On Thursday, February 7, our whole school travelled to the Winchelsea Swimming Pool to compete in the House Swimming Sports. There were a number of novelty events which were extremely popular, plus some excellent individual performances in the pool. A number of students have been selected to represent Colac Secondary College at the Interschool Swimming Carnival, which will be held in Apollo Bay next week. Congratulations to all members of Otway for the overall win!

INDIVIDUAL AGE CHAMPIONS

13yrs: Cam Wheadon & Ella Harwood 14yr: Heath Bircanin-Suiter & Eloise Murnane 15yrs: Gerard Sheedy & Phoenix Smith 16yrs: Liam Vesey & Grace Martin 17yrs: Zain Hawkins-Bartlett & Hannah Knight 20yrs: Sam Johns & Mia CarsonNEW INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Ella Harwood: 13yrs Breaststroke & Butterfly Sam Johns: 20yrs Butterfly & Freestyle Liam Vesey: 16yrs Freestyle Thomas Swayn: 17yrs Freestyle OTWAY: 16yr Male Relay & 20yr Female Relay HESSE: 20yr Male RelayOVERALL SCORES OTWAY 1,193 pts HESSE 913 pts

BARWON 908 pts

MURRAY 906 pts

Our Sporting Pathways Program recently kicked off and it is proving to be a huge success. Stuart Canavan is leading the sessions and over time the plan will be to develop a Regional Sports Institute based out of Colac Secondary College. It is a great opportunity for our students to gain knowledge from Stuart.

School Nurse Dear Parents/Carers & Students, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Secondary School Nurse at Colac Secondary College. I have a background in Adolescent Mental Health Nursing and have worked as a Secondary School Nurse since 2014. The Secondary School Nursing role aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the school community through implementing health promotion and prevention strategies including embedding whole school approaches, supporting curriculum development in Health, complimenting curriculum through group education sessions and providing individual student support related to a range of Adolescent health concerns. Although I am a Registered Nurse, my role does not include first aid within the school so continue to see Tara Quarrell for any first aid concerns. I am located in the Student Services Area every Monday and Wednesday. I look forward to working with the school community at Colac Secondary College. Kind Regards, Claire

A crowd of 200 students, parents, friends and teachers gathered at the Colac Lake Bowling Club for the official 2018 Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday, November 21st. The evening was a wonderful celebration of the conclusion of thirteen years of formal schooling for our Year 12 students. A three course meal was enjoyed by all and the evening was punctuated by a series of presentations. Principal, Mr Dewar opened the evening by complimenting the students on the completion of their secondary education. As the night progressed, each student was presented to the audience, and then received a Certificate of Completion among other gifts to acknowledge their efforts over the course of the year. The highlight of the event was the valedictory address by the School Captains in Kate Wilson and Nicholas Boylan. Both students spoke beautifully as they reflected on their past six years at Colac Secondary College, while calling on their peers to embrace the challenges that lay ahead. I would like to thank the students and their families for their cooperation on the night, while acknowledging the many staff members, caterers, Year 10 waitresses and the venue hosts who all assisted in making the evening a fitting farewell for our graduating class of 2018. In closing, we hope that these students continue to keep the College motto, this being ‘Aim, Aspire and Achieve’, in mind as they head out into the big, wide world, and no doubt they will! Mr Noel McKay Year 12 Manager

Congratulations to Harmonie Adams, Sue Langdon and all the staff and students who contributed to the Colac Show Animal Nursery. A number of positive comments about the way our students conducted themselves and their friendly and supportive approach when talking to members of the community. Well done, a real team effort.

Congratulations to Mia Carson and Zahra Weston for being selected as Colac Secondary College Captains for 2019. Both Mia and Zahra have been exceptional contributors to our school community over the last 5 years and I am sure they will continue to be outstanding ambassadors in 2019. The other candidates should be congratulated on outstanding efforts in all components of the selection process.

