BSHS News - A School For All Seasons

From the Principal

As the Year 12 students journey comes to an end another group of Year 10 students will be preparing to begin Senior School.  By looking back at the opportunities that were available to our current Year 12’s it is easy to see why students from far and wide want to be a part of a graduating class at Bunbury Senior High School – Student performance; Course Flexibility; Belongingness.

The senior school at Bunbury SHS has a developing adult ethos for Year 12 students.  There are study periods and many other opportunities for self-management.  With a common room, the senior school only amphitheatre and lunchtime outdoor concerts, there are plenty of peer group social spaces.  Our new cafeteria due for completion in 2021 will add to the adult feel of the school.  Our clubs, House system and community fundraising events give students a myriad of leadership opportunities.

In the last two years, Bunbury SHS’s ATAR ranking has risen 11 places. The average median ATAR score in that time has been 79.9.  The third highest in the district including among the private schools.  We have an ever reflective approach ensuring each successive year group has a greater opportunity to succeed. An increased range of ATAR course and the ECU UniPrep pathway have increased the options for students going into senior school.  In 2021 there will also be increased access to SIDE courses for non-GAT students.

Once again this term has been filled with visits, events, milestones and outstanding achievements.  The last issue I spoke of the Minister for Education the Honourable Sue Ellery had a planned visit.  However, this became a visit from the Honourable Mark McGowan, Premier of Western Australia.  The Premier held a press conference on our front lawn, toured the school and spoke with students.  I have also met with Maker and Co to embark on an exciting project that will connect the learning of our students to real-world projects with businesses in areas of interest for our students. Ernie Hill from the Goomburrup Aboriginal Corporation also spent some time with me recently as we work out a plan for our staff and students to gain a greater understanding of the history and culture of the land that we are located on. 

There were also many events that provided our students with opportunities to step up and challenge themselves; like the Buchanan Cup for girls Hockey, our entries in the OzKids Art Show, which can be viewed at www.ozkids.com.au  and The National History Challenge where Holly van Herk has moved into the final round. Students also took varied leadership roles to bring Daffodil Day and Wear it Purple to the students.  They have contributed to our community giving back through “Sleepout for Homelessness”, cooking for the Salvation Army and tree planting.  The junior band completed a Primary School Tour and performed at a Pop-up Sunset performance on the school lawn.

Finally, it was great meeting so many parents at the Parent-Teacher evening.  The atmosphere was fantastic.  It was a real joy to see the collaboration between the Teacher, Parent and Student. The education of Bunbury Senior High School students requires a 3-way partnership to be successful.  That was certainly evident from the evening.

En Avant. 
Mike Sinagra
Principal

Premier Visits Bunbury SHS

The Honourable Premier Mark McGowan chose Bunbury SHS grounds to announce the South-West Recovery Plan on Thursday, 27 August. The Premier was joined by other local MLAs for the press conference.

We took the opportunity to show Mr McGowan our aging facilities, which despite the new announcement of $3.1 million for Bunbury SHS will only allow us some minor upgrades to the gym and performing arts centre.

The last time the Premier visited our school was after a $5 million election promise of a new cafeteria build. We took Mr McGowan to the construction site of this build which is well underway and scheduled to be in operation by the 2021 school year.

Overall it was a beautiful day for a tour around our beautiful grounds and allowed some of our staff and students to meet our Premier.

Quality Senior Schooling

Senior School is the final phase of schooling at Bunbury SHS, where Year 11 and 12 students work with a greater sense of autonomy and independence. The senior school learning environment is tailored to the particular developmental needs of young adult learners and allows for increased levels of responsibility and self-direction.

Students are expected to take charge of their future pathway and embrace opportunities to develop a broad portfolio through a commitment to co-curricular experiences and community service.

Our senior school teachers are highly skilled subject specialists with experience in developing learning experiences that enable students to become highly competitive in their chosen field or pathway beyond School. Many of our alumni have achieved success in a broad range of careers, from the Arts through to Medicine and Law.

We have enjoyed success in recent years, with our ATAR students achieving amongst the highest ranked median ATAR in the district, including the private sector.

We also have many students who are supported through a vocational pathway, gaining essential skills and workplace experience in a chosen trade or vocation.  Our students achieve certificate courses from Certificate II to Certificate IV level, preparing them for further training or employment.  Our students have a fantastic reputation amongst local businesses, which provide important support to our students in giving them work placement opportunities.

At Bunbury Senior High School, our motto ‘inspiring self-belief’ shines through every aspect of the School, from the array of clubs on offer to the leadership opportunities available to our students. Whether our students are bound for University, technical training or the workforce, we equip them with the necessary tools and life skills to prepare confident, collaborative young adults for a life of contribution, fulfilment and success.

