Belridge Secondary College is going from strength to strength.

As the first Semester comes to an end it is a time to celebrate the wonderful successes that we have had during the first half of the year and take a moment to re-focus on our school priorities. Great schools never take their eye off improvement and are in the constant cycle of planning and review. Planning and review happens at all levels of our school; classrooms, teams of teachers and through weekly leadership meetings. Our School Board, students and families also play an important part in review and setting future direction for our school.

Early next term, we will have our formal review conducted by a Director from the Public Schools Accountability team. All Public Schools now undertake this process and we are welcoming the review with open arms. It gives us a chance to thank those staff that make our school a great place to celebrate the wonderful students that make Belridge Secondary College what it is. This review is also an important part of the future for Belridge Secondary College. As we begin to develop our next Business Plan (2020-2022) this report, along with input from staff, students, community and the College Board, will determine our future direction and priorities.

We are building an even better Belridge and we would like you to be part of it. You would have received an invitation to our Open Board Meeting on 5 August 2019. This board meeting will showcase aspects of our school, as well as provide our community with the first glimpse of the plans for our new Performing Arts Centre (PAC). If you would like to attend this meeting, please register your attendance online or by calling 9408 8000.

Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on our new style of newsletter and change to distribution approach.  Last month 567 families read our newsletter! This newsletter is an important communication tool between our school and home. There are so many things that we celebrate at Belridge and this newsletter contains updates about many of them.

Please join me in congratulating the Belridge students and staff on a wonderful and very successful first semester.

Melesha Sands
Principal 

Click HERE to view the June 2019 Board Report 

OLNA 2019

We have started Wednesday afternoon (1.20pm to 2.20pm) OLNA Support Classes for any Year 11 and 12 students who are yet to achieve category 3 in any OLNA component. Students have been provided with a code that enables them to register an account on olna.com.au and work on Skill Builders in preparation for the next round in September. We encourage all OLNA students in Years 10-12 to register for free (saving $50) by using the school code and instructions - available from English and Mathematics teachers and the college library.

VET News

We have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with North Metropolitan TAFE to deliver the four qualifications previously partnered with VETIS Consulting Services. This will allow our current Year 12 students to achieve their certificates once they complete the remaining units of competence.

The Department of Education has set up a panel of private RTOs (Registered Training Organisations) providing services to WA public schools. These RTOs have responded to a tender process, and will have been approved through meeting quality assurance benchmarks. At this stage, we cannot advertise our 2020 VET Partner RTOs until they have been approved to be on the DoE Private RTO Panel, but we are confident that our current private RTO partners will be successful in tendering to be included on the panel.

Year 12 students are reminded that all VET work must be completed by Friday 20 September (Term 3 week 9), as we need to provide results to each RTO for verification prior to uploading results to SCSA. Year 11 students will continue working on their Units of Competence until 31 October.

Workplace Learning

During Weeks 5 and 6 (27 May to 7 June) around 120 VET students joined a variety of employers in the community to complete a two week block ADWPL (Workplace Learning Placement).  Our students are consistently praised by employers, who are impressed with their presentation, conduct and willingness to learn. We thank our teachers who readily volunteered to monitor and visit students in their workplaces during the placement.

ADWPL provides a great opportunity for students to try out various occupations, apply skills in a workplace setting and gain valuable feedback about their performance in a workplace. Please remember that in order to gain credit for a placement, students need to log a minimum of 55 hours, complete logbook and skills journal requirements.  Logbooks must be handed in to Mrs Fuhrmann.

Carlos Notarpietro
Associate Principal

From The Chaplain's Desk

It’s been a busy time for me this term, especially with the Chaplain's Dinner and Year 8 camp. In terms of the Chaplain's Dinner, I want to again thank everyone involved as it truly is a team effort.  Being my first event, I had nothing to compare it to, however, from all reports it was a great success! Well done to all the Year 11 and 12 Hospitality and Business students and staff and the Home Economics Department for all your hard work.  It was a great night of networking and socialising.

