Mothers Day Breakfast in the Branson Centre was exceptional with over 700 community members attending, and a big range of first timers to our breakfast: mothers, grandmothers, carers and special friends. I was also very pleased to see the high school students attending (it is about mum after all!). I hope Sunday was special with family and friends - even having some time to yourself is special. 

To help us deliver the best possible experience, we kindly ask that families RSVP by the dates provided for each event. This helps us manage important logistics like catering, seating, and staffing. While we aim to make our events open and welcoming to all, occasionally we do need to set attendance limits to ensure everything runs smoothly. Our events team works closely with school staff, many of whom are balancing their regular school day responsibilities so timely RSVPs make a big difference. 

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. We look forward to sharing many more memorable events with you.

Opportunities Beyond the Classroom?

In a K-12 school we are blessed with a range of clubs, outdoor activities, performing arts, academia and sport opportunities to name a few areas. These also occur throughout the curriculum programs like Kaizen and World Options.

Musica Viva K-6, Year 2 Bongil Bongil excursion, Mid North Coast Da Vinci Decathlon, NCIS Secondary Football Trials, Year 10 History Incursion, Michael Dolce Workshops/Master Classes are a sample of opportunities this week in our busy community. These are developed for our students to be included through interest and/or expertise. We encourage all families to discuss at home with your children the different clubs, performing arts, sports and opportunities that become available throughout the year. 

Our expectation is that we will also see our students at the well known planned events such as Foundation Day this term, the cross country and athletics carnivals. It is about opportunities, our community and engaging in the life of the college; this is the BDC Way, as it nurtures a child’s character, builds community and aims to transform children into world prepared citizens.

Outdoor Education programs and rites of passage for Year 5 and Year 11 are part of Term 2. We wish these children all the best for their adventures outdoors as they develop their strength of character in a challenge-by-choice outdoor environment with their classmates and Tutor friends. One of the outcomes is often a deeper connection with their peers and also staff who attend these experiences. Another is a wellbeing benefit from experiencing the environment and great outdoors that we are blessed with on the NSW Far North Coast and Qld.

In the classroom across Semester 1 our learning and teaching programs become more focused for the end of Term 2 reports. Our HSC reports have already been published, Year 11 will be soon, followed by our K-10 reports at the end of the term. Please always take the time with your child to identify successes and challenges.

A busy performance schedule is about to commence with the local eisteddfods and I wish our staff and students well over these busy days; our students have lots of fun performing with their friends and peers.

The college scholarship program for 2026 has almost been completed as we compile this newsletter. Our range of scholarship areas is extensive and the opportunity to apply has been taken up by many families. I would like to acknowledge the time, effort and preparation these applications take and especially where auditions occur. We continue to have many dedicated, talented and gifted students apply across each year group, and many all rounders. Unfortunately, this also results in many students not receiving a scholarship. Thank you for your applications and time, and I encourage families to review scholarship criteria on our website in preparation for when applications are reopened for scholarships commencing in 2027.

God bless,

Simon Doyle
Principal