College Amalgamation Process

Aranmore Catholic College and Aranmore Catholic Primary School held its first meeting with parents, staff and CEWA staff, who conducted the meeting.

I am pleased to say that the meeting was well attended and that there will be two subsequent meetings to discuss relevant issues, again directed by the CEWA staff. Ultimately the decision will be made by the Catholic Education Commission early next year as to whether the amalgamation should proceed or not.

Seeking Justice: Improving Options for Survivors of Institutional Child Abuse

A committee report was recently presented to the Western Australian parliament. In that report, the College, along with several other schools, was strongly encouraged to contact their alumni from CBC Leederville to communicate their options, in seeking redress and support. The committee did not contact the school prior to the release of the report. which is disappointing. In the report they seemed to think that CBC Leederville and Aranmore Catholic College are the same entity. They are not. They have different governance bodies and are quite separate entities, although they do share a history.

Aranmore Catholic College has previously encouraged victims of abuse to contact the appropriate bodies. The College does not have the details of the alumni of CBC Leederville, and as such, is unable to contact them. The College has robust child safety procedures and acts on any disclosures past or present. If you, or somebody you know, has been subjected to child abuse, they can make contact with the National Redress Scheme Homepage | National Redress Scheme  to report the matter and to seek support.

Domestic Violence

For some time, Sr Janina has been supporting Ruah, which is a shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children. The students feel strongly about this issue and have been raising money to donate to Ruah in various ways.

This is an important issue and deserves our support. It is one of several Social Justice issues supported by the students. I commend them.

CSPA 2024 Parent/Caregiver Survey on Student Wellbeing and Learning

In collaboration with the University of New England (UNE), the Catholic Schools Parents Australia (CSPA) will be conducting a research study entitled CSPA 2024 Parent Survey on Student Wellbeing and Learning. This survey has the funding and support from the Australian Government Department of Education and the CSPA will report to the Minister for Education and Departmental representatives on the findings. Survey results will therefore have a direct pathway to education policy experts and government.

You are invited to share your views on existing and emerging affirmations and/or challenges in relation to your child’s wellbeing and learning. Please consider completing this anonymous, confidential, and completely voluntary online survey. The survery can be completed here.

Catholic Performing Arts

During Term 3, the students participated in the Catholic Performing Arts festival. Many of our students have performed either as solos or groups throughout the term. And I have been delighted with their commitment and the quality of their work. Performances were impacted heavily during the COVID period, and it is fantastic to see the recovery of our Music Program to its current level. I say well done to the teachers and the students involved.

Mr Declan Tanham
Principal

The uniform Shop will be open on the following days/times during the September/October Holiday Break:

Friday 4 October 2024 from 8am to 12 noon

Monday 7 October 2024 from 8am to 12 noon

Normal Term Opening Hours will commence from Tuesday 8 October.

Please note the Uniform Shop will be CLOSED on Founders' Day, Friday 20 September. 

Vision for Learning

Our College Vision for Learning looks at the value of Belonging here at the College, whilst acknowledging everyone's journey along the way. And supports students' resilience, creativity and engagement.

Over the term staff have been developing their department goals within Vision for Learning in order to strengthen relationships with students.

In addition to our overall Vision for Learning, we have created a student  version. This model will be presented to students next term, and will be visible in poster form around the College. Next year we are planning on making clear links between these values and both our student award and recognition process,  and our retreat program. 

We look forward to journeying together to create the best learning environment we can for all students.

Aranmore Wellbeing Team

This term saw the inauguration of  the College Wellbeing Team.  This team is made up of  two student representatives from Year 10, teaching staff and non-teaching staff. 

As a team we acknowledge the importance of wellbeing for students and staff at the College, and this is closely linked to mental health. The World Health Organisation defines mental heath as "a state of wellbeing in which an individual realised his/her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to society." 

