Four Port School students took part in the 2023 Djinda Ngardak Culinary Experience kitchens at the Crown in March. The students worked with Yoda & Liz from Fervor, Sean Marco and the Crown team, preparing for the events gala dinner.

One hundred Indigenous students from WA were invited to this amazing learning opportunity at the 2023 World Indigenous Tourism Summit in Boorloo/Perth.

The ‘Under The Stars’ – Djinda Ngardak Culinary Experience brought together First Nations people to celebrate Indigenous tourism stewardship and culture.

Port’s Indigenous students, with a passion for the culinary arts, were part of the summit with our Indigenous staff member Dennis Colbung.

The summit promoted strong cultural values and identity, while developing high level skills and understanding of the hospitality industry.

Organisers said the World Indigenous Tourism Summit was an enriching experience where participants gained knowledge of the vital interdependence among tourism, community and stewardship of Country.

Throughout the culinary experiences, students and teachers were involved in masterclasses while working with industry professionals to develop these dishes. They worked with local produce and traditional ingredients from Western Australia to build up unique and tasty recipes. These included a non-alcoholic drinks masterclass, a chocolate making masterclass, and a culinary sculptures workshop.

You guys are awesome and stewards of Port School’s indigenous community. Thanks must also go to the amazing hospitality crew who have helped develop their love for hospitality and new skills.

So proud.

The annual Port School Student River Cruise will be held this year on Wednesday 5 April.

Bookings are now closed and we are looking forward to a spectacular evening on the Swan!

There is no better way to celebrate the end of Term 1 with your friends and fellow students.

Cruise the beautiful Swan River on board the elegant Crystal Swan and enjoy a buffet dinner.
Hit the dance floor later and rock to the sounds of DJ Brett – this is when the party really gets going!
Get some great snaps with your friends in the onboard photo booth.

 The evening includes:
Pre-cruise photos at Port School from 5pm
Transport from School to the Barrack Street Pier and return
3 hour River Cruise including buffet dinner, soft drinks, live DJ and photo booth

Dress to Impress!

Students will be back at Port School for a 10.45pm pickup by parents and carers.

Port’s ‘Seed to Feed’ program is going from strength to strength, thanks to the generous support from the City of Cockburn and Healthways. Our wicking beds and microgreens are producing a bountiful harvest and the produce is being used in the school kitchen. It was all hands on deck during the last week of Term 3, getting our wicker beds built, filled and planted. When we returned to campus at the start of Term 4, the beds were already off and running! This was soon followed by the indoor setup of our yummy microgreens, which have added to the vibrancy of our hospitality area and also added delicious and nutrient-packed produce to our salads and meals. The vibrancy and delicateness of microgreens not only give meals and amazing visual appeal, but also contain concentrated nutrients. Studies have shown that microgreens are loaded with nutrients such as vitamin C, E and K, lutein and beta-caroten, which are often lost in the mature leaves of the same plants.

Gardening is a great pastime. It not only contributes fresh food to growing bodies, but has well documented mental health and wellbeing benefits.

Port School was invited to send a delegate to Parliament House in Canberra in Term 4, to meet with the Federal Minister for Education, the Hon. Jason Clare and to discuss a range of issues facing the education system and give him an understanding of the breadth and scope of the Independent Schools sector.

It was an honour for Port School to be selected as one of only two independent schools in Western Australia to be invited to send a delegate. The Minister was interested in hearing firsthand from teachers and school leaders about the significant contribution independent schooling makes to the education of young Australians. Seventeen teachers and school leaders from remote, regional, metropolitan, boarding and specialist schools participated in the round table discussion and provided Minister Clare with an understanding of the diversity, complexity and issues that impact independent schools. Key among the matters discussed were workforce shortages, mental health of students, teachers and school leaders and addressing disadvantage.

Port School was represented by Matt Hopkins who contributed to the discussion on education in a broad sense, but who was also asked to talk to the minister specifically about Port School and how we address mental health and disadvantage within our community. Minister Clare was very interested in how Port School is a vital part of the educational landscape in Perth’s southern suburbs and how we work with young people to achieve success. The round table was a great opportunity for Port School to connect with other independent schools within Australia and to present to Minister Clare the important work we do to create a sustainable education system for all students.

Port’s major art project in Semester 2 was the collaborative ‘Sculptures at Port’, a big vision that became a reality because of the superb Arts team and other key staff in our fabulous school. Students worked individually or in teams to produce unique public artworks, in a variety of mediums and styles of their choice. These pieces formed a comprehensive sculpture park walk at the annual Art Exhibition, with guests voting for their favourite work in the Public Choice Award. Congratulations go to all students and staff who were involved in this challenging project, their persistence and problem-solving skills were outstanding, as were their original and creative ideas and media use.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of this award was ‘Lifesavers – 5 Flavours’ constructed by Gus and Lela, a fun piece that grabbed the attention of the public with its large-scale approach to the recognisable iconic sweet. Second place was awarded to ‘Rose Mourante’ conceived and created by Shelby, Lela and Zander, a large-scale dying, metal rose with a solar powered light emanating from inside the petals. Third place winner was ‘Thee Dragon’ by Flynn, with his accomplished metal sculpture that was constructed with guidance from Tim Murphy. Thank you to everyone who came along to the exhibition and voted. Congratulations to the winners of this prestigious artistic award!

The exhibition was a fantastic community event with a total of $8,027.80 being raised on the night to support Klang Special School in Malaysia.  Some of this money was kindly donated to assist with the purchase of some essentials for the new Arts Hub. Plans are underway to vacate our current art room in the senior school building and we will be moving into the vacated middle school classrooms. The Art Crew are very excited about their new space and look forward to setting it up over time as a purpose-built flexible art studio and workspace. The vision is for more flexible creative learning to happen in the hub and ultimately also incorporating an outdoor learning space. The final few weeks of Term 4 have afforded the art students freedom to work on personal projects in a theme and medium of their choice,  which wraps up a very busy and productive semester!

It has been another incredible year of artistic bravery and exploration. Port’s Art Crew – Dee, Dan and Poh could not be happier and they look forward to doing it all again in 2023.