Tatachilla news

We are delighted to introduce our outstanding student leadership team for 2027. These young people embody our college values and were selected from an incredibly high calibre of applicants to represent and guide our college community.

College Captains 2027

Myles

Kezia

Deputy College Captains 2027

Julian

Lily

Each student who nominated for a college captaincy position demonstrated a genuine desire to serve our college and contribute positively to our community. The strength of the applicants made for a highly competitive process.

Our four young leaders, Myles, Kezia, Julian and Lily, emerged following a rigorous selection process that involved interviews with the college’s staff leadership team, a speech to students and a student and staff vote.

We look forward to seeing them embrace these leadership opportunities and lead with courage, ambition and humility. 

Join us in congratulating Myles, Kezia, Julian and Lily. May God bless them as they step into these important roles and begin their leadership journey. 

Our Year 12 Photography students recently shared their creative journeys with the community through an exhibition celebrating their individual photographic folios.

Last Thursday marked the opening night of the Year 12 Photography Exhibition, featuring fourteen student works and celebrating the culmination of individual folios developed throughout the year.

Students presented their work in the Activity Centre, creating an engaging exhibition space that welcomed more than 100 guests to view and celebrate their photography.

Awards were presented on the night, recognising students whose work demonstrated creativity, technical skill and a strong individual photographic voice.

We congratulate the following students on their achievements:

• Principal’s Choice Award: Cejay
• High Commendation: Ebony
• High Commendation: Abby
• Fleurieu Living Magazine Internship recipient: Tahlia

The People’s Choice Award will be announced later in the year.
 

Year 10 student Tori has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to football, receiving a league-wide award for her dedication and service to her club.

We are incredibly proud of Tori, who has been named the Southern Football League Junior Volunteer of the Year.

Nominated by her club, Tori was recognised across the league for her outstanding contribution both on and off the field. As well as being an exceptional player, Tori took on coaching the mini team this year and generously volunteers her time in the club canteen, as well as supporting the junior disco and presentation night.

Tori is also one of Tatachilla’s Advanced Athlete Development Program (AADP) students. Through the AADP, Tatachilla’s student-athletes develop a broad range of skills to support their sporting and personal growth, including strength and conditioning, coaching and mentorship, mental preparation and sports psychology, injury prevention and rehabilitation, nutrition, leadership, time management, sportsmanship, umpiring, and sports event management.

Tatachilla congratulates Tori on this outstanding recognition, and we look forward to supporting her continued growth as an athlete and a leader.

Pictured above: Tori accepting her award from The Hon Katrine Hildyard MP, Minister for Women.

Congratulations to our Year 11 student Matthew on his stellar performance at a state final of the South Australian WorldSkills Australia Regional Competition.

Known as the Tradie Olympics, every two years, more than 500 WorldSkills Competitions take place in 34 regions across Australia. These one-day events test the skills and knowledge of the 4,000-plus apprentices, trainees and students who compete for the chance to win a regional gold, silver or bronze medal and a place in the national final.

Through his Certificate II in Electrotechnology, Matthew competed in a WorldSkills South Australian heat for the group training organisation PEER that saw him progress to the state final. At the final, Matthew faced off against 18 other competitors, putting his electrical skills to the test. Matthew showcased his abilities in a series of high-stakes timed tests on safety planning, electrical installation, soldering and circuit testing, before completing a theory exam.

Matthew performed strongly across the day and was the only participant to finish the soldering task. The South Australian results are pending and will be announced once other training providers complete their WorldSkills heats and finals. In the meantime, we congratulate Matthew on his exceptional performance and are keeping our fingers crossed that he is selected for a place at the Australian Worldskills National final in 2027. Go Matthew! 

Our Year 9 and Year 10 students have excelled at the 2026 Australian History Competition. Both cohorts outperformed the national average, with our Year 10 results head and shoulders above other schools.

The Australian History Competition challenges students to analyse a diverse range of historical sources and apply their knowledge in unfamiliar contexts. Our students' results demonstrate why we place historical knowledge, critical thinking, source analysis and reasoning skills at the heart of studying history at Tatachilla. 

Our students achieved perfect scores in key sections of the test and impressive results in the higher-order skills of inference and analysis. These results are a testament to their willingness to challenge themselves and extend their historical thinking beyond the classroom.

In addition to a strong performance by all our Year 9 and Year 10 students, several of our budding historians achieved outstanding individual successes at the competition. In Year 10, Archie and Brennan received distinctions, Max was awarded a merit and Nicholas received a credit. In Year 9, Noah was awarded a credit. 

Well done to all our students for being excellent ambassadors for our college and the Tatachilla community. Congratulations on your achievements. We’re so proud of you.
 

This year, National Science Week’s Grow a Great Bean Challenge sowed the idea among teachers and students to try plant cultivation for themselves. The hands-on activity let students experiment with seed germination and plant growth in the classroom.

Each class from Reception to Year 6 received three bean seeds, soil, and cups, and the challenge to work out how to give their beans the best chance to thrive. Together, each classroom of students decided where to position their plants and how to care for them, observing and recording changes as the seeds germinated and grew.

There was plenty of experimentation along the way. The young scientists placed their plants in different locations around classrooms. One Year 2 class even managed to grow a bean in a cupboard! The excitement as the first shoots appeared and plants began to grow was wonderful to see.

A team of Year 5 students played an important role, serving as plant monitors and judges for the challenge. They visited each Reception to Year 6 classroom to monitor progress. At the end of the challenge, our Year 5 team inspected the final plants and selected a winning bean from each year level.

Thank you to our junior years students and teachers for embracing Science Week with such gusto.
 

It has been another exciting week of sport at Tatachilla, with students achieving outstanding results across swimming and athletics, while our team sports continued to demonstrate courage, growth and ambition.

Swimming

Congratulations to Year 11 student Tom, who recently competed at the Short Course Swimming State Championships. Across eight races over three days, Tom achieved a personal best in every event, along with an outstanding six gold medals and five state multiclass records.

Tom was also awarded the Matthew Cowdrey Trophy for Best Multiclass Performance and has qualified for the National Short Course Championships in Sydney. An incredible achievement – congratulations, Tom!

Athletics

Congratulations to Year 6 student Isla and Year 4 student Julian, who represented the Onkaparinga District at the recent Athletics State Carnival.

Isla finished third in the 800 metres and second in the 1500 metres, taking an impressive 30 seconds off her personal best in the 1500 metres.

Julian achieved first place in the high jump, clearing the winning height across both Division 1 and Division 2 competition.

Well done, Isla and Julian!

Year 5/6 Netball

Our Year 5/6 netball team enjoyed a fantastic season, progressing through to the Statewide Schools Finals. While the team did not come away with a win at the finals, they represented Tatachilla with pride and demonstrated our college values of courage, growth and ambition throughout the competition.

Congratulations to the team on a wonderful season!

Year 7–9 Girls’ AFL

The Year 7–9 girls’ AFL team competed in the Statewide Knockout competition, winning two of their three games and showcasing excellent skills, teamwork and a positive attitude throughout the day.

Although the team will not progress to the grand final, their performance demonstrated plenty of potential. We look forward to seeing the team continue to develop and build on this experience next year.

Congratulations to all of our students and teams on their achievements this week!

Pictured above: Tom in the pool at the Short Course Swimming State Championships