What better way to spend the last week of Term 3 than in Australia’s Red Centre. On Sunday 16th September, twenty-nine year 9 and 10 students and three staff left early for a six day adventure to Central Australia. We flew into Uluru where the scale and beauty of the rock was impressive from the air. Late in the afternoon we took in the sunset over Uluru. We were not disappointed as the setting sun produced a beautiful array of postcard perfect colours. The following morning we walked around some 2/3 of the base of the rock with an experienced guide who described the rock’s cultural significance to the indigenous people. In the afternoon we travelled out to the Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) to experience the immensity of this rock formation. Tuesday was spent travelling to Kings Canyon resort. The warm day meant that the pool was a welcome sight at the end of the day. On Wednesday morning we rose early to pack up and do the spectacular Kings Canyon rim walk. It was then back in the coach for the six hour drive to Alice Springs. Thursday was busy as we started the day with some shopping time in Alice Springs before making our way out to the picturesque Standley Chasm. Later in the afternoon we visited School of Air before going to the Alice Springs Reptile Centre where Barry the olive python was the star of the show. On Friday morning we packed up for the last time and drove out to the scenic Simpson’s Gap before heading to the airport. That evening as we headed back towards Colac we experienced the stark contrast of coming from the Red Centre to Friday night peak hour traffic.

Year 11 students Hugh Jeffreys, Jasmine LoRicco and Tapanga Barnhart-Rankin represented CSC at the annual Lions Youth of the Year Competition. It was a great night and all three students were great ambassadors for our school. At the end of the night, Jasmine walked away with the Best Speaker award and Tapanga won the overall Youth of the Year competition. Congratulations - a great effort by the three students involved.

The cast of Legally Blonde has been very busy rehearsing for CSC’s production of Legally Blonde The Musical. With tickets selling fast make sure you don’t miss out by going online to www.trybooking.com/405339.

On Tuesday August 7th VCAL students organised a pyjama day to promote the school’s Breakfast Club and to raise money for the Breakfast Program. Students came to school looking very relaxed in their pyjamas and were able to enjoy bacon and eggs for lunch. The Breakfast Club operates Tuesday mornings 8am till 8.55am.

Last Friday night the Senior Ball was held at COPACC. This was an exceptionally enjoyable night and all the staff and students involved had a great night. I would like to congratulate all of the students involved for the way they conducted themselves during the evening. I would like to acknowledge the Senior Team for organising the evening and the staff and parents who assisted on the night. Please read more about the Ball inside this edition of the newsletter.

Important opportunity!

Parent Information Session- Tuesday July 17th at 6pm (CSC PA Theatre)

Please note that this invite is for all parents from Year 7 – 12 as well as grade 6 parents who will be sending their child to CSC in 2019.

This is a great opportunity for all parents to attend a parent information session run by Adam Voigt from Real Schools. Adam is a recognised leader in education and regularly comments on television shows such as The Project, Sunrise and Studio 10.

During the session, Adam will:

 Tell you all about the Restorative Practices Partnership that the school is embarking on. Provide you with strategies to use immediately in your Parenting ... and they’re the same strategies your teachers are now using.

For more information please click on the link -https://youtu.be/9kqW8u8iAlc

On Thursday May 31st, students in Year 7 visited Melba Gully in the Otways to complete a unit of work about Ecosystems. Apollo Bay Parks Victoria provided two rangers to take the students on a short bush walk and provide them with insights to local flora and fauna.

An enthused student, Matthew Claridge took some beautiful photos on the walk.

Below he describes his passion for photography:

I got into photography when I was 3 when I got my first camera, it was a blue Fisher Price kid-tough digital camera. I mostly took silly pictures like for instance a picture of one of my books….. upside down. I had that camera until 2012 when I got a hand me down from Mum and Dad. I basically did the same thing until 2014 when I went to Kangaroo Island and the photography bug hit me. Fast forward to January 2016, I had just spent 8 months in Holland and had gone without a birthday present and I walked into my room to find a small package on my table. I unwrapped it and found a Fuji Film camera recommended by my Uncle. To this day I still use this camera.

