With the festive season around the corner, I would like to take this time to reflect on some of our recent successes. What can I say but, what a year! With all the challenges that this year has brought we have made it over the line! Working through another year of COVID uncertainty has been a difficult task, but at Belridge SC we have continued to make some big strides forward.

Our Year 6 Transition Program is finally complete with over 140 students in attendance at the last event. The program has been a great success, with lots of happy faces seen around the school as they prepare for their big move to the College in 2023. Big thanks to Alison Zarrop and Louise Hall for their organisation of the event and production of student handbooks.

Mrs Wright’s Year 10 Business students have been showing their Entrepreneurship by taking part in this year’s Education Support Market Day.  Their stalls made a massive profit all of which went to their charity of choice - Cancer Research. A big thank you to the students and Mrs Wright for their efforts with this.

This term we also held the JLC Year 5 Student Leadership Day at the College. It was great to see a room full of future leaders here at the College, a big thank you to Emma Smith, teacher and JLC Network Executive Officer for planning and delivery of the event.

The College held its first World Cup tournament this term with 8 Countries (Teams) battling it out. It was a hugely popular event, big thanks to Mr Notarpietro for coming up with the idea and organising the event. The students were very happy with their medals. Thank you to staff who assisted or went down to support the students.

In Week 9 we held our Cricket and Netball presentation night at the WACA. It was a wonderful evening. Big thanks to Scott Ogilvie and Janneke Markovic for their organisation of the event and leadership of the programs. Also, to Paul Bennet, Tarryn Hunt, Brent Jarvis-Spinks and Josh Hollows for their support with this event and the Netball Belridge Cup and Cricket Camp.

Our Student Services team have been busy with our positive incentives. Our end of Term reward day The Belridge Festival was a HUGE success, with much positive feedback received from both students and staff. It was a mammoth event to organise, thanks to Mr Richardson, Mrs Currie and Mr Dawkins for their leadership.

We have some major refurbishments ready to get underway in 2023. An update to our library will commence over the holidays, the conversion of a new Science space and the implementation of the planning phase for our new $1.5M STEM build all will be started early next year. Can’t wait to see these new additions in action.

We have several staff leaving us at the end of the year, I would like to wish them all the very best in whatever the future holds and thank them for their contributions to Belridge SC over the years. A special mention to Glynne Bartle for her 23 years of service and to our Head Cleaner Bev Hennings on her retirement.

I would like to finish with the biggest thank you to each and every person who donated items, food or money to our Belridge Christmas Hamper Appeal. Our hampers go directly to our local families and really do make a difference. Thank you so much for helping make their Christmas a little brighter.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Take care over the festive season.

Sharon Lyon
Principal 

The final board meeting for 2022 held on Monday 5th December presented a great opportunity to look back on a unique year, and reflect on the great outcomes for the Belridge Secondary College community. From the wonderful projects proposed by the School Councillors such as the Blue Tree project, to exciting future projects, like our STEM labs, our finances are in an excellent position.

I would like to thank my fellow Board members, for their insight and the sacrifice of time and effort to attend our meetings and the great support of our Executive Team, Nicky Harris, Kerrie Ward and our Principal Sharon Lyon, who allow the Board to make solid decisions and provide the best advice.

Lastly, I would again like to acknowledge our outgoing Chair, Scott Amy, who has served the College tirelessly and with great passion – we wish him all the best in his new life on the east coast.

Stay safe over the break, and see you all next year.

Steven Hall
Chairperson
Belridge Secondary College Board

E: belridge.sc.schoolboard@education.wa.edu.au

As we are nearing the end of the year, I would like to thank all the students and families who have made my first year at Belridge Secondary College a great one. It has been fantastic to watch the Year 7 students settle in and begin their high school journey this year, Year 8 students begin choosing electives to support future endeavours, Year 9 being immersed in many career tasters discussing future pathways. Students have achieved academic, sporting, artistic and personal achievements which have far outweighed the Covid disruptions we have faced. I hope all students and their families have a fun filled yet restful summer break and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2023!