The Year 8 camp was also great with students challenging themselves in many different ways with the adventure activities, teamwork tasks, being away from home (some for the first time) and caring for themselves.

I want to formally mention and thank the sponsors of the Chaplains Dinner Raffle who freely and generously donated some amazing prizes:

Joondalup Resort and Country Club
Rottnest fast Ferries, Hillarys
Grange Insurance Solutions
Automasters, Beldon
Over Board Cafe, Hillarys
Super Bowl, Warwick
Heathridge Liquor Store
Beldon Florist
Coles, Beldon

Phil Leenman
Chaplain

NAIDOC Preparations

A group of our ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island) students from Year 7 to 10 come together on a Tuesday afternoon to celebrate and explore their rich culture and heritage. Currently the group are working on their NAIDOC day assembly that will be held on the final Wednesday of this term.  We are very proud of the strong Aboriginal presence and connection that they are going to share with the school community.  An invitation has been emailed to parents to join us in our celebrations. The whole school community will be coming together to share a BBQ at lunchtime and an interactive cultural assembly.  Recognising NAIDOC Day is an extremely important aspect of our College events and we would love to share this with our families. 

Bridgid Lafferty and Lisa Pignatiello

A Splash of Colour with a message 

Two Year 12 Visual Arts students recently created large-scale artworks for our Student Services building.  Hannah Moro's work speaks about the importance of self-love and self-confidence.  Targeted mainly at young females and recognising their importance in the universe, despite being in a world where it has been made difficult to love themselves in their form.   Jasmine Warner's work portrayed in a Pop Art style is about what it feels like to be a part of the LGBT community and shielding yourself from the negative phrases and words poured down on you. The figure is shown almost as a super hero with her strong pose and unconcerned gaze. 

Lisa Pignatiello
Year 12 Visual Arts Teacher

Year 11 Visual Arts

Students have created some fantastic masks for the purpose of celebration, ritual or representation of an issue reflecting their character, personality and/or cultural back. 

Noelene Hales
Visual Arts Teacher

During Wednesday Lunchtime in Week 7, the staff of Belridge SC played the AFL Girls Football Team in an enjoyable, yet competitive game of touch football. The girls were victorious in the end, with an amazing showcase of how far they have come in their training and development. There was a tremendous amount of support bringing the whole school community together. We look forward to the next staff vs. students' game!

Lisa Pignatiello
Girls' Football Coordinator

Connect Now mobile app is free to download.  Facilities include reporting your child's absence and being able to upload medical certificates/notes. 

Belridge SC is introducing a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program for incoming Year 7 2020 students.  The program will then continue the following years for all new Year 7 cohorts.

A parent information night is scheduled for Tuesday 30 July from 6.00pm to 7.00pm.  Prospective parents will be given BYOD information, costings and proposed timetables.  Please register your attendance by calling the school on 9408 8000.  Should you require further information you may wish to contact Elizabeth Cassidy directly by email to elizabeth.cassidy@education.wa.edu.au 

Parent/Teacher interviews will be held from 3.30pm to 6.30pm on Thursday 4 July for Years 7 to 12.  Instructions will be emailed shortly on how to process your bookings, together with your unique access code.  If you have not received your instruction letter by Friday 28 June, please contact the school for assistance. 

BOOKINGS OPEN MONDAY 1 JULY AT 4PM
AND CLOSE PROMPTLY ON THURSDAY 4 JULY AT 12 NOON

www.schoolinterviews.com.au

Event Code vjmp3

Parents who do not have access to the internet can contact the school office for assistance in booking places on 9408 8000.

You can return to the website at any time to amend or cancel interviews, up until bookings close.  Please note that timeslots are limited and interviews are strictly 7 minutes.  If you require more time please contact the teacher directly to make alternative arrangements. 

We Want Your Suggestions!