Last Wednesday (May 30th) a combined CSC Yr 7 – 10 Girls football team travelled to Apollo Bay to play in the annual four team round robin against Trinity Junior, Trinity Intermediate and Coastal Combined. The girls started out strongly against the first Trinity team demonstrating some impressive skills, team work and strength to come out winners by 18 points. Charlotte Hardy and Brooke Hawkins played consistently, breaking away from tackles and scoring the first goals for the day.

The following games weren’t as successful in the attack, however, the girls continued to show determination to fight for possession but their efforts were surpassed by a couple of stronger teams.

The girls displayed some great defensive play from the likes of Maya Farnes, Peggy McGee and Hayley Farnes taking solid marks and strong tackles to bring the ball out of the back line leading to impressive runs down the wing by Eliesha Cazaly and Brooke Hawkins. Jasmin Fowler also played a courageous game, putting herself into almost every tackle.

The attached photos say it all – the girls had a fun day despite the chilly weather, no bench and one player down.

TEAM: Ebony Armistead, Eliesha Cazaly, Takeisha Clark, Hayley Farnes, Maya Farnes, Jasmin Fowler, Abbey Hall, Charlotte Hardy, Brooke Hawkins, Mila Joiner, Grace Martin, Skye Martin, Peggy McGee, Dokodah Nowell, Amber Skurka, Lily Stafford, Kara Tyrer,

Goals: Charlotte (1), Skye (1), Brooke (1)

Behinds: Eliesha (1), Jasmin (1)

Thanks to the support crew:

Trey Wheadon and Thomas Swayn (deputy coaches in Ms Donald’s absence)

Emily Ladhams and Dana Lucas (Runners and Water persons)

Kat Featherstone – Media Guru

Last Friday, 21 students travelled to Deakin University, Warrnambool Campus to compete in the Western Region Cross Country.

All students performed really well and year 8 student, Ebony Armistead qualified to compete in the upcoming SSV State Final.

On Wednesday May 30th, year 7 students visited Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus.

On arrival, we were met by a group of Deakin students who spent the day with us. After breaking into groups, we began with a tour looking at the campus facilities.

Following the tour, students participated in a workshop called ‘Presiding over the Possibilities’ run by the Deakin students. We then enjoyed lunch at the Deakin Food Court and there was also time to play basketball, kick the footy and use the impressive outdoor gym facilities.

In the afternoon, students broke into groups of four to five to participate in a ‘Mission Possible’ task where they used clues from around the university to crack a code. We finished the day with a Deakin student panel where the year 7s asked many questions about studying and life at university. After an enjoyable few hours at Deakin it was time to return to CSC.

On Wednesday May 2nd, the Year 10 Science VCE Prep class headed to the Victorian Bioscience Education Centre in Geelong. Here the students used cutting edge technologies such as gel electrophoresis and microscopic techniques, to unlock the secrets of mystery athletes and gain a better understanding of the role our DNA plays in sporting success and injury.

A fantastic day was had by all our netballers for Winter sport on Tuesday May 22nd. Although the weather wasn’t all that good, with misty rain for the majority of the day our 2 teams played very well, showing great sportsmanship and team spirit against Trinity College, Apollo Bay and Lorne.

Thankyou to our two coaches Michelle Winch and Kat Featherstone, also to our team helpers Dana Lucas and Leah Graham.

Senior Football

Thanks to a number of Year 9 boys volunteering to play, we were able to put a Senior Football team together and on Tuesday May 15th we went across to Central Reserve for our annual match against Trinity.

The match was played in perfect conditions and our boys started the game well, however it soon became obvious that the odds were stacked against us. Despite the superior size and skill level of the opposition all the CSC players stuck to their tasks and played the game out.

Better players on the day were Seb Hay, a year 9 student who played on the ball and displayed skill and composure well beyond his years and Sam Mahoney, Thomas Swayn and Chris Boyd. Zain Hawkins Bartlett kicked our only goal for the afternoon.

