Warracknabeal Secondary College

The former Elementary School (established in 1918) became the High School in 1927, and was renamed as Warracknabeal Secondary College in 1987. It is situated 60 kilometres north of Horsham in the Wimmera Network of the Grampians Region.

The student population reflects generations of families who have lived and worked in the local farming area, and within professional occupations. Enrolment has declined from 292 students in 2002 in line with the broad demographics of the area but has steadied around 240 – 250 over 2008 to 2012, with long-term enrolment expected to consolidate between 250 and 275 students. Students are managed in three sub-schools – Junior, Middle and Senior Schools. All exiting Year 6 students in the town tend to transition to the College.

Ageing facilities include permanent classrooms and support areas, supplemented by four ‘Bristol’ classrooms (Applied Learning / practical studies). Long term drought has impacted many areas of the school, but significant effort and resources have been committed to improving the physical environment for the students, with many classrooms updated with interactive whiteboards. Various grounds and building works have been completed over time through targeted grants including National Schools Pride funds. Leading Schools funding enabled enhanced video conferencing facilities and additional staff to support inquiry based learning in a renovated, flexible double learning space. The excellent grounds are tidy (supported by the ‘Bin it to Win it’ program), and incorporate covered seating space.

A combined Building Futures application that proposes a regeneration project that will see Warracknabeal Primary, Secondary and special Developmental schools move to and co-locate on a single site has been approved to progress beyond the feasibility stage and a Master plan was developed and approved in 2011. The vision for the new learning precinct is a birth to adulthood ‘full service’ provision.

ICT is based on a Macintosh platform with staff Mac Notebooks, and one to one student use for Year 7 and 8 (iPads) and Years 9 – 12 (Notebooks). All classrooms have IWBs. There are now six video conferencing facilities.

Student leadership incorporates School and House Captains and Deputies, and a Student Representative Council (SRC). Year 10 Buddies link to Year 7 students.

A wide range of senior studies are offered at the College, but limited numbers impact the range of classes that can actually be sustained. Alternate provision is provided through video conferencing and Distance Education programs. All students are offered VET access through the local school cluster, and the VCAL can be completed over 3 years. There are concerns regarding future VET provision.

A sense of positivity permeates the community.