Recently, we had the privilege of hosting five young Japanese students and two staff from Nishinomiya High School near Kobe in Japan. Kobe is a sister city of Perth. This was the first time that we have hosted Japanese students and it is hoped that we can send a group of students to Nishinomiya in the third term break next year.

The students stayed with the families of students from the school and at the end of their stay had not only experienced a taste of Australian culture, but formed close bonds with their host families. I have no doubt that they will keep in contact with their host brothers and sisters and hopefully meet again in Japan on exchange or perhaps at a time later in their lives.

While the students were at Dianella Secondary College they went with their host brothers and sisters to regular classes as well as having some specially organised sessions. These included learning Aussie phrases and slang with our own English Second Language students, volleyball with Mr Thompson’s Year 12 class, an indigenous art workshop and cooking traditional Anzac biscuits.

The Japanese students also spent one morning with the Year 6 students at Dianella Primary College and students from the Education Support Centre. At these schools one of the male students gave a karate demonstration which was followed by an origami lesson on how to make a crane by folding and refolding a sheet of paper. All students were given a turn to make their own cranes and within a very short time were thoroughly engaged in this activity. I was very impressed just how many of the students managed to make some good looking cranes. At the Education Support Unit the Japanese students participated in a Drumbeat session. There were lots of smiles all around as our visitors got into the swing or should I say ‘beat’ of it, producing some terrific drum rhythms. In addition to spending time at the Dianella campuses, our visitors had a day at Morley Senior High School. Here they attended Japanese language classes and shadowed their host brothers and sisters to their classes.

Some additional fun activities included a visit to Caversham Wildlife Park where the students were able to pat kangaroos and have their picture taken with a cute and cuddly koala. On the Saturday we took off to Fremantle to explore this historic port city and specifically the Fremantle Markets. The host brothers and sisters spent hours wandering through the markets and then we walked down the High Street finishing at the Roundhouse.
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Sunday was their last day and had come around all too quickly. The students spent time with their individual host families in the morning followed by lunch at the school and then off to the airport. Tired, but having really enjoyed the visit the students were no doubt also looking forward to going home to their own families and friends, and sharing their experiences of their time in Perth.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the host families from Dianella Secondary College and of course the students, Sonaa Aneja, Shahad Aiez and Claudia Russell who opened their homes and hearts to our Japanese visitors.

Mr Peter Lander
Deputy Principal

All students will be required to have a USI number to enrol in any VET Certificate Qualifications. This includes your School Certificate Courses.
​Students are  required to apply online and supply their USI number to the school.

Complete the form below and return it to Reception today. 

To kick-start Term Three, which is dedicated to the study of Shakespeare, the Year Ten class attended an incursion on Monday morning.

The renowned Bell Shakespeare Theatre Company performed, decoded and demystified the Bard’s work in a show called Shakespeare is Dead.

 An excellent introduction to the topic!

A Year 10 Parent Information presentation in preparation for the 2018 Year 11 subject selection process has been organised for Tuesday 25th July 2017.  The purpose of the event is to assist students and parents to make the best decisions for the Year 11/12 study pathway.

Students have already attended an introductory information session and have been provided with Course Selection Information, including the 2018 Course Handbook.

Parents and students are strongly encouraged to read the information before attending the Parent Information Presentation on Tuesday 25th July 2017.

 You and your child must attend an interview with a school counsellor to finalise the course selection process: Interviews will take place between July 26th 2017 and August 4th 2017.

In June, 25 Performing Arts students at Dianella Secondary College attended a Drama Workshop run by the WA Youth Theatre Company. 

Students participated in a series of activities throughout the workshop that taught them the skills of creating a character, core acting skills, physical theatre and stage combat.

They were taught by Perth based actor, Luke Binetti, who has starred in productions such as Punk Rock, The Dreaming Hill and Crave.  He also performed in the 2017 Fringe Festival Show, Rather Than Later.

One skill students learnt at the workshop was stage combat, in particular how to act fight scene in a safe but theatrical way. They did this by following Luke’s steps of how to kick, slap and punch in pairs.

Another activity students participated in was creating a piece representing, drama theorist, Jacque Lecoq’s seven levels of tension. This activity was highly beneficial to DSC Senior School students as drama theorists, such as Anne Bogart and Jacque Lecoq, are included in the content of the upcoming ATAR exams in October.  

“This was the best activity for me because it helped me understand the different was the seven levels of tension can be used in Drama and it helped me understand them for my exams” Chelsea Ioannidis, Year 12 Drama student.
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In Term Three, the WA Youth Theatre Company will be running Drama Club in preparation for the upcoming Arts Night in August. 

On Thursday, 22nd June 2017, Dianella Secondary  Year 9 students won the Aspire UWA Race Around Campus event. 

The team consisted of 32 Year 9 students who competed in activities within the Medical, Engineering, Sports Science, Geology and Design faculties  at UWA against other high schools in Western Australia. 

Aspire UWA endeavours to provide students with the opportunity to see how much fun university can be and raise their aspirations for tertiary education.   

The group had an enjoyable and engaging day learning about available courses and university life whilst also competing against other participating high schools to win the Race Around Campus Challenge. 

Please visit UWA Aspire for more information about the program. 

Term Two took the Dianella Secondary College STEM students back to the ECU Mount Lawley campus. 

They were greeted by the university's robotics expert, Alistair Campbell, and some of his students. We were first introduced to Arduinos: small circuit boards that can be programmed to do anything from flashing lights in sequence to producing all the notes of a piano. 

The Year Sevens enjoyed making musical masterpieces thanks to the keen ears of Jamal, Wendy, Maria, and Grace. 

After lunch, Alistair showed us how to use some Lego EV3 robots to navigate the Martian terrain we have been exploring in STEM. The coding was quickly mastered by Dylan and Jayden with help from our Robotics expert, Mr. Grayden.

We will head to the Joondalup campus next term to meet the ECU Mentors.

Dianella Secondary College Indigenous students, with help from acclaimed Indigenous artist, Peter Farmer, have created a beautiful mural at Dianella Secondary College.
This project was started as part of the rebranding of Mirrabooka Senior High School to Dianella Secondary College. 

It commenced with a consultation between Indigenous students, Dianella Secondary College's Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer, Mrs Rhonda Ronan and Mr Peter Farmer.  They discussed what they wanted to put on the mural and why. As a result. they chose to include the six seasons (Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang) on the painting to represent change and growth.  They also chose to use a variety of different animals and colours to represent the diversity within our school. 
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Dianella Secondary College Year eight Indigenous student, Sharmika Headland believes that this mural was very important to Dianella Secondary College "It was really fun doing the mural and I think it's important as it helps represent Aboriginal culture at our school".