Congratulations to all students who participated in the cross country on Wednesday. The enthusiasm and effort by all competitors was the highlight and it made for an enjoyable start to the day.

I would also like to thank the staff who supervised the checkpoints and provided encouragement for all our competitors. The individual winners will be recognized at our next assembly.

Well done to those students who have been selected in the Colac Secondary College Cross Country team, who will compete in the Western Region event in Warrnambool on Monday June 4th.

Results:

13yr Boys: 1st Tyler Pentz, 2nd Zac Barwise, 3rd Darcy Loader

13yr Girls: 1st Holly Williamson, 2nd Gemma Cunnington, 3rd Chelsea Peschel

14yr Boys: 1st Frankey Farnes, 2nd Connor Carson, 3rd Rolson Weston

14yr Girls: 1st Ebony Armistead, 2nd Olivia Scott, 3rd Peggy McGee

15yr Boys: 1st Liam Cunnington, 2nd Cooper Garlick, 3rd Liam Vesey

15yr Girls: 1st Grace Martin, 2nd Chelsea Harris, 3rd Stephanie Gibson

16yr Boys: 1st Liam Anderson, 2nd Malachi Brentwood-Balcombe, 3rd Kieran Belfield

*No 16yr Girls competitors

Senior Boys: 1st Zach Rowarth, 2nd James O’Dwyer

Senior Girls: 1st Zahra Weston

This week our Year 10 students have been out and about on Work Experience. We would like to thank all local & district businesses who have hosted our students for the week & also to our Careers Manager Kaye Potter for working closely with our students and businesses to ensure a successful program.

As part of the Doctors in Secondary Schools Program, an adolescent-trained General Practitioner Dr Robyn Walker (from Colac Area Health Services) will be available at Colac Secondary College each Thursday to provide free access to primary health care for our secondary students. A Community Health Nurse, Carolyn Cole, will also be in attendance.

Students are able to access the GP or Nurse via a booked appointment or parents can make appointments for their child by contacting the Doctors in Secondary Schools Program Leader - Mr. Xavier Davis, emailing medicalclinic@colac-sc.vic.edu.au or clicking on the Student Services tab on this webpage

Parents and carers are welcome to attend consultations with the GP or Nurse.

Nikita Riches wins 2nd place at the Colac Gun Club Clay Target Shooting Competition

On April 26th Colac Secondary College students enjoyed a great day of training and competition at the Colac Gun Club range. Our students were involved in the interschool clay target shooting competition hosted by the Colac Gun Club. Students from Yr 8 – Yr 11 mixed and competed with other schools from across the region whilst honing their skills in Gun Handling and Firearm Safety.

Congratulations to Nikita Riches who achieved 2nd place in the Senior Girls event. Todd Nelson drew for 2nd place in the Junior Boys event but after a shoot off he came 4th. A huge thanks to Holts Gun Shop for their continued support of our club and for sponsoring the event. We would also like to thank Terry Woodcroft from Victoria Police as well as Terry McCrickard and Geoff O’Dywer from Colac Field and Game for all their efforts with training our club members earlier in the week. Of course special thanks to The Colac Gun Club for hosting the event.

Year 7 students had a great start to Term 2 with their Orientation Camp at Queenscliff. The students participated in a wide range of activities and had a great time.

On Friday, April 20th, it was a privilege to take the students from my Year 10 Blood, Sweat and Tears Class and my Year 12 History Revolutions Class to the Colac Cemetery to help the Cemetery Trust Staff place almost 1000 flags on the graves of returned servicemen and women in preparation for ANZAC Day. It was a very rewarding and humbling experience and the students involved were excellent ambassadors for our school.

On Wednesday night we held our annual Open Night where a large number of families and prospective students visited the College. Families had the opportunity to meet staff and students, ask questions, view work from across the College and get information on the curriculum and the wide range of programs offered. The evening was a huge success due to the hard work by staff and an outstanding effort by all the students involved. I would like to congratulate all students involved for being outstanding ambassadors for our school.

