Rock Climbing Club!

Jake (our awesome Youth Worker) and Ms Collins have kicked off a brand-new Rock Climbing Club on Thursday afternoons from 3.15pm-4.00pm. It’s the perfect chance to:

• Learn a new skill
• Challenge yourself
• Conquer new heights
• Meet new friends

If you are keen to get climbing, please see Jake for a permission form in Student Services (Tuesday-Thursday). Don’t miss out – the wall is waiting for you!

Celebrating National Science Week 2025

National Science Week was celebrated during Week 4 with students exploring the blueprint of life – DNA! Students enjoyed cracking the genetic code and creating their own personalised DNA bracelets.

Celebrating this year’s theme, ‘Decoding the Universe’ our library had a special collection on display – featuring books that unravel the mysteries of DNA, space, physics and more!

A huge thank you to all who participated and made Science Week a success. The Science Department are thrilled to announce the winners:

Winning Forms - Science Week 2025 Kahoot Quiz
7.01, 8.05, 9.01 and 11.01

Student engagement in Scientific reading:
Congratulations to Hasib Ahmadi in Year 7

Student Scientists of the Week:
Year 7: Alice Wardlow
Year 8: Kianah Russell
Year 9: Madeleine Crichton
Year 10: Karis Udy
Year 11: Mackenzie Sanders
Year 12: Kiera Orlov

Year 7 Ecology Exploration in Science

Students in Year 7 have been using sampling techniques and specialised ecology equipment to investigate how abiotic factors can influence the distribution of living organisms in habitats around the school grounds.

Mrs Leonie Bilbie
Acting HOLA - Science Learning Area 

Photos featuring Sophie Arnold and Kyla Notman

The Arts:
Term 3 Highlights & Upcoming Events

Dance

Our talented and hard-working Dance students have had an outstanding year so far, competing in DanceLife Unite and School to Stage. They performed with passion, earning second place in DanceLife and receiving glowing feedback from the judges at the 2025 School to Stage Competition.

Next, we present our spectacular Dance Showcase ‘Illuminate’, featuring choreography from students across all year groups. This year we’re excited to debut a primary school matinee, giving our youngest audience members the chance to be inspired by live performance.

A heartfelt thank you to Mrs Pesti, our dance students, and their families for the dedication and creativity behind this year’s vision.

• Dance Matinee for Primary Schools – Thursday, 28 August 2025 (Week 6)
• Dance Showcase – Illuminate – Thursday, 28 August 2025, 6pm (Week 6)

Don’t miss out - order your tickets HERE

Visual Arts & Design

On Friday, 27 June 2025 Upper School Visual Art and Design students visited The Art Gallery of Western Australia to explore the Pulse Exhibition – an inspiring collection of the very best student works from across WA – along with a diverse range of past and contemporary artworks. Students returned brimming with ideas for their own projects.

The Arts are proud to celebrate the following achievements:

• Kyla Passmore (Year 9) artwork selected for exhibition at the Joondalup Art Awards.
• Salma Swidan, Ruby Byrne and Chelsea Ribeiro (Year 10) artworks selected for the annual St George’s Art Exhibition (from 19 to 27 July 2025).
• Chelsea Ribeiro (Year 10) 2nd place in the Shaun Tan Art Award 2025
• Abedah Swidan (Year 8) artwork selected for Shaun Tan exhibition 2025

As highlighted above, Year 10 student, Chelsea Ribeiro, won second place in the prestigious Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists! Her charcoal artwork, Tentacles of Thought, blends a typewriter and an octopus in a bold, creative piece that wowed the judges. A huge congratulations to Chelsea on this amazing achievement! For more information visit: Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists | City of Subiaco

Chelsea Ribeiro (Year 10)

Annual St George's Art Exhibition 

A special thanks to Ms Lindsay (Teacher - Arts) for running our popular afterschool Art Club, providing students with a creative space to explore and make art beyond the classroom.

Save the Date for our Visual Artwork Exhibition during Weeks 8 and 9 this term, where artworks will be displayed in our Performing Arts Centre.

Elite Music Program

The Music Department has been alive with rehearsals from our afterschool band, choir, and classical guitar ensemble. Students are now preparing for the Classical Guitar Festival and our annual Music Showcase.

A big thank you to Mr Offszanka for running the afterschool band and choir programs, helping our students reach new heights in performance. Students interested in joining should see Mr Offszanka or Ms Verschoor in the PA office.

• Classical Guitar Festival – Saturday, 16 August 2025
• Music Showcase – Wednesday 10 September 2025 (Week 8) – gold coin entry

Classical Guitar Ensemble Festival 

A shoutout to our wonderful guitar ensemble who performed at the Classical Guitar Ensemble Festival on Sunday, 17 August 2025 at Carine Senior High School. Students performed First Encounter, Live Wire and Smells Like Teen Spirit and were awarded an outstanding ranking by the adjudicators - the highest ranking they can bestow. 

