Surprise Visitor 

Year 8 student, Charlotte Vinson, had a day at school like no other, when the King of Spuds, the great Tony Galati, made a surprise visit to Belridge Secondary College!

Earlier in the year, Charlotte’s English class had participated in a school project which involved students making a speech about who should be the next Prime Minister of Australia.  Charlotte instantly chose Tony Galati as her inspiration as he was a successful entrepreneur, who was not afraid to take risks and who has worked quite literally from the ground upwards.  Charlotte then wrote to Mr Galiti to express her admiration, which then prompted a personal visit from the man himself.

Tony surprised Charlotte and told all students to ‘never give up on something they believe in – you will get there in the end through hard work and determination’.  Tony explained to students how his business came about and grew into the success it is today.  Thank you to Tony, George and team for your time and generosity in making Charlotte’s day. 

Focusing on Skills for the Future

7AE English students have been developing their communication, critical thinking and creative thinking skills this term. The World Economic Forum acknowledges these skills will be increasingly important in the STEM careers of the future.

Krishna Gujjar explains about the problem-based learning activity that students participated in his newspaper article, ‘Among Us Made’ below. 

The explicit communication skills that students focused on included disagreeing agreeably, equal voice and asking clarifying questions.

Casey Dalla-Costa (former Belridge and Academic Extension student) also visited the class to talk about the importance of communication and collaboration in STEM degrees at university. Casey currently studies Advanced Science at Curtin University and hopes to one day work for NASA. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about university life and advanced science subjects.

Alicia Holliday
English Teacher

Student Report
The Truth at Your Fingertips - Among Us Made

Over the past few weeks, a Year 7 class at Belridge Secondary College, located in Beldon, have been working hard to create an in real life version of the popular craze, Among Us.

The main motive was to teach the students about social and communication skills. Instead of the students picking their group the teacher picked the groups through a random generator. This was to see how well students could cooperate and work with people they do not normally talk to.

“The task was about communication and social skills, but in order to engage students, the challenge of making Among Us in real life was included.” said Mrs Holliday, an English teacher at Belridge Secondary College.

The first step students took was brainstorming their ideas. Students were given goals such as disagreeing with each other agreeably and extending on each other’s ideas.

“Well first up it was hard to negotiate ideas with the group, especially with different minds and ideas.” said Patrick Oulton, a student. This was just a taste at what challenges groups faced when creating their Among Us in real life. Oliver Luscombe, another student said “The biggest challenge my group faced was disagreeing agreeably since everyone had their own ideas.” This was a problem faced by many groups since some students in groups didn’t really get along with each other even before the groups were picked.

Additionally, exams were being held in the library, so that area was blocked off. Groups affected by this change panicked and had to change the location of their game.

Students then were to make a proposal, as if they were doing a job interview to see which groups game was best to play. Students were given a piece of paper and had to write about how other groups had made their game as they gave their proposal. Most groups had made a PowerPoint while others just gave a speech. In the end Group 2 had won all the votes and were chosen as the best game.

Image above shows a picture of the popular game Among Us

Krishna Gujjar
Year 7

Careers Expo Excursion

On Friday 24 October, a group of Year 10 and Year 11 students attended WA’s largest Careers and Employment event, at the Perth Convention Centre. The expo hosted over 80 organisations and employers, providing students with plenty of opportunities to seek advice and gather information. TAFE, the Australian Defence Force, the College of Electrical Training, Murdoch University and careers in aviation, hair and beauty, mining, media and the disability sector were represented to name a few. Overall, the event was beneficial and hopefully reaffirmed students’ recent subject choices for 2021, while also providing insight into their goals for future training and career pathways.

It was impressive to watch the number of students who were engaged and asking questions, not to mention their impeccable behaviour. A special shout-out goes to Taila Yates and Hayley Boswell-Hudson who volunteered with the WA Advanced Training Academy.  Also, thank you to Ms Edmonds for joining me in supervising the excursion.

Miss Clarke
English Teacher

Christmas Elves spotted in English!

Year 8, 9 and 10 students from Miss Clarke and Ms Baker's English classes have been busy helping Santa out, by assisting him to reply to the 'Letters to Santa' received from Year 2 students at Beldon Primary School.  Santa (and our student elves) were so impressed by the lovely manners and effort that the students put into their work and hope that they enjoy their replies as they make their way from the North Pole, where they have been sent for a touch of Christmas magic ...