The Wellbeing  Team have met twice this term and looked at the concept of wellbeing and its link to our College's Vision for Learning. We looked at data obtained from our Pivot surveys from 2022 and 2024, and our School Climate Surveys from 2021 and 2023. This has given us a sense of where our strengths are, and some of the challenges we face.

It was decided that we would begin by looking at student wellbeing and noted that there was a slight drop in peer connectedness as demonstrated in the student Climate Survey results. With this in mind, we have begun to look at ways we can help support students' sense of belonging at the College, and ways of bringing students together that are positive and foster connection. 

Ideas raised will be presented to the College Executive to be implemented next year.

We will then look at staff wellbeing at the College; at our current practices and future improvements.

I am very grateful to those who volunteered to be a part of this team, and of the positive changes we can make. 

Mrs Susan Russell
Deputy Principal – Students, Teaching and Learning

Fathers' Day Raffle Winner, Mrs Colette Doherty!

Thank you to everyone who supported the student-led raffle. All money raised was donated to Sr Janina's charity of choice.

Thank you to Year 10 students Stephanie Kemboi and Jess Smith for giving up their recess and lunch breaks to sell  tickets. Thank you also to NOVA radio station for donating the prize.

Congratulations to Olivia Wolmarans who made it into the WA State AFL team for the second time this year! After playing in the Marsh National Championships, she earned a spot in the Australian U18 team. In addition, Olivia was selected for the AFL Future Girls program. All players in this elite program will be eligible for the 2025 draft. What a season Olivia! Congratulations.  

I am pleased to announce that Olivia Wolmarans and Mia Pappas have been selected for the ACC All Stars team in Australian Football League (AFL). This positions them to represent the ACC in forthcoming matches against the elite IGSA and state school teams. Furthermore, Olivia Wolmarans has achieved the remarkable feat of being chosen for the ACC All Star Team in Basketball as well. - Mr Adam Miotti, Sports Coordinator

Congratulations, to Alix McWha who has progressed through to the final round of selections for the 2024 ACC All Star Netball team. - Mr Adam Miotti, Sports Coordinator

Prime Minister's Spelling Bee 

In Week 6, Year 7 and 8 AEP students competed in the 2024 Prime Minister's Spelling Bee.

Richard Haddow, Joy Maingi, Sean Kelly and Aaliyah Finau were ranked in the top 200 students in WA and progressed to the State and Territory Finals. Congratulations to Joy Maingi in Year 7 for achieving the top score from our students with 25/30 words correct!

Junior Stretch and Challenge

On 30 August, our school hosted renowned international educator Julie Arliss across two days dedicated to enhancing educational experiences for gifted learners. On Thursday, we welcomed educators from various schools for a Symposium for Gifted Education, and on Friday, Julie Arliss led the Junior Stretch and Challenge philosophy event, where approximately 240 students and teachers from surrounding schools challenged their thinking through insightful discussions and debate. It was an honour to work with Julie and her team at Thriving Minds and we hope to see you in Perth next year! 

Visiting Exchange Students from Indonesia

Visiting exchange students from Indonesia spent time with Year 7-9 volunteers last week. The students and their visitors played a speaking game to get to know each other and then played a few rounds of the Indonesian game, Mancala. The visit wrapped up with a shared morning tea. 

Students awarded an Academic Extension Scholarship for 2024 

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded an Academic Extention Scholarship starting in Term 3, 2024:
Joy Maingi (Year 7)
Jack Stalteri (Year 7)
Sumaya Mohammadi (Year 8)
Rhys Tan (Year 8)

Students invited into the Academic Extension Program

Congratulations to the following students who were invited to join the program, starting in Term 3, 2024:
Adele Lewis (Year 7)
Khloe Lepidi (Year 8)
Megan McLeary (Year 8)

Miss Sonya Cerny
Academic Extension Program Coordinator

New Staff Members Welcome

It has been an exciting term of change and development in the Arts and Technologies department with the addition of three new staff members.

