Principal's Report 

2025 Principals' Day

On Friday, 1 August, we joined the rest of Victoria in proudly celebrating Principals' Day. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our outstanding Assistant Principals, Deb Kirk, Sarah Keating and Acting Assistant Principal, Sean Leith, and of course, Peter Bartlett, who served as Acting Principal for Terms 1 & 2 this year. I am sincerely grateful for their ongoing support and leadership.

A special thank you also goes to the Parents' Association for their thoughtful gesture of providing a cake to mark the occasion. Their ongoing support is deeply appreciated, and we are fortunate to have such a dedicated community behind us.

We were also honoured to have been acknowledged by Brad Rowsell, Member for Sandringham, in Parliament for our leadership team’s incredible contributions to Beaumaris Secondary College, which you can read about on Our Latest Facebook & Instagram Posts page of this newsletter.

French & Japanese Exchange

We farewelled our French exchange students on Thursday, 31 July, after a 4-week stay, and our students are eagerly awaiting their trip to France at the end of the year to reconnect with their French friends. A big thank you to Phoebe Wardlaw and Sarah Keating for their tremendous work in organising the exchange and the many activities that our French visitors had the opportunity to experience. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the families who hosted the French students in their homes. Your warm hospitality and generosity helped make this cultural exchange a truly memorable experience for everyone involved.

Next week, we are excited to welcome students from our sister school, Ritsumeikan Keisho Junior & Senior High School, in Japan. 

Year 11 Formal

The Year 11 Formal on Friday, 1 August, was a wonderful success, thanks to our student Formal Committee and team of staff. A special thanks to our resident photographer, Mr de Valle, for capturing the night.

Snow Camp

Our Year 10 students had a fantastic time on their Snow Camp at Mt Buller last week. They spent three wonderful days skiing and snowboarding. Special thanks to Caitlyn Bayley for her wonderful organisation of this event, and to the staff who attended to help make this winter adventure possible.

NAPLAN Certificates & CORE Merit Awards

Congratulations to our students who received NAPLAN certificates and CORE Merit Awards at last week's House Assemblies. Their dedication, hard work and commitment to our CORE values of curiosity, optimism, respect and excellence have been recognised, and we are proud of their achievements. Well done to all!

Competitions, Challenges & Opportunities

We are pleased to offer a range of competitions, challenges and opportunities for students to extend their learning. Last week, students from Year 9 & 10 took part in the Australian Mathematics Competition, tackling unique problems crafted by top educators and academics to challenge and extend their problem-solving skills. This week, some of our Year 9 students commenced the GTAC 'Analysing DNA Barcodes to Identify and Discover Species' program, which will expose them to topics studied in VCE Biology. After-school Growth Workshops are being held for our Year 12 English Language students. These sessions are a great way to enhance skills, build confidence, and deepen understanding of key concepts and metalanguage.

Well done to all students who take up these valuable opportunities to extend their learning, and a big thank you to our staff for making these opportunities available.

Hospitality Courses

Our Hospitality Courses for Year 9 to 12 students kicked off this week with the Responsible Serving of Alcohol. Tomorrow, we have Food Handling, followed by Barista and Customer Service courses. Thank you to Madeleine Hunter-Smith for organising these valuable extra-curricular sessions, which are now fully booked.

House Athletics Carnival

Yesterday's Athletics Carnival showcased an exciting display of school spirit and teamwork. Students eagerly participated in a range of events and activities, proudly representing their house throughout the day. The highlight was the Year 12 parade, now an annual tradition, which kicked off the festivities. Our Year 12 VCE Vocational Major students organised a successful sausage sizzle, raising funds for the Beaumaris Children’s Playhouse. A big thank you to Kyle Pinto for coordinating such a fantastic day.

College Production

In just one week, we’ll be celebrating the opening night of our 2025 College Production, Puffs. The cast and crew have been balancing their schoolwork and home responsibilities with countless weekend and afterschool rehearsals. We’re excited to welcome our students and families to enjoy what promises to be a fantastic production.

Thank you to Kay & Burton for their ongoing sponsorship of our community boards and to Alan Moyle from Photobat for kindly taking photos of the cast.

Staff CPR Refresher and Emergency Response Training

Last week, our staff completed their annual CPR refresher training, along with training in Asthma, Anaphylaxis and risk/emergency management. This vital session ensures that our team is equipped to respond efficiently in emergency situations, further reinforcing our ongoing commitment to the safety and wellbeing of our school community. Special thanks to Lynsey Jane for coordinating this important training.

2026 Course Selection

Thank you to the many Year 8 families who attended our Year 9 2026 Course Information Seminar on 6 August. It's an exciting time for our Year 8 students, who are in the process of choosing their 2026 specialisms—subjects that ignite not only curiosity but also passions across all learning areas.

I trust that the range of course selection resources made available to our Year 8 - 11 families will assist in guiding them through the process, ensuring a smooth transition for all students.

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

We want our Parents / Caregivers / Guardians to tell us what they think! 

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation. Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. 

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

Curriculum Day

A whole-school Curriculum Day is scheduled for Monday, 1 September. There will be no scheduled classes or supervision. On this day, staff will be engaged in professional development sessions. This dedicated time allows our educators to collaborate, refine their skills and explore new strategies to further support our students' learning and growth.

Other Upcoming Events

• College Production – 21 – 23 August
• VCE P/S/T Conferences - 26 - 28 August
• Footy Colours Day - 25 August
• Parents’ Association Meeting – 9 September
• Divisional Athletics – 11 September
• Last Day of Term 3 – 19 September
• Unit 3/4 Trial Exams – 23 – 25 September

It has been another full and engaging fortnight of learning and fun at Beaumaris, and I have enjoyed connecting further with students, parents, and our Beaumaris community.  

Over the coming weeks, our focus will continue to sharpen on our Year 12s as they prepare for their final weeks of school, the exciting events those weeks will bring, and their exams. That preparation will include panel talks from Beaumaris alumni, who will share their experiences of VCE, how they met the demands and challenges of this stage of the year, and tips they learned about how to succeed. Of course, our VCE Unit 3-4 students will continue to benefit from outstanding support provided by our talented teachers. I strongly encourage all students to take full advantage of the supports on offer.

I look forward to another very busy fortnight ahead and hope to see many of you at the wonderful events we have planned in the calendar over the next two weeks. I also look forward to seeing and speaking with all of our students around the school.

Stephen Bourbon

Principal