Message from the Principal

Principal’s Update, Week 8

As we reach the end of Week 8, there is much to celebrate and acknowledge across our Balmoral community.

This week, we have taken the opportunity to celebrate and thank two valued members of our staff team as they prepare to take their next steps.

We said farewell to Bridie Doyle, who will move to Sunnybank State High School to take up the role of Acting Head of Engagement. Bridie has made an enormous contribution to Balmoral, first as Assistant Head of Department English and then as Acting Head of Department Humanities and Languages.

Her leadership has supported curriculum innovation, student learning and our growing focus on entrepreneurial thinking, work that has received recognition at a national level. We thank Bridie for her energy, leadership and commitment to our students and staff, and wish her every success in this next leadership adventure.

We also farewelled Helen Martschinke, who has served Balmoral as a Guidance Officer over an extended period. Helen has played an important role in supporting the development of our careers education work, while also contributing significantly to the systems and structures that support student wellbeing and engagement across the whole school.

Helen will commence next term as a Guidance Officer at Mansfield State High School. We wish Helen all the very best as she embraces the opportunities and challenges of working within a larger school context.

This week provided a special opportunity for our staff community to come together to celebrate and thank both Bridie and Helen for their contribution to Balmoral. We are incredibly grateful for the difference they have made and look forward to hearing about their continued success.

As we farewell Helen, we will also welcome back Nicole Collins to her substantive role as Guidance Officer at the commencement of Term 4. Nicole returns to Balmoral following a range of professional roles, most recently at Mt Gravatt State High School, and we look forward to welcoming her back at the start of term 4.

Professional Learning and Sharing Practice

This week also marked our annual Staff Professional Development Day, with a strong focus on sharing practice and learning from one another.

Across the day, staff engaged in a broad range of professional learning, including assessment and learning task design, neuro-affirming classroom practice, the introduction of Corella, the Department’s curriculum-focused AI tool for teachers, and trauma-informed classroom practice.

What stood out was the depth of knowledge and experience within our own teaching team. The day provided an important opportunity to share ideas, challenge our thinking and strengthen the collective practice that sits at the heart of improving outcomes for our students.

Boeing Design Showcase

Finally, this week we celebrated another milestone in one of Balmoral’s longest-running partnerships through our annual student showcase at Boeing Defence in Brisbane City.

Our students presented their design thinking and ideas for amendments to a Boeing aircraft to improve its functionality and impact. The quality of their thinking, creativity and presentation was a wonderful reflection of the opportunities provided through this program.

This partnership has now thrived at Balmoral for 21 years, providing generations of students with authentic opportunities to work alongside industry and apply their learning to real-world challenges. It was particularly special this year to reconnect with alumni who were once students participating in the program and who are now working at Boeing themselves.

It is moments like these that remind us of the power of authentic learning, strong partnerships, and opportunities for students to see where their learning can take them.

There is certainly a lot to celebrate as we move through this very busy part of the term.

Thank you to our staff, students, families and partners for the energy, commitment and care that continue to make Balmoral such a vibrant place to learn and work.

Timothy Barraud

Principal