This term we welcomed Julie Pannell, our new Head of Learning Area, who replaces Phoebe Bennett. Julie comes to us with a wealth of experience both as an art teacher and accomplished artist in her own right. Julie spent many years teaching at Corpus Christi College and has jumped at the opportunity to become part of our rich Aranmore community.

Phil Brooks is our new Design and Technology (Woodwork) teacher and replaces Nick Schwaab, who is on leave for the remainder of this year. Phil comes to us from Port School in Fremantle and prior to that worked in the Pacific (Bougainville) managing a Technical College through Dept Of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (He has been teaching in secondary and tertiary institutions for some thirty years and is a qualified cabinetmaker and carpenter and has done post grad work in Design. 

Samantha Settineri joins us as our new Drama teacher and will be replacing Shelley Dice, who is on maternity leave. Samantha has worked for many years at Mercy College and has moderated Drama classes with Aranmore, so is very familiar with our students. She brings with her a boundless depth of skills, experience and enthusiasm for her subject area.

Music

The annual Catholic Performing Arts Festival got underway at the start of this term and ran for six jam-packed weeks. This year our Music department has really flourished and we had over 40 students involved in performances. This included solos in guitar, bass, drums, clarinet, saxophone, voice, trumpet, trombone, piano and flute, as well as duets and ensembles. In true Aranmore fashion, we are small but mighty and we received positive feedback across the board from the adjudicators for each of the solo and group performances. Well done to all students who worked tirelessly in the lead up to and during the performance week. We would also like to thank the parents for your ongoing support and for helping with getting students to all of their performances. Last but not least, we would like to thank the music tutors who attended to support their students baring the fruits of their labour.

To celebrate the close of the Catholic Performance Arts Festival, we had our annual showcase event, Aranfest. All students who participated in CPAF were invited to perform at this event, which was held at Night Owl Studio in Morley. The event was well attended and students relished the opportunity to let their hair down and showcase their skills in a more relaxed setting in a real live music venue with a big LED screen.

(Photo credit: Mrs Civiletti & Miss Settineri)

Food

Earlier this term, Ms Knowles took 20 of her Food Technology students to Foodbank where they worked with ‘Prepare, Produce , Provide’ who were preparing approximately 3500 meal to take to the Central Desert to support the Ngaanyatjarra Lands School’s annual “Dust Up” sports carnival. The students prepared, cooked, and cut up 3000 sausages, which were made into curried sausages; made 1000 coconut apricot balls; cooked 15 batches of brownies and sliced and diced 25kg of onions , along with other various prep ready for other dishes that will be cooked on country. Students worked incredibly hard and should be commended for their efforts. And BIG thanks to Mark O’Brien, who worked with the sausage team, cooking over 210kg of sausages!

Photo credit: Mrs Knowles

Media

Our Year 12 Media students were taken on an excursion to the VR Arrival experience, where they were treated to the most advanced VR technology available. Students experienced a wide variety of immersive content. They used teamwork and communication skills to defuse imaginary explosives, visited distant cities and landscapes using Google Earth VR, and had a fun time playing games that used sophisticated motion controls and full body movement. Whoever said gaming was for couch potatoes has clearly never put on a VR headset. It was quite a workout!

It was great to learn more about the emerging format of virtual reality and their possible future applications!

Photo credit: Mr Simpson

DRAMA

Our senior Drama students were very lucky to attend a matinee performance of the Arthur  Miller play, Death of a Salesman. Starring the world-famous Anthony Lapaglia among many other accomplished actors, this performance was an invaluable opportunity for students to be inspired by the greatest. 

Junior Drama students have also been busy having fun while learning as they work on their team building, acting and fine and gross motor skills with some circus skills and activities work. As you can see, the students really got into the spirit of working together and having fun.

Ms Settiner’s Year 9 Caring for Children students have been putting their learning into practice with some visits to Aranmore Primary School, where they worked with some of the pre-primary students on cognitive and mechanical skills specific to their age group.

