As always at this time of the year, I look back and think “Where has the time gone?” However, when I reflect back on the year, we have accomplished so much. Here is a snapshot of some of the achievements at the school this year:

• Thanks to the generosity of Foodbank and Ms Harper and her partner Jake, we now have a Breakfast Club that is voluntarily run by Ms Harper, Mrs Reid, Mrs Anderson (our school nurse), our EA’s, me, Ms Phillips and Ms Reidy-Crofts. This is in addition to the service provided by Yuko and Big Mike and so Breakfast Club now runs every day.
• Our students represented our school in the community and received very positive feedback from the Anzac and Remembrance Day service, Blessing of the Roads, Bridgetown’s Got Talent, the Bridgetown Agricultural Show and the Bridgetown Blues to name a few.
• 30 students had a fantastic experience when they attended the Darwin camp and also received positive feedback about the way they conducted themselves.
• 29 students attended Country Week with yet again, students in the netball and volleyball teams being awarded the Sportsmanship awards. Basketball C won their division and all teams played to a high standard.
• Our SES Cadets participated in a wide variety of activities and camps and benefitted from these wonderful experiences.
• 40 year 10 students received their First Aid certificate and are now first responders.
• Our library, Room 5 and student toilets all received a major facelift and are now “state of the art” facilities.
• Our students in Years 7 and 9 performed strongly in NAPLAN with the 7’s being above expected performance in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy. Year 9 students were at expected performance in all areas.
• 71% of Year 10 students reached the minimum standard in OLNA in writing, 85% in reading and 83% in numeracy, which means that these students have already met the standard for WACE at the end of Year 12
• Our students continue to be awarded a variety of scholarships and be accepted in to destination schools such as Manea College and Agricultural Colleges as high quality applicants
• Our students continue to perform extremely well in national competitions such as the Australian Maths Competition and the Australian Geography competition.

All of these achievements would not happen without the dedication of our staff, the students and the support from families. They are very good reasons to be assured that we continue to provide a quality education to students in this community.

 I would also like to acknowledge the families of the following Year 10 students as they end their association with the school, with no younger siblings coming through. Thank you for all you have done to support us and your child throughout their journey at Bridgetown High School:

Amos Ackerman, Lilian Ashbil, Chippy Beggs, Lyrix Carlson, Ewan Carter, Joaquine Collin, Marietta Diallo, Paddy Dunne, Kelly Egerton, Rani Holdsworth, Lilly Hulm, Blake Lansley, Lia Maile, Abby Marshall-McKeand, Zachariah Nannup, Jasper Porteous, Dakota Poulton, Ruby Price, Meg Stewart-Crump, Marlin Webley-Hurrell, Connor Whyte, Harry Wilson.

To everyone else, thank you for your ongoing support of the school and I look forward to working with you again next year. Until then, very best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a relaxing, enjoyable and safe holiday.

Mrs C. A Thorsby

Principal