TO OUR COMMUNITY

Dear Brighton Secondary College Families,  

Recently much work has been done to affirm Brighton Secondary College’s commitment to providing a safe and happy environment for our wonderful students, where individualism, culture and diversity is respected, valued and celebrated.

The purpose of this communication is to provide our community with important information about the following-

1. Education underway to encourage upstander behaviour, prevent bullying, discriminatory and antisemitic attitudes and behaviours at BSC.
2. To present the BSC leadership plan to deliver a schoolwide shift in learning culture to that which truly celebrates culture and diversity, and to improve community engagement.

Education underway 

In the last 6 months, the following initiatives have been implemented and consultation taken place at BSC. 

‘Courage to Care’ Up-stander Program

BSC has implemented the ‘Courage to Care’ upstander program school wide to promote acceptance of diversity, transform bystander behaviour and inspire participants to become Upstanders in their own communities.

BSC Anti-Bullying Hotline System

BSC has established and promoted reporting of incidents through a dedicated anti-bullying Incident reporting and response system.

Civics and Human Rights Curriculum

The BSC curriculum for civics and human rights has been strengthened to encourage students to build an understanding of, and value, a diverse and cohesive society. Teachers are also participating in teacher professional learning programs.

Community Consultation and Engagement

The school is actively working with United Jewish Education Board (UJEB), members of the community to understand Jewish perspectives and strengthen relationships to ensure students feel safe and proud at school.

BSC Leadership Plan -

Consultation with students, community groups, staff, families, College Council and the Department of Education (DE) has been integral to formulation of our plan to deliver schoolwide change. This multilayered initiative is underpinned by the school’s vision to achieve personal excellence through collaboration based on respect and empathy, reinforced by our commitment to the Child Safety Standard 5: Equity is upheld and diverse needs are respected. 

The DE fully supports the schools plan for change and is committed to ensuring that the school is well resourced to achieve desired outcomes.

Key deliverables are outlined below –

Implementation of School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS)  

SWPBS is an education framework that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures in the context of their school and community. The Department of Education will provide Brighton Secondary College with resources to work with our leadership team, staff, students and families to effectively implement the framework schoolwide.

Curriculum enrichment 

To deliver on BSC lived values, the curriculum has been reviewed to include more rich experiences for students to learn about and value the culture, history and experiences of the many different people and cultures represented in our school community. 

Student Wellbeing

In 2024 BSC will begin implementation of High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (HIWS). The first strategy focuses on teachers prioritising building relationships with their students. Positive teacher-student relationships play an important role in student wellbeing and form the foundation for effective teaching and learning.

Student Voice 

A student representative group has been formed to provide teacher feedback on student perspectives and student agency in this change. Students are currently working on an exciting project to bring our community together and enhance school pride.

Parent and Carer Connectedness 

We will increase parent/carer connectedness to BSC by welcoming our parent/carer community to participate more in school life and to build a shared understanding to better support our students together. An important part of this will be more consultation to help inform school decision making and providing better channels for families to provide constructive feedback to the school.

This is a priority of College Council who have established working group with this focus. If you would like to be a part of this conversation, please e-mail college council member Danielle Moore - d.moore@brightonsc.vic.edu.au  

The school is focused on a bright future, and building school pride together as a community.  We will continue to provide information with regular updates and ask that you share this information with your children, family, and other community members to ensure everyone is well informed as we work to achieve our goals together. 

Kind regards,

Asaf Harel                                                           

School Council President

Leisa Higgins

Acting Principal