Academic Life & Learning
Authority Developed Workplace Learning (ADWPL)
Year 11 and 12 non ATAR students recently had the opportunity to complete a two week block of Workplace Learning. ADWPL is a valuable Endorsed Program that enables students to develop Employability Skills while investigating possible future career paths. In addition, students gain WACE credit upon attending a minimum of 55 hours in the workplace, documenting this in their ADWPL Logbook and answering ten Skills Journal questions.
Over fifty students took advantage of this opportunity and placements were arranged in a variety of industry areas in line with students’ career aspirations and certificate studies. Feedback from both the participating students and their host employers was extremely positive. The college is grateful to the local businesses and employers that support our students by offering the work placements.
TAFE courses one day aweek for 2022/2023
Each year TAFE advertises a list of Profile courses for school students to apply for, that are Government funded and generally cover areas of skills shortage. These courses are run at various TAFE campuses one day/week over one or two years.
Year 10 and 11 students can apply to enrol in one of these Profile courses and if successful, attend the course one day/week the following year while still attending school. WACE credit is gained upon completion of the course.
I am currently taking copies of the list of proposed Profile courses to Year 10 form classes, to give to interested students. Once students have decided on a course they are interested in, I will provide further detail about specific courses, and how to apply. The online application process opens on July 19, the first Monday of Term 3. Students will be able to apply directly via the TAFE website. Entry to Profile courses is competitive so students can support their application by providing additional documents such as a resume, references and certificates of achievement or participation.
If you require any support in your career pathway, please come and see me!
Meredith Furhmann
Careers Coordinator
Perth SkillsWest Careers and Employment Expo
This free event is being held at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre from 26 o 28 August 2021. Go to skillswestexpo.com.au for more details.
The Writers’ Collective
The cold morning and dawn start did not deter the select group of talented writers who participated in the recent Writers’ Collective workshop in early June. Students experienced first-hand the craft of writing from internationally acclaimed 2019 Western Australian Premier’s Book Prize winner, Australian author, self-confessed Pokémon nerd, punk rock lover, car enthusiast, Holden Sheppard.
When Holden Sheppard discovered that feelings – especially painful ones – weren’t something boys were meant to talk about, he began to write his down instead. Twenty years later, the boy from Geraldton, Western Australia is now a multi-award winning author. His debut novel Invisible Boys was published in 2019 by Fremantle Press and achieved both critical and commercial success. Invisible Boys won several accolades including the 2019 West Australian Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer and the 2018 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. The novel is now in development as a TV series. source: holdensheppard.com
Students learned how bad writing can stimulate creative ideas and form good writing as they workshopped, edited and shared their writing with like-minded peers from across the state at The Literature Centre in Fremantle. The buzz of excitement filled the air as students formed new friends and continued to learn and enjoy the craft of writing.
Next term students will learn from the experiences of Leanne Hall in the third workshop of the series.
Ms Glynne Bartle
AE Coordinator
Interview 2 Impress
Students from the Year 11 Business Management and Enterprise course were given the opportunity to participate in the Interview 2 Impress programme on May 20th 2021. This programme is conducted by ABCN (Australian Business Community Network) in conjunction with local business, which was, in this case Macquarie Bank. The purpose is to give students exposure to the business environment and interact with them through engaging in interview techniques.
The fourteen students who participated were hosted by Macquarie Bank employees who took on the role of mentors throughout the session. Students enjoyed the surroundings of a corporate environment and engaged in a number of activities with their mentors, ranging from ice breakers through to completing ‘real life interview scenarios’. Students were given feedback by the mentors on their interview skills enabling students to improve on their technique throughout the session. Students were commended by both the facilitator and the mentors on their notable progression and growth over the course of the programme.
Students were required to complete a survey at the end of the course with significant improvements in the skills achieved:
| Rating Area |
Before i2i |
After i2i Rating 5-7 |
| I understand how to prepare for a job interview | 15% | 100% |
| I am confident to participate in a job interview | 15% | 92% |
| I am aware of the skills that employers are looking for | 38% | 100% |
| I understand how to answer interview questions based on my strengths and previous experiences | 7% | 85% |
| I feel confident about my self | 23% | 77% |
| I can communicate my ideas to others | 23% | 69% |
| I am aware of a wide range of career options | 31% | 92% |
Students were also treated to lunch in lovely surroundings and at the end of the programme were given the opportunity to go to the 26th floor and take in the beautiful views and ambience from the main bank foyer. Students were very excited at the end of the day and found the Interview 2 Impress programme a very worthwhile life experience.
