Your Student Services Team for 2021

About Us

The Student Services Team support the health and wellbeing of students across the school. Both the Middle and the Senior School have a Head of Student Services who work in conjunction with the Year Coordinators, School Psychologist, Chaplain, School Community Nurses and teaching staff, to foster a positive, supportive environment for our students. Upcoming events to enhance this include:

• The Peer Support Program consists of a group of Year 10 students who have trained to become Peer Support Leaders. These leaders will be working with our new Year 7 students on a seven-week program, titled Strengthening our Connections.
• Harmony Week is a celebration of our cultural diversity – a week of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. Did you know we have 52 different cultures represented at Belridge SC? This message of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’. We will be celebrating this week in Week 7 of this term. This will culminate with students and staff asked to wear orange on Friday 19^th March in celebration of all Australians.

Attendance Matters!

Students at Belridge SC are expected to be attending 90% or more of the time in line with The School Education Act 1999. Research clearly shows that students must attend school on a regular basis to gain the maximum benefit from schooling and optimise their life opportunities. Missing just 1 day per fortnight (during an average 10-week term) would see a student just meeting these requirements, so please remind your child that every day counts.

Amazingly, missing 1 day per fortnight, when calculated out for an entire young person’s time in formal education would look something like this: 

• 1 day per fortnight in a 10 week term, is equal to 5 days or 1 school week.
• Missing 1 school week per term, is equal to 1 month of school days missed in a calendar year.
• Continuing this on, missing one month of school a year for 12 years of schooling, is equal to an entire school year of education!!!
• Missing 1 day per week doubles these totals.

It is imperative that students attend as much as is humanly possible in order to enhance their chances of success.

Students must have a minimum of 90% attendance to hold their Good Standing.

Absence Procedures

Absences for part of the day, all day, or for several days, must be covered by a written explanation, SMS or a phone call from the parent or guardian. These notes must be dated and specify the reasons for the absence(s). They should be brought to school by the student either before (if known) or returning from a period of absence and handed to the Form Teacher or the Student Services Office. It is essential that students be at school by 8:40am each day. They must also ensure that they are prompt to all classes.

Avenues to report an absence

Dress Code

We ask that all students wear the correct uniform, which includes the appropriate school polo top and plain navy short, skirt, skort or paint of a modest length. Leggings, jeans and logos larger than a 20 cent piece and stripes are not permitted. Students arriving to school in incorrect uniform will be asked to borrow a Student Services uniform and change for the day.

Good Standing Policy

Belridge SC has a Good Standing Policy that applies to all students. A loss of Good Standing can be due to a variety of reasons related to attendance, behaviour of school work. Please refer to the Parent/Student Handbook located on the website.

Contact Details

As noted earlier, there are a number of staff on the Student Services Team who assist staff, students and families to have a successful and enjoyable time at Belridge SC.

The main point of contact for each year group is the Form Teacher or, for more urgent serious matters, the Year Coordinator. The role of the Year Coordinator is to oversee the personal development and wellbeing of the students in their care. This involves the policing of the school uniform and the counselling of students in terms of any personal, academic or school problems they may encounter. They also liaise between students, teachers and parents when the need arises.  Additional duties involve attendance checks, year level assemblies, awareness of bullying prevention, year level functions, student recognition etc. If you have any questions about your child’s progress, health or the strategies the school implements to deal with issues that may arise, please feel free to contact the appropriate members of the team.