Principal's News 2026 Term 1 Week 8
By Simon Doyle, Principal
As we approach Easter, our season of Advent has taken us through the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and now Love. My sincere thanks to our Chaplaincy team, Heads of House, and Religious Ethics and Philosophy teachers for guiding our students and staff through this important journey. You are warmly invited to join us for our K–12 Easter Service at 9:15am on Thursday 2 April in the Branson Centre.
Our BDC community continues to grow, and I thank families for sharing their belief in our College with others. It has been wonderful to see so many connections across Term 1 through events such as the Sundowner, parent/teacher/student conferences, assemblies and our Bishops Blend gatherings. Term 2 promises many highlights, including our ANZAC Assembly, Mother’s Day Breakfast and EYE Week. Please refer to Schoolbox for full details.
We are proud of our inclusive and diverse community, with 39 languages spoken at home and 24 different religious backgrounds represented. This was beautifully celebrated during Harmony Week, reinforcing our commitment to inclusivity and mutual respect through the BDC Way. Thank you to the many families who dressed and celebrated their heritage or the colour orange. Over $2000 was raised on this day and will support women in need through the Warinna Women’s Refuge and Zonta Coffs Harbour Birth Kits. A big shout out to the Human Rights Group for coordinating the day with Mrs Rothacker.
Service Learning: Can you spare art products or textures and pencils? Our service learning programs continue in Term 2 with a focus on our Ukraine Art Pack project. I encourage families to support this initiative, which will bring creativity and comfort to children learning in challenging conditions. These art packs will be well received and make a difference for children who spend their school time in an underground school and in shelters. If you can support these young children, our school is taking donations now. You can provide packs or individual items, such as: coloured pencils, texture packs, lead pencils, erasers and sharpeners, water paints or writing pens, stickers, a small blank notebook, a torch, a small personal item e.g. Hot Wheels car, soft toy, bracelet or hair tie. Each art pack is approximately $20.
We also encourage you to keep your cans for recycling. We will have a drop off for recyclable cans at the start of Term 2. These donations will also support our service program.
Looking ahead, enrolments for 2027 are now open, with strong demand anticipated in key entry years of Kindergarten, Year 5 and Year 7. Please contact our enrolments team for further information: enrolments@bdc.nsw.edu.au.
A reminder that Term 2 begins for students on Tuesday 21 April, following a Staff Development Day on Monday. Our ANZAC Assembly will be held on Friday 24 April, and families are encouraged to join us as we honour this important occasion at local marches on 25 April (further information will be shared by our Deputy Principal).
I wish all members of our community a happy and Holy Easter.
Thank you for Term 1.
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.