College Events
Our Year 7 and 9 students participated in NAPLAN testing where we had over 98.3% of our students participating in the testing over three days. It was fantastic to see our students focused and taking a positive attitude towards the testing. Thank you to Craig, Paul, Louise, and our teachers in ensuring the smooth running of the testing. I look forward to sharing our NAPLAN results soon.
Our students continue to have many unique learning experiences including our Physics students heading to Luna Park to see the concept of forces in action and our Year 10 Drama students watching a theatre production “Robot Dog”.
The college conducted Term 1 Parent Student Teacher Conferences via a hybrid model and saw the highest number of bookings for the last three years. The college is seeing an increasing demand in accessing bookings and connecting via remote format. I’m so grateful for the staff in their efforts throughout the Student Parent Teacher Conferences and for Paul in his leadership overseeing the event.
Our Year 7 students had an amazing camp at ADANAC where they were able to connect as a group through different activities. This camp is a wonderful approach for the students to bond as a group with the support of our Peer Support Leaders who also attended. This camp is only possible due to the dedication of our Year 7 Coordinator Margie and the support of the teachers/Education Support staff who attended. I also wish to acknowledge Clair our Wellbeing Support who led our Peer Support Leaders.
The Year 7 STEAM Academy planning is in its final stages ready for implementation in 2026. To promote this program and foster a passion for STEAM, the college has run workshops supporting our major feeder primary schools. This has been a great way to support our primary schools and promote the college. I wish to thank Steve our STEAM leader for his work, and in particular, our friends at Essendon North Primary and Aberfeldie Primary School for their engagement in our STEAM workshops.
The college also had our annual Career Expo where we had Universities, TAFEs/RTOs and organisations such as the ADF as well as Victoria Police showcasing post-secondary opportunities to our students. I wish to thank Andrea our Pathway Manager and her team’s effort for coordinating such a valuable event for our students.
School Photos were taken earlier this term. These have now been finalised by our staff and being processed by MSP Photography. Families who have paid for physical photographs will receive these via distributed to students during Home Group early next term. Additioanlly, every student will be issued a valid school ID card. These are to be used when students are signing in / out via the Compass Kiosk at reception. These ID Cards make it easier and quicker to login to the compass kiosk at reception.
Japanese Exchange
It was an absolute delight to welcome 26 students from our Japanese Sister School Nanto Fukumitsu High School to the college. Throughout their stay the students worked with our students to share cultural understanding and to develop their English skills and for our Japanese students skills in conversational Japanese. This exchange is especially valuable as it builds lifelong friendships and bond our community.
It was especially heartfelt to see the emotions shown on their departure which highlights the connections that were formed between students and families.
I wish to thank Jessica, Candice and Keiko for their coordination of the program with the support of the Japanese language team. Also, I wish to thank our families for hosting our sister school students for the week.
Council Nominations and Elections 2025
This year the college continues to see positive interest in nominating for School Council especially from Families.
At the close of the process:
Our Parent Nominees for 2025-2027 are:
- Christopher Wood
- Brian Stanley
- Paul Mullins
- Kate Menzel
- Bec Sobell
Our Student Nominees for 2025-2027 are:
- Thomas Bulahof
- Nathaniel Attwell
It is wonderful to have the diversity and depth of experience in our School Council. I’m excited in having their feedback overseeing the governance and setting the strategic direction of the college which reflects our community’s expectations.
School Tours
This year we have seen a significant increase in interest in our School Tours. The college has in place 24 tours to mid-May. We have seen all tours are fully subscribed and additional afterschool tours have been planned for release.
Enrolments
The February census date was on Friday 28 Feb 2025, and the college declared a total of 903 students. Our budget will be confirmed in May after the Census Audit. With the increase numbers provides increase opportunities to introduce new programs.
In 2025 we have seen an increasing number of student enrolments. We need to carefully manage enrolments in the following years to ensure we remain below our enrolment cap of 970 and yet have sustainable numbers in each level to ensure a comprehensive number of pathway options.
Thanks
As always, I wish to thank the Buckley Park College community for their support. Our positive journey is only possible because of the strong family-school partnership. I’m grateful for the positive feedback on the efforts/work of the college team. It is due to the strong school community support that we continue to achieve positive results on our college improvement journey.
I especially wish to acknowledge the work of Chris Wood in his role as School Council President and David Carullo as School Council Treasurer for their efforts/support on School Council.
Harold, Craig, James and Paul
Principal Team