Leanne Gendle
Teacher of Business
Cryptography Workshop
On Saturday, May 8th, I attended the Girl's Programming Network workshop held at Edith Cowan University. The Girl's Programming Network (GPN) consists of a group of women who enjoy and are passionate about programming. These women at GPN are all about teaching high school girls the exciting world of programming and coding. This term, GPN held a free full day workshop on cryptography and taught us how to input code on computers, cipher, and decipher a variety of text.
In the beginner's workshop, our group of girls had an enjoyable day that consisted of:
- Learning about different cipher techniques
- Ciphering and deciphering different codes
- Using the python programming language to input code into a computer
- Working in teams to decipher secret messages in an engaging and fun scavenger hunt
Overall the GPN cryptography workshop was an experience to remember. My favourite session was the scavenger hunt, which encouraged both teamwork and quick thinking. I enjoyed the workshop a lot and would recommend it to any girl who enjoys coding or solving puzzles.
Charlotte Vinson
Year 9 AE Student
Year 9 Lightning Carnival
On Tuesday the 26th of May, a group of Year 9 students competed at the Year 9 Netball Lightning Carnival. The day which was held at Kingsway Netball Courts, consisted of a round robin competition against other local schools. Although the day is focused on participation and fun, both Belridge teams put some fantastic skills on display which got them into the finals. Although we didn’t come away with the win, the students should all still be incredibly proud of their performance on the day.
Physical Education and Events
Year 10 High School Cup
The High School Cup competition is a School Sport WA netball competition held yearly for some of the strongest netball schools in the state. On the 26th of May the Year 10 netball academy students travelled to Fremantle Netball Association to participate in the first round of the competition. Both teams were impressive throughout the day coming away with a few wins. Their conduct both on the court and off the court was admirable, with many umpires commenting on what a great group we have. One of the teams managed to book themselves a spot in the next round of the competition, finishing the day unbeaten! A big well done to all students for their efforts on the day.
Janneke Markovic
Netball Coordinator
Year 8 Basketball Girls Lightning Carnival
On Wednesday 16th June eleven enthusiastic Year 8 girls represented Belridge in the basketball lightning carnival. It was so great seeing the energy from the girls. Both teams had some good wins and provided great competition against the other schools. Well done girls on representing the school and being brilliant sports people. Thank you also to the Year 10s who helped out on the day.
Mrs Collins
Health & Physical Education Teacher
Senior Girl's AFL
Health & Physical Education Teachers
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI)
Indigenous Culture within Mooro Country
The Aboriginal culture has six seasons Birak, Bunura, Djerin, Makaru, Djilba and Kambarange compared to our four seasons.
Makaru (June to July)
Makaru sees the coldest and wettest time of the year come into full swing. Traditionally, this was a good time of the year to move back inland from the coast as the winds turned to the west and south bringing the cold weather, rains and occasionally snow on the peaks of the Stirling and Porongurup Ranges.
As the waterways and catchments started to fill, people were able to move about their country with ease and thus their food sources changed from sea, estuarine and lake foods to those of the lands in particular the grazing animals such as the kangaroo. As well as a food source, animals provided people with many other things. For example, 'Yongar' or kangaroos not only provided meat but also 'bookas' (animal skin cloaks that were used as the nights became much cooler). Nothing was left; even the bones and sinews were used in the manufacturing of bookas and for hunting tools such as spears.
Makuru is also a time for a lot of animals to be pairing up in preparation for breeding in the coming season. If you look carefully, you might now see pairs of 'Wardongs' (ravens) flying together. You also notice these pairs not making the usual 'ark ark arrrrrk' that these birds are well known for when flying solo. Upon the lakes and rivers of the Southwest, you'll also start to see a large influx of the Black Swan or 'Mali' as they too prepare to nest and breed.
Flowers that will start to emerge include the blues and purples of the Blueberry Lilly (Dianella revoluta) and the Purple Flags (Patersonia occidentalis). As the season comes to a close, you should also start to notice the white flowers of the weeping peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) as the blues start to make way for the white and cream flowers of Djilba.
credit to source: http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/calendars/nyoongar.shtml
