Year Eight Year 8
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ommencing Secondary School remains a significant milestone in the life of any student.
For Year 8 students it is a time of enormous change and adaptation as they come to grips with an array of new challenges. The first few Robert Armitage weeks at Trinity College can Head of Year 8 be both exciting and, to an extent, quite daunting as the boys orientate themselves to a large educational enterprise that can be mentally and physically demanding. I am pleased to report that the Year 8 class of 2005 adjusted to these demands with great initiative and endeavour. The students along with their parents were quick to realise that in order to survive and ultimately flourish two fundamental principles needed to be embraced. The first was the boys being willing to take personal responsibility for their day to day organisation within what can be a very hectic schedule. The second is a key to success for students not only in Year 8 but for the entire journey at Trinity College and that is the need to participate enthusiastically in the academic, spiritual, sporting and cultural pursuits of the College. In short, the more you are prepared to engage with the vast opportunities the full life of the College provides the greater will be the rewards in terms of growing towards your potential. The initial onslaught was relieved early in the first term by the opportunity to engage in the annual Year 8 Orientation Camp at Camp Kelly in Dwellingup. Each pastoral care group was on camp for three days involved in such activities as hiking, rafting, boat building and learning to cope in the great outdoors without the help of mum and dad. The camp continues to play a significant role in facilitating the socialisation of the boys as many new and existing friendships were able to develop and grow not only between students but also between the boys and their teachers. Following the camp each homeroom group went through an election process to choose two student councillors whose role was to not only represent the interests of their peers but to serve others by assisting in pastoral care group and broader College activities. While it is acknowledged that there is potential to expand the nature of their role, they were all good role models and performed well in providing positive leadership. I thank the councillors and encourage them to continue to seek out leadership opportunities in the years to come.
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Another major initiative that has become an important part of how the Year 8’s are welcomed to the College is the Quest retreat which ran over the weekend following the camp. This has become a vital component in the induction of all Year 8 students into the culture of faith that forms the ethos of the College. In brief it is a weekend retreat where students are guided by Year 11’ big brothers’ or peers through a comprehensive program that involves prayer, community service, values education and mass. Once again it proved to be a resounding success and a testament to the incredible bonds that exist between students, staff and parents within the Trinity community. Spiritually the boy’s earnest participation in the whole school and year level Masses was another admirable dimension of their growth throughout the year. The Year 8’s were also very proactive in supporting the missions and showed great commitment under very difficult weather conditions to support the Fun Run for India. Year level and Middle School assemblies provided students with a forum to provide feedback to their peers about the diverse activities they find themselves involved in. A significant shift towards highlighting the achievements of students who do not typically find the limelight and giving students greater ownership in terms of the actual running of these occasions was extremely valuable. The Year 8 students have also made an enthusiastic and talented contribution to the sporting life of the College where sportsmanship and team spirit remained a high priority. The boys were also seen to be loyal spectators at the PSA swimming and athletics competitions. The centrepiece of our social calendar was the Trinity Mercedes night of roller skating which also incorporated a dance. At this and other socials with Iona and Penrhos the boys participated in a mature and friendly manner. In closing I would like to offer my deep gratitude to the pastoral care group for 2005. Mr Osnain, Ms Campisi, Mr Van Dongen, Mr Wilkinson, Ms Eagling, Mr Scott and Ms Passetti, who all offered guidance and support to the students in a manner that was characterised by great generosity, compassion and commitment.
Robert Armitage Head of Year 8
