Our College

Vision, Mission & Values

Brookside College is located in Caroline Springs on the lands of the Wurundjeri People and the Kulin Nation. Although the College and the community it serves is relatively young, learning communities have taken place on this land for more than 30,000 years.

Founded as part of the multi-campus Caroline Springs College in 2000, Brookside College became a separate legal entity in 2012. Since its formation, the College has gained a strong reputation as a caring and community minded learning school built on a commitment to student-centred learning and inclusive education.

Today the College has an enrolment of 1200 students from Prep to Year 9 and a staff of 139. Ours is a culturally and ethnically diverse community with 55% our children coming from a language background other than English and 1% of our children coming from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. As a College, we celebrate the richness that diversity brings to a community and ensure our educational programs give voice to the different experiences of our families.

Our Vision – the why

“Brookside College empowers every learner to fulfil their potential and positively shape the future.”

Mission – the what

“At Brookside College we design high quality learning experiences that build on learner strengths and needs to help them develop their talents, passion and purpose.”

Values

Rights, Respect, Resilience and Relationships

Our curriculum programs place Literacy, Numeracy and Empowerment at the core of our practice. Our curriculum structure is aligned with our Vision and Mission and has an unswerving focus on 21st Century Learning Skills underpinned by the Victorian Curriculum Capabilities and student agency.

Literacy is delivered through explicit direct instruction including a phonics program in the early years. Reading is a feature of every classroom, supported by classroom libraries. Numeracy is delivered through a balanced pedagogy that combines explicit direct instruction and problem-based learning. Learning in all other disciplines features explicit direct instruction, problem-based learning and project-based work. Student achievement is celebrated through Parent, Teacher and Student Conferences, Reporting, Awards and public exhibitions.

Our Digital Technology learning program brings real world learning to students and provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their creativity and problem solving skills. Students are further able to develop their talents and passions through our Performing Arts (Prep-2) and Music (Years 3-9) programs, whilst student health and resilience is developed through the Stephanie Alexander Garden Program (Years 3-4), the Food Technology Program (Years 5-9) and the Health Program (Prep-9). Our Year 9 ‘Futures’ and Electives Programs further aim to equip our students with many of the skills and competencies they need to shape the future.

Student leadership, voice and agency is central to our work. Students have multiple opportunities to make decisions about their own learning and the direction of the College more generally. Student Action Teams drive improvement in the areas of Community, Teaching and Learning, Environment and Student Engagement and Wellbeing.

The College is committed to developing happy, healthy and resilient children and we have invested significantly in a range of specialist programs underpinned by the Berry Street Education Model, Resilience and Respectful Relationships and School Wide Positive Behaviour Support practices. Our work with students is framed by the Response to Intervention model, where student needs are identified and specifically targeted. Additional supports provided by the college include a Hands on Learning Program that has been nationally recognised as a model of excellence, a dedicated Student Wellbeing space called “The Zone” and our Inclusive Education Centre, “The Hub”.

Our College is a friendly place where the needs of the students come first. We help our students develop high self-esteem, expecting them to be respectful of others. It is agreed that the College and the family must work closely together to help each child achieve his or her unique potential.

Our students learn to think for themselves and they understand the benefit of working together in teams. Our students learn how to think creatively and critically, how to make sound judgments, and how to apply their knowledge in real life situations. Teachers and parents have high social, moral and academic expectations of our students. Together, they challenge students to make the most of their abilities, and help them to make meaningful connections. Our teachers appreciate that individual students learn differently, so they provide a variety of learning experiences and use a wide range of teaching methods and assessment strategies. Our community celebrates all kinds of student success and appreciates that adults, too, are learners.

Our common future requires that we all look beyond our immediate needs. For this reason, our students learn that they have a duty to the wider community and to the environment. They learn to give service to others, and to work towards a better and more peaceful world. We expect our students to learn about our society and reflect on how different people in the world can learn from each other. Our students learn to be honest, to persevere in everything they do, and to have the courage to defend their views while making informed and ethical choices as future leaders in our changing world.

Our College values are RIGHTS, RESPECT, RESILIENCE and RELATIONSHIPS.  We endeavour to incorporate these into our daily work for all Community members.