Camps and Excursions
Country Week
This year 90 students and 10 support staff are travelling to Perth Monday 4th July, returning on the evening of Friday 8th July. Teams attending this year are Boys and Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Soccer, Netball, Football and Dance.
Country Week teams will be playing a series of exhibition matches against the teachers beginning Week 4 for the inaugural Margaret River SHS Country Week Shield.
If parents have any queries they are encouraged to contact team coaches directly on the numbers below.
- Girls Volleyball Stuart Kupfer-Hollis 0427980561
- Boys Volleyball Garrath Stewart 97570748
- Girls Soccer Martin Keen 97570774
- Boys Soccer Patrick Marzhol 97570786
- Netball Tracy Cameron 97570761
- Football Paul Beecham 97570758
- Dance Kara Beecham 97570754
Stuart Kupfer-Hollis
Country Week Coordinator
Indonesian Language Excursions
Languages education is vital for our students – it develops the mind, makes them linguistically and culturally aware, and supports the school value of being a global citizen. Students studying Indonesian language participate in a wide variety of interesting projects and excursions, such as ongoing communication with our sister school in Indonesia, Santa Laurensia; visits to Murdoch University for gamelan and angklung workshops. Wayang Kulit performances, traditional dance workshops, batik making and excursions to Indonesian restaurants in Perth and Indonesian cooking demonstrations are examples of the activities that students engage in as part of their language programme.
Angela McCoy
Languages Teacher & Sister School Exchange Program Coordinator
Outdoor Education
MRSHS takes advantage of its unique location in the heart of the South West, widely regarded as the outdoor pursuit centre of WA. The school makes full use of its environs incorporating roping pursuits, caving, canoeing, mountain biking, hiking, navigation and camp craft skills.
Outdoor education courses are first offered in Year 9 with a comprehensive 20 week roping program. Students learn a wide range of roping skills including climbing, abseiling, prussiking, belaying, climbing rated knots, care of roping equipment and setting and using mechanical advantage pulley systems. All this culminates in class excursions to the Explorus high ropes course and Wilyabrup Sea Cliffs. No where else in the state are students offered a roping course of this calibre.
In Year 10, students can participate in a 20 week canoeing and camp craft program. All canoeing instruction is carried out in the local Margaret River where students are given the opportunity to learn a wide range of canoeing strokes, recovery techniques and water safety. Because this course culminates with a two day camp on the Blackwood River students are instructed in various camp craft skills such as Trangia stove and camp fire cooking, tent erection and general camp site and personal management.
Year 11 and 12 students have the opportunity to complete all or part of a Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation. The certificate covers both theory with respect to the outdoor recreation industry and practical experience in the entire gambit of outdoor pursuits the Margaret River region has to offer. Students completing this course take away a recognised qualification with a wide range of Units of Competency which are recognised and credited by tertiary campuses throughout Australia.
Some students follow these courses from Year 9 to Year 12 developing many useful skills for their personal outdoor leisure time as adults, some even using it a platform to pursue a career in the outdoor industry.
Athletics Carnival
On the Wednesday the 6th of April our school held its annual House Athletics carnival for 2011. The weather gods smiled upon us for the first half of the day and the students looked wonderful (and weird) in their fancy dress costumes and racing apparel. They came in their droves to compete, have fun, participate and simply celebrate nearing the end of a hard terms work. There was music, dance, food and drink and more importantly there was participation and enjoyment. The carnival reinforced our school philosophy of participation and there were also some outstanding efforts by individual athletes who will receive their medallions at school.
| Chamption Boys | Champion Girls | |
| Year 8 | ||
| 1st | Jake Rodgers | Cheyenne Stuart-Smith |
| 2nd | Sam Jackson | Darcee Franchi |
| 3rd | Joel Colman | Phoebe Smith |
| Year 9 | ||
| 1st | Toby Breslin | Marnie Brewer |
| 2nd | James Hewton | Summer Franchi |
| 3rd | Ryner Koster | Wheatley Hunter |
| Year 10 | ||
| 1st | Jayden Stammers-Russell | Soraya Stuart-Smith |
| 2nd | Kelby Guthrie-Phelps | Alina Doyle |
| 3rd | Kia Bako | Kate Williams |
| Year 11 & 12 | ||
| 1st | Harrison Marsh | Givenjiri Lamperd |
| 2nd | Ben Smith | Rani Smart |
| 3nd | Michael Wilson | Yylly Lamperd |
The house points at the end of the day were very close, with every competitor scoring 1 point for their house just for participating. The final scores for 2011 were
- First Place : Pisces 1000 points
- Second Place: Taurus 992 points
- Third Place: Scorpio 978 points
- Fourth Place: Aquarius 955 points
A huge thank you must go to all staff who officiated and assisted in a variety of roles throughout the day. A special thanks to the Physical Education staff who worked tirelessly to do events during lunchtimes leading up to the carnival and spent many hours in organising the carnival. Congratulations also to all students who attended on the day, displaying great sportsmanship and respect for fellow competitors and staff.
Sydney Canberra Trip
Sydney Canberra TripThe Sydney-Canberra excursion runs each year or second year and takes up to 45 Year 10/11 students on a National Capital visit during term 4. With some financial assistance from the Federal PACER program this trip costs around $1400 and provides an affordable opportunity for our students to spend six days immersed in the political cultural sites of both Sydney and Canberra including such luminaries as Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as well as our Houses of Parliament, National Museums and Art Galleries and many social venues to cap off a fabulous trip.
Martin Keen
Coordinator Sydney-Canberra Excursion
Biology Excursions
Every year, our young, prospective Biologists undertake a series of exciting activities which supplement and reinforce course content that must be covered. Some of these activities form a mandatory part of the curriculum such as the fieldwork component.
In year 11, students get to visit the Perth Zoo for a day during which they are exposed to a professional workshop targeting the topic of classification. Later in the year, students undergo a vigorous wetland study which takes place on the school farm. In doing so, students are required to construct maps of the area, use a compass, take measurements of numerous abiotic factors of the ecosystem and sample the existing biota, using various sampling techniques, for rigorous analysis back in the laboratory.
In year 12, students undergo further studies of ecosystems and in doing so, we play the role of opportunists and utilise the amazing cave systems that our home town of Margaret River has to offer. Students participate in cave visits and are exposed to the complex and highly specialised science of Cave Speleology.