Term 2 for teaching staff started with 2 pupil free days at the beginning of the week starting 28 April.  The Monday was designated the Cockburn Central Education Network (CCEN) day.  In this network up to 20 schools from the Atwell College Zone and the Lakeland Zone combine resources and deliver professional learning to colleagues.  Atwell College catered for in excess of 100 education assistants from the network as part of the ongoing training provided to this section of the education workforce.
Atwell College executive staff and middle management staff completed day 3 of the ‘Growth Coaching Culture’ professional learning program.
Day 2 started with all Atwell College staff together undergoing further training in new curriculum requirements and new WACE (Western Australian Certificate of Education) requirements due for implementation in 2015. I assure the community that Atwell College is committed to an extensive and relevant professional learning program for the college staff. The college board is kept informed of the professional learning activities accessed and completed by the college staff.

NAPLAN Testing/OLNA Testing
NAPLAN testing was conducted over week 3 of the term starting Tuesday 13 May.  Year 9 NAPLAN results have a direct link to the number of students required to sit OLNA (On Line Literacy and Numeracy) testing in Year 10, 11 and 12.  In effect students in Year 9 whom achieve Band 8 or higher are said to have reached the minimum literacy requirements for WACE or graduation. Students not achieving the Band 8 level in either writing, reading or numeracy  in Year 9 sit the OLNA tests starting in Year 10. The students are given 2 opportunities in Y10, Y11 and Y12 to pass the minimum literacy and numeracy requirements as part of achieving a WACE graduation from secondary school. OLNA testing was conducted with Y10 students in March and will again be conducted in August of this year.

Report Afternoon / Evening July 2
Atwell College will close early at 12:30 pm on Wednesday 2 July to support interviews with parents and carers regarding student performance as described in the student semester 1 reports. The reports will be made available to families prior to the interview afternoon/evening at an advertised time.  The appointments for the community are scheduled to start at 1:30pm will continue through to 7pm in the evening.  The community will receive a series of notifications regarding the early close starting with this newsletter and follow up email(s).  The college will use a similar system to last year with appointments with teachers being booked online to support organizational requirements of families. Special School Bus times cannot be altered for a 1 day event hence this form of transport will not be available to students. Normal public transport bus timetables are in place for those students still requiring bus transport. This early advice is to support families making transport arrangements for 2 July. Education support students and families will be contacted separately regarding report interviews and early school closure arrangements.

School Attendance Notification
The college makes every endeavour to notify parents promptly and accurately regarding student attendance through SMS and emails. The SMS notification system is not always accurate to every student in all situations every time due to software limitations. The most common error is when a student is present at the college and a message is received saying the student is not at school. Every effort is made to ensure that this does not happen. The college with 1230 students and over 70 staff contributing to student attendance is a complex site with hundreds of variations occurring to student attendance occurring each day (sports carnivals, excursions, camps etc). The current software supplied to the college is inadequate to do the tasks expected. The college is exploring more sophisticated 3rd party software to support student attendance accuracy for 2015. The software is expensive but will achieve a better outcome. I will inform the community of any developments in this regard. As always if you have any queries regarding student attendance please contact the college directly.

Toshiba and Apple laptops

Students who have the Toshiba laptop or school issued Apple laptop (in Senior School) need to be aware of these issues and requirements.

• The laptops are required to be brought to school and restarted on school premises regularly. Preferably each morning. This means turning the machine completely off and back on again whilst being in range of the school network. This process ensures student permissions, policies and licensing on the computer is up to date. Students requiring any assistance with updating need to contact the college ICT department. Staff are in attendance every day supporting student laptop issues.
• Students that have purchased the Toshiba laptop need to bring the computers to college regularly as the machines are being used in class with more frequency each week. If storage of the laptop during the day is a problem please contact the college as there are methods to store the machines should the students not want to carry the laptop for the whole day.

Kind regards

Noel Woodley - Principal

One of the many highlights of the Atwell College calendar was held last Friday night at the Hyatt Regency in Perth. The year 12 ball was a year in the making and the consensus of all that attended was that it was a fantastic night. The girls looked stunning in an array of coloured gowns and the boys were all very suave in their suits.  Read more

Workplace Learning is a structured work experience program that provides an opportunity for students to get some first hand, on the job experience or training.  Read more

Yr 12 Student Tayla Carrick - David Evans Real Estate, Rockingham

This year, Atwell College Year 11 students have had the opportunity to complete a Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation as part of their Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

This course delivered by Mr David Winter, is designed to introduce students to and give them a taste of the Outdoor Recreation Industry. The course focuses on a range of skills in outdoor recreation environments and activities.  Read more

Last week our Year 10 students represented our college in the annual South Coastal Zone Sports Carnival.
Over 100 students were entered into 5 sports across 4 venues and as usual our students performed well and conducted themselves in a positive way, which is what we expect from Atwell College students.  Read more

On Wednesday 30th of April, Damian Martin visited the college to run a 2 hour clinic with our Year 10 Specialised Basketball students. Being a championship player and awarded with the Defensive Player of the Year award, it was a privilege to have such a high profile Basketball player come in and coach our students. As a result, the students were extremely excited and respectful, and represented the college at a high standard.  Read more

This term sees the girls going into their competition phase of the program. On Friday 9th May the Year 9's and 10's travelled to Kingsway Sporting Complex to compete in the North High School Cup. With the weather not on our side throughout the day, the girls pushed through and represented the program and College brilliantly. Congratulations to our Year 10 'A' team for finishing top of their zone and progressing onto the next stage of the competition. We wish them the best of luck.  Read more

The Year 8's competed in the Year 8 Gala Day in Term 1. They were just beaten in the Grand Final and finished the day with 2nd place. A great result and they are looking forward to the next carnival.  Read more

For the first time, Year 9 has been incorporated into the Atwell College Outdoor Education program. Students in Year 9 have focussed on Marine Studies, communication, and team building. Read more

A total of 55 education support students from Atwell College, Kensington Secondary School and Riverton Primary competed in a Bocce Carnival on the 12th May 2014 which took place in the Atwell College gym. The carnival was run by the Western Australia Disabled Sports Association (WADSA) and was thoroughly enjoyed by staff and students alike.  Read more

Year 11 Geography students and Mr Hasani enjoyed a trip to the DFES facility in Perth on Tuesday, 6th May. They learnt first-hand what role DFES plays in hazard mitigation for Western Australia.

What a great start to Term 2!  Following the break it was great to see the students had returned safe and well. They have already settled in to what is always a very busy and productive term.  Read more

Applications for the 2014 Focus on Mining Camp are now open.
Focus on Mining 2014 is a five day scholarship camp held in the July holidays for Year 11 and 12 WACE students to find out about the range of learning and career opportunities available in mining related sciences and engineering.

For more information about the camp go to: http://wasm.curtin.edu.au/outreach/mining.cfm

Can I please remind students with overdue library loans to return them promptly or you may be charged for the cost of the item.  Read more

Applications for the 2014 Focus on Mining Camp are now open.
Focus on Mining 2014 is a five day scholarship camp held in the July holidays for Year 11 and 12 WACE students to find out about the range of learning and career opportunities available in mining related sciences and engineering.

For more information about the camp go to: http://wasm.curtin.edu.au/outreach/mining.cfm