Congratulations to the following students and their Director and Instrumental teacher, Kylie Walpole. 

Year 7	Jesse Flux, Emily Mucha, Sophia Rabon and Logan Morel-Wilder
Year 8	Madison Izard and Zaden Mayne
Year 9	Emily Aspinall and Alex Rusly
Year 10	Kian Mayne
Year 11	Hayley Rogers and Dexter Cooper

Classical Guitar Ensemble Festival 2025

Mr Zachary Offszanka
Teacher - Music 

Drama

Our Upper School Drama students are set to deliver a high-energy performance of Mean Girls – packed with talent, and plenty of pink!  The production will host both an evening show and a school matinee.  All friends and family are invited to join us for a great night of entertainment.

Earlier this year, students attended Hoods and a professional production of Legally Blonde, taking inspiration to create their own home-grown magic.

• Mean Girls – Evening Performance – Tuesday, 16 September 2025 (Week 9)
• Mean Girls – School Matinee – Friday 19 September 2025 Period 4 (Week 9) 

Looking Ahead – Term 4

Fashion / Arts Showcase – Wednesday, 3 December 2025 (Week 8).

Mrs Annemarie Verschoor
HOLA - The Arts

Year 9 AEP Students Engineer the Future at ECU

On Tuesday, 19 August 2025, our 9SCI1 AEP students had the opportunity to experience two hands-on workshops during their second session of the ECU CREATE program at Edith Cowan University.

Hosted by ECU's School of Engineering, this experience is designed to give young secondary students a practical introduction to engineering and technology. The program aims to inspire and inform students as they begin to consider their upper-school subject choices in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) fields.

Our students eagerly participated in both workshops. First, they put their creativity and problem-solving skills to the test in a competitive bridge-building competition, learning firsthand about structural design and teamwork. Following that, they explored cutting-edge science in a workshop on water membranes, discovering how innovative technology is used to tackle real-world challenges like water purification.

It was an exciting day, providing students with a valuable glimpse into the diverse world of engineering. 

Joan Orr
Teacher - Year 9 AEP Science

Belridge Beats DJ Class

The Belridge Beats class has resumed for Semester 2 with students continuing to learn about some of the important skills involved in DJing. This has included preparing and mixing a variety of music genres, setting up speaker systems and setting up lights. Students also put their skills in to practice by providing music for school events such as the NAIDOC Week activities and preparing for our upcoming Athletics Carnival. Classes are held on Tuesdays after school.

If you would like to join the class, grab a sign-up sheet from either Students Services or the Library, or speak to Mr O’Neil.

Mr Steve O’Neil
Teacher – Digital Technologies

2025 PBF Presentation and Governor's Visit

As part of the Keys for Life Driver Education program run during Terms 1 and 2 for our Year 10's, Belridge Secondary College hosted a visit from a guest speaker from PBF (Paraplegic Benefit Fund) as well as a very special guest, His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson, the Governor of Western Australia. The presentation is aimed at increasing students' awareness of their responsibilities, and the consequences of their decisions while learning to drive.

Our Year 10’s were fortunate enough to have the Governor address the cohort directly and share his long and distinguished experience as a WA Police Officer. He recounted some harrowing yet impactful experiences from his career, highlighting the importance of students making responsible decisions on the road not just for themselves, but also for their peers and the wider community. The Governor then introduced Mik Francis, PBF's guest speaker, to share his story with the group.

Mik spoke about the road accident that caused his life-altering injury, leaving him partially paralysed and wheelchair-bound, and the decisions he and others made leading up to the crash. It was an insightful and emotional story that would have left a lasting impression on our students. While learning about these kinds of consequences in class, it's invaluable for students to hear firsthand accounts from those who have lived these experiences.

Special thanks to the Student Councillors who welcomed the Governor to the College. The behaviour and respect shown by our students was exemplary. All sat silently during the presentation, and some asked very mature and insightful questions. All students are to be commended for the way in which they represented themselves and the College.

Mr Jarrad Timu
Teacher - Health & Physical Education 

AEP - Adopt a Beach 

On Tuesday, 1 July 2025, twenty Year 8 Science AEP students travelled to Sorrento Beach, braving the weather to participate in sand dune regeneration.

Students made a meaningful impact at Sorrento, planting 600 native seedlings in an hour and a half. This valuable conservation work will help to hold sand at Sorrento beach, reducing beach erosion (a soft engineering technique). Students have been encouraged to revisit the site in future to see the development of the seedlings and dunes.