Year 11 students took the opportunity to visit Geelong’s bioLAB at Deakin University last week, to further investigate the concepts and applications of their studies this term. The government supported program ‘Winning Edge’ is designed to give students a hands on introduction to university and research level anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. It is a great guide to exercise, health and medical science career pathways as well. The Winning Edge program is run from the brand new state of the art School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at Deakin Waurn Ponds Campus. Students experienced a variety of technologies allowing them to measure force, gait analysis and predict VO2 max and power. The day began with investigations into the anatomy for human movement using various models of moveable joints, bones and muscles. This knowledge was then, transferred to a gymnasium where students experience the use of weights machines and free weight to identify specific muscle group development. For some students the most engaging investigation was the measurement of the forces imposed on the body by their own walking and running actions. Built in force plates in the biomechanics lab measured the forces and the direction of these forces allowing for further analysis of movement gaits. The final lab saw students exert some energy by having their predicted VO2 consumption measured. Most of the content presented complemented work currently carried out in classes this term allowing students a better understanding of their course content. Mrs J Murfitt

School Captains: Kate Wilson and Nicholas Boylan Year 12 - Shae-lee Thorne and Josh Facey Year 11 - Zahra Weston and Joshua Laverty-Meloni Year 10 - Hannah Knight and Ryan Cunnington Year 9 - Nancy Elabde and Sohail Ali Year 8 - Jasmine Tippins and Connor Chapman Year 7 - Emily McCosh and Mitchell Hall

Throughout term one, six of our year nine students have been developing their skills in leadership and independence by completing an educational program at the Snowy River Campus in Marlo, East Gippsland. Snowy River Campus is a residential school, which provides an opportunity for small groups of students from various Victorian government schools to come together and engage in a community program, develop new friendships and complete a range of team based activities and projects.

On Friday 2nd March, a small group of students represented Colac Secondary College at the 2018 Coastal Swimming Carnival in Apollo Bay. Students were selected based on their performance at our house swimming carnival. There were some excellent results on the day with Sam Johns winning his overall age section while Liam Vesey and Thomas Swayn were the runners up for their age group. Congratulations to all students for participation on the day. House Swimming Carnival

Monday 26th February, we held our annual house swimming carnival at the Winchelsea Swimming Pool. Some of our senior students arrived in some interesting costumes and the majority of students were brightly dressed in house colours. There was plenty of cheering and vocal support throughout the day and the novelty events once again proved popular. We did see some excellent swimming throughout the day as well and there were a number of records broken in 2018. Thank you to all our House Captains who did a tremendous job organising teams and filling events, the student helpers who undertook a range of tasks and to all our staff who assisted in running the carnival.

NEW RECORDS Sam Johns: 17yr Backstroke, Butterfly & Freestyle. Murphy Floyd: 20yr Backstroke, Breaststroke & Freestyle. Peggy McGee: 14yr Butterfly. Otway 16yr Male Freestyle Relay.INDIVIDUAL AGE CHAMPIONS 13yr Female: Mickayla Huth 13yr Male: Fraser McDonald 14yr Female: Peggy McGee 14yr Male: Gerard Sheedy 15yr Female: Mackenna Huth 15yr Male: Jack McGee 16yr Female: Hannah Knight 16yr Male: Thomas Swayn 17yr Female: Emily McGee 17yr Male: Sam Johns 20yr Female: Murphy Floyd 20yr Male: Mackenzie LawrenceOVERALL TEAM STANDINGS 1st OTWAY 1,417pts 2nd HESSE 862.5pts 3rd MURRAY 597pts 4th BARWON 559.5pts

Well done to all students involved in the Athletic Sports Friday 9th March. The attitude and commitment by all students who attended was exceptional. There were some great individual performances on the day and I would like to wish all students who qualified for the next stage the best of luck. There will be more photos and articles inside this edition of the newsletter.