English Learning Area 

Talented Youth Writers Workshop 2020

At the beginning of the year, students in Year 9 and Year 10 signed up for the Talented Youth Writers’ Workshops traditionally held at The Literature Centre in Fremantle one day per term for the year. After the turbulent interruptions to this program saw it moved from the heritage building to an online version held on site at Belridge SC, our students have thoroughly enjoyed working with Internationally acclaimed, award winning Australian Authors.

The most recent author, Anthony Eaton, shared some writing secrets which stimulated creative juices from our students. They further developed their writing skills through: Breaking the Rules, Asking Questions, Visiting Reality and Testing Characters. Our students produced very creative and entertaining pieces which may be entered into future writing competitions.

The Talented Youth Writers Workshops are available every year to students interested in reading and creative writing. Please contact Ms Bartle for further information for the 2021 series.

Glynne Bartle
AEP Coordinator 

Microsoft Learning Opportunity

On Wednesday 2 December, Microsoft inspired Belridge SC students to embrace their curiosity. Students learned from leading mentors how Microsoft "empowers every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more." Students explored Python through Minecraft education and Turtle. They witnessed how AI is teaching a pinball machine to "learn from its mistakes!" Future job pathways are changing allowing people to pivot. Just in time learning is upskilling staff in areas of need at Microsoft. An exciting world of opportunities lies in front of all our Belridge students.

Thank you ABCN, Microsoft and Nuevo Foundation.

Glynne Bartle
AEP Coordinator 

ESC Market Day

Over the years, the Design and Technology learning area has supported the Belridge Secondary Education Support Centre (BSESC) with its annual Market Day held in November. 

Each student from BSESC who participates in Design and Technology classes, designs and makes a wooden craft item which is then donated to the market day. 

The key fundamentals are to teach students various skills in the workshop, as well as build a strong community spirit between both schools and the outside community.

Lloyd Silva
Design & Technology Teacher

Two Schools, One Community

Throughout Term 3, Miss Jones’s Year 10 Family, Community & You class have been focussing on the theme of ‘community’ and how they could give back to Belridge. The class decided to create two gift baskets that were donated to the Education Support Centre and used to raise money for the school on their Market Day. Students have been making a variety of homemade items to use in baskets, such as: candles, soaps, draw fresheners, shower and bath products, chutneys, lemon curd, crackers and cookie mix in a jar.

Miss Jones and the class would like to thank all the staff that donated items that were used in the baskets.

Madeline Jones
Home Economics Teacher

Middle School Engagement Program 

Over Term 3 and into 4, four Year 10 students and three Year 8 students have been working alongside Mr Silva, Design & Technology teacher, and Phil the Chaplain on a project for the Eddystone Primary School, as part of the Middle School Engagement Program. Materials were purchased with funds raised through the annual Chaplain’s Dinner. This program focuses on skills such as teamwork, communication, planning, project management and teaching along with values such as respect, commitment, perseverance and diligence. As a result, the students were able to present their work to Eddystone Primary School at their whole school assembly. Well done lads on an excellent job!

ABCN EMPOWER Program

Through Belridge's connection to the Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) Year 10 students had an opportunity to digitally meet and speak with young professionals from Ernst & Young.  Belridge students had a chance to discuss first jobs, first job fails, school subjects and their intentions after schooling with mentors along with learning about their career paths and goals of their mentors.

Thanks to ABCN for giving our students an opportunity to participate in the EMPOWER program.

Chloe Ironmonger
HASS Teacher

FIRST Lego League Competition
'Game Changers'

Earlier this year, a group of Year 7 students began working on the FIRST Lego League Challenge. This involved coding a Lego robot to complete missions on a game table, as well as a research project. The theme for this year was ‘Game Changers’ and involved looking at ways to get people more active.

The Krazy Koderz worked hard on coding their robot to complete as many missions as possible, including moving a bench and lifting up a basketball ring. They struggled at first, having to learn the coding program. They also developed a possible solution to get more people active with the idea of a microchip being placed in shoes, that can record steps and has a reward-based program.

All of this work led to being ready for competition day. On Saturday 28 November, the team competed against 23 other teams in the regional competition at St Stephen’s School, Carramar. On the day, the students had to present their project to a panel of judges and had three opportunities to score points in the robot challenge. It was a great day, where the team worked together, tweaking their coding in between the bouts and interacting with the other teams.