Photo credit: Miss Settineri

VISUAL ART

All of our Visual Art students have been busy this term as always. Year 12 General students have been completing their final artworks and now have a strong body of work to show for their efforts.

This term also saw the culmination of months of effort as a small group of Year 12 Visual Art students worked with Ms Bennett and Ms McGill on an art project called Kalyakoorl Karla for the Catholic Secondary Principals Australia (CaSPA) national conference.

The students met at Crown Perth, where the conference was taking place, to create the artwork live over the two days of the principals conference. This culminated in the group presenting the closing presentation to hundreds of principals around Australia, explaining the story of the artwork and displaying the finished piece. All of our students proudly stood on stage, with a few braver souls speaking eloquently about their creation.

Kalyakoorl Karla is not just an artwork; it is a dynamic narrative that celebrates the enduring fire of kaditjiny, culture, and identity. It invites viewers to reflect on the interconnectedness of history and personal experience, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the rich tapestry of Indigenous Australian and Catholic educational heritage.

The presentation was met with overwhelming enthusiasm, culminating in what can only be described as a bidding war among schools and organisations around Australia! We are incredibly proud to announce that the artwork was eventually sold for $8,000.

Well done to our talented artists/students who attended the conference and collaborated together to create this artwork: Samaja Miller, Challestina Yarran, Lenni Kazandzis, Siena Sanfilippo, Trinidad Rohrborn-Codero and Owen Dingo-Selems.

This remarkable achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of these students.

Photo credit: Ms Bennett

Mrs Katherine Miller
Arts & Technologies

Year 7 Shark Tank Presentations

Year 7 students put their entrepreneurial skills to the test this term with their Shark Tank presentations. Working either in pairs or individually, the students presented their business proposals to the class. They had the freedom to choose a product of their liking, with the challenge being to either create something entirely new (invention) or enhance an existing product (innovation).

The primary goal of the presentations was to pitch their product in a way that sparked high interest and demand. Students were encouraged to think creatively and strategically to capture their audience's attention, simulating a real-world business scenario where innovation and persuasion are key to success.

Well done to all the participants— I enjoyed seeing the brilliant ideas that emerged from this project!
– Mrs Lesley O’Connor, HASS Teacher

Photo credit: Mrs O'Connor

- Mrs Lesley O'Connor, HASS Teacher

IEC Excursion to WA Parliament House and the Electoral Education Centre

On Friday 23rd August, all the IEC students and teachers went on an excursion to the Parliament of Western Australia and the Electoral Education Center.

First, we caught bus 15 at 8:40am to Perth city, then we caught the Red Cat bus to West Perth. After walking through the cold and rain, we finally arrived. At that time, the teachers told the students to separate into two groups. The IEC 4 and IEC1 classes would go to Parliament House first, and IEC 3 and IEC 2 would go to the Electoral Education Center. Later we would swap.

At Parliament House, we met our tour leader, Ben. He showed us through the many grand rooms of Parliament House and told us a story about the first female member of parliament, Edith Cowan. He also gave us some information about the system of government. He said that Parliament House has two houses: one that is the Lower House (it is called the Legislative Assembly); and another one is the Upper House (it's called the Legislative Council). Some students were asked to pretend to be the speaker, the clerks, and the Hansard reporters. It was so much fun!

At the end of our tour, Ben gave us all a gift; it was a gold brooch. Then, we enjoyed the view of the city and took a photo all together in front of Parliament House.

After that, it was our turn to go to the Electoral Education Center. At the Electoral Education Centre, we learnt about the system of government in Australia and voting in Western Australia. We held an anonymous vote for our favourite fruit from a choice of bananas, strawberries, watermelon and apple. The strawberry party won.

In conclusion, we enjoyed this excursion because we learnt a lot about the West Australian system of government and voting. It was also a fun day out of school!

