Science Academic
O
ver the last few years there has been a great deal of flux in education brought about by the introduction of Curriculum Framework. This continued in 2008 with the whole of the Middle School science curriculum being changed from Mr Tim Blake the outcomes based Head of Science assessment to the more familiar marks and grades. This welcome change enabled parents and staff to regain the ability to see academic progress and relative ability in their children. The year was also characterised by being one of preparation for the introduction of the new Courses of Study for upper school, planning for the introduction of Year 7 students, investigating the ramifications of the proposed five period day and the drafting of plans for new and refurbished upper school laboratories. This involved a huge effort by all the science staff working many extra hours to rewrite virtually all the programs, tests and support documents for the whole school science program. It would seem we are well and truly leaving the past behind us! This year the Year 10 cohort was reorganised into three separate streams to recognise the various science study pathways in Year 11. Course 1 students are encouraged to take Physics or Chemistry in Year 11 whereas Course 2 students were graded on their potential and ability to achieve better in Biology and Human Biology. We have far too many students who erroneously believe they will be successful in the field of Physics when they would be better placed to study a more achievable subject such as Biology. This reorganisation will hopefully get the message through.
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Biology continues to offer exciting variety and experiences outside the classroom with numerous excursions and field studies. The annual trip to Dryandra and the Stirling Ranges resulted in one of the most exciting trips to date. Great weather, brilliant wildflowers and one of the best mammal trapping exercises ever saw us catch eleven animals in only fifteen traps. These included the rare and endangered Woylies whose recovery from near extinction is, once again, in jeopardy.
An exciting development resulted from our stay at the Stirling Range Retreat. For over ten years we have had a wonderful relationship whereby the boys have benefited from the expertise and environmental insights offered by the owners, Tony and Ayleen Sands. As a tribute to this long standing relationship Tony and Ayleen have inaugurated a prize for the student who exhibits suitable qualities to win the S.W. Biology Excursion – Science and Citizenship Prize. We would like to thank them both for their generosity and continued support of the Biology program. There were a number of excellent results for our students this year, particularly in the field of Chemistry. In the recent Royal Australian Chemical Institute competition we achieved four perfect scores from Sam Carbone (Year 10), Jordan Ding, Luke Geoghegan and Calum Braham (Year 9). They were part of a select band of only 800 students out of over 127,000 participants to achieve this feat. In recognition of their efforts they were awarded a plaque by a representative of the RACI at a College assembly. Tom Drage, our astronomy scholarship student, was also invited to attend the Rio Tinto Olympiad Chemistry camp in Canberra as he was in the top sixteen students in the country. This is our second consecutive invitation to this prestigious competition. Congratulations to our senior Chemistry teachers Mr Alastair Hay and Mr Jim Shackleton.