The Belridge Secondary College Student Council are constantly seeking feedback from their fellow students to be brought to the attention of school leaders, such as Ms Sands, Principal.  Students can write their suggestions, comments or ideas and place them in Student Council suggestion box, located in the library.

Recycling

The Student Council has arranged battery recycling at BSC. Students can now recycle dead batteries sizes: button, 9 Volt, N, AAAA, AAA, AA, C, D by placing them in the battery recycling container located in the library.

Chloe Ironmonger
Student Council Coordinator

Great news for Belridge and our wider community!  If you didn't get to see the recent article in the Joondalup Times that we have received funding for a new Performing Arts Centre, you can read about it here.  

Over the last two years, the Belridge Dancers have been lucky enough to have worked with Lucy Doherty and Rob McLean from One Dance Collective in Sydney.

Rob and Lucy have a unique style with their teaching, choreography and approach to our students. We are very fortunate to work with dancers who have such a passionate, caring and nurturing approach to our young students.

Lucy and Rob bring their professional knowledge and creative minds to our students and encourage them to expand their horizons as dancers. It is always such a valuable experience working with Rob and Lucy and we are so grateful to have built a partnership with them. We look forward to future visits and opportunities to expand our knowledge of dance.

"It is always a pleasure connecting and sharing with the dance students at Belridge Secondary College. We are grateful for their open minds and positive attitudes towards both contemporary and hip hop styles, but more importantly, their respect and joy in class. The recent trip was the third time working with the school and there are a few students that we have worked with since the first trip. To see their progress is lovely and inspiring. Thank you to Heather Currie for creating a supportive space for these students, for continuing to offer them incredible opportunities and for letting us be a small part of it." – Rob and Lucy

Heather Currie
Dance Teacher

The Belridge Dance Company performed their piece "Body Love" recently at the Meraki School Festival at the Perth Convention Centre. The dance was based around body image and how this impacts youth in our society. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to showcase their talents and also to see what other schools in the community are creating. We received such positive feedback from the organisers, other teachers, parents, students and the judges:

"you all look so professional, you've raised the bar"
"you all portrayed a very important message"
"that was so powerful you had me in tears"
"you were very well rehearsed and it paid off"
"patterning and transitioning was very smooth"
"it was very emotive, it gave me goosebumps"

We came home with the "Most Powerful Message" award!  I could not be any more proud with the way the group performed their routine. They have worked so hard and committed themselves to all rehearsals outside of school hours. They are such a wonderful group of young people to work with, who welcomed and encouraged other schools and represented Belridge Secondary College with pride.

Heather Currie
Dance Teacher

Year 8 Prime Minister Campaign

A few weeks ago, Mrs De Ponte’s Year 8 English class undertook the challenge of presentations. Students looked outside of the school for their inspiration and thought about Australia as a whole – they considered who would be the best person to run Australia. As this character, students created posters and presented a campaign speech to convince their peers that they would be the best person to run Australia.

Students took on the challenge with flair, and some great candidates were presented from YouTube stars, fictional characters, actors and even childhood characters! At the end of two days, students considered the policies presented by the candidates and the overall persuasive nature of the campaign, before voting for who they thought was the best candidate for the job. Congratulations to Barbie, embodied by Mya Firth, who was voted in as Prime Minster and will get to run a lesson later in the year as her reward.

Write a Book in a Day

On Friday 26 July 2019, we will once again be undertaking the “Write a Book in a Day” challenge, organised by the Kids’ Cancer Project. For this challenge, the students will work as a team, and over twelve consecutive hours plan, write, illustrate, bind and submit a children’s book which will then be distributed to Children’s Cancer Wards around Australia.  Students in previous years will be returning to undertake the challenge again with some new faces joining the experience, which all enjoy (even with the long hours!).

This year we are again running three teams to support this worthy cause; two teams from last year are returning as our Year 12 and Year 11 teams (previously the Year 11 ATAR and Year 10 ATAR teams) and we welcome a new group of Year 10 ATAR students to take on the challenge. All teams are seeking sponsorship for this worthy cause; not only will sponsorship allow their book to be entered into competition with other teams, but all funds will go directly to the Kids’ Cancer Project to help them search for a cure and find better treatment for children with cancer.

