With Term 4 well under way, there has been lots to celebrate at the College. Our Year 12’s final days were celebrated in style starting with an amazing family breakfast. The event was well attended by parents and staff, all taking the opportunity to say goodbye to a fantastic cohort. The event was catered for by our Home Economics team and Hospitality students, who did an amazing job preparing delicious food. This was followed by our Year 12 assembly. The event was a wonderful celebration, with such kind and hopeful words spoken by our staff and Student Councillors. It was a real pleasure to be a part of such a lovely assembly and provide a final farewell for our graduating students. 

Our formal Graduation ceremony took place on Thusday, 26 October at Kingsway Christian College Auditorium. Again, what an amazing night. It was great to celebrate the achievements of all students at Belridge Secondary College and Belridge Secondary College Education Support. 

For the second year running the College hosted the CO2 Dragster Competition. Schools from all over the state entered the competition with finalists attending the judging at the College. A big thanks to Mr Chen and his team for their efforts with the competition. 

This term, we held our Year 6 half-day Transition Program consisting of students from nine local intake primary schools. The days have been a great success, with lots of happy faces seen around the school as they prepare for their move to the College.  Thank you to Miss Hall and Miss Edmonds for their efforts with the program. 

On Wednesday, 25 October the College was lucky enough to have a visit from former Belridge Secondary College student and our very own Wild Cat, David Okwera!  David was also accompanied by MVP Bryce Cotton, who whipped up a storm with his presence in the school gymnasium. Students from both Belridge Secondary College and Belridge Secondary Education Support Centre took part in this special session. The students were absolutely thrilled (and so were a few staff) to have them here. Thank you to Mr O’Neil for organising this special opportunity.

The College was also thrilled to be a part of this year’s Telethon event. Students from our specialist program – Belridge Dance Company - performed their award-winning number “Move your Body” early Sunday morning to a live TV audience. Thank you to Miss Robinson and Miss Hall for supporting the students attending this event.

On Monday, 6 November we held our AEP Showcase. The event had a great turn out from our parents. Students presented to our special judges Joshua Guy from Scitech (Secondary STEM Coordinator) and Dr Ale Rassau from ECU (Lecturer in Engineering Ethics & Innovation), as well as some staff judges. Our highest placed teams were across Years 7-9 with projects covering electric cars, wave energy and robotics.  Winners will be announced during Week 10 assemblies.

The AEP Showcase was followed by our open board meeting. During this session, attendees were treated to some delicious food from our Hospitality team and students. The College presented on a number of topics including feedback from our Public School Review, progress with our Teaching and Learning Framework, including our commitment to Berry Street, details of our future STEM build and a comprehensive look at student pathway planning. Our Year 10 students shared their plans for the future via a video that was played for the guests. They spoke about their future subject selections and the opportunities the College had provided them to engage in career exploration. A big thanks to Mr Mouritz and our Senior School team for their work with our students in this area and to Ms Hunt and Ms Currie for making the video.

We then heard from one of our past students, Joel Hall, who told his story on how Belridge Secondary College had positively impacted his life and guided him on his educational journey. A true inspiration, thank you Joel.  Our Student Council shared how they are moving forward with Student Voice and detailed their roles as leaders in the College. It was a great evening. Thank you to all who attended, in particular to our wonderful Board members for their continued support. As usual, our Board minutes can be viewed on our website. 

On Wednesday, 8 November The Arts team presented their Arts Showcase to the Belridge community. The event was a huge success with over 180 people in attendance!  Where do I start? The artwork, the sculptures, the bags, the vinyl covers, the sunflowers, the dance routine, the costumes, the vocal performances, the choir, the musical pieces from our talented pianist - In Jung, guitar ensemble and the fashion show, AMAZING!!! Thank you to the Arts staff for their efforts creating this show and to the staff that helped out backstage and attended on the night to support the event.

This term we also celebrated World Teachers’ Day, with some yummy cupcakes and some heart felt notes to our staff from students expressing their thanks. We have also held camps in Cricket and Outdoor Education with a few more to come, as well as our Netball camp.

Our commitment to supporting the community was recognised by Mr Chen who nominated the school for supporting his work as a SES volunteer. Mr Chen and I attended a formal ceremony in the city in which the school was presented with a Volunteer Employer Recognition Award (VERA) for supporting volunteers and the important work they do in the community.

To finish, I would just like to remind the community that we will be running our Christmas Hamper Appeal again this term. Last year we were able to provide over 25 hampers to local families in need. I know this made a huge difference to our families, as well as providing our students with the opportunity to help others. Please see our flyer and social media posts for key dates (closing date Friday 8 December). Please give what you can and support local during this festive season.

Sharon Lyon
Principal