As Term 1 draws to a close, I would like to share with you some of the amazing work that went on across the College during the second half of this very busy term.

With the current COVID situation full of uncertainty and many students having to isolate and deal with illness this term, it would be an understatement to say that it has not been business as usual at the College. Staff have worked hard to ensure student work has been uploaded onto Connect and have tried to support students at home as best as they could. Students have also been very proactive in contacting their teachers and trying not to fall too far behind with their studies. I have had many conversations with parents over the last few weeks, concerned around the amount of class time their children have missed. All I can say is that we do understand, and we will make every effort to ensure that no child is disadvantaged due to absence as a result of COVID. Our Connected Learning Plan is available on our school website in the event that we move to a “working from home” situation. Please make yourself familiar with this plan and contact the school if you have any questions regarding the content.

Staff Development Day

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 continued implementation of our Teaching and Learning (T&L) Framework – RLEARNERS.  To develop and grow our staff capacity and ensure a consistent approach to T&L across the College, our staff will be undergoing a process of self-reflection and peer classroom observation throughout 2022. As a College we know that an effective teacher has the greatest effect on student outcomes, and we want to prioritise this in our plans.  The remainder of the day was focused around understanding how students learn. Sessions were delivered to staff from our ATSI Lead Team developing Aboriginal perspectives into the curriculum. Our school Psychologist and Inclusive Education Coordinator organised for the Triple P Program – Fear-less to be delivered to our staff to support them in their dealings with anxious students. The day was very successful with much positive feedback received.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Unfortunately, our Interim Reports evening had to be cancelled, however just a reminder that these teacher/parent interviews will take place by phone. If you have any concerns about your child's progress, please contact the school and arrange an appointment time for a call back.

School Events

This term we also celebrated a joint Harmony Day and National Day against Bullying and Violence. This involved a fantastic anti-bullying video starring our BSC staff edited and recorded by our wonderful Media Teacher, Jodie Grieve. The video was shown to students during an extended form time to spread the message across the College.  At the end of the week, students across the college who had maintained their good standing and shown positive behaviours towards others were treated to a visit from Mr Whippy the Ice Cream van. It was a great day and I really enjoyed seeing the students being rewarded for their positive contributions to the College.

Students Getting Future Ready

The College held White Card training and participated in a Try-a-Trade event, which saw several our students involved in a range of hands-on trade-based learning. The students involved were extremely engaged and learnt some valuable skills. Hopefully this will assist them in planning their future career pathway.

Enrolments 2023

Early next term we start our enrolment processes for 2023, commencing with our Year 5 and 6 Student Taster Morning in our specialist programs (Cricket, Netball, Music, Fashion Design, and STEM AEP). During this time, we are also holding Parent Tours. Both of these events will be held on Wednesday 4 May 2022. If you are interested in seeing what Belridge SC has to offer or just interested for possible future enrolment, please contact the school or book your place here.

NAPLAN Online will take place in Term 2 for students in Years 7 and 9. Further information and updates will follow via Connect.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Belridge SC community for their support and understanding across this difficult term. I hope you all have a very happy Easter and get to spend some quality time with family and friends. Looking forward to seeing you refreshed and ready for an exciting Term 2.

Sharon Lyon
Principal

March 2022 Report

Chairperson 
Scott Amy 

Belridge Secondary College Board

All students are to be commended on the resilience they are showing with the current COVID situation in the community. It is reassuring to see how maturely students are wearing their masks correctly, responding to the cancellation of activities at school and respecting the ruling around being a close contact. I would personally like to thank all Year 7-9 students for the way they have conducted themselves so far and hope that we can continue to look out for each other as we navigate our way through the pandemic.

The last few weeks at school have been very busy for all students in Years 7-9. Teaching and Learning programs are well underway and it has been fantastic to celebrate achievements with students in all areas of their schooling. I am sure you have no doubt heard that during Week 7 we had a visit from an ice cream van! The majority of the Year 7 and 9 students received a token to attend as a thank you for them demonstrating a commitment to our School Values throughout the term: Respect for self, Respect for others and Respect for the environment. Well done to all students who received a token.