Year 7 Transitions

Our Year 7 Orientation Day was held on Tuesday 6 December and it was a fantastic day. All students got to experience a typical day at Belridge and left looking very excited to be joining us in February 2023. This was followed by a parent information night where hopefully we answered any questions families still had. Thank you to the Year 7 2023 Year Coordinator Alison Zarrop for organising the day.

NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN for Years 7 and 9 will be held between Wednesday 15 March and Monday 27 March 2023. More information will be sent out at the start of 2023; however, further information can be found at: NAP - Home now.

Beldon Shopping Centre

There have been reports of anti-social behaviour incidents at Beldon shopping centre before and after school. Please remind your child of behaviour expectations in the local community while travelling to and from school. The police are now aware of the situation and are a frequent presence in the area.

Louise Hall
Deputy Principal
Years 7, 8 and 9

The school year has come to a very quick end. Term 4 was another busy term with Year 12 students leaving at the start followed by graduation ceremonies and ATAR examinations. The Year 11’s then left soon after sitting their examinations or completing their workplace learning. Lower school students have sat their final assessments and school reports written. I hope all students have achieved to their potential.

When reviewing your child’s Semester 2 school report please celebrate areas of improvement and achievement.  Also, identify areas where improvement is required, set achievable targets and put strategies in place to assist in achieving these targets. Change does not happen without initially identifying areas of need and then acting in a positive manner.    

The College welcomed the incoming Year 7 2023 students at their Orientation Day.  Parent school tours were also conducted on the day.  The day ran smoothly with students completing a simulated high school timetable for the day.  We look forward to this cohort of students joining the College community in 2023.

On a final note, I wish all students and their families a safe and relaxing holiday break and look forward to the 2023 school year.

Mario Pisano
Vice Principal 
Years 10, 11 and 12

Belridge SC bid a sad farewell to our long-serving volunteer Ray Doyle this term, who has been coming in for the last three years and supported a total of 10 students in their educational journey. Ray was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and gift term from Principal, Sharon Lyon. Ray commented that he has gained a lot personally from his volunteering time. 

Thank you for your patience and valued contribution Ray, in supporting and making a difference in young peoples' education and lives.  

Phil Leenman (School Chaplain), Ray Doyle (Volunteer) and Principal, Sharon Lyon. 

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time, they just have the heart" 
- Elizabeth Andrew  

BSC World Cup

With world cup fever gripping the world, we decided to see if there was enough student interest to run a five-a-side soccer ‘World Cup’ tournament during the lunch breaks. After making an announcement on the PA, and putting up some blank sheets of paper in the gym, interested students were asked to nominate a Captain, a team of five plus 2 reserves.

By the next day 8 teams had nominated, and the knockout quarter finals began on Monday 23 November.  During the week, four quality games were held during the lunch break, with the winners progressing to the semi -finals.

In the first semi-finals, on Monday 5 December, Josh Loftus’ (Year 9s) team Brexit Ballers 3 defeated Josh Pronk’s (Year 10s) Brexit Means Brexit 0 in the battle of the Brexiteers, and becoming the first team to the final.  Wednesday’s second semi-final again pitted a Year 9 team, Joshua Wilson’s Top G FC 0 were defeated by a Year 10 team, Charley Sullivan’s Immigrants 2.

After a few days build up, the finals were held on Monday 12 December, with the 3^rd v 4^th play off at recess, where in an intriguing and hard fought battle, Joshua Loftus’ Year 9 team, Brexit Ballers, came back from a goal down to defeat the Immigrants 4-2.  Joel Reynolds was unstoppable, scoring a hat-trick and the MVP award for the tournament, which was noisily enjoyed by crowds of supporters during each game.