This fieldwork links to this year's AEP Showcase theme Restoring the Environment, where students will present on ways to restore landforms and landscapes, restoring liveability. The 2025 AEP Showcase will be held on Monday, 3 November 2025 – details to follow.  

Mrs Claire Green
Teacher - Humanities and Social Sciences
and AEP Coordinator

ATSI

NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate the histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It's held each year during the first full week of July and is an important annual event where everyone is invited to join in the celebrations. As NAIDOC Week fell during the school holidays, Belridge Secondary College students and staff celebrated and participated in activities throughout Week 10 of Term 2.

Students participated in classroom activities and tasks with a focus around the 2025 theme of Strength, Vision & Legacy, learning about influential Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how we can all build a stronger Australia. Students also made NAIDOC bracelets and participated in the NAIDOC poster colouring-in competition during Form classes.

Monday break time provided an opportunity for students to sample traditional Australian meats and spices, including Kangaroo, Crocodile, Emu, and beef flavoured with native peppers. On Wednesday we all enjoyed live DJ sets during break times featuring music by Indigenous artists and were awed by a fantastic story-telling performance of the Honey Bee by a number our Follow the Dream students and tutors.

Our Follow the Dream lower school students created a sand mural, taking inspiration from the NAIDOC 2025 poster and carrying on the theme ‘Bridging Now to Next’ from National Reconciliation Week earlier in the Term.

The sand mural is a boab tree with three limbs representing the current leaders (strength), the youth (vision), and past generations (legacy). The sun above is shining the way forward, surrounded by good spirits keeping their culture strong.

Mr Ben Dawkins
Head of Student Services - Marlins
ATSI Coordinator

VET and Workplace Learning

Year 12 students achieve Certificate IV in School Based Education Support

At the end of Term 2, we proudly celebrated the incredible achievement of our students who have successfully completed their Certificate IV in School-Based Education Support!

These dedicated individuals have spent the past 18 months immersed in learning, completing projects, and gaining hands-on experience through placements at local primary schools.

This qualification opens exciting doors—whether stepping into roles as Education Assistants or continuing their journey toward becoming primary or secondary school teachers.

A huge congratulations to all our graduates on this milestone! And a heartfelt thank you to Himani, from Skills Strategies International, for her unwavering support and mentorship throughout their journey.

Mr Adam Smith
Program Coordinator - Senior School Pathways

White Card Training 

We are pleased to announce another set of students successfully completed their White Card Training Course at school, delivered by Paragon Training. This brings the number of students who have completed this program, which verifies they have completed basic occupational health and safety (OHS) training, to over 110 in the last 18 months. This qualifies them to work on construction sites, which is one of the first steps in pursuing a career in this industry. Congratulations to all students who have been proactive commitment to creating real pathway opportunities for themselves. Other students who are interested in this industry, and are yet to complete their White Card Training, are encouraged to look out for future Connect notices which will advertise further opportunities to complete the course.

Mr Adam Smith
Program Coordinator - Senior School Pathways

Try-A-Trade

Belridge Secondary College had 16 students complete a Bricklaying and Carpentry Try-A-Trade Program with Skill Hire early Term 3. Funded by the Construction Training Fund (CTF), our students applied their skills in constructing a pergola. Students developed practical and technical skills whilst working as a team to complete this engaging, and fun, project.  We congratulate them for completing this program, which is certificated, and thank the CTF and Skill Hire for continuing to provide such wonderful initiatives for our learners. Please continue to check Connect notices and with the Career Hub at school for future opportunities. 

Mr Adam Smith
Program Coordinator - Senior School Pathways

Applications Open! Vocational Education and Training delivered in Secondary Students (VETDSS) – 2025 Course List released for 2026

Vocational Education and Training Delivered to Secondary Students (VETDSS) is a program delivered to Year 10, 11 and 12 school students as part of the Western Australian Certificate of Education. Students enrolled in a VETDSS course attend either a North or South Metropolitan TAFE campus (subject to course offerings) one or two days per week to complete a Certificate II, III or IV in a field that they see as a potential pathway.

Both North and South Metropolitan TAFE offer a range of courses and pre-apprenticeships as part of the VETDSS programs in the following industries: 

• Sport
• Creative Industries
• Healthcare, Beauty and Nursing
• Construction
• Automotive
• Education
• Engineering and Mining
• Horticulture
• Hospitality

The full course lists have been published on the respective Year Group Connect pages. These VETDSS courses allow students to:

• Develop industry-specific skills
• Gain nationally recognised VET qualifications and units of competency while completing your Western Australian Certificate of Education
• Develop employability skills
• Gain an understanding of the world of work, providing valuable experience to assist with planning and pursuing your career pathways.