Year 7 Peer Support Program

The Year 10 Peer Support leaders have been working well with all the Year 7 students once a week this term. The initiative is coordinated by Phil our School Chaplain and aims to support the transition of Year 7 students into the school. So far, all students seem to be enjoying the sessions!

Year 7 Interim Reports

All parents have now received their child’s progress report. Due to current directives, we are unable to conduct face-to-face parent/teacher interviews, therefore, parents who have booked interviews with their child’s teachers will receive a call over the next two weeks.

Elevate Education

On Friday 1^st April all Year 7 students will participate in workshops during Periods 1 & 2 conducted by Elevate Education. The workshops are titled Study Skills Kick Start and Junior Time Management and will be presented by university students. The programs are delivered in a fun and interactive way and we hope that it will further assist Year 7 students in their transition to high school.

NAPLAN

Year 7 sat a coordinated practice test for NAPLAN during Week 8 which went very smoothly.  The purpose of the practice test is to familiarise students with the process and format of the NAPLAN tests. You should also have received an information sheet from school with further information on NAPLAN this year.  Information is also available at https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

I would encourage all parents/caregivers to talk to their child about the NAPLAN tests which will occur in May.

Louise Hall
Deputy Principal - Middle School
Years 7, 8 and 9

Term 1 is almost over, and we have managed to navigate through with COVID now at our doorstep.  Senior School Semester One examinations and Year 11 & 12 Workplace Learning are scheduled for mid-Term 2. All students should be using their school planners to organise their time effectively to not only have all their assessments completed on time, but also to be carrying out their studies; every week, they should be adding to their notes and factsheets and continually testing themselves.

Year 12 ATAR Students

With the current COVID landscape and restrictions our universities are cautious in allowing their staff to speak directly to prospective students in a school setting.  We have had to cancel events and are looking to reschedule the speaker from UWA.  We will endeavour to get speakers from all the universities into the school if possible.  Otherwise please check CONNECT notifications for University Open days. 

I have provided all ATAR students with a study program taking them up to the end of the holidays. It is not compulsory for them to use it, but they must be using some sort of study program. The study program I provided has some very handy hints. Please discuss these with your son/daughter.

Year 10, 11 and 12 Students

School holidays will be upon us soon, although students should be using this period of time to refresh themselves, it would be wise to put aside a few days to consolidate the concepts they learnt in Term 1.

Mario Pisano
Vice Principal - Senior School
Years 10, 11 and 12

Taking a closer look at nature

The Year 12 Integrated Science classes recently went on an excursion to Neil Hawkins Park to study the water quality and macroinvertebrate life of Lake Joondalup. With the help of the ‘Nearer to Nature’ group, students took samples from the lake, discovering a wide range of aquatic life including leeches and shrimp. The students will use these findings to compare the water quality with Herdsman Lake, samples of which have already been tested in class. Despite the hot weather, students and staff had an enjoyable day outside and gained valuable insights to the field of ecology.

Alexander Gibbs
Science Teacher

Academic Extension Program
Competition Winners

Year 7 students have been working on producing some amazing designs in their challenge to design a ‘Safety in Science’ t-shirt recently.           

Congratulations to both Ben Kay and Pearl de Ridder (Year 7) on their winning designs. Ben and Pearl were presented with t-shirts displaying their designs. Thanks is also extended to Gwen Sepkus for her time and effort in transferring the student designs onto the shirts.

Joan Orr
Teacher - Science

Ben Kay and Pearl de Ridder show off their winning designs

English 

Year 7 AE
Authors and Archetypes

Students in the English Academic Extension Program used their note taking skills to research an author of their choice this term; researching everything from where the author found their inspiration to the type of language techniques they use. 

