This week our Year 10 students stepped out of their comfort zone and took on a week of hands-on experience in the workforce. From Teacher Assistants on the Primary campus to an abalone fishing boat out of Augusta, students followed their passion, interests or curiosity to explore the world of work.

A number of our students put on their uniform during the holidays to represent the College at ANZAC Day marches and services around the Capes region.

Student Council members spoke eloquently at the Dawn Service near Busselton Jetty, while others participated in the Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River ANZAC Day marches and laid wreathes at their local War Memorials later that morning.

Over a thousand students, including visiting classes from five other schools such as Bunbury Cathedral Grammar, Cornerstone and Cape Naturaliste College, attended workshops, readings and discussions given by published authors and illustrators such as Dianne Wolfer, Meg McKinlay and Chris Owen during the two day Between the Lines Literature Festival at the College last week.

More than 300 students from Years 7-12 participated in the InterHouse Cross Country event on Wednesday, running the 3km or 4km track around the oval and paths surrounding the College.

The mild weather was kind to competitors, who earned points for their House and a chance to represent the College in the ACC Cross Country races in Perth next term.

After winning their division in the Bunbury Tennis competition against local schools, MacKillop selected their best junior girls to compete in the 2018 Schools Tennis Classic Metro finals. Caitlin Sheridan (Year 9) and Jade Carter (Year 8), as well as Year 7 girls Matilda Thomson, Milly Oldmeadow, and Isabella Van Kleef, travelled up to Perth to compete in the Metro Finals on Monday 19 March.

On Wednesday the Year 9 Extension Science Class travelled to Bunbury to participate in the Science and Engineering Challenge.

Managed by the Rotary Club of Bunbury-Leschenault, this day of activity allowed students to experience aspects of science and engineering they may not encounter in a school environment, and compete against other schools in problem-solving tasks using scientific and mathematical understanding in practical applications.

A recent initiative from the Student Council’s Environment portfolio saw all bins in the Secondary campus taken away one Friday, with waste from students’ recess and lunch breaks collected in one big, visible pile.

The aim was to gain a clearer understanding of how just much waste is actually produced at the College by students in a single day.

Seven weeks of early Thursday mornings paid off for the team of 34 students in Years 4-6 who competed in the SWPSA Interschool Swimming Carnival in Bunbury recently.

Some outstanding results were achieved on the day, including a win in the Year 4 Girls 4x50m freestyle relay.

Not many people would know that one of our groundsman was also an accomplished sculptor, but now the secret’s out. Tony Heritage has won the ‘People’s Choice’ award in Dunsborough’s Sculptures by the Bay exhibition, held early in March.

“It was a great weekend,” said Tony, “the interaction with the public was amazing!” He spoke to lots of people at the exhibition about the creative process for his robotic steam-punk themed sculpture, entitled “Robofish.

Year 8 students from the College competed in the Solar Car Challenge in Bunbury on Tuesday, placing third overall after a number of heats.

Xavier Mockford, Julius Bain, Gabe Doolan and Thomas Toohey designed and built their solar car over the last three weeks in preparation for the first regional leg since the national competition began two years ago.