Colac Secondary College would like to congratulate Tapanga Barnhart on being awarded Young Citizen of the Year. Tapanga’s ongoing support to both the Colac and greater community has been outstanding. Tapanga volunteers at Colac Driver Reviver, CFA, State Youth Council and Scouts. As a Ven-turer in 2017, Tapanga travelled to Fiji to help construct a new Dining Hall and mosaic en-trance for a boarding school. She spent a couple of hours each week helping out a local family with triplets. Her service to the community goes above and beyond. Well done Tapanga on your amazing service to our community!

This year we welcomed a number of new staff to CSC. We would like to welcome Jarrad Cook - Learning Leader at Year 7-9, Michelle Winch - Science & Biology teacher, Chris McKay - English & Humanities teacher, Sam Potter - Lab assistant in the Science department and Debbie Belfield - Tech assistant in the food department. We also welcome back Kate Geary & Jennifer Colbron from family leave.

OFFICE HOURS - The office will re-open on Thursday 25th January, 2018 at 9.00am. BOOK COLLECTION - Thursday 25th January, 2018 from 9.00am - 5.00pm in the Performing Arts Building. UNIFORM SHOP - Open 9.00am - 5.00pm on Thursday 25th January, 2018. STUDENTS RETURN - All classes commence on Tuesday 30th January, 2018

It is with great pleasure that I can inform the school community that Kate Wilson and Nick Boylan will be our 2018 School Captains. Over the past 5 years, both Nick and Kate have been outstanding ambassadors for the school and have always displayed exemplary behaviours and attitude. Their official leadership responsibilities started last Saturday where they represented the school at the Colac Otway Shire Remembrance Service.

I would also like to congratulate the other candidates who expressed interest in the position. It was a very strong field of candidates and I am confident that this will assist the school in setting up 2018 for a very positive year.

The year 10 Magic Meals class held a staff luncheon, where they cooked and served delicious meals to invited staff.

On November 13 Ms Lidgerwood’s Year 10 Ag / Hort class, plus three year 11 students, went on a wonderful excursion to Raven’s Creek Farm, located in Moriac.

Hayden, the owner, showed us around his amazing enterprise which included: geese, sheep, pigs, cows and chickens. The farm produces meat, natural honey, free range eggs and seasonal vegetables which they use in their kitchen garden. Raven’s Creek Farm also sell their products to the public and other cafes.

All in all it was a great experience for everyone.

For further information visit: www.ravenscreekfarm.com.au

By Dakota Tucker

Today we held celebrations for RU OK day? The idea behind RU OK day is to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them and support anyone struggling with life. We celebrated this by holding a casual dress day, a sausage sizzle and raffles for the school community. Students and staff were encouraged to wear black with a ‘hint’ of yellow. It was great to see everyone getting into the theme of the day, and asking RU OK?

On Tuesday, August 29, three Netball teams travelled to Geelong for the Victorian Schools Championships.

Although our teams were not successful on the day, each and every team member showed a great amount of team spirit and respect for each other and totally enjoyed the whole day.

After tryouts and many weeks of training the following girls represented Colac Secondary College:

Year 7/8 team (played 5 games): Ebony Armistead, Mikhaela Rowarth, Peggy McGee, Dakodah Nowell, Monica Smart, Kara Tyrer, Hailey Ladhams and Pheonix Smith. Coached by Kat Featherstone

Year 9/10 team (played 5 games): Amber Skurka, Brooke Hawkins, Hayley Farnes, Shakia Pearce, Caitlyn Guy, Shanae O’Donoghue, Emily Sproules, Sharni Barry and Dana Lucas. Coached by Clare Neal.

Senior team (played 7 games): Jamisyn Holt, Keely Holt, Claudia Wisbey, Elicia Conway, Tayla Robertson, Sophie Bolton and Abbey Hall. Coached by our Deakin Uni student teachers Miah and Hamish with help from Mr Treweek.

Thank you to our Umpires for the day Claudia McLaren and Georgia Robinson

Also a huge thank you to Nat Simmonds from Bank of Melbourne and Tim Hassett from Sporting Club Assist for our new Netball dresses, they looked amazing on the day.