Students then used this information to write a diary entry from either the author or one of their archetype's perspective then collated all of this information into an aesthetic and interactive presentation which they presented to their peers and teachers.

On the day of the presentation students were confident, informative   and engaging.  Their use of quizzes, costumes and even food proved that they have exceptional organisational skills and an enthusiasm for learning. Great work!

“I thought the task was a lot of fun.  At first I was a bit anxious but as soon as I began talking I was having a lot of fun.  I love English!” - Kiera H

Alison Zarrop
Teacher - English

Shaping Future Leaders

On Friday 25^th February, the Student Council was lucky enough to be invited to a Future Leader's workshop run by leading educational facilitators ABCN. The day looked a little different given the climate, but the 15 students from Years 9 to 12 rose to the challenge and worked digitally with leaders across the state, even a few students from Sydney checked in!

Students were split into breakout rooms and given a challenge to solve and there were some fantastic ideas that have even been forwarded to the Principal as recommendations for the school. The feedback from the leaders and facilitator on our Student Council and their leaderships skills was remarkable and we look forward to seeing our future leaders here at Belridge SC come up with more amazing ideas. 

Jade Wright
Student Council Coordinator

Year 8 AE
Youth Writers Workshop

As part of the Young Writers Collective workshops run through the Literature Centre, a small group of Year 8 AE students spent a day workshopping with children’s author, Aska. Live streaming the event, Aska gave the students an opportunity to develop their story telling ability through visual literacy. Starting with drawing a jellybean, the students worked through how to show expressions and sounds to bring the picture to life. They created a range of storyboards throughout the day, developing their skills along the way. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and look forward to working with other authors later this year.

Rebecca Edmonds
Academic Enrichment Coordinator 

Year 9
AE Youth Writers Workshop

On Tuesday 15th March, five Year 9 students spent the day working with West Australian author Alexander Thorpe, through the Young Writers Collective online workshop. Alexander discussed and asked students to work on creating elements of a narrative. Focusing on the crime genre, they looked at ways to develop the perpetrator and their motive for the crime, red herrings and suspense.

Students had a fantastic time, developing on story ideas throughout the day.

A sample of work that that was created is below;

Sarah flung the bedroom door forcefully open. She was steaming, and marched her way over to the dresser to the left of the bed her unfaithful husband had once laid. She knew the detectives were incompetent, and so took it upon herself to discover who was responsible for his untimely death. Tears poured down her cheeks as she clasped the round golden handle to the bottom drawer, and pulled. She exhaled. A sigh of relief. Nothing had been in the drawer, but Sarah knew that her late husband had refused to put anything into the drawer he couldn’t reach without straining, as he was a pompous man. All she'd done was delay the inevitable. Her hand slowly hovered upward and shook, rising up to clasp the tarnished gold. She inhaled deeply, tightened her grip both on the lids of her now shut eyes, and the handle she was holding onto, her only form of balance, and yanked at it violently. She slowly opened her eyes, only to close them soon after, clasping her hands over her mouth and screaming. Inside the drawer, laid her deceased husbands head, and a letter addressed, How does a man turn away from those who love him, if he has no head left to turn?

Libraries are more than just stories ...

The college now has a subscription to Comics Plus, available to all students. To log in, students require their student email address:

username@student.education.wa.edu.au

e.g. joanne.smith@student.education.wa.edu.au

(all lowercase)

The password has been emailed via Connect to parents.

Students can see Library staff if they need assistance or need to change their password.

Lisa Manning
Teacher - Librarian/HASS Teacher

Year 12 Rottnest Excursion

On Friday 11^th March and Wednesday 16^th March the Year 12 Outdoor Education students ventured to Rottnest. They were two amazing days!

We tackled the hills on our bikes to reach three different snorkel locations. On the south side of the island the students experienced very different snorkelling to what we see in Perth; here it is like you are in a tropical location with coral and colourful fish species in clear blue water.  Little Salmon and Parker Point being the highlight for most of the students.