All sponsorship can be completed at www.writeabookinaday.com  Simply follow the prompts to Sponsor a Team and find Belridge Secondary College, then you can select from our Year 12, Year 11 or Year 10 ATAR team (or can even support specific students). As this is for a charitable cause, all sponsorship is also tax deductible.

We hope you will support us in the fantastic cause as we join creative forces to give back to the community, and can’t wait to share how the day goes!

Lisa De Ponte
English/Literature Teacher

Year 8 Lightning Carnival - Netball

On Thursday 18 June five Year 8 netball teams participated in the lightning carnival at Kingsway Sporting Complex. The girls had a great day playing with their friends and showing off their skills, with two netball academy teams and three general teams. Thank you to all the Year 9 and 10 helpers that scored and umpired, as well as the players that filled in for other schools and teams. Overall it was a great day with great sportsmanship shown from all schools involved.

Netball High School Cup 

On Tuesday 7 May, all ten Netball Specialised Teams from Year 7 to 12 played in the Northern Netball High School Cup. All teams played really well on the day and showed great sportsmanship. Thank you to the girls that umpired and to the ex-students, Miss Hunt and parents that coached. Congratulations to the 6 teams that progress to the next round.

Miss Markovic and Miss Mann
Health & Physical Education Teachers

Year 9 Lightning Carnival - Girls' Soccer

Well done to the two girls soccer teams that recently participated in the lightning carnival.  You represented the school so well, played with enthusiasm and with a smile on your faces.  You displayed awesome sportsmanship.

Tiffany Collins
Health & Physical Education Teacher

Year 9 Lightning Carnival - Netball

Belridge entered its inaugural Senior Boys Basketball team this year, after an extensive selection process, including nearly 60 students, 3 tryouts and some tough decisions. A squad of 12 was picked made up of Year 10, 11 and 12 students and we began preparing to enter the competitive Alkimos/Northern Beaches league, which included multiple state champions Woodvale, as well as Butler, Wanneroo, St Stephen's Carramar and Kinross.

Our first game against Butler was my first chance to see our team in action, and boy, was I impressed. For a team who had never played competitively together before, they displayed synergy and exciting teamwork. After being 20 points down with four minutes to go, the boys rallied to be only 3 points down with less than a minute on the clock. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to bridge the gap in time and ended up going down 39 to 45, but it was an exciting game and the boys fought bravely.

Tough games against Wanneroo and Kinross followed. Both ended in close wins. One of which was a nail-biting home win against Kinross, highlighted by a 3/4 court and one by Jack Lee in the dying seconds to secure the victory. Despite ending the game on a high, our attention quickly turned to our next opponent. The all-conquering Woodvale.

A win was always going to be tough, but my emphasis was on the boys having fun, and making the most of the opportunity to learn from arguably the best basketballers in the state. We ended up keeping Woodvale to their lowest score of the tournament, as well scoring the highest of any team against the basketball powerhouse. The Woodvale coach commented after the game that although he'd faced better players, Belridge was one of the better teams he'd encountered.
Then came our game against St Stephen's. Belridge's defining moment of the competition and our most memorable performance. Needing a minimum 20 point win to advance to the knockout stage, the boys put on a near-flawless display, dominating both ends of the court and notching an inspirational 35 point victory. We were through! I kept reiterating to the boys that anything after the group matches was a bonus. I was immensely proud of what they'd already achieved and the competition was going to get a lot harder from then on.

We played the first knockout round against Warwick at HBF Arena on June 18th. The boys played valiantly, but we were eliminated from the competition by a team I later learned featured 2 national and 2 state representatives.

I'd like to thank and congratulate our students for their dedication and sportsmanship over the last few months. I've enjoyed coaching the team and I'm truly thankful to be able to help our students pursue their sporting passions. There is a bright future for basketball at Belridge Secondary College.