	TEAM 3 - THE IMMIGRANTS Charley Sullivan (Captain) Fraser Masterton Michael De Bruyn Cruz Beazley Justin Smith Camden Lambino Oran Kearney
	TEAM 4 - TOP G FC Joshua Wilson (Captain) Patrick Oulton Hayden Carter Mark Tobin Beau Sharpe Wycliff Odidi Lucas Morrison
	TEAM 5 - 8s MATES Oliver Walshaw (Captain) Jack Doran Joey Kearney Wez Edwards Tyler Neagle Ronan Jake Susak
	TEAM 6 - ROXON FC  Krishna (Captain) Rowan JaxonB Jett Akom
	TEAM 7 - CENTIGGAS Lincoln Fieldhouse (Captain) Jayden Rotham Lucas Mannion Josh Hendry Billy Dunscombe Blake Wilson Kayne Candlett Brayden Hogan
	TEAM 8 - BREXIT MEANS BREXIT Josh Pronk (Captain) Finlay Cooper Mr Spinks Jakob Van der Plas Michael Lun Peter Znuderl

Carlos Notarpietro
Associate Principal 

Year 11 Outdoor Education Camp

Western Australian Junior Mathematics Olympiad (WAJO)

The annual event, the Maths Olympiad, provided Belridge Secondary College’s students with an amazing opportunity to advance their mathematical skills.

On Tuesday 18th October, students completed an Individual Problem Set of 16 increasingly difficult problems. Some of these have still challenged their teachers – and they have the solutions!

On Saturday 22^nd October, students were challenged with complex puzzles, designed to encourage participants how to think in a manner “outside of the box.” The event was situated at the University of Western Australia where students from multiple schools were challenged with 3 sophisticated problems and were given 50 minutes to complete them. Once again, the teachers found the problems difficult.

Through this competition, students improved their mathematical skills, and had an opportunity to compete against students from other schools in a fun atmosphere. Results will be shared with the students as soon as they are available.

Stuart Rutter
Mathematics Teacher

Half Day Transitions

Our 2023 Year 7 cohort have just completed their half day transitions here at the College. Year 6 students came from various primary schools and participated in our Floor Is Lava and Amazing Race team building games and other high school activities. Although some were nervous when they arrived, the majority didn't want to leave when it was time to go! I would like to thank our Peer Support students who helped me and these students on the day and guided them around the College. The 2023 Year 7 cohort are a keen, friendly and polite bunch of students and they are very excited to be starting high school at the college next year.  

Mrs Alison Zarrop
Year 7, 2023 Year Coordinator 

Year Book Cover Design 

Congratulations to Jesslyn Taavale's (Year 11) Yearbook cover design on being selected as the winning design for the 2021 Year Book by staff. The Yearbook is in the final stages of being completed and sent to print. 

Home Economics

The Year 9 Food for Others classes have finished a very successful 2022 by completing a unit on High Teas.  Students investigated the origins of High Teas and researched what made dishes suitable to be served at High Tea events, before finishing their task by sharing what they had made with the rest of the class to truly encapsulate the meaning of “Food for Others”

Working with partners they investigated, devised and produced dishes suitable for serving at a High Tea.  These dishes were then shared with the rest of the class.  Each group then got to enjoy their own High Tea platter filled with a mixture of sweet and savoury dishes prepared by themselves and their classmates.

Micael Corless
Home Economics Teacher

 

Lab Rats Excursion to ECU:
23 November 2022

31 of our brightest Year 9 students recently attended Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) annual Lab Rats events, held at the Joondalup campus. The excursion involved students in the top Year 9 set attending ECU for the day and being exposed to what life would be like completing an undergraduate Science degree at university. During the day students got the opportunity to complete experiments in ECU’s ‘Super Lab’, solve several cyber security problems, tour the enormous campus, and receive information regarding pathways and course options for university study at ECU in 2026 and beyond. The College’s Career Practitioner, Ashley Mouritz and Year 9 Coordinator, Jodie Grieve, were involved in planning and supervising the excursion.

At the beginning of the day students travelled by bus to ECU Joondalup, where they were warmly met by current lecturers, tutors and PHD students from the School of Science. Students were guided to a large lecture theatre where they were ‘welcomed to country’ and had the itinerary for the day explained to them. Some students had been in a university lecture theatre, with a seating capacity of 100s, but many students were in awe at the unique learning environment that exists at a university campus.

