Welcome back! It has been fantastic seeing you all looking sharp in your uniforms and ready for what the year brings.

As always, the Student Services Team are here to support the Belridge community in many aspects;

• Health and Well-being
• Behaviour and Engagement
• Attendance
• Learning Difficulties and Diagnosis

We have a large team who all play an important part in ensuring that all students have opportunity for success. 

Please touch base with the respective Year Coordinator or Head of Student Services as necessary.

2022 brings new things for our Student Services team; we have had renovations to our building to make the space more inviting, inclusive and spacious for our students. 

We also welcome our newest member of the team, Peanut, our Companion Dog. Peanut will work with individual students who have an Individual Education Plan, Individual Behaviour Plan or Mental Health Plan to help with lifting mood, regulating emotion and overall well-being. We look forward to seeing the positive influence Peanut will have on our school community.

We have also updated our Uniform Policy, Attendance Policy and Good Standing Policy. Copies of these policies have been distributed to all students and are also available on our website. Please ensure you are familiar with these.  This term, the team are targeting Uniform and Attendance.

Staying Positive During Covid-19

With uncertain times continuing to unfold in the community you may find that your young person, or you as a family are feeling anxious or stressed. Please see the links below for some helpful resources and activities to help with many aspects of living with Covid-19 in the community.

https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/educators/covid-19/

https://www.thinkmentalhealthwa.com.au/mental-health-and-covid-19/

https://schools.au.reachout.com/covid-19

It is important to stay connected and prioritise our wellbeing in stressful times.

Please contact the relevant Head of Student Services if your young person needs some support during this time.

What’s on this term?

Peer Support: The 2022 Peer Support program will commence this Term in Week 3. All Year 7 students will meet weekly in Form groups to complete sessions led by the Year 10 Peer Leaders that were assigned to them during Transition last year. The weekly sessions will focus on getting to know each other as a Form whilst addressing vital life skills such as team work, communication, leadership and interpersonal skills. Phil, our School Chaplain has been working hard with the Year 10 Peer Leaders and they are ready to go for next week.

Follow the Dream: Belridge SC has continued our partnership with Mount Lawley Outreach: Follow the Dream in 2022. Follow the Dream is a program for aspirational Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in high school, providing holistic support and mentoring.

Our students meet every Tuesday after school in the Library for tuition, study skills, cultural support and guidance with a number of mentors and school staff. The program will run throughout the year, and provide an opportunity for students to participate in camps and excursions with community members, fellow high school students and Elders.

Belridge SC is consistently working to support our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and is grateful for the guidance and knowledge of our Follow the Dream mentors and coordinators.

National Day of Action Against Bullying: This year National Day of Action Against bullying is Friday 18^th of March and Belridge will be standing up and saying “bullying, no way!”.

The theme for 2022 is “Kindness Culture”. The Belridge community had a focus on treating others with Kindness in 2021 and we will continue to build a Kindness Culture in our school community, by Respecting Ourselves, Respecting Others and Respecting the Space. By building a Kindness Culture together, we can promote inclusion, respect and community belonging for all students in our school. 

More information about this event will be released in the coming weeks.

The Student Services Team