Blackall Range Independent School

Founded in 1975, the Blackall Range Independent School (B.R.I.S.) is a fully accredited, non-denominational and co-educational school teaching grades prep through year 12. Nestled amongst the beautiful hills of Kureelpa in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the school is small by design and our educational model is very much enhanced by our rural setting. As a school, BRIS seeks to meet the emotional, social and educational requirements of our students, and to foster ‘a community of learners’ that incorporates students, staff and parents.

BRIS uses a ‘child centered’ approach to learning, a way of working with each student in conjunction with parents and teachers. Our goal is to provide education in a sustainable environment that is caring, welcoming and understanding.

The Blackall Range Independent School strives to create a community of active learners. We encourage awareness and respect for self, others and the environment, a willingness to act and the desire to achieve.

Our ethos is the empowerment of our students and our community through celebration of difference and embracing the diversity of all learners.

Our vision is that just as it takes a village to raise a child, so too does it take an entire school community to create self-motivated, life-long learners. This vision is reflected in our school’s acronym Building, Resilient, Innovative and Self-motivated Leaners.

Blackall Range Independent School is about people and diversity and our concerns are global. Our community is a place of trust and openness, where young and old from different cultural backgrounds are respected for who they are, a place whose ethos is based upon the responsible use of freedom, and where exploration and discovery are related to humanity’s needs for the present and future. BRIS strives to be flexible and evolve, but also provide a feeling of security and purpose to our extended community.

BRIS is a school community in which student-centred education is the goal rather than a label. It allows exploration of individual interests and considers the role of the school in society – a way of extending the school’s human dimension. New learning is presented in many aspects, rather than linear sequence through the integration of broadly-based flexible programs.

Learning must be joyful and challenging, involving and interesting to the students. Learning must be timeless but not fragmented, and be seen for today and tomorrow, embedded in an appreciation of yesterday. To this end, B.R.I.S. fosters an ethos of intentional community and a culture of social-emotional well-being to provide an environment of learning in which students are supported by the community to grow academically, socially and emotionally.

• environmental sustainability is central to our ethos and is reflected in our curriculum. We want all our students to understand that they are leaders, and through responsible leadership actions are required to improve the world we live in.
• individual, diverse leaners working together in a motivated school community is what are educational processes at BRIS strives to foster.
• parents as partners in the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual growth of their child is encouraged during the learning journey at BRIS.
• professional development is what our teachers commit through continual self-evaluation processes in the delivery of our curriculum. Teachers aspire to uphold the school’s ethos and ensure their teaching is informed by evidence-based best practices.
• we recognise that learning occurs on many levels and require that all students be engaged in beneficial learning processes that nurture and honour self and others, whether academic, creative or physical.

Our curriculum is aligned with, and meets the requirements of, the Australian National Curriculum. The school aims to provide skills and subjects reflecting the needs, interests and experiences of the children and their parents. Emphasis is on experiential learning situations, where teachers facilitate learning.

Students are offered the opportunity to be involved in program development and evaluation. Assessment is student and teacher initiated, non-competitive and continuous. We do take part in National Testing Programs to satisfy regulations.

Many learning experiences are conducted beyond the classroom including excursions, camps, special events, and cultural performances.BRIS participates in several programs to enhance its goal of providing authentic, genuine learning experiences. Some of these programs include Kids in Action, Ripple Kindness Project, Students’ Voice through weekly Circle Time meetings, The Breathe Project and the school’s Eumundi Market stall.

Parent partnership is welcome at B.R.I.S. in all areas of school life. BRIS recognises that parents are their child’s essential educators. Teachers and parents thus take a ‘team approach’ to each student’s learning. Parents may join the classroom activities or undertake ancillary positions (maintenance, P & F, fundraising, excursion support or other duties), depending on the school’s need and the individual’s expertise.