. Thank you again, Alcoa.” Heather-Jane Scott

Mrs Julie Gray, Career Practitioner.

14 students from Year 9 attended the one-day introduction course for Events planning, Tourism and Hospitality.

We travelled by bus to the Mandurah TAFE, where we were met by Ben, our first host of the day.

Ben was enthusiastic in his approach and gave us a quick tour of the new construction site/building that will hold two commercial kitchens and a restaurant with the capacity to seat 250 people.

After our tour, we settled into our first session of the day.  Events management and planning.  We were involved in a fun filled discussion about planning an event.  When we had sufficient knowledge, we were set the task of planning a ‘fantasy birthday party’ – no budget.  The students came up with great ideas and planned their extravaganzas with lots of laughter and excitement.  The final themes were: A Scottish castle with princes and princesses, a Medieval gathering (think Game of Thrones) that ran from 6 pm to 6 am, a country barn with a formal twist and a private jet to Dubai and the revolving restaurant.

Count me in – when do they start??

The second session of the day was hosted by Tristan.  He covered Tourism and Travel.  We started by thinking about the different Tourism attractions in WA and then they investigated the travel and tourism industry including job roles, job opportunities and career development.

Our lecturer then set a series of challenges to develop holiday packages.  The travel dates, destination, flights, accommodation, and tourist attraction packages were to be included.  Budgets are a big consideration as most people have limited money to spend on their travel, food and activities.  This session was closed with a quick game of Cahoots.

After lunch we headed into the final session of the day…  Mocktails.  This was the most popular session, and the students were all involved in making the drinks.  Lemon, lime, and bitters, coconut Mai Tai, mojito, and chocolate cherry ripe.  As a bonus, the students were shown some latte art and how to make chocolate frappes.  3.00pm came around far too quickly, and the students reluctantly got back on the bus for the return journey to Pinjarra Senior High School – with some of their mocktails in takeaway cups.

Marisa Barr – Certificate II Hospitality Teacher

A group of Year nine students were given the opportunity to visit South Metro TAFE on Thursday the 20^th of October. After a relaxing bus ride to the TAFE college our students were keen to get started. The first part of the day was all about safety and expectations of protocols and behaviour. Once this was out of the way and all students were clear on safety and how to go about it. Students were allocated to one of three groups which would rotate through out the day between tiling, bricklaying and plaster sheet fixing. The effort and attention to instructions was exceptional by each and every student. Their focus was so good the normal recess break was overlooked and not a peep from any of the students about stopping or resting. Two sessions were completed before lunch and the final session in the afternoon was followed by a presentation from the lecturers of certificates for each student. The comments from the lecturers were all about how well the students worked and engaged in the activities.

To summarise, the behaviour, language and engagement for the group was of the highest standard. The students now have an idea of some of the trades available at TAFE and can see how the system works for them to learn and continue their education after they finish at our school. Pinjarra Senior High School will always be welcome in the community when our students interact so well with people and show respect for people and their contribution to education.

Some of our Year 8&9 PFA Students headed to Busselton for a 3 day camp.

Our students headed down to the beautiful Mandurah foreshore for a triathlon.

The events included swimming, kayaking and running. The weather was wonderful, and the students enjoyed themselved. Well done to all involved.

During week 10 we had our PFA Awards Night.
This is an evening where we celebrate the outstanding efforts and contributions from all of the students in the Pinjarra Football Academy.

Congratulations to the award winners:
Coaches Awards:
Year 8: Lily Storie
Year 9:Cooper Tenni
Year 10:Jesse Grant
Spirit of the PFA Awards:
Year 8: Tate McGrath
Year 9: Maison Wheatley
Year 10: Hunter Mills
Female Footballer of the Year:
Year 8: Kahnea Wairau
Year 9: Remi Hey
Year 10: Keira Olsen
Male Footballer of the Year:
Year 8: Colton Entz
Year 9: Kai-Raina Walker
Year 10: Lincoln Ray

Three teams were taken to compete at Mike Barnett Stadium in Rockingham. The day was extremely successful, and it was great to see students taking on opportunities to umpire their own games, many having back-to-back games all day. The results are as below:

The girls team came 3^rd.

The boys A grade were undefeated until the grand final and lost to Warnbro by one point.
The boys B grade remained undefeated the entire day and won the grandfinal against Ridge View taking home a trophy for Pinjarra SHS.

Some of our Year 11 Outdoor Education students attended a 2 day hiking camp.

Mr Jenkin and Ms Howe travelled with a group of year 9 female students to Perth for “Girls on Track” which is an event to promote women in STEM and motorsport. This event is run in partnership with Motorsport Australia and FIA. It showcases the many STEM career opportunities available within the motorsport industry in Australia. Students were able to work on a wide range of motorsport tasks including, team building activites, media development, technical skills, STEM coding, reaction time skill challenge and operating a race-car simulator. They met and worked with a number of inspirational women from the motorsport industry in Australia, including Jessica Dane (co-owner of triple 8 racing, motorsport engineer, Super2 manager and motorsport media personality). Our students participated in all activities to a high standard and were commended for their “get in and have a go” attitude as well as the high levels of skill they demonstrated. Hannah McLaren achieved the highest score for the reaction times activity and even challenged the presenter (who politely declined).