Bishop Druitt College

We are BDC, the premier educational choice for your child on the North Coast. Welcome to our Bishop Druitt College website.  I have recently joined the BDC family as Principal in the college’s 25th year. It is an honour to be at the helm of the North Coast’s premier K-12 school.

The old proverb of 'it takes a village to raise a child' is one that rings true for me and with this in mind I believe it is the exceptional quality of our staff, the supportive partnerships with our families, and the nurturing relationships with our students that make the difference for each child. We are all stronger together.

An exceptional schooling experience is more than a collection of great educational outcomes, outdoor activities and camp, sporting and cultural events or tours. An exceptional schooling experience has social and emotional ties to the community. The BDC experience provides this meaningful quality. We care.

In 1994 BDC was established with 57 students using a strong Anglican foundation. The tenets of optimism, Anglican tradition, inclusiveness, service, compassion, tolerance, hope, and faithfulness have been built upon with our teaching and learning mission of instilling and supporting children’s passion, commitment, creativity, innovation, integrity, wisdom and endeavour through a dynamic community building ethos. Our BDC values are cemented together with mutual community trust and respect.

Bishop Druitt College founders had the vision to select a school site in the naturally beautiful environment of the Boambee Valley just minutes from the city centre of Coffs Harbour.  Come and visit us.  I would welcome an opportunity to show you our college in person.

The BDC Primary School has 460 students enrolled from Kindergarten to Year 6. The primary school uses the NSW Board of Studies curriculum for all key learning areas. The Junior Primary Coordinator (Kindergarten -Year 2), and the Senior Primary Coordinator (Years 3 - 6) are available to support students, parents and teachers in the primary school. The Director of Pastoral Care supports all members of our community to ensure the social and emotional needs of our students are well met. The Head of Primary is ultimately responsible for all academic, social, behavioural and pastoral care programs in the primary school.

In addition to the classroom teachers, specialist teachers are employed for library, Christian studies, French, Japanese, gifted and talented, learning support and music. The college employs counsellors for primary families to access. The primary school has an occupational therapist and a speech therapist as associates.

Staff are drawn from diverse backgrounds and have a variety of educational philosophies. We recognise that quality teaching is the most important school-based factor affecting student achievement and in the primary school we are committed to supporting the teachers through whole staff and individualised professional development initiatives.

Teachers have high levels of collegiality in teaching and programming. Release from classroom teaching is provided at the same time for grade teachers to facilitate this collegiality. Team teaching operates widely throughout the primary school.

The secondary school operates with the middle school (Years 7-9) and the senior school (Years 10-12). The approaches to teaching and learning vary depending on the age of the students within the secondary school. The pastoral care system is also organised with middle and senior school co-ordinators (one per year group).

The secondary school uses a four-stream model for Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. A fifth stream can occasionally be added to a year level group because of the demand for places. Study programs in Year 11 and 12 are based around student choice and every effort is made to customise our classes in these year groups accordingly. Each academic faculty determines its own structure in a manner that best suits the individual cohort. Therefore, some subjects may be streamed while others are not.

The college has a strong history of academic success based on recognising and nurturing the individual's talents and providing a safe environment in which to see them develop.

A thorough grounding is offered in the first two years of secondary school in English, mathematics, science, history, geography, personal development and health, technology and applied science, creative and performing arts, and languages. Many elective choices are offered in challenging disciplines for students as they progress through the secondary years.

Many recreational clubs and sporting options are also available. Our sporting tradition combines the excellence of high performing teams with the opportunity for everyone to participate at their own level.

Underpinning the academic structure of the college is the pastoral care system . Each student belongs to a tutor group and a house. The tutor group is horizontal (the same year level) and the house is vertical (K-12). Students usually remain in the same tutor group and house for the duration of their secondary enrolment.

We offer the services of exceptional educational professionals at all levels in the classroom, in technology support and in educational support services. We also offer the best pastoral care available, using our house system as the foundation for creating a caring and personal experience of the Anglican tradition.

All this in the beautiful natural environment of the Boambee Valley, minutes from Coffs Harbour and with beautiful beaches and the rainforests of the hinterland nearby.