Last Tuesday our year 12 Biology students had the opportunity to see this process in action when they inserted the same jelly fish jelly gene into E coli bacteria. We were able to bring the bacteria back to Colac Secondary College and incubate the genetically altered bacteria for 48 hours to create our own genetically modified organism (GMO) that contains a transgene.

On Tuesday, August 29, the year ten students attended a health day. The day included learning about mental health /anxiety, sexual health, coping with trauma etc.

During the first session we were split into groups based on our personalities. We then had Terry Woodcroft, Julie Halifax and staff from the Youth Health Hub, talk about issues in society involving our age group and the people that are there to help.

During the second session we took part in physical activities in the new stadium. These included: 15 minute games of ‘tug of war’, ‘balloon train’, ‘cross the river’ and noughts and crosses using hoops. These activities were to help us learn more skills such as: working in teams and communication. After these activities we had a BBQ lunch in the library courtyard, as well as banana smoothies.

During the final two sessions we all had different activity stations where we learnt about contraception, gambling, drugs and alcohol. We then participated in fitness activities of yoga and boxing. We also learnt about the our taste buds and the pleasures of eating different foods.

Overall it was a very educational day, where year 10 students had the chance to learn about health, whilst enjoying themselves.

By Mia Carson

The theme for book week this year is 'Escape to Everywhere'

To celebrate, library passports with a series of book related activities have been developed for the Year 7 and 8 students. A Book Week parade was held today with many of our students dressing up as their favorite Book character. First place in the parade was Gena McLeod ''Queen of Hearts', 2nd place was Teagan Fiscallini 'Wonder Woman' and 3rd place went to Tahlia Sell 'Dorothy'.

- Gun Handling and Firearm Safety Course, Friday the 18th of August

Weather conditions on the day were miserable. The temperature was 8 degrees, minus the wind chill factor, caused by a 15knot breeze and heavy showers falling intermittently throughout the day. There was some talk earlier in the week about whether we should cancel the excursion because of the expected weather conditions. Staff and students discussed this issue for a short period and decided unanimously that this was good training for action in the field as students would need to consider adjusting their preparation and function for different conditions.

Given the correct information and support, dealing with the inclement weather would help develop team work skills and build strength and resilience within our students. Every time we go Hunting and Fishing it is not necessarily a nice warm sunny day.

The first activity on arrival was to unload the bus and help get the fire going. After this we set up the room for our Firearms Safety briefing. During the briefing a number of safety issues were discussed and demonstrated.

Senior students worked with and mentored junior students in all the information and practices discussed on the day as everyone honed their shooting skills on clay targets that imitated different game movements in the field.

It was great to have more girls involved in our excursion and fantastic to see parents and grandparents at the range, braving the elements to help us encourage, build and educate these young adults in their endeavors to improve their sporting and personal development.

Everyone had a fantastic day especially Gilly’s dog “Sandy” who practiced some of her own hunting techniques as she sneakily ate several sandwiches from students that were unfortunate enough to lower their hands whilst holding their lunch.

Colac Secondary College would like to thank the Colac Field and Game Club and club members Terry McCrickard and Geoff O’Dwyer for their expert training and the use of Club facilities. Thanks also to Terry Woodcroft from Co Pilot - Victoria Police for his support and training and Holts Gun Shop for their ongoing support. Our school is very fortunate indeed to have the community support from everyone involved as we work to educate our students to achieve the best results possible.

Last Friday night the Senior Ball was held at COPACC. This was an exceptionally enjoyable night and all the staff and students involved had a great night. I would like to congratulate all the students involved for the way they conducted themselves during the evening. I would like to acknowledge John Ingram and Jade Elborough for organising the evening and the staff and parents who assisted on the night.

King & Queen for the evening were Bem MacFarlane & Lauren Mayer, Prince & Princess were Kira Armstrong & Keely Holt.

