Katanning Senior High School

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Camp Quaranup

In weeks 5 and 6 of Term 3, students in Years 8 and 9 who were in good standing had the opportunity to attend a camp in Albany with the focus being on team building and personal development. On the Wednesday of each week, 57 excited year 8 students and 44 relaxed Yr 9 students left Katanning SHS for not so sunny Albany. Arriving at Camp Quaranup, students were quickly into action with a range of activities on offer for everyone. Students were split into 6 teams, with the battle for camp supremacy well and truly alive. Some of the activities that students were involved in over the three days included:
Team building games: A series of physical and mental challenges in which students had to work in teams to gain points
Low ropes course: Another team activity for students to test their balance, skill and teamwork in a challenging environment
Canoeing/Rafting: The Yr 9 students lucked out with the weather and were able to hit the water for some fun
Fishing: Bayley Shehan, Ashley Kleeman, Mrs Paini and Mr Iqbal were the only ones to catch something on the Yr 8 camp. Mr Gaudin’s expertise helped many more students catch fish on the Yr 9 camp.

Art: Students in Yr 8 had to work in teams to build paper pyramids – Yr 9’s got to design paper costumes. James Dark and Seb Crossley took their role as fashion models very seriously (see attached pictures).
Cooking: With the assistance of Miss Elson and Mrs Paini, students were able to whip up some pikelets and cookies which were enjoyed by all
Sport: Whether it was a tabloid sport activity or just a game of indoor cricket, students were kept busy with a range of sports at their disposal in their free time.
Lantern Stalk: Miss Elson had all the kids excited with the night time activities – the lantern stalk was a particular favourite for all camp-goers
Quiz: In teams, students pitted their general and music knowledge against others teams – Mrs Paini’s cassette player trivia was a favourite round
Bushwalk: Students got to see the beautiful scenery of Camp Quaranup and Albany by going for a walk around the point at the camp

These activities were a great way for students to get a feel for their surroundings as well as building a rapport with their team members and fellow peers. All students were fantastically behaved, with all students being great representatives of Katanning Senior High School. At the conclusion of each camp, 10 certificates were presented to students who had made a special contribution in their time at camp.
Both camps were a huge success and the students who attended had the opportunity to be rewarded for maintaining their good standing throughout the year. The camps would not have been successful without the dedication of Lower School Coordinator, Mr Iain McPherson who put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that these camps went ahead and to all the staff who attended the camps.
Mr Scott Galipo—Upper School Coordinator

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Yr 9 Ski Trip Mt Buller

Our first “day” was a rather long one, starting at 5:30pm on Sunday evening with the bus to Perth, plane to Melbourne (a huge 747), bus to Mt Buller, and taxi to our accommodation, finally finishing at Ivor Whittaker Lodge at 1:30pm Monday afternoon!

The day had many interesting occurrences, such as a lost iPod, jocks being spilled across the car park, excellent pizza, “Hells Corner”, the first sight of snow, dardy beanies, illegal snowball fights, and falling asleep during the safety presentation from Snow Patrol (due to tiredness, not boredom).

Tuesday started our regular schedule of ski lessons at 9am until 11, lunch at 12 at ABOM, and back to the accommodation by 4pm. The students were split into two groups, which equated to the beginners and the experienced/adventurous. We didn’t make it onto the chair lifts by the end of the lesson, but lots of fun was had going as fast as possible in the small slope we had already skied on.

Events involved Mr Gaudin running into a snow making machine, Josh and Jacob doing tumble turns in the snow, Ben and Trent building snow men, “face prints” in the snow, and the first sanctioned snow ball fight, pillow fights (between the boys), and video games in evening at the Whitt.

Wednesday resulted in an incredibly uncoordinated Miss Gooding being unable to get up after falling over without the help of the ski instructor, cool Eskimo snowboarding girls, a scenic chair lift ride to the snow tubes, bumper snow tubes, watching 5 year olds do slalom races, and some skiing of course – with the experiences/adventurous group having their first ski down the Blue Bullet and Holden Express slopes.

Thursday saw the beginner group getting onto the Blue Bullet and Holden Express slopes, with a few stacks as the chair lifts are not as easy as they look with skis on. Students were being very indifferent about another sanctioned snow ball fight until they discovered Miss Clark and Miss Gooding would be involved, and boy did they move! It was also our last night at the Whitt and some silly awards were given for clothing and actions during the week so far.