Any student from Years 9, 10 or 11 that are interested in applying for one of these great opportunities are encouraged to come and speak with Mr Smith, Program Coordinator – Senior School Pathways, beforehand. 

Mr Adam Smith
Program Coordinator - Senior School Pathways

Cooking Up a Storm - Year 9 Career Taster 

On Monday, 11 August 2025 a small group of Year 9 students had the opportunity to visit Joondalup’s North Metropolitan TAFE campus to participate in the ‘Cooking Up a Storm’ commercial cookery event. Students chose to be involved in the excursion so that they could gain an idea of what working in a commercial kitchen at TAFE is like.  The excursion was part of the Year 9 Career Taster Program, which has been designed to provide students with exposure to industry and workplaces of interest. Attendance was based on an expression of interest basis, with numerous students unfortunately missing out on the event, due to high interest in the commercial cooking field. 

Once the day’s itinerary was explained, students were escorted to one of the site’s commercial kitchens and introduced to their lecturer, Chef Claire, who instructs Certificate III in Commercial Cookery, which is the qualification apprentices complete to become professional chefs. Students were attired in clothing suitable for the kitchen environment, including long pants, enclosed shoes and long hair tied back. They were also provided with a hair cover and plastic apron. Students were informed that they would be preparing a sticky date pudding from scratch, topped with a glazed fig and butterscotch sauce. Students were excited to prepare the meal but were mainly motivated by the realisation that they would be able to eat the yummy dessert at the end of the day!

During the day, students were taught about the importance of kitchen hygiene and instructed in the proper use of a range of kitchen utensils and machinery, including the commercial mixers and ovens, which required significant instruction to operate. They also had the opportunity to purchase food from the nearby café, which is stocked by meals prepared in the commercial kitchens at TAFE. Students worked in pairs to prepare their meals, with their communication and collaboration skills put on great display. At the end of the event students did a great job cleaning their workspaces and they were rewarded with tasting their amazing creation, topped with a range of chocolate coated decorations. They also had plenty of leftovers for their friends and family to enjoy once they got home.

Mr Ashley Mouritz
Career Practitioner

‘Get Into Resources’ Mining Exploration Day

Forty Year 10 students attended the annual ‘Get Into Resources’ mining exploration day, held at North Metropolitan TAFE’s East Perth campus on Thursday, 3 July 2025. Attendees all volunteered to attend the excursion, as the event is designed to expose students to training and employment opportunities in the mining and resources sectors. Students participated in a range of hands-on and information-based sessions, that provided them with insight into the resources sector. Students were also informed of the many job opportunities and multiple VET and university pathway options they can pursue to gain employment in the industry.

Highlights of the day included:

• Students hearing real life stories from a range of people employed in the resources sector
• Networking with training and employment providers during the career expo
• Students using teamwork to engineer an efficient ‘egg drop’ mechanism
• Students having a go at the drilling and shot firing mining simulators, and;
• Students taking away a range of freebies from employers such as the Gold Industry Group, BHP and Rio Tinto.

At the end of the event students were reminded of the importance of making informed career related decisions and to continue to seek out resources they can use to develop a suitable and meaningful individual career pathway on completion of their secondary studies. Unsurprisingly many attendees have plans to pursue employment in the resources sector.

Mr Ashley Mouritz
Career Practitioner

Skills West Career and Employment Expo
24 and 25 July (Week 1)

A group of 50 Year 9 students and 30 Year 11 and 12 Career and Enterprise students recently attended the annual Skills West Career and Employment Expo, held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event is WA’s biggest career and employment based- event, with over 160 exhibitors providing training and employment information. The excursion was organised and supported by the College’s Career Practitioner - Ashley Mouritz, Program Coordinator Senior School Pathways - Adam Smith and Education Assistant - Nicole Miller. The event allowed students to directly network with a wide range of training and employment providers. Attendees also had the opportunity to:

• Gain free career advice.
• Enjoy the career seminars.
• Learn how to write a winning resume.
• Talk with key organisations at the Construction Training Fund’s Construction Hub.
• Speak with members of the Australian Defence Force.
• Experience the 'Try a Skill' Interactive Displays; and
• See the WA WorldSkills Regional Competition.

Students spent the afternoon navigating their way through each exhibitor’s stand. Students benefitted from the opportunity to directly source tertiary course information from a range of TAFE, university, and private training providers; as well as directly network with some of Australia’s well-known government and private employers. It was great to see so many of our students confidently ask for information, advice, and access resources to take away with them for future reference. At the end of the event students were reminded of the importance of making informed career related decisions and to continue to seek out resources they can use to develop a suitable and meaningful individual career pathway on completion of their secondary studies.

Mr Ashley Mouritz
Career Practitioner