Duncraig Secondary Snapshot

As part of the Year 11 outdoor recreation certificate. Students got to abseil and climb on natural rock surfaces.

Below are some photos of the students doing just that!

Karry Plummer

Teacher – Health & Physical Education

On Tuesday 2^nd of August, 2022, eight students from Year 8 and 9 competed in the Frank Drysdale Secondary Interschool Numero Challenge at Aranmore College. This event sees students compete against other schools individually and in teams of 4. The students improve on their mental maths by building scores using numbered cards and mathematical operations against the clock.

Year 8 participants:

James Hussey, Henry McParland, Lucas Fleay, Liam Parkins

Year 9 Participants:

Daniel Nievelstein, Jacob Atkinson, Joshwa Ruiz, Ela Pradhan

The students competed well and thoroughly enjoyed the day and both teams finished in a very respectable position of 12^th and 13^th. A massive thank you must go to Mr Buckley and the year 11 students of Ben Lyon, Josh Craig and Thomas McIntyre who have been helping to coach the students during lunchtimes leading up to the event.

Super work by all involved and let’s get practising ready for next year.

Adam Merrifield

The girls played really well as a team, with particularly impressive performances from Olivia le Roux, Emma Knight, Charla Hall and Mykaela Shadbolt.

Unfortunately the Swan Christian team (with their tremendous height and two ACC All Star players!) were too strong for us, and our girls were beaten 26-48 and therefore knocked out of the competition. In true “Eagles” style though, this score line wasn’t really reflective of the game – with our girls playing a huge second quarter to bring the deficit back to one goal! Sadly the Swan Christian team went up a gear in the second half and we found it difficult to match them.

The girls have had a fantastic season and it’s been really pleasing to see the way they have come together as a team over the last few months.

Jaime Jenkin

Sports Coordinator/Teacher – Health and Physical Education

The Yr 12 ATAR Music Students have studied Requiem Masses as part of the Historical and Cultural Perspectives content of their course.

They will be looking at an Indigenous Requiem Mass titled “Eumeralla” which shares some of the traditional movements of a Requiem Mass such as the  Kyrie Eleison and Dies Irae.

The students will be examining similarities and differences between this War Requiem for Peace and the Britten War Requiem which is their Designated Work.

The Eumeralla river flows through Gunditjmara country in southwest Victoria. It was here, 180 years ago, that war broke out between traditional owners and those who sought to dispossess them of their land. Combining moving poetry, four choirs, orchestra and the platform of the Requiem mass, a history of heartbreak and horror is revealed in this monumental work. With a fusion of Western classical tradition and First Nations culture, Eumeralla soars with resilience and reconciliation. Eumeralla is sung in dialects of the Gunditjmara people of southwestern Victoria. Eumeralla: a war requiem for peace.

Andrea Stimson

Director of Music

Control group school newsletter

Ethics Approval Letter

Procrastination is the act of putting off a task which you know you have to do, even though you know that putting it off will probably be worse for you in the long run.  For example, when you procrastinate about starting an assignment it doesn’t make the assignment go away, or the deadline change, it just gives you less time to get the work done. To manage this, try the following:

1. Become aware of the excuses you use – make a mental note when you procrastinate.  What excuses do you give yourself?  Too tired?  Too difficult?  Too boring?  Being aware is the first step in changing your behaviour.  Keep yourself honest by asking questions like “is this the best use of my time at the moment?” and “am I doing this as a way of avoiding what I really should be doing?”.
2. Reduce or eliminate distractions – creating a clear, uncluttered work environment which is free from distractions will help you avoid procrastinating.  Turn off your social media or WiFi, turn off your music or TV, close the door.  It’s easy to get distracted and lose focus on what you are trying to do, or to procrastinate by surfing websites that are barely related to the topic you are meant to be researching.  You can find out more in the Home Study Environment unit and Dealing with Distractions unit.
3. Make a prioritised list – before you start work (or procrastinating) take a few minutes to work out what your priorities for the session are, based on your deadlines.  Take into account all the time you have available and make a prioritised list.  Work on the most important thing first (see also tip 7 below). There is more information in the Time Management Skills unit on techniques for prioritising.
4. Break down projects into chunks – if you have a big task that you have to do, or something that you really don’t want to start, have a think about how it can be broken up into smaller parts.  A big assignment might need a plan, the purchase of resources, a trip to the library, internet based research, and then several days to write and edit each section.  If you just focus on doing one of these tasks it’s easier to commence.
5. Just start – stop focusing on getting it done perfectly, or even well, just make a start, even if it’s just for a few minutes.  Starting the task makes you realise it’s not as daunting as you originally thought and allows you to make a small amount of progress which encourages you to keep going.  Sometimes once you get started you can even do more than you originally thought you could or would.
6. Reward yourself – set yourself a small goal (to do with the task you are procrastinating about) and then reward yourself appropriately when you complete it.  For example, write an outline for your essay and then have afternoon tea.  You will be more motivated to complete the task to get the reward.  Note: for extreme procrastinators you may need to get someone else to check you’ve done the work and to give you the reward! Learn more about this in the Goal Setting unit.
7. “Twofer Concept” – when you are working on a difficult or boring task, break it up by having a more interesting or easy task that you work on in the same study block.  You get 2 lots of homework done, but when you are losing focus on the difficult one you can switch to the easier one for a bit of a break.
8. Create routines – establishing a routine can help you avoid procrastination as you get into the rhythm of working for a set time each day at a set time of the day.  Making this routine known to your family and friends also helps keep you accountable and stops them interrupting you during your work time.
9. Find a study buddy – perhaps starting that difficult work will be easier if you have someone to work with.  This could be a school friend or a sibling. You could share resources and help each other to get started with similar work.
10. Schedule in breaks – breaks give you time to think and process information that you have been working on and give you an opportunity to do the things you really enjoy.  Plan them as much as you plan your work.

You can learn more about how to optimise your performance as a student in the Overcoming Procrastination unit at www.studyskillshandbook.com.au by logging in with these details:

Username: ststephens

Password: 100success

Sarah Cooke

Careers Advisor

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019). 

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

·         year of schooling

·         category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional

·         level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

·         formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools 

·         consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools

·         develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy(https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/resources/department-education-skills-and-employment-complete-privacy-policy-0).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school. 

Mateo and Noa Langhi (Year 8)and the whole WA State Judo Team did incredibly well in the 70^th National Championship on the Gold Coast.

Noa get the bronze and Mateo finished 5^th in the most disputed Junior Boys category.

Matt Richmond

Head of Learning Area – Health & Physical Education