Principal Update
Message from the Principal
Strengthening Belonging and Innovating for the Future
As we approach the end of term, I want to sincerely thank parents and carers for your positive messages of support regarding our renewed focus on improving student attendance. Your encouragement is deeply appreciated, and I’m pleased to share that student attendance across the school is tracking well above 90%. While this is a strong result, our shared goal remains 95% attendance—because every day at school matters.
Strong attendance is about more than being present in the classroom. It’s directly linked to students feeling connected—to their teachers, their peers, and the broader Balmoral community. This sense of connection underpins positive wellbeing and strong academic outcomes.
This year, we have continued to invest in building student wellbeing through The Resilience Project. This program focuses on strengthening social and emotional skills through the pillars of Gratitude, Empathy, and Mindfulness—or what we call our GEM Chats. These short but meaningful conversations between staff and students are helping flip the script to celebrate the positive contributions we all make in our learning environment.
Earlier this week, my leadership team reviewed the first wave of student wellbeing data—and the results are powerful. Students are reporting a significant increase in their sense of belonging and personal identity. Notably, we have seen a sharp decline in friendship isolation concerns, and instances of anti-social behaviour have dropped by over 50% compared to previous years.
This is a testament to the consistent work of our dedicated staff and leadership team in enacting our core values: Agency, Belonging, and Innovation—both through curriculum and in our broader commitment to developing the whole child.
Launching Innovate Academy – Year 7, 2026
Looking ahead, I am thrilled to announce the launch of Innovate Academy for our incoming Year 7 students in 2026.
Following extensive feedback and consultation with families and community members, Innovate Academy will offer an academic extension and enrichment program focused on igniting curiosity and developing future-ready skills. To bring this vision to life, we are inviting select Year 6 students from our primary feeder schools to join us for a Design Sprint on Monday 5 August.
During this special day, Year 6 students will work alongside our Heads of Department in English, Mathematics, Science, and Humanities to explore real-world challenges and shape the future of Innovate Academy. Their voice, passion, and interests will directly influence the curriculum design, ensuring this program is tailored to meet the strengths and aspirations of its inaugural cohort. Students who are invited to attend this session will receive communication from our enrolments officer this term.
The program will offer:
- Academic extension and possible acceleration opportunities
- Deep learning within the Australian Curriculum
- Real-world, interdisciplinary learning experiences
- Strong links to community, industry, with a focus on global competence
We will be limiting this program to one class in 2026 as part of our pilot. To be eligible for selection and take part in the co-design process, families must have submitted their Year 7 enrolment application prior to 5 August 2025. This ensures we can appropriately plan and personalise the program for those students actively engaged in the design sprint.
I look forward to sharing further updates with our community as we shape this exciting next chapter for Balmoral.
Timothy Barruad,
Principal