Welcome to Term 2!  Before I talk about all the wonderful things happening this term, I wanted to highlight some of the great work that occurred at the end of last term.

The School Captains represented BHS at the annual Blessing of the Roads, held at the Town Hall.  Alex McGuire and Joe Reape spoke about the dangers of becoming distracted while driving.  They presented an excellent speech with assistance from Mrs Francke.  Students from other schools in the area also spoke about other road safety topics before everyone enjoyed morning tea provided by the CWA.

Students in Years 8 to 10 participated in a Youth Leadership Workshop funded by the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes (thank you!) and facilitated by the Youth Leadership Academy of Australia.  Students learned about the cycle of self-leadership - a positive mindset, understanding your feelings (and responding rather than reacting), followed by actions that they can be proud of making.  The students engaged in a range of activities as they explored these concepts.  They then brainstormed about what the big issues were for young people in our community.  They delved into what caused these issues and what opportunities could be explored to solve them.  This work will be used to help inform the Shire’s Youth Action plan.

We celebrated the terrific behaviour throughout the term with our PBS Reward Day on the last day.  Students enjoyed a sausage sizzle lunch and tried to solve the mystery of who kidnapped staff members (first it was me being kidnapped, then Yuko, the School Chaplain) – all in good fun, of course!  Students cooperated in teams to seek clues from around the school, until they could locate the missing staff member.  There were a lot of laughs had by all.  Thank you to our PBS staff and student teams for making this happen.

BHS participated in the ANZAC Services in town, with student leaders Alex McGuire and Grae Beswick speaking at the service on ANZAC Day.  They did a brilliant job representing the school and speaking so well about the ANZAC spirit and what it signifies.  I want to thank them for giving up their time on the holidays to meet this commitment.

On the first school day of Term 2, we conducted an ANZAC service delivered by the student leadership team.  This was a moving service, and the students were very well behaved throughout.  Thank you, Mrs Francke, for organising this important school event.

The staff started a day before the students and used this time for some important professional learning.  The whole staff is getting ready for our Public-School Review, which is happening in Term 3, so we reviewed how we are going and what we need to do next.  Staff also spent some time learning about a new system coming to BHS for recording attendance and behaviour data.  They attended a workshop run by Ms Cockerill, about how Artificial Intelligence can automate tasks for teachers and reduce their workload.  They finished the day by working in their teams to plan and prepare amazing programs for students.

I have started updating the school website.  It isn’t finished yet, but I am working through each section and making relevant changes.  I hope it is useful to those who visit it.  If you have suggestions for what you think we should include on the website, please let me know on kelly.anderson@education.wa.edu.au

We have welcomed an exchange student from France into our Year 10 cohort.  Astrid Leduc will be with us until the end of August.  Astrid is staying with a local family, whose children also attend BHS.  Astrid is learning English and Spanish, enjoys drawing and gymnastics, and seems to be settling in well to Bridgetown.

This term there will be a stronger focus on what’s next for our Year 10 students, as they start to contemplate their senior school course selections.  They will be well supported in this transition process, both by Mrs Hardey as well as through  visits from MSHS staff throughout the term.  Keep a close eye on the school planner for upcoming events.

Some specific events happening in Term 2 are:

• Student Forum – this team will visit the Shire Chambers once a term, to experience local government processes.
• Humanities and Social Sciences - Copernicus excursions and Geography and History Competitions.
• English – Year 9s will deep dive into social media and its impacts through their inquiry learning project.
• Roadwise incursions for Year 7s & 8s.
• Year 10 exams in Maths, English, Science and HASS in Week 6.
• Live and Deadly – a cultural performance by Sean Choolburra – for all students – in Week 7.
• Year 10 OLNA – testing is in Weeks 8 & 9.
• Boyup Brook DHS Lightning Carnival – our older students will be supporting this by umpiring and coaching the younger students.
• Career Conversations – a useful information session for parents and young people.
• Year 10 Test a Trade in Week 10.

Gee, we might be a smaller high school, but we sure have a lot going on!

Kelly Anderson

Student Leaders Alex McGuire and Grae Beswick represented BHS at the Bridgetown ANZAC service on ANZAC Day.  Alex and Grae both spoke to the large crowd gathered and then laid a wreath to honour those who have served our nation.

The school conducted its own ANZAC service on the first day of Term 1.  Our student leaders organised and presented a moving ANZAC Service for the whole school.  Students listened to the Ode, heard information about the landing at Gallipoli, and observed a minute’s silence to remember those who served and lost their lives.  A wreath was laid at the base of the school flagpoles.  Lest We Forget.

Hi! I am Astrid Leduc.  I am an exchange student from France.  I am studying at Bridgetown High School until the end of August and staying with a local family.  I am in Year 10.  I enjoy learning languages and have been learning English and Spanish.  I like drawing, reading fantasy books and watching movies.  I do artistic gymnastics and would like to try cheerleading.  I like trying new sports.  I am excited to be in Australia and in Bridgetown.

Year 9 and 10 Digital Technologies students at Bridgetown High School are hard at work preparing a robot for the upcoming 2025 WARP (WA Robotics Playoffs) competition, to be held at Curtin University in August. WARP is part of the global organisation FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which aims to inspire young people to become leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Through the challenge of designing and building a robot to play a unique, fast-paced game—featuring six robots on a court the size of half a basketball court—students develop essential 21st-century skills in collaboration, communication, critical and creative thinking, and innovation.

Our robotics students are excited to learn new skills and collaborate with peers from other schools across the state. Their participation highlights Bridgetown High School’s commitment to providing students with engaging STEM learning opportunities and preparing them for careers in technology and engineering.

This fortnight’s PBS Focus is RESPECT – Recognise and Value Differences.

It can be easy to recognise differences, however we would like to encourage students and the community to also value differences.

Let’s encourage acceptance of diversity.

Bridgetown HS celebrated National Careers Week with guest speakers from the Shire of Bridgetown and Greenbushes largest employer, Talison Pty Ltd. Amy Longbottom (Human Resources Officer) and Danny Hazelwood (former Trainee and now working for Talison in the People and Culture team) presented to the Year 8 Career Learning class about requirements and future employment opportunities at Talison.

National Careers Week is an initiative of the Career Industry Council of Australia. It aims to celebrate careers, career development, career development services, and career development practitioners and promote career development’s economic, social, and personal benefits.  Career development involves gaining and using the skills and knowledge needed to plan and make informed decisions about education, training, and work.