St Brigid’s Catholic College is the newest secondary college in the Diocese of Broken Bay opening its doors to Year 7 students in 2014. The school will continue to grow over the next four years as a 7 to 12 co-educational college catering for the families on the northern Central Coast of NSW.

St Brigid’s exists to educate and form young people in Catholic discipleship, offering them experiences of following Jesus as members of the Catholic community. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming school community that values the close relationships between staff, parents and students.

The College motto ‘Inflaming hearts and minds in Christ’  honours our belief that St Brigid’s is a hope-filled community of learners, where all are respected, challenged and supported to be the very best person they can be. It is hoped that our students are impassioned and that their hearts and minds are set afire with the love of life and learning through the experiences that are offered to them at our College.

Over the next 6 to10 years, an extensive building program is scheduled to ensure that students at St Brigid’s have access to facilities which support a contemporary education in the 21st Century and beyond. The building project completed in Term 3 2015,  included a TAS woodwork and junior kitchen facility as well as general purpose learning areas. The college already had a science laboratory, music performance space and a multimedia room as well as a large flexible learning area which we call the Learning Piazza.

During 2016 a building project will create a Creative Arts space, two new science laboratories and another Learning Piazza.  This will be ready for the start of the 2017 school year.

Our overarching framework for holistic educaiton is Learning for Wellbeing: Wellbeing for Learning. There is an intrinsic link between the abiliity to focus on learning and the students’ wellbeing. We want our students to leave us as capable, resilient young people who have life choices.

Our teaching and learning uses an inquiry approach which involves students actively in their learning. We believe everyone is a teacher and a learner so students are encouraged to use their passions and interests to enable others to learn. Being able to research is a skill which students need to develop. The 1:1 laptop program enables students to access the information that is available via the web; our job is therefore to guide them so they think critically about the information they are exposed to and use it in valid ways. The laptop also allows students to be creative in the demonstration of their learning. We use Google Classroom, integrating Drive and Sites for sharing of learning between teachers and students.

Data-driven targetted intervention for students with identified needs is a feature of the college,  whether that be the struggling reader or the student with identified giftedness.

We aim to develop our students as well-rounded, capable, curious and confident citizens who have a sense of their own dignity and worth as an active participant in their local and global communities. As such engagement in activities which promote spiritual, physical, emotional and social well-being are important aspects of college life.

Our pastoral care structures involve the students belonging to a house. Students within those houses are part of a vertical Mentor Group with a teacher as Mentor Coach working with those students. Coaching conversations take place at least once per term and parents are provided with feedback about their child’s goalsetting and evaluation of their learning after this conversation.

Behaviour management is based on Restorative Practices. Inappropriate behaviour is seen as a learning opportunity. Rather than a punitive approach, consequences of inappropriate behaviour are employed to restore the relationships which have been damaged.

The co-curricular life of the college provides students with opportunities to explore their interests. Each Friday afternoon during ‘Inflame’, staff offer students interest groups for such things as cooking, sport, social justice, multimedia, drama, Rock and Water, English extension group. Sport representation is available through the Broken Bay Secondary Schools Sport Association. There is a pathway for students which can result in regional or national representation.

Parents are partners in the learning of their children and are encouraged to communicate with the college and be involved in the information sessions the college provides.