To top off all our schools’ recent successes, which include Western Australian Secondary School of the Year, we will be opening our new “state of the art” cafeteria in 2021 which will have sweeping views of the ocean in addition to a great new menu.

We are the School of choice in the South West!

Kylie Ward
Manager Education Services

Year 12 Goodbye & Goodluck

The last week of term 3 was a week of goodbyes and new beginnings for the Year 12 class of 2020.

Students started their last day of senior high school with an early breakfast under the art gazebo overlooking glorious Back Beach. Thanks to Mr Mazzella and Deputy Principal, Ms Anderson for cooking the delicious bacon and egg breaky. Some jazzy tunes performed by students Kayne and Rohan and Principal, Mr Sinagra quietly played away in the background.

With smiles all around, the class of 2020 made their way to their final assembly.

Congratulations to the Year 12 En Avant Citizenship awards recipients, who consistently demonstrated outstanding application and endeavour in all classes during the year.

• Ella Catalano
• Zoe Lally
• Nathan Nguyen
• Vasiliki Stavrou
• Ruth Strong
• Emma Tinley
• Jamieson Loxton
• Annabella Kuran

The Prefect Jacket handover is a long-running tradition symbolising the finishing of the 2020 group and the start of the 2021 group's journey. This year's handovers were presented with a performance including a toy horse race, a standoff with Nerf guns, football match and an old fashioned sword fight and crowning.

Head Boy Nathan Nguyen and Head Girl Emma Tinley reminisced on their time at Bunbury Senior High School:

"To the Humanities and Social Science area, thank you for teaching us it's not always best to live in the past.

To the Mathematics learning area, thank you for solving our problems and showing us that everything adds up.

To the English learning area, thank you for ensuring that I will never again watch a movie without analysing how it's making me cry.

To the Science learning area, thank you for developing us into curious people.

To the Health and Phys Ed learning area, thank you for understanding us. I know we all think about this, but I'm not sure we've ever said it, we enjoy going to the beach. So thank you for letting us do that rather than just staring at it through the windows.

To the Arts, Design and Technology learning areas, thank you for brightening up our school in more ways than one and coaching us to express ourselves freely.

To the canteen staff and school custodians, also known as our tremendous cleaners and gardeners, thank you for fuelling our great adventures and accomplishments at school and for keeping our school safe.

To the Educational Assistants, thank you for giving every student the opportunity to learn.

To the Administration and Office staff and Student Services team, the work you do is incredible. You are also there to support us in good times and bad, and you never fail to put a smile on our faces. We couldn't have gotten through this year without your guidance.

To the 2020 Prefects, working with you has been an honour, and I am so proud of the efforts our team has made to this school and the wider community. And to Danelle and Mr Marinoni, we couldn't have made any of our visions a reality without you, so thank you."

Congratulations to the Class of 2020! We are very proud of you all and wish you well on your journey going forward. We know you will succeed in your chosen pathway and look forward to sharing those successes with our Alumni in the future.

Student Leadership

The Prefects are the student representatives of our school to the wider community. Throughout the year they have the opportunity to organise different fundraisers, participate in creating policy and represent the school at various functions and events.

Bunbury Senior High School would like to thank the 2020 Prefects for their tremendous effort and representation of the school. 2020 was a very different year for this group due to COVID restrictions, however they still made the most of what they could do and put every effort into the various initiatives and activities throughout the year.

The 2020 Prefects handed over the torch to the new 2021 Prefect-elects on R U OK? Day and together they raised $480.

Good luck to the outgoing 2020 student leadership group. BSHS wish you well in your future endeavours: Nathan Nguyen, Darcy Healey, Emma Tinley, Vasiliki Stavrou, Emily Bourne, Katherine Mulligan, Ebony Wallin, Alice Johnson, Aisling Hall, Megan Roberts, Charlotte Brett and India Lewis.

Congratulations to the incoming student leadership group for 2021: Megan Bain, Jaxon Browne, Jack Buswell, Nathan Edland, Lilah Edmonds, Lexie Edwards, Hudson Farr, Lily Gray, Norah Harkin, Torben Houden, Kaitlyn Myles, Kade Szyszka and Morgan Ursino.

Care Packs for Homeless

Bunbury Senior High School students took part in a Sleepout for Homelessness recently.

This initiative first started last year by 2019 Head Girl Amber Ramage. The current student leaders wanted to continue the tradition so on Friday 28^th August, students were invited to “sleep rough” for a night on the hard library floor with only a blanket or sleeping bag to experience what it is like to be homeless. During the night students created care packages filled with essential items that were donated by students, teachers and our generous school community. 