After refuelling with lunch we headed to the North side of the island, where we challenged our breath and courage doing various swim throughs.

They were both fantastic days and the students were amazing.

Tiffany Collins
Teacher - Health & Physical Education 

Delectable Desserts

In the past, Home Economics has been offered to Year 9 students as a Semester long program.  For the first time this year students will be participating in a year long course.

There are also two different contexts – Food for Fitness and Food for Others – for students to choose from, or they can study both.

Food for Fitness looks at the functions of nutrients, diet trends, food required for peak performance and healthy lifestyles, while Food for Others covers different dessert styles, savoury showcases, café creations and the high tea trend.

During Term 1 Food for Others students have been looking at Delectable Desserts, preparing a range of different dessert styles culminating in preparing their own dessert; designing, garnishing, decorating and plating their creations.

Micael Corless
Teacher - Home Economics 

ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership & Teamwork Awards

City of Joondalup Youth Representative

Celebrating Top Achievements 2021

Year 12 students were also recognised recently at a special presentation in recognition of being the TOP STUDENT FOR 2021 across a variety of subject areas, with the best part - being treated to a pizza lunch! Congratulations to all on your hard work - keep doing what you are doing!

APPLICATION FORMS CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM OUR WEBSITE FOR THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS: 

Belridge SC is a local intake area school.  However, we are able to accept applications from students residing in out of area boundaries for the following two specialist programs:

SCHOOL BASED PROGRAMS
Local intake boundaries: 

Applications are now open for the following school based programs:

Bring your own face masks

The school is starting to run low on disposable face masks since a large amount have been given out to students on a daily basis. Please remember to bring your own face masks to school as the supply we have is only a back up measure.  

Important - All students using Transperth 

Please be reminded that:

• Masks must be worn on all services.
• If you are exempt from wearing a mask you must show the driver your proof of exemption.
• Transperth staff can refuse travel if you do not follow the current guidelines or show proof of exemption.
• Above all - show respect to our bus drivers and follow all requests.

Thank you.

School Payments

Payments for student charges and contributions are welcome at any time.  Please note that Upper School subject charges ARE COMPULSORY.

To set up a payment plan please contact our Administration office on 9408 8000 - we are here to help. 

Payments can be made by cash or EFTPOS at the front office or Direct Deposit to our new bank details of Comm Bank.

BSB: 066 040
Account: 19906002

Please ensure you quote as your reference STUDENT NAME and YEAR GROUP (ie. JOHN SMITH Y10)

Thank you

Kerrie Ward
Manager Corporate Services

The RYDE Program provides young people the opportunity to complete their 50 hours of supervised driving experience with one of RYDE's volunteer driving mentors.

This is open to students experiencing barriers in completing their compulsory ‘Log Book’ hours because they don’t have access to a suitable vehicle, or someone with 4 years experience to accompany them.

Students need to have ‘learnt to drive’ with a professional Driving Instructor as RYDE Sessions are just about gaining ‘Log Book’ experience and honing skills.

Young people can access the Joondalup RYDE Program to complete their 50 hours of supervised driving before receiving their provisional licence. Driving sessions cost $15 for a 90-minute booking. The RYDE program operates from the Joondalup Library with different session times available seven days a week.

For more information contact the City’s RYDE Coordinators: 

E: ryde@joondalup.wa.gov.au or visit www.ryde.org.au

Keeping kids active

Like Belridge SC on Facebook!

The Design & Technology department are ALWAYS on the look out and in need of recycled timber.  If anybody is pulling down timber or has access to building or construction timber that they could donate to the school, it would be greatly appreciated.  The material could be dropped off to the Design & Technology department or contact Lazo Njegich on 0432 478 123 to arrange collection. 

Thank you. 

Lazo Njegich
Teacher - Design & Technology