I’m excited that work has already started after the Minister’s announcement for Capital Works and concurrently we are also continuing facilities/ground improvement works through the accessibility building program.
It is also wonderful that the college continues to be minimally impacted by the current Teacher Shortage and we continue to be fully staffed which ensures our students have consistency in their learning so they achieve their personal excellence. Currently for Semester two the college is in the final stages of recruiting two positions.
College Events
During this period some of our Year 7-9 students were involved in the “Friendship Saver” program. Our Year 9 cohort have also commenced their Morrisby Testing which provides an opportunity for our students to explore career pathways and options. This testing is an important tool for our Pathway program in ensuring students make informed decisions around their subject selections in the Later Years. Thank you to Andrea Medic for her work.
The College Arts week was once again a highlight at the college with diverse activities which provided opportunities for our students to engage and showcased the creative talents at Buckley Park College. Arts Week also promoted the diversity of opportunities available within the Arts both in and outside of the classroom at the college.
Currently our Year 9 and Later Years students are also involved in their Semester 1 Examinations which allows our students to demonstrate their understanding of the key knowledge/skills in their subjects. All our students also participated in the annual Attitude to School Survey which is a key tool in gauging how our students feel in relation to their schooling and the college.
In the coming weeks our Instrumental Music students will be working with the Navy Band and we will be hosting our annual Winter Concert
Our Year 10 students will also be off to their annual snow camp to Mount Buller. At the beginning of Term 3 our Year 9-11 students will commence their Subject Selections for 2026. This is an important process as it informs the college of the pathways which students wish to pursue and allows the college to plan so that we can best accommodate students' subject choices which includes the provision for students to be extended through their later years.
Capital Works
We are thrilled to announce that Buckley Park College has secured $19.3 million in capital works funding in this year's state budget to bring our long-anticipated Science and Technology Centre to life. This significant investment marks a major milestone in ensuring our students have the environment to achieve their personal excellence.
The new Science and Technology Centre will have modern science, wood technology, visual design, robotics and electronics spaces. This funding will enable us to break ground on a project that enhances our educational offerings and positions the college to perfectly prepare for the introduction of our STEAM Academy in 2026. Phase 1 construction of the Science and Technology Centre will begin in November this year, with completion anticipated in 2027. We are deeply grateful to the advocacy of our families, students, and school council. I also wish to thank our Minister for Education, Hon. Ben Carroll, for his continual support of the college and recognition of the importance of this project to the school.
We have commenced progressing on preparing the site to ensure the smooth commencement of construction. Working with the VSBA we are in the process of appointing a project manager and then tendering for construction. In the meantime, we have scheduled in July the moving of the North Portables (Rooms NP 1-6) to the southern end of the school allowing the space to be fully available for assessment/construction.
Stay tuned for more updates as we begin this exciting new chapter!
Uniform Transition
Throughout Term 2 we have now successfully transitioned to our new Uniform Provider “Uniform Group - Academy Uniforms”. The college has worked in minimising disruptions to uniform supply and provision though understand there are items which had issues. Additionally we also had to navigate the challenges of the contract amongst the introduction of new direction from DET.
We thank our community for their understanding and with the commencement of Term 3 we will see the introduction of new designs of uniform items/new items.
STEAM Academy
The college Year 7 STEAM program is now ready and in Term 3 we will commence selecting the students for the inaugural class of 2026. It has been wonderful to see the positive work of the team in developing a unique curriculum working with our partners, targeted to students who are passionate in STEAM.
This program complements the development of the STEM centre announced which is a fitting home of the program and provides a point of difference for our school.
I wish to thank Steve McGlade, our STEAM Academy leader for his work and am looking forward to seeing the STEAM Academy flourish welcoming Year 7-10 students in the coming years.
Year 7 Numbers 2026
The college has seen exceptional interest in enrolments after we made available for students to enrol out of zone. This is only possible due to the hard work of staff in establishing a culture of high expectations and the support of our community.
Thanks
It has been an exciting term at the college and wonderful to see our students engaged in their learning and our community come together. I want to acknowledge the strong family school partnership at the college and the immense support of our families. I wish to thank the staff for the immense effort in working collaboratively to ensure our students can reach their personal excellence. On a personal note, I also wish to thank the commitment and dedication of the School Council in overseeing the governance at the college.
Harold, Craig, James and Paul
Principal Team
