Connections Brighton Secondary School
Connecting with the past, building the future
In 2015 Brighton Secondary School continued to strive to, ‘Do all things well.’
Principal Comments
The facilities upgrade following last year’s major redevelopment included the Spence Study Centre; the new digital sign; new signage around the school; the upgrade of the school’s Reception area; the perimetre fencing and the tennis court fencing. The Year 11 and 12 students love their new dedicated area for study and relaxation in the Spence Study Centre, opened later than expected in July. The Centre adjoins the new Learning Laneway developed throughout 2015 with ‘active learning by doing’ in mind. The teachers and students designed and created a dynamic area with innovative seating, mini golf and display areas for pop-up classes. ‘Fun Fridays’ became a regular event for the students to enjoy at lunch time with students performing music, dance and sport activities to the delight of their peers. The Learning Laneways launch had pop-up stalls and entertainment. Highlights included the staff band, called Governing Council, and the illuminated light show projected on the wall of the new Bright Centre. This was inspired by the Assistant Principal, Jill Brindley, to depict the history of light in the 2015 International Year of Light. The technical side of the show was created by teacher, Nic Tubb. Brighton Secondary School is renowned for its events. The Moon Lantern Festival held on the Brighton Esplanade with our Holdfast Partnership schools and kindergartens brought the community together to fundraise for our Cambodian kindergarten built last year with the assistance of the Brighton World Challenge students. A highlight of the evening was the song entitled, ‘Unity’, composed by Andrew Barrett with lyrics written by student Rebekah Rath. We anticipate ‘Unity’ will become our Partnership’s theme song to be performed at Partnership events in the future. The official combined Music Centres’ event to farewell Head of Music, Jeffrey Kong, brought together famous old scholars to perform with Jeffrey and the 2015 music students. The Annual Music Spectacular raised the benchmark for excellence yet again with the addition of lighting and special effects afforded by the new Concert Hall. More awards were achieved in the Music program. The Brighton Symphony Orchestra performed at
FRIENDS OF BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
I ISSUE 20
the Sydney Opera House and achieved a gold standard in the Australian Music Festival against ensembles from the USA, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Indonesia and other Australian States. At the Adelaide Eisteddfods the Treble Choir won the Junior Large Choir section. Although not staged at Brighton, another significant event was the F1 in Schools World Championships. Our team, ‘Precision Racing’, comprised of Year 10 students, represented Australia in Singapore competing against adult teams from 34 countries. The Volleyball program continues to out perform its competitors by winning the prestigious State Championships. The Science Department won more Oliphant Awards in 2015 than ever before including the prestigious top school award, presented at the State awards ceremony held in the Brighton Concert Hall. Students participated in the Culinary Challenge World Championships in Tahiti after having won the Australian title. The main priority for teachers’ professional learning in 2015 was experiencing how to ‘flip’ the classroom. Teachers record content for students to view independently at home and thus provide more time in class for the higher-order thinking tasks of analysis and evaluation with the teacher present to assist them. continued on page 2