Friday was our last ski lesson, and disaster with lunch as Miss Gooding couldn’t find the lunch passes, but everyone was understanding and disappeared to go get pizza which was much better than at ABOM anyway. After lunch it was back to the Whitt to get our luggage, load up the taxis and then the bus, and finally catch the bus back to Melbourne. We arrived at Batman’s Hill Hotel at about 5:30 and managed to get across the road for dinner and some shopping at Spencer St Direct Factory Outlet by 6:30. Almost everyone returned to the hotel with a brand new pair of Converse runners.

Saturday was a full day with a morning at the Queen Victoria Markets, the afternoon at the zoo, then bowling in the evening. A few students even managed to get a “turkey” which is apparently three strikes in a row.

Finally Sunday arrived and it was time to go home. Many of the students had their most exciting part of the trip as the Melbourne Storm (rugby) and Sydney Swans teams were in front of us in the group check in. We departed Melbourne at 10:40am in a much smaller plane (767), with our incredibly kind and thoughtful students organising with the flight crew and pilot to thank the teachers over the PA system on the plane prior to landing. Back onto the bus and to home to Katanning by 6pm – a very full and very fun seven days!

A huge thankyou to Mr Robin Dark and Mr Frank Gaudin for attending and helping to supervise, and also to all the 30 wonderful students who attended. We had a great time and hope you did too!

Miss Kate Gooding & Miss Felicity Tyrrell-Clark

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Country Week 2009

The first week of July (last week of term 2) saw Katanning Senior High School participate in a very successful Country Week Carnival in Perth.
100 Students from Years 10, 11 & 12 competed in 11 different sports against 43 Country Senior High Schools. Sports included Boys & Girls Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Football, Hockey, Netball, Speech & Debating. The addition of Girl’s Football proves to be a most successful undertaking.

Special thanks and mention need to go to the wonderful coaching staff consisting of:
Miss Felicity Tyrrell-Clark – Boys Volleyball
Miss Kim Ly – Girls Volleyball
Mr Rob Matysiak – Boys Soccer
Mr Iain McPherson – Girls Soccer
Mr Trevor Carruthers – Boys Basketball
Mrs Wendy Allen – Girls Basketball
Mr Scott Galipo & Mr Rob Berwick – Boys Football
Mr Warren & Mrs Sharon Poett – Girls Football
Mr Stephen Dennis – Hockey
Miss Caitlyn Oakes – Netball
Miss Kate Gooding – Speech & Debating
Mrs Tammy Schloithe & Mr Mike Allen – Parent Helpers

Three teams competed in the Grand Finals with Katanning being victorious in Hockey. Girl’s Soccer and Basketball were Runners-up in their division. This year the majority of teams finished 3rd in their division. The Speech & Debating team needs to be commended, losing the semi-final but just one point.
A highlight for the week was a visit from the West Coast Eagles. Katanning SHS had the opportunity of asking questions to a group of players for forty minutes. Players included Adam Selwood, Daniel Kerr, & Ben McKinlay.
Students stayed at St. Thomas More University College and experienced Perth activities such as the Fremantle Jail Tour, Ten Pin Bowling, Bayswater Waves Pool, Movies and formal dining.
Students are to be commended on their excellent behaviour as they represented the School and Community with pride - Managers of the night visits commented on their manners and behaviour.
I would also like to take this opportunity in thanking the Country Week 2009 students for their excellent commitment. They did everything plus more that was asked of them and I was so proud of their efforts – it certainly made my task in leading the team a most enjoyable and pleasurable experience.
I am already looking forward to next year where I get to experience this wonderful event once again.

Andrea Rundle
Country Week Coordinator

2009 COUNTRY WEEK RESULTS
(FRIDAY 3 JULY 2009)

C Division Boys’ Hockey - 1st Place
D Division Girls’ Soccer- 2nd Place
C Division Girls’ Basketball - 2nd Place
B Division Boys’ Basketball - 3rd Place
D Division Boys’ Soccer - 3rd Place
D Division Netball - 3rd Place
D Division Girls’ Football - 3rd Place
Debating - 4th Place
D Division Girls’ Volleyball - 5th Place
C Division Boys’ Football - 6th Place
C Division Boys’ Volleyball - 8th Place