A few local community service groups visited and talked to the students about the support they provide the homeless such as the Bunbury Soup Van, The Salvation Army, Accordwest and also local youth activist, Bella who was instrumental in the Homeless Lockers initiative. Anne from Doors Wide Open further raised students awareness on homelessness with a very real and emotional account of her time living rough in Bunbury.

By the end of the night, a total of 215 care packages were made. These packages were then donated to The Salvation Army and Accordwest to be distributed to those in need. 

This was an enriching experience for all involved, and BSHS will continue to support this fantastic appeal that helps those in need in our local Community.

Year 10 Project Based Learning

In a continued effort to support those most in need in our local community, our Year 10 PBL group cooked 44 meals which included Spaghetti, Lasagne, Beef Korma, Curried Sausages and Beef Casserole.

The students were responsible for writing the recipe, shopping for the ingredients, then cooking and packaging these meals. The meals were then donated to The Salvation Army and from there onto the homeless.

Well done to our PBL group on this rewarding initiative.

Iluka Visions Art Exhibition

Seven of our talented art students have had their artwork selected as part of the prestigious IIuka Visions 2020 Exhibition.

Iluka Visions is an annual, professionally run exhibition which celebrates creativity and provides the highest standard arts industry experience to South West Schools.

Now in its 29th year, Iluka Visions showcases artworks created by students in years 7-12 from high schools across the South West region. This year, 20 schools are participating and the resulting exhibition is a celebration of the hard work of these students and the teachers who have supported them through the development of their creative process.

The Iluka Visions Awards Night will be held on Friday 16 October, with works considered for several awards, while senior students can apply for a prestigious internship position at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA).

AWARDS NIGHT | Friday 16 October | 6pm - 8pm
EXHIBITION RUNS | 26 September - 15 November

National History Challange

Not only is Holly a champion on the sporting stage but she has also made it through to the next level of National History Challenge. The National History Challenge is a research-based competition for students. It gives students a chance to be a historian, researching world history, examining Australia's past, investigating their community or exploring their own roots. It emphasises and rewards quality research, the use of community resources and effective presentation.
This year's theme is 'Contested Histories' and Holly focussed on The Haitian Revolution. "This essay covers the Haitian Revolution, a historically significant event often forgotten or dismissed. It analyses elements of contestability, providing insight into how history can be interpreted in several ways, and exploring whether there were multiple revolutions, the connection to the French Revolution, overall aims and how positive it was."

After reading Holly's essay, Deputy Principal Mr Healey "was thoroughly impressed by the obscurity of the chosen historical event and how well researched Holly's work was".
Holly would like to thank her HASS teachers, particularly Mr Duffield, for his guidance in the editing process.

Year 12 Important Information

Spotlight on the School Board

Julie Bain
My name is Julie Bain, and I am married with three children, Megan 16, Abbey 15 and Alyssa 13. They all attend Bunbury Senior High School. I currently work at Picton Primary School as the Manager Corporate Services. I have previously worked in Banking for 23 years and enjoy fishing, reading and football.

I joined the BSHS Board because I wanted to be more involved in my children’s school. I previously sat on the Bunbury Primary School Board and I am currently the Director of Finance for the City of Bunbury Surf Lifesaving Club. I believe that my experience and knowledge would be helpful with setting the strategic direction of Bunbury Senior High School.

I hope to support the school in the deliverance of an outstanding educational experience for our kids.

Renee Reid
My name is Renee Reid and my husband and I have two children who attend the school – Ellie in Yr 11 and Holly in Yr 9. I have just recently joined the School Board as I wanted to be able to contribute more to my children’s education. We are relatively new to Bunbury and I have not been actively involved in their schooling here, but I did my research on Bunbury schools before we arrived and I was impressed enough to ensure we bought a house in the Bunbury SHS zone.

I am an Associate Principal at Donnybrook DHS and contribute actively to my school board, so I understand the role of the governing body and also how a good Board can make a difference at a school. As DDHS is a feeder school to Bunbury, it also benefits my current students that I will have a good understanding of what happens at Bunbury SHS.

Luke Duffield
I've been serving on the Board for 18 months now. I represent the teaching body here at Bunbury Senior High School. I teach Humanities and Social Science, specialising in Criminology.

My reason for being a school board member is to provide an educational background perspective on shaping the strategic direction of the school.

Jaxon Browne
I am currently studying: Human Biology, Physical Education Studies, Health Studies, English and Maths applications.

In the future, I would like to go to University and study something to do with sports science. I aspire to be a Physiotherapist or a sports teacher. 