After a short introduction and induction, students participated in the ‘Great Race’, a 30-minute trek across the campus that required groups of students locating and noting various physical landmarks from across the campus. Each group admirably completed this task independently, with the assistance of a campus map. All students made it back to the checkpoint in time for their scheduled workshops for the day. The winning team was awarded a bag of ECU goodies, which went down well!

After the tour of the campus, students were split in to two groups with the purpose of simulating the smaller workshops that take place at university, compared to high school. The groups then completed three separate workshops in rotation; a DNA workshop, a Chemistry workshop, and a cybersecurity workshop. Highlights of the day included students being exposed to working in state-of-the-art facilities and getting to demonstrate their information technology prowess by solving several simulated cybersecurity-based problems.

At the conclusion of the day, students were informed of the many different student options available to them at ECU, on completion of their secondary studies. ECU staff commented on the impressive level of engagement and respect demonstrated by Belridge students. Hopefully involvement in the event assisted students to become more aware of the many study and career options they have available to them once they are ready to transit to tertiary education.

Mr Ashley Mouritz and Ms Jodie Grieve
Career Practitioner and Year 9 Coordinator

Career Education Focus in Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) classes during Weeks 9 and 10

Over the last two weeks of the school year all lower school students in Year 7, 8 and 9 and Year 10 senior school students have been completing  a structured career education program. Students have been spending time identifying and exploring their skills, abilities, interests, strengths, and experiences so they can match them to preferred industries and careers of interest. Students have also been spending time discussing the significance of their beliefs, values and attitudes, and recognising how each person’s goals differ from others. Importantly, students are guided to investigate the significance of their individual networks and recognise how they can utilise their school, community, family, sporting, and other relationships to help them to develop goals and create an action plan for success. Under classroom teacher guidance and support, students have been completing the Department of Education’s Individual Pathway Planning (IPP) booklet, which is a PDF editable. The resources are readily available under the Content section of the students’ virtual Connect class, ‘Career Information and Resources’. Each booklet involves students exploring their career pathway options, setting goals and creating an action plan for success.

Year 10 students have also recently been signed up for the ‘Careers Department’ online career education platform. The interactive platform allows students to identify and develop their key interests and goals, research and navigate careers of interest, complete virtual work experience and even develop an interactive electronic portfolio. Year 10 students will be supported to continue using this resource to strengthen their individual pathway planning during their flexible Wednesday, period 5 next year. 

Please do not hessite to contact me if you would like to discuss how your child’s career development can be supported. 

Mr Ashley Mouritz
Career Practitioner                

E: Ashley.mouritz@education.wa.edu.au
P: 08 9408 8015

We now have approached the Noongar season of Birak. The warm weather is eventually here to stay for a while. The garden life slows down and the flower beds look slightly drab. The plants, however, are just taking a rest and will come back in Autumn. Most of our natives actually need the heat and the dry conditions in order to thrive.

Some plants, like Melaleuca pentagona, start flowering in early summer. We have one specimen in the garden that really likes its spot and produced a plethora of little pompom-like purple flowers. M. pentagona grows naturally in the southern parts of Western Australia (Albany to Esperance) where it endures the harsh coastal conditions. It’s such a little survivor that it became an introduced pest in other parts of WA.

At the end of the year I would like to thank Jenna, Tierney, Sophie and Kiara, Year 9, for lending a hand with the garden work as well as any other student who joined in every now and then.

Special thanks to Michael Lun (Year 10) who again took the amazing photographs for this article.

I wish everyone a great holiday season and a good start for 2023.

Dr Michael Werner
Science Teacher

Melaleuca pentagona, Bindi Bindi Garden 2022
Photographs credit - Michael Lun (Year 10)

Fundraiser Project

Belridge Education Support and their feeder schools invited our Year 10 Business class to join them for ESC Market Day this year and we had an absolute blast! Mrs Wright's Year 10 Business class were so successful, they sold out early! We also had a great time looking at all of the other stalls and the hard work the Education Support students had all put in too. All profits will go the groups chosen charities. Our two schools, one community motto worked it's wonders today, and we can't wait to do it again. 