Photo credit: Ms Brown

- Nasrin Panahi and Parisa Samadi, IEC4.

Good luck to Miss Milne

Miss Milne has been working in the Science department this term in Dr Carrol’s and Mrs Geoghegan’s classes. The students have benefitted from her dedication and have enjoyed her enthusiasm and the new ideas she has brought to the classroom. We wish her all the best as she finishes her final semester at University and begins applying for positions.

Week 9

Year 11 & 12 Chemistry Gold Industry Visit   

A recent visit from Maddy – a Geologist who works at a gold mine, allowed our Year 11 and 12 Chemistry students an insight into both how gold mines sites are detected and chosen and what careers are available in the gold industry.

Year 11 Physics & AIT Speedy Bots

STEM robotics programs in schools are paving the way for the future of space exploration. By engaging students in hands-on projects that involve designing, building, and programming robots, schools are equipping the next generation with critical problem-solving and technical skills. These programs mirror real-world space challenges, such as navigating planetary terrain or constructing habitats on Mars.

As space agencies plan missions to remote planets, the demand for skilled engineers and scientists will grow. Today's students, through STEM robotics, are preparing to meet those challenges head-on, potentially becoming the innovators who will build the first robotic explorers and systems on distant worlds. The future of space exploration starts in the classroom.

Thank you to Curtin’s STEM Outreach Program for giving our students an insight into their possible future. - Dr Steven Carroll (Photo credit: Dr Carroll)

Year 9 Forensics – Murder Mystery

Year 9s are lucky enough to be able to select Forensics as an elective.  In this subject they learn how law enforcement agencies use Science to identify, locate and convict criminals.  During Week 9, Curtin STEM outreach brought a Murder Mystery to Aranmore.  Our forensics students needed to use the knowledge they have learned this term to identify the correct suspect. (Photo credit: Mr Lafferty)

Week 8

Year 11 General Human Biology - Kidney dissection

General Human Biology is a very practical subject.  Students have learned what the kidneys do and how to ensure their kidney health into the future, including how to avoid kidney stones and monitor their hydration levels.

Week 6

Year 11 Midwife visit

During Week 6, our Human Biology classes received a visit from Bethany Geoghegan who is in her final year of a double nursing/midwifery degree.   Beth spoke about labour and birth as well as the care a mother receives during her pregnancy and after.  Students had the opportunity to ask questions about the birth process and about choosing midwifery or nursing as a career.  Using a pingpong ball and balloon to model changes to the cervix during labour was a highlight. 

Week 5

Year 10 Reaction times 

How does using a device affect your reaction times?  How about music playing?  Year 10 Physics students studied how these factors may affect their reaction time while driving.  Their results showed that both activities significantly reduce reaction times.  Linking their results with the effect on stopping distance if they were to be driving a car will hopefully make our students safer on the roads in future. (Photo credit: Miss Isabel Milne, preservice teacher)

Year 11 ATAR Human Biology – Pregnancy Wall   

Year 11 Human Biology students spent the first part of Term 3 looking at pregnancy and birth. They have looked at everything from fertilisation and embryonic development through to birth and the changes a mother goes through. Visualising the changes has been made easier by the creation of a pregnancy wall.  For each new piece of information learned students stuck pictures and labels to the classroom wall showing what was going on with the foetus and mother at each stage.

The classes that share this room have also been enjoying seeing the new pictures being added each day.

Year 7 Robocopters

There is always more than one force acting on an object at any one time. Year 7 Scientists are investigating the relationship between gravity and air resistance by launching ‘robocopters’ during class.