Norah Harkin
I am studying Maths Methods and Specialist, English Literature, Physics, and Media. I aspire to be a musician after high school.

Justine Brett 
I am a new board member representing the parent body. I was a student at BSHS from 1990-1994 and was a Prefect in 1994. I have two daughters at the school - Charlotte in Yr 12 and Ella in Yr 9.

I am a primary school teacher, currently in my 8th year at Amaroo PS in Collie. Before this, I taught at Tom Price. I want to be involved with the school board so I can be actively involved in decisions at a school that I’m proud to have attended.

Rebecca Reid
With two children attending BSHS, I joined the school board in 2018 as a parent representative. As the board meets outside of school hours it provided an opportunity to volunteer that aligned with my full-time work commitments.

After completing my education in the public school system and going onto university and a successful career in accounting, I am pleased to be able to give some time back to help others achieve their goals. I actively promote the school in the local business community and I am always on the lookout for student opportunities that arise.

Nghia Nguyen
I’m a new member of the School Board, representing the school community. This is my twenty-sixth year of teaching, the last twenty years at Bunbury Senior High. My background is Modern History and Politics. I have taught Health Education, Work Studies, English, and have been a Year Coordinator twice at Bunbury Senior High, but my passion is Modern History.

Hopefully, being on the board will allow me to directly tap into parents’ points-of-view and aspirations for the school and to be a conduit between the various interested parties on the School Board to the two very important stakeholders of the school community - teaching staff and students.

Student Interview

Year 10 Kayne, or maybe you know him as The Last Shards, recently entered 3 songs into triple j Unearthed High music competition, open to high students across Australia. At only 16 years old Kayne has produced hundreds of songs and there is no sign of him slowing down. We are so proud of his passion and composing skills, we'd like to share it with our school community.

Check out the interview with Kayne below and links to his music.

Have you always been into music? Up until around year 4 or so, I never thought of myself as being a fully-fledged muso, but I have seen videos of myself at least 3-4 years old have a good old time singing along with The Wiggles! I think I started doing music when I joined the primary school choir in Glen Huon, though that didn’t last too long. I started playing the ukulele in Year 4 and moved onto guitar the next year. In year 6 I became increasingly interested in music, and I actually wrote my first song, ‘Greatest’ (Which has been redone over and over and transformed into what it is now on Triple J).

When did you start playing and producing music? Yeah, 2016 was big for me, I got my first electric guitar and wrote a couple of songs but I still thought of it as, like a hobby, you know? I played my electric guitar like crazy over the holidays between primary and high school and got, might I say, very good. Year 7 I wrote my first ‘Album’, called ‘Electric’. Then over the years, I wrote more and more ‘Albums’ until Mrs Larkman and my peers started recognizing how good my music was, by year 9 I started taking things seriously.

Which bands and artists inspire your music? Listening to my music it will become obvious my influences are all over the place! I love Tool and Muse, and their technicality when making music, and I try to put some of that technical stiff in my music. I love the heavy sounds of Metallica and Mötley Crüe, but my favourite band at the moment is Kasabian, an alternate electronic band from England and I do enjoy a bit of The Weeknd (Especially his new album).

What songs have you entered into the Unearthed High competition? So the song I’ve put on Triple J Unearthed is Cold, Alone and Greatest, all from my upcoming album (Which should drop this summer-ish) “Cold”. As I’ve mentioned Greatest is the first song I ever wrote, and in my opinion, is my favourite of the three. It’s an alternative rock and spreads messages of motivation. Alone is a bit of a cinematic piece, takes you on a journey, I guess, and it basically says I like to be alone sometimes. I mainly focused on my vocals in this one and I actually reach the highest note I can sing currently! Cold, on the other hand, is about being addicted to something that you know you shouldn’t be, and how when you’re in a dark place you’re bound to depend on something that seems better at the time, but really isn’t, if that makes sense.
https://www.triplejunearthed.com/artist/last-shards

Which software and equipment did you use to produce your track? My music software is Logic Pro X, cost a small fortune but is well worth it! I used to use GarageBand, and I figured Logic would be the best step-up since it’s pretty much the big-buffed-brother of GarageBand! My Dad and I actually built a studio in our shed and that’s where I do most of my recording. I have many instruments to muck around with including a drum set (I forgot to mention I learnt drums in year 6!).

What are your goals for the future? For the future, I plan to make a living of making my music and selling it to people who love it. I know making it big in music is hard, and I have a lot of back up plans that I hopefully won’t have to use! Eventually, when my music isn’t as big I plan to return to Bunbury High as a music teacher, or maybe Glen Huon Primary, not sure yet I’ll just go with the flow!

Communicating with the School

Schoolzine App

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