Happy Mothers Day to our grandmothers, carers and mums last weekend. The breakfast here at the college was extremely successful and we hope everyone was spoiled. Thank you to our many families and staff who joined us at one of the local ANZAC services.

Congratulations to our Year 12 students who received Principal List Awards from their reports at the end of Term 1. Year 11 reports are about to be published as well this week. At this time of year, we encourage families to look at the successes first and then to areas of improvement for the remainder of the term.

Since we commenced Term 2, there has been an extended focus on opportunities beyond the classroom and programs that support and enrich our learning and teaching programs. I hope that you have been able to read about some of these via our socials or where possible you have attended to support teams and individual students.

Some of these opportunities included:

• Rite of Passage for Year 12 and their retreat at Yarrahapinni. Thank you to Rev Cooke, Ms Mosco, Mr Blyther, Mr Close and Tutor staff.
• The Big Science Competition coordinated by Mrs Fiona Harris.
• HICES Debating where BDC students were in 12 debates and won 8. It also included students from Years 5 to 11 from 3 different schools and finished at 6pm on a Friday. Thank you to Mrs Baldwin and Mrs Dal Pozzo and many staff and parent volunteers.
• Senior Ethics Olympiad coached by Mrs Brown.
• Year 10 Ocean Surf Safety Award instructed by Mr Andrews.
• Dance Studio official opening (postponed from 2021), thank you Mrs Johnson and Freeman.

Recent student sporting success for NSWCIS includes:

Halo Campbell AFL, Keira Williams Basketball and Bayley Johnson winning Bronze in the 100m freestyle around please congratulate them on their selection into NSWCIS teams. There were also a number of other students trialing and competing.

Class of 2022 and Accelerated Year 11 Students

Year 12 and our accelerated Year 11 HSC students are now well into HSC mode. 

Every HSC student should now be able to talk at home about their study needs, assessment dates and use of the iHUB or attending the college to complete major works. These timelines are now short and there will be an increased workload for HSC students throughout Term 2. It could be the time to cut back on shifts at work and some of those busy schedules. Keeping in conversations with our young adults at this time is essential to assist with planning, meeting deadlines, and wellbeing priorities.

Helping our busy HSC students plan time away from the books, social media and being active is a good idea. It is helpful for parents to remind them that while working hard, their mental and physical health needs to be a part of their plans as well. The wonderful retreat at Yarrahapinni was completed last week. The setting was magnificent, our Year 12 built their community and relationships and spent some time on their own wellbeing before coming back home and to the business of life. Thank you to our staff for their successful two days and for completing this rite of passage with Year 12.

Year 12 should also be creating accounts with the University Admission Centre (UAC) https://www.uac.edu.au/ and similar organisations in other states where needed for university entrance in 2023. 

Curriculum for Year 8 and Year 10

Throughout Term 2 there are different meetings and information sessions as we start to build towards Year 8 elective choices in Term 3 for 2023 called World Options. Year 10 will also begin to focus more directly on careers, pathways and courses for Year 11 in 2023. Year 8 and Year 10 will complete workshops at the end of Term 2 and receive handbooks with detailed curriculum information. At the start of Term 3, there will be information nights. If you are aware of friends who are considering BDC for 2023 in Year 9 or Year 11 specifically, they should contact enrolments as usual to receive an invitation to these events in Term 3.

Winter Uniform Years 7 to 12 commences Monday 30th May, Week 6.

Commences this term. From Week 6 Tuesday 30th May, full winter uniform is to be worn 7 to 12.

Autumn has brought about some of our cooler mornings already. Our uniform options include a number of items for the cooler months including trousers, softshell jacket for K to 10, a jumper for any year group, and the blazer for Year 10-11-12. Year 12 may also wear their jacket. Students cannot wear non-uniform items to or from the college. We encourage you to visit the uniform shop well before it turns cold to purchase a blazer or a softshell for Years 7 to 10. A reminder that long sleeve shirts under college shirts are not permitted.

Uniform Guidelines: https://www.bdc.nsw.edu.au/mybdc/general/policies 

Year 10-11-12 Winter Uniform

College blazer (or Year 12 jacket) and college jumper (optional). College senior shirt tucked in and college tie, black lace-up polishable shoes, college hat. Navy or skin or black coloured stockings may be worn in winter. 

Year 7-8-9 Winter Uniform

College unisex shirt, college softshell jacket or blazer, college navy skirt, shorts or trousers, college tie, college jumper, navy or skin or black coloured stockings or college socks, black leather lace-up polishable shoes, college hat.

Term 2 Reports

Year 11 Reports should be published at the end of next week in our portal. 

Years 7-8-9 and 10 are published in the last week of Term 2. 

NAPLAN for Years 3-5-7 and 9 

This week NAPLAN has occurred online across the campus. Thank you to Mrs Sarah Stokes and Mr Craig Verbruggen for their organisation of these national assessments.

Thank you to our students for the first two weeks of Term 2 and the events that have already occurred at this time. Term 2 has a busy academic focus and we encourage the use of the iHUB after school and using a calendar at home to plot the busy assessment times. Please contact individual class teachers for assistance with assignments or assessments at this time.

Simon Doyle
Assistant Principal (Head of Secondary)