Principal's News 2026 Term 1 Week 3
By Simon Doyle, Principal
Strengthening Our Partnerships in 2026
At BDC, creating meaningful connections is at the heart of signature events and our extensive program of family showcases and co-curricular activities. Whether in the classroom, playground, co-curricular activities or through OSCH, our staff are deeply committed to building strong, genuine relationships with the students and your families. Many families have joined us already at the Year 7 and Primary Information Sessions, Picnic and Play, Sundowner and swimming carnivals at the start of the year. The first day of 2026 was of course very special as Kindergarten commenced their first day in school. Thank you for joining in these events or coming to a weekly assembly. Please contact our Student Services team via adminhub@bdc.nsw.edu.au or (02) 6651 5644 at any time for support or information.
Starting strong?
We know the first four weeks of the school year are especially important. During this time, we establish routines, set clear expectations and, most importantly, take the time to get to know each child in our classes. These early weeks lay the foundation for a positive and successful year of learning and growth. We encourage our families to update your child’s information in the Parent Lounge eg. change of address, new email, medical information or with Year or Stage Coordinators for major changes such as major health or family updates, camp specifics or the year ahead for example.
A Growing and Thriving Community
We are grateful to you our families for choosing BDC because you believe in our identity as an inclusive, Anglican, safe, creative, innovative and caring community. At the same time, we also remain committed to the pursuit of excellence — a central focus of The BDC Way.
Our motto, “Faithfulness in Service,” captures this commitment. It speaks to our desire to serve one another with integrity, generosity of spirit and mutual respect, while striving for excellence in learning, wellbeing and character development.
As our community grows, so too do expectations. Families rightly seek strong wellbeing programs, character and moral development, innovative teaching and learning, academic success, rich co-curricular opportunities and quality resources. A thriving community will also experience disagreements or tough times and early communication through these times will often help a resolution, improve an understanding or find a solution.
If you find yourself or your child uncertain about an issue, facing a difficult time please contact the College Wellbeing Team or Head of School to start a conversation.
Enrolments and College Tours
There are some limited vacancies across a number of year groups. If there are new people arriving in our area looking for a school that you have met, please encourage them to give the enrolments team a call and or to arrange a school tour.
2027 Kindergarten application finalisation have already commenced and we have started our letters of offer for next year. This process usually goes across March as well. Please submit your application for as early as you can and all year group applications are welcome at anytime.
Thriving - Our Class of 2025
121 wonderful young adults commence 2026 as BDC alumni. This was our largest valedictorian group ever in the history of the College. Outstanding character traits demonstrated through over $22,000 raised for charity, 4 students completed TAFE and 4 completed School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships. There were outstanding results for accelerated HSC students from Year 11 and Year 10 (yes Year 10 in the HSC!), 24 students with an ATAR over 80 (11 over 90). Congratulations to Camble Scott, our 2025 Dux with an ATAR of 98.35.
Significantly 79% of our students applied for university and 100% gained university entrance.
Congratulations to the Class of 2025, accelerated students, families, our staff and key leadership roles by Mrs Kelly, Ms Gudgeon, Mrs O’Connor Mrs Ryan. The success is always a team effort and there are further details of The BDC Advantage in our HSC results in this newsletter.
Placing Students First
In every interaction — whether a daily conversation, a collaborative discussion, curriculum development or a challenging moment — our guiding principle is to place students first. We aim to approach each situation with integrity, mindful communication and a willingness to understand different perspectives. The time our staff take through these daily interactions is impressive and a credit to their professionalism. We warmly encourage ongoing conversation with families throughout the year. Whether it is celebrating a student's success, discussing learning progress or navigating a concern, partnership works best when communication is open and timely. Conversations, held with goodwill and a shared commitment to understanding, make all the difference.
We aim to model behaviour and build our graduate attributes through The BDC Way and our core values across K-12 of mutual respect, service, generosity of spirit, justice, inclusiveness and integrity. Using this language at home can also assist the growth in our students at school.
Traffic and Safety on College Grounds
At the start of this year, we placed a particular focus on traffic management and road safety on our grounds. Following previous community feedback, our grounds team, supported by members of the College Leadership Team have spent time assisting families during peak periods.
Thank you for always following signage and staff directions for safety and parking expectations. We have already seen improvement in traffic flow at drop-off and pick-up times.
A reminder that the accessible parking spaces (painted blue), cannot be used unless an appropriate parking sticker is displayed in your window.
Family name signs: Displaying these on your dashboard is greatly appreciated and helps speed up pick up. Please ask for one of you have not received it yet.
Faithfulness in Service, Our College Motto
Throughout the year there are opportunities to become involved in a key part of the Anglican tradition through service, it is a part of our culture and philosophy. We have already had students at Surfing for the Disabled program, the Class of 2026 have commenced fund raising, Year 7 students have returned from their Round Square Conference in India and Year 11 completed their immersion in Cambodia.
In 2026 we welcome two students from Cambodia on full tuition scholarships and Mrs Bruggemann will focus on service with Years 6-7-8 for Ukraine and a local charity or NGO. We invite you to become a part of these programs throughout the year and to encourage each child through bake sales or non uniform days for example to participate fully.
We begin our preparation for Easter soon having marked the start of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service in the Branson Centre. We look forward to these services as we focus on our Anglican faith and mission and you are most welcome to attend.
Thank you for the start of 2026 and for your ongoing partnership and support as we continue to build a community grounded in faithfulness, service, courage, integrity and generosity of spirit — with our students at the centre.
As we all gather and stand upon Country, may we acknowledge and respect Gumbaynggirr Land and the thousands of years’ worth of both physical and spiritual connection to Country, culture and teachings embedded forever within these Lands.