Although the robot didn’t always do what we hoped, the team learnt a lot from the experience and had a fantastic day. The students displayed the FIRST Core Values of discovery, inclusion, teamwork and fun throughout the competition. This was acknowledged by the judges, as the Team won 2^nd place in the Core Values category.

The team all had a great time and look forward to competing again in next year’s challenge.

‘Lego League was a fantastic experience.’ – Krishna

‘The fact that we won an award in our first year was amazing.
Lego League was so much fun.’ – Jaxon

Rebecca Edmonds
HASS Teacher and 
Lego League Coordinator

Lego Club

Lego Club has been running now every Wednesday at recess for the last term and has been hugely successful. The students have loved playing and creating with the enormous amount of Lego that has been kindly donated by many people and organisations. The students had a challenge over the last month whereby they had to create a functioning bridge, which had to be aesthetically pleasing and functioning. Students were only allowed to use one specific tub of Lego. The lucky winner Jake Wilson will receive a $5 voucher for the canteen and runner-up Neisha Warwick wins a $2 voucher also.

Audra Keeble 
Education Assistant

Economics - Risks and Rewards

Throughout Term 4, the Year 9 Students at BSC have developed an in-depth understanding on the investment opportunities that await them in the future as a key part of the Economics Curriculum. The main focus of our learnings has been the potential risk and reward associated with numerous investment types (real estate, shares, bank deposits, collectible items) so that students can make up their own mind on what could be most applicable to them.

Over the past five weeks, students have engaged in a practical experience trying their luck first-hand on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Each student was given a set amount of theoretical dollars to invest in shares and develop their own unique investment portfolios. Students then checked in on their share prices each week to review their profits/losses. The project was a fantastic eye opener on the high risk, high reward nature of the stock market as students results varied significantly. In addition to this, students also received insight into what they should be looking for when it comes to investing their money into a company. Students were encouraged to research their shares prior to finalising their portfolio as they searched for potential upside within companies. An example of this was students buying shares in airline companies with news of the COVID vaccine announced days prior.

Within the Economics course, students have also learnt how to ensure they keep their finances safe through bank card safety and keeping an eye out for the threat of scams. Students investigated a range of different scams, and were given a clear set of strategies to avoid being scammed.

In the last three weeks of the term, as a continuation of the Economics Curriculum, the students will be investigating their strengths, weaknesses and what career pathways they will be most suited to, or interested in. Teachers will expose students to a wide range of career related information, and help students consider options in Senior School that will best suit their preferred career choices. This will enable them to set some goal for their achievement in Year 10, as it relates to suitable courses for Upper School. The Year 9 Economics Curriculum is a great stepping stone for students in life beyond school.

Simon MacDonald
HASS Teacher

We Did it! Editors Choice Award

At the start of last term, under the guidance of Mrs Lisa De Ponte, Literature Teacher, Belridge SC had two groups of students take part in the fundraiser for Kids' Cancer Project's Write-a-book-in-a-day challenge. There were over 1000 books written across Australia this year, with a couple of WA schools entering over 15 teams!

We are thrilled to announce that our Year 11 Team the FAB 5, were selected as an EDITOR'S CHOICE - a wonderful recognition of their skills as both writers and illustrators.

The online library of ALL the books produced this year is available at https://writeabookinaday.com/library/ if you are interested is seeing some of the amazing work that students across Australia produce.  The Kids' Cancer Project

Lisa De Ponte
Literature Teacher

Fab 5 Team
William Johnstone, Felix Longworth-Baker, Evide Innes,
Jazzmyne Gatt and Bonnie Kerslake

Thank you RAC!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Denis Svilicic and the RAC on behalf of the automotive students of Belridge Secondary College for providing us with two late vehicles to use as practical examples in the Automotive workshop classes.  It was late in Term 3 when Joel Bond, Design & Technology Teacher, put the word out to several insurance companies that Belridge was on the look-out for a vehicle to use in our workshop for educational purposes.  Denis from the RAC was the only company to reply and following a site visit he felt inspired enough to provide our students with not one, but two fully functioning late model vehicles!

Students can now participate in authentic learning experiences and hone their skills on modern vehicle components.   We really appreciate the opportunities that Denis and the RAC have provided, which will be put to good use for years to come. 

Joel Bond
Design & Technology Teacher

Poppy Appeal