As Term 1 comes to a close, I would like to share with you some of the amazing work that has occured at the College during the second half of this very short term.

At the end of week 6, we held our Belsurf event. This is one of the highlights of the school year and is very unique to Belridge. The event involves our two schools, Belridge SC and Belridge Education Support Centre coming together in a shared event, filled with activities, fun and friendships at Sorrento Beach. The day was a great success and went off without a hitch. The students had an awesome time and really made the most of the opportunity, with high participation seen in all events.  Our video via Facebook summarising event can be viewed here. 

The College held a school development day for staff during week 8 in which we focused on a number of strategic priorities across the college. This included development of our staff in the implementation of our new Belridge Teaching and Learning Framework – R LEARNERS. The framework aims to ensure consistency in T&L across the college whilst providing a common language and clear expectations for both staff and students. The framework is currently in draft format.  Once finalised this will be shared with parents and carers and placed on our school website.

During this time, we also worked on our Triple 3 expectation documents that was originally put in place in 2019. The college has seen some changes since the end of 2018 and is not in the place it was, hence the need to update the model to a version more in line with our current climate. The document is finalised and is available on our school website.

As part of our commitment to cultural inclusivity and developing our understandings of Aboriginal culture, we had the wonderful opportunity to hold a live Zoom call with Dr Anne Poelina, Managing Director of Madjulla Incorporated. Anne gave an inspiring and heart-warming story about the importance of land, water and country which really impacted our staff and motivated them to learn more. Our Native garden is also developing. This term has seen the addition of Aboriginal paintings and design being added to the columns that line the garden (see article). A big thank you to our Dandjoo Group, Visual Arts students and our teachers, in particular Carolyn Wright, Chloe Tsoulis and Glynne Bartle for their time in developing this initiative.

Our interim reports evening was well attended from our Year 7, 11 and 12 parents. This is an important point of contact in building relationships with our parent community. It provides a good opportunity to share information early and ensure our students are settling in to their new school or WACE pathway. Other events for parents this term included our E-Smart Learning seminar. This aimed to support parents in the area of digital technology so that they are familiar with some of the apps and programs their child is using, enabling them to assist with homework and day-to-day use.

This term we also celebrated Harmony Day, this involved a display in the library and students and staff wearing orange to spread the message of Harmony Day across the College. The College also held white card training and participated the Try-a-Trade event, which saw a number of our students involved in a range of hands on trade based learning. I had the wonderful opportunity to see the brick laying course in action. The students involved were extremely engaged and learnt some valuable skills. Hopefully this will assist them in planning their future career pathway.

Early next term we start our enrolment processes for 2022. This commences with our student taster days in our specialist and school based programs (Cricket, Netball, Music, Fashion Design, and STEM). During this time, we also conduct parent tours. If you are interested in seeing what Belridge has to offer or just interested for possible future enrolment, please either call the school on 9408 8000 or register for a tour/student course taster day via https://belridgecollege.wa.edu.au/news-events/parent-tours-register-your-interest-here/  Bookings are essential. 

Please check the key dates for each program and application deadlines and spread the word to your friends/families who you think may be interested in any of our programs.

Term 2 also sees the return of NAPLAN Online for students in Years 7 and 9. Further information and updates will follow via Connect.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the Belridge students, staff, parents and wider community a very happy Easter. I hope you are able to spend some quality time with family and friends over this holiday period. Looking forward to seeing you refreshed and ready for an exciting Term 2.

Sharon Lyon
Principal