On Wednesday, July 19th, CSC’s Yr 7 and Yr 8 boys’ badminton teams travelled to Ballarat for the Greater Western Region Badminton Championships. Our Yr 7 team consisted of Hunter Togni, Austin Arnold, Jayden Bell and Brodie Kilfoyle and our Yr 8 team consisted of Sohail Ali, Kai Broomfield, Liam Cunnington, Angus Zdrojewski and Liam Vesey.

The tournament was conducted in a round robin format with the Yr 7s playing 4 rounds against Yuille, Beaufort, Horsham and Mt Clear Secondary Colleges and the Yr 8s playing only two games against Ballarat High School and Horsham Secondary College.

The Yr 7 team performed exceptionally well, winning all four of their matches to take out the Year 7 Western Region Championship. All four boys played consistently throughout the tournament and they were clearly the best team on the day. They can be justifiably proud of their achievements.

The Yr 8 team also had a good day out. They suffered a narrow loss to Ballarat and had a comfortable win against Horsham to finish second in their pool, only narrowly missing the final in their division.

The Year 7 team of Hunter, Austin, Jayden and Brodie will now represent CSC at the State Finals on September 19th, at MSAC in Melbourne. We wish them the best of luck.

At the end of last term 23 students from our Fishing Club had an early start to their school day. The students left at 7.00am and were off to Warrnambool to try their luck at catching fish in the Hopkins River, as part of their extra-curricular education here at Colac Secondary College. The students have been attending regular meetings all year and together with staff have discussed and organised the excursion. Information about the types of fish, relevant bait, correct tackle and fishing rigs were the main topics mentioned during the meetings. Students also looked at: Catch and Release fishing, Pack Out everything you Pack In (Leave no footprint Excursions) and keep only correct size fish. Colac Police Youth Officer Terry Woodcroft attended meetings and spoke about Community expectations of student groups in public and students representing themselves and the school whilst in the community Water Safety and being aware of your environment were also discussed by staff members: Stephen Gill, Michael Cole and Emily Donald. Although only a few fish were caught and released the Fishing Club members had a great day and were able to work in a new environment to improve their techniques, skills and knowledge of fishing. The Fishing Club students would like to thank the school and everyone concerned for helping; especially their parents for bringing them to school at 6.30am. T. Missen, N. Riches, S. Gill

On Tuesday July 11th, twelve students and two staff members including me, departed Colac Secondary College for a 10 day learning tour to Malaysia. The first component of the tour was a 5 day home stay and school visit to our sister school, SABS. Our students were spread across 12 different families and immersed themselves in the Malaysian culture. The school day started at 7.30 in the morning and often would conclude at 5pm at night. During the day, our students would attend classes, undertake cultural lessons, language classes and participate in a wide variety of different activities. At night students would go home to their family. This life was very different to life in Colac due to food, religion, beliefs and expectations. The school visits highlighted lots of differences in attitudes towards school and school structure. Malay students would spend hours completing homework each night, attend classes with an average size of 45 students and work in poorly maintained buildings. The school experience was very positive for our students and they conducted themselves exceptionally well. The second component of the tour involved travelling as a group to major tourist destinations. We visited Kuala Lumpur where we visited Batu caves, the Petronis Towers, KL Tower and spent some time shopping and relaxing. After a busy two weeks, we arrived home late last week to be welcomed by lots of very excited families. I would like to congratulate all the students involved in the tour. All students were exceptional ambassadors for Colac Secondary College and Australia. Their positive attitude and willingness to give their best effort on all occasions made me very proud. I enjoyed every component of the trip due to the way all students challenged themselves. I have already started to plan a return trip within the next 3 years due to the overwhelming success.

On Monday, June 5th, a group of students went with Ms Sauro and Ms Murfitt to participate in the Western Region Cross country in Warrnambool at the Deakin University campus.

Everyone did very well, finishing in the top third of their age group. A big congratulations to Zach Rowarth who finished 3rd in the 16 years’ age group, and for making it into the State Cross Country competition to be held at LaTrobe University, Bundoora.

Even though it was raining and wet, and the track was full of mud, overall a great effort was made by everyone.

By Amber Skurka and Brooke Hawkins