Science Week Forensic Activity 

Aranmore students learned how to catch a criminal during a Forensics workshop at lunch time during Science Week.  Thank you to Ms Hopkins and Mr Lafferty for sharing their skills. (Photo credit: Ms Hopkins)

Year 9 – Two-Point Discrimination 

Receptors are the part of sensory neurons that pick up stimuli. Different receptors are designed to pick up different stimuli eg chemoreceptors detect chemicals and thermoreceptors detect temperature. Year 9 students have investigated touch receptors that are stimulated by touch.  Touch receptors are not evenly distributed through the body, some body parts have touch receptors closer together than others. They used two-point discrimination to determine the distance between touch receptors in different parts of the body.

Year 10 Parachutes

Year 10 Science students participated in a parachute investigation for two lessons. We were joined by four Japanese exchange students who worked with our students in groups.

Students had to design and make a parachute that dropped as slowly as possible to the ground. They had to calculate the acceleration of parachute and explain any modifications made.

Some of the parachutes worked so well that they ended up on the roof of the Science building and only fell down the next day! - Ms Hopkins

Year 9 Brains

Year 9s are studying the nervous system. As part of their study, each class is watching a brain dissection.  While sheep brains have a much smaller cerebrum they are otherwise similar.  Some classes have been using playdough to model parts of the nervous system, here students are making model brains.

Year 7 Adhesive Tape Investigation

Year 7s have been investigating the adhesive force of different sticky tapes.  They are testing out their teamwork skills to devise a plan to determine which tape can hold the most mass and therefore has the strongest adhesive force. - Miss Isabel Milne (Pre-Service Teacher)

Week 2

AIT

Applied Information Technology is about using technology rather than programming or coding.  Earleir this term, students tested the ethernet cables they created to allow them to set up their own Local area network with Raspberry Pi computers.

Year 7 Observing Forces

Year 7s are studying physics this term.  They will look at forces and simple machines, giving lots of opportunities for experiments.

Year 7 Friction

Friction is a force that we experience nearly every moment of every day, but pay little attention to.  Year  7s are learning how friction affects their lives.

Year 10 DNA

Being able to extract and observe DNA from a strawberry is an eye opening experience for our Year 10 Biology students.

Year 10 Acceleration

While they may have thought they left behind playing with toy cars years ago, Ms Hopkins Year 10s are reliving their early childhood and using toy cars and race track to observe acceleration.

Year 12 Chemistry Alcohol

Using a practical activity to consolidate knowledge prior to a summative assessment is common in science. Here Year 12 Chemistry students are comparing reactivity or different alcohols. The alcohols being tested are Ethanol and Butan-1-ol, primary alcohols, Butan-2-ol a secondary alcohol and 2-methylpropan-2-ol a  tertiary alcohol.

Australian Brain Bee WA Finals @ UWA

Early this term, four Year 10 Psychology students competed in the Australian Brain Bee WA Finals at UWA. We listened to Dr Aleks Miljevic explain her transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) research, competed in Round 2 of the competition and a school team quiz, and listened to PhD and honours students presenting their research and study pathways. The highlight of the day was the lab tours - a demonstration of TMS, a visit of the anatomy museum and a practical electrophysiology lab. - Miss Sonya Cerny

Mrs Naomi Geoghegan
Head of Learning Area - Science

Aranmore wins 'D' Division Athletics Carnival

Aranmore Catholic College were the winners of today's D Division carnival at the WA Athletics Stadium. 

In what was the final carnival of the ACC series, the gap between 1st and 2nd place was just one point of the halway mark of the relays. We also congratulate runner's up, La Salle College, who pushed Aranmore to the very end. Lumen Christi followed closely behind in 3rd position. - ACC Sports

Aranmore Category Wins:

Junior Boys Shield
Senior Girls Shield
Overall Male Shield

Age Champions:
Boys U13 - Daniel O'Reilly
Boys U14 - Jr Vaka Longoatu

Mr Adam Miotti
Sports Coordinator

(Photo credit: ACC Sports)

Key Facts about Catholic Education in WA

ECU September CREATE

Volunteers Wanted!

For the College Calendar, please see here.

www.aranmore.wa.edu.au