2019 SSWA Senior Boys Basketball Squad

Patrick "Brick Wall" Bowyer
Ethan "Baller" Boyce
Jakob "Money" Buck
Jasper "Drive It Hard" Dawe
Jayson "Dimer" Dolzan
Jack "From Deep" Forrest
Jack "Lazer" Lee
Kyle "Prodigy" Podlich
Dylan "Skyscraper" Stewart
Jimmy "Split The D" Sullivan
Matt "Take It To The Hole" Taylor
Jarryd "Which Way Did He Go?!" Walsh
Coach - Jarrad "I'll Buy You Gatorade" Timu

Jarrod Timu
Health & Physical Education Teacher

Over the course of the semester, students in Year 11 have been participating in mindfulness activities once a week during form time. Form teacher’s lead the practice using the Smiling Mind app that directs students through breathing and body scanning activities.  Mindfulness is the art of paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity and without judgement. Studies conducted by researchers at Smiling Mind have found both teachers and students benefit from mindfulness.

Teachers reported:

- Improvements in sleep quality
- Improved concentration
- Enhanced wellbeing

Students reported:

- Improvements in emotional wellbeing
- Reduced psychological stress
- Enhanced positive wellbeing
- Improvements in concentration

The Year 11’s have been really receptive of the program and it’s great to see the positive impact the mindfulness activities have had on these students. For anyone interested in mindfulness the Smiling Mind app is a free or alternatively you can sign-up for free on their website www.smilingmind.com.au

Brent Jarvis-Spinks
Health & Physical Education Teacher
and Year 11 Coordinator 

Many of us recall that bringing home a new baby can be a wonderful, but also challenging, time. A new baby heralds a major lifestyle change as the baby’s needs take priority. The Virtual Babies are designed to also be very demanding, with unpredictable waking, feeding and sleeping patterns. Caring for the Virtual Baby gives students a taste of this reality. Year 11 and Year 12 students studying Certificate II in Community Services, take turns in caring for one of our three Virtual Babies, taking them to classes and home for one or two nights. The students then reflect on the experience and soon come to the realisation that they are not ready for such a huge responsibility and just enjoy their sleep too much!

Ms Cheryl
Home Economics
Teacher In Charge

All college staff recently participated in a Numeracy Awareness professional learning opportunity, focussing on estimation and data displays presented by the Numeracy Lead Team. Staff worked collaboratively throughout the nine activities specifically designed to activate numeracy engagement.

Numeracy learning takes place outside the mathematics classroom and this is now very evident with the new and exciting compass rose painted at the bottom of the ramp near the entrance to the oval. The sun dial clock outside the library has also been rejuvenated with a fresh coat of paint. Students from various classes have already made use of these two tools for supporting cross curricula learning intentions.

Glynne Bartle
AEP Coordinator 

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.

Payments can be made by cash or EFTPOS at the front office or Direct Deposit to ANZ Bank.

BSB: 016-494
Account: 102744334

Please ensure you quote as your reference STUDENT NAME and YEAR.  Thank you.

Administration office hours are between 8:00am to 4:00pm.

Secondary Assistance Scheme
Applications extended till end of Term 2

For parents of Years 7-12 students, who may have been financially impacted/affected by COVID 19 or to assist low-income families - the Secondary Assistance Scheme has been extended by the government till the end of Term 2.  Applications can be made by attending in person at the front office and close Friday 3 July 2020.

Recycled Timber Wood Projects

Year 11 and 12 students are in the process of completing their Semester 1 wood general project. They completed a jewellery box project using all recycled timber (see examples). The box was made using the GIFKIN DOVETAIL JIG with either hinged or lift off lids. The boxes were made to a very high standard and the students were very proud of their finished product.

Lazo Njegich
Teacher - Design & Technology

Timber Wanted!

As always, the Design & Technology Department is 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