Term One Principal’s Message

Welcome to the 2020 school year at Sevenoaks Senior College.  I was delighted to see everyone at our College assembly this morning looking ready for a busy and productive term of work and events. A warm welcome to the new staff members who have joined us this year including Mrs Janfaza (History), Mrs Alcock (Career and Enterprise) and Mr Welsh (Clontarf Foundation). I am also happy to welcome back Mrs Thillagaratnam (English) and Mrs Leng (Information Technology/Graphics).

Our 2019 results were very pleasing with six students being awarded a Certificate of Merit from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA); congratulations to Mark Espedillion, Michelle Galvin, Kham Liankar, Roshielle Ocampo, Yna Santos and Smitri Singh. In 2019, three students achieved an ATAR above 90 with our highest score being 94.5 (Yna Santos). Eleven students scored an ATAR between 80 and 89 marks.  59 students were offered their first preference to university programs in Western Australia (38 ATAR and 21 General course enrolments). Our large Vocational Education and Training (VET) student population also had an extremely successful year with 98 per cent of Year 12 VET students completing their Certificate II and III qualifications. I am always so proud of the achievements of our students and I am sure that this year our students will once again seize their opportunities and set goals to perform to the best of their abilities.

A number of impressive prizes and scholarships were also awarded to our 2019 Year 12 students including Ashish, Taylah Jay Browne and Raneen Rihan, each achieving the UWA Graduate Award of $3000 and UWA Hackett Scholarship $1500 per annum for up to 4 years.  Roshielle Ocampo was awarded $5000 Curtin Excellence prize per annum for 3 years. Liankar Kham was awarded the Curtin Principal’s recommendation Award ($1000) and Yna Santos was awarded the UWA Hackett Scholarship ($1500 for up to 4 years).  These students worked consistently over Year 11 and 12, attended all classes and studied hard to achieve their outstanding results.

With the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus in China the Department of Education has regularly been in contact with schools to provide information and updates about management of the Coronavirus here in Western Australia as provided by the Department of Health. A letter regarding students who may have travelled to the Hubei Province of China or travelled through mainland China or Hong Kong has been mailed home to all parents and carers.  There is also information on our College website so that everyone can be kept up to date.

If you have had a chance to look at the term one school planner on our College website (www.sevenoaks.wa.edu.au) you will see that every week is busy with something for students to get involved in as part of our ‘Stay on Campus’ initiative. Lunchtime events such as Valentine’s Day activities, table tennis tournament, hip hop dancing, Lego competitions, courtyard games and a chess tournament have been organised and are being advertised around the campus. Importantly, on 19 February in the College Lecturer Theatre there will be an ATAR Parent Information session starting at 6.00pm. I hope all parents or carers of students studying ATAR courses can come along to this informative session.

Term One Events

11 February                        Year 12 Assembly (during Advocacy in College Lecture Theatre)

19 February                        ATAR Parent Information Session (College Lecture Theatre)

21 February                        Year 12 Ball

25 February                        Year 12 Student Guild Elections

2 March                               Labour Day Holiday (no students attend)

3 March                               On-line Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) begins

17 March                             Year 11 Student Guild Elections

18 March                             Harmony Day

8 April                                   Progress Report Evening 3.00pm – 6.00pm

8 April                                   P&C AGM (5.00pm)

I encourage all parents and carers to continue supporting their son or daughter as they settle into a new after school study routine.  Most courses at Sevenoaks (especially ATAR and General) will provide homework on a regular basis.  Every student at Sevenoaks has an Advocate teacher whose role is to support, care for and help the Year 11 and 12 students in their Advocacy group. Your child’s Advocate teacher will be making contact with you within the next two to three weeks to touch base and introduce themselves.  They may contact you throughout the year if they have concerns or they are following up an absence or just wanting to let you know how your child is progressing here at Sevenoaks.  You may also need to contact them if you need to pass on any information about your son or daughter or if you have any questions about their studies. Can I request that if you change your mobile phone number please ensure you notify the College Reception so that we can keep accurate contact details in case we need to phone you.

I look forward to meeting students and parents again this year. I am always available so if you need to speak with me please just make an appointment at the College Reception.

DR KATH PARTRIDGE
PRINCIPAL