Jade Wright
Humanities and Social Sciences
Student Council Coordinator  

New One Day/Week
External Training Course Places For 2023/2024

Many Year 10 students took advantage of the opportunity offered during Term 3 to apply for a position in one of the free vocational courses a number of Training Providers have made available for 2023 and 2024.

20 students accepted places offered to them in a variety of industry areas, from training providers such as North Metropolitan TAFE, South Metropolitan TAFE and College of Electrical Training. We also have one student who has been awarded a School Based Traineeship with the Department of Premier & Cabinet, which is a great achievement!

Most of these students will attend their course one day a week throughout Years 11 and 12 while still attending school.  WACE credit is gained upon completion of the course.

Workplace Learning - ADWPL

Year 11 non-ATAR students recently had the opportunity to participate in another two week block of Workplace Learning. Twenty students followed up on their Term 2 experience in the workplace and completed another very successful placement. Most of these students worked within the same industry area as their previous placement and a few selecting different workplaces for this block.

There is significant value in completing blocks of Workplace Learning. In addition to receiving WACE credit, students have the opportunity to explore future career paths, develop employability skills and establish industry contacts. Sometimes students are offered casual employment following placements.  We have also seen a positive number of apprenticeships offered.

Meredith Fuhrmann
VET/WPL Coordinator

Fashion and Design Program 

On the 19^th November we participated in the Kaicon Cosplay competition. We made these cosplay costumes from scratch with the awesome help of Mrs Dyer.  Mrs Dyer gave up her free time after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for four weeks to help us create these outfits. The experience was a good one, we all had lots of fun and hope to do it again in the future. We competed against adults who have many years experience making these types of costumes. We were so excited when Tiara won 3^rd place!

Kiara Willing, Tiara Udy and Tierney Trotter
Year 9 

What is Cosplay?

Cosplay is a performance art in which the participants dress in costumes and make-up, representing characters from anime, video games, television and film. In addition to creating authentic costumes, the cosplayers also act in character and are usually subject matter experts on the characters they are replicating.

Kiara Willing (Red/Yellow outfit), Tiara Udy (Pink/Brown outfit) and Tierney Trotter (Black outfit)

Visual Art

Year 9 2D Art students explored cut and torn Collage techniques over Still Life drawings of clowns this term. 

Year 10 Art students Visual Inquiry, exploring colour mixing and media application based on German Expressionist artist Franz Marc

Year 10 Art students Expressionist style acrylic on canvas Animal Paintings

School Reports

School reports have now been finalised and emailed to parents.

A reminder to download and save each report as you receive them as the link expires after four weeks.

Thank you. 

Elite Netball Camp - Year 9 

On Wednesday 16^th November, 15 Year 9 Netball students turned up to school ready and eager for our Woodman Point camp. We packed the bus and headed off to Ashdale Secondary College to begin. There we played against two of their Year 9 Netball teams and came away with two wins. A great start to our camp.

We then jumped back on the bus and headed to Volleyball WA to partake in a 2 hour coaching clinic. Volleyball is one of the sports other than Netball we play in the year 9 program. The students got a lot out of this and were even lucky enough to have a 2016 Rio Olympian coach them.

From here we headed to the recreation camp in Coogee (Woodman Point) and unpacked. After a little rest and relaxation we walked down to the beach for a little recovery in the water. A little icy cold water didn’t stop the students frolicking around in the water!

By this point it was time to head back to camp and start cooking dinner for the evening. Students enjoyed a carb loaded pasta meal (cooked by the students) in preparation for their competition day on the Thursday. After dinner we watched video footage from their Ashdale game and set some goals for the competition.

Most people got a good night sleep and were up bright and early the next day! After breakfast we got ready for their big day and left camp by 8.30am for Harrisdale.

We had two teams compete in division 1 and 2. They played 4 games each throughout the day and then both made the grand final. Both teams only had 7 players so a huge effort. The teams we played against over the day were Harrisdale, Melville, Atwell and Darling Range. Three of these schools are Tier 1 specialist schools.

Scores over the day for both teams are listed below:

An incredible result from both teams. Finishing Champions in Division 1 winning the Danjoo Koorling Cup. Also finishing runners up in Division 2 just shows the talent we are developing here at Belridge Secondary College.

A few happy students and a few very tired bodies jumped back on the bus and headed off for camp. A relaxing afternoon was necessary before a bbq dinner again cooked by the students. After our wind down and dinner we headed off on a slow night time beach walk then a relatively early bed time.

The Friday allowed a slower wake up and breakfast. We had to pack up and leave at around 9:30am for a surfing lesson at Secret Harbour. Not even the raining, windy and freezing day could put us off! We ended up traveling a little further to be a bit more protected for our surfing lesson. After a few tips and tricks from the coach everyone headed out to give it a go. At some point almost everyone was able to stand up even if it was short lived!

After getting dry and back in our warm clothes we headed for a warm lunch on the way home and then began the journey back to school.

All students had a ball and made it and enjoyable experience for everyone and well done once again on fantastic Netball results.

Miss Hunt
Year 9 Netball Teacher

School Fees and 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 download and complete the form and email to us or contact our Administration Team 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 bank, Comm Bank, as follows: 

Please ensure you quote as your reference STUDENT NAME and YEAR GROUP and PAYMENT DETAILS i.e. JOE BLOGGS Y9 - RIVER CRUISE.

Planning your school route for 2023

If you have a child heading to high school next year, use the Get on Board website to get them prepped for travelling on public transport. Go to 
www.getonboard.transperth.wa.gov.au to find out more.  

Tip! Plan your route no more than two weeks out from the start of the gazetted school term, using the Transperth Journey Planner (remember to change the date in the Journey Planner to the first day of school - Wednesday 1 February)

Services often change at the start of a school year.  Journey planning less than two weeks out ensure you receive the most up-to-date information. 

Say Cheese!

Please make a note in your calendar that school photo day is Friday 17 February 2023, with catch-up day on Friday 24 February.

Details on how to order will be distributed to parents closer to the event date. 

Specialist Programs will have Group Photos taken on catch-up day. Please speak to your Program Coordintor for details on what you are required to wear for these photos.

2023 Community Art Exhibition

CALLING ALL LOCAL ARTISTS!

Entries for next year's Community Art Exhibition competition will open on Monday 12 December - Monday 13 February 2023. Consider this an early heads-up to start thinking about your entry, or even a chance to get started on creating your artwork over the summer break. 

There is a prize of $750 for the Student Award (ages 12 to 18), as well as six other monetary and commission prizes up for grabs. 

The Community Art Exhibition is set to take place at Lakeside Joondalup Shopping Centre from Sunday 26 March - Sunday 16 April 2023.

More information and how to enter can be found here:

https://www.joondalup.wa.gov.au/kb/resident/community-art-exhibition-13 

or contact visualarts@joondalup.wa.gov.au

The Sketchbook Project

Whitford Library is a going to be a library hub for the Propel Youth Arts WA Sketchbook Project.

The Sketchbook Project is a collaborative and visual experience that provides an opportunity for young people to share their own personal stories and passions with the wider community across Western Australia.

Sketchbooks have provided a space for the greatest works and stories of our time to grow. Tell your own story using a sketchbook provided free of charge by Propel Youth Arts WA! For information about the project, key dates, and link to the Info Sheet go to: 

https://www.propel.org.au/sketchbook-project-2022

Direct link to register:

https://form.jotform.com/221768939049875

After registering, students can collect a blank sketchbook from Whitford Library in January. They will be contacted when their book is ready to collect.

They have 2 months to unleash their creativity and fill their sketchbook with their art, poetry – however they want to express themselves - before returning it to Whitford Library by the end of March.

The Sketchbooks will be displayed in a micro-exhibition at Whitford Library, before being displayed at the Sketchbook Exhibition at the State Library after the KickstART Festival. Once that has wrapped up, the books go on a travelling tour around the state, visiting libraries all over WA.

The sketchbooks will be returned to students in Feb 2024.