School Profile
Beulah Primary School is a small, rural school situated in the Southern Mallee, approximately one hour north of Horsham. The school provides a strong, inclusive learning environment, which focuses on assessment and differentiated teaching and learning to achieve the best possible outcomes in all areas for our students, particularly in Literacy and Numeracy using evidence based best practices. The school strives to enhance the wellbeing of all students whilst providing opportunities for academic, social, and emotional development.
Our vision is to prepare young people to become active, ambitious, engaged, and responsible citizens of our local and wider communities. The school values of Confidence, Persistence, Organisation, Getting Along and Resilience underpin everything that takes place within the school. Excellent school facilities are well-maintained and pleasant surroundings reflect the high value placed on education by the local community. Strong community partnerships support educational opportunities provided where students and families actively support each other. The Student Representative Council (SRC) is active and helps in the development and opportunity for student voice and agency.
A total of 18 students were enrolled at the school in 2023, 10 female and 8 males, most students being rural bus travelers, having strong generational farming family ties to the district. The school’s Student Family Occupation and Education band was medium. Most families participate as School Councillors, Parent Club members and volunteers in and around the school. The Principal had a teaching responsibility for Years 3 - 6 and a second full-time teacher had responsibility for Foundation-Grade 2. An additional teacher was employed at 0.2 to provide time release to staff and taught Science and PE specialists classes weekly. 0% of students had English as an additional language and 0% were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Specialist areas are undertaken in P.E., The Arts, Science/Technology and Library across F-6 whilst LOTE is taught once a week via WebEx from Birchip P-12 College. A culmination of a semester's work is demonstrated at the end of semester showcase and school concert at the end of the year, which allows students to share their work and highlights the school's values and goals that had been set at the start of the year. This is attended by family, extended family and community members. The Business Manager is responsible for finance and administration and works 0.2 and a MARC Library specialist visits 0.5 days per fortnight.
The Southern Mallee Cluster combines to provide social, sporting, and educational opportunities for all students including performances, camps and excursions, sporting events and teaching and learning programs. The Beulah community is a very vibrant one and is always looking at ways to improve the lifestyle of its residents. The township of Beulah has great sporting and recreational facilities and is a great place for students to grow up within a farming community that has excellent values where people really do care for each other.
The Parent Satisfaction endorsement was higher than that of the state average for primary schools and received 100% positive responses. The School Staff Survey on School Climate was also higher than the state average for primary schools. 2023 saw the school complete major building and plumbing works and learning spaces were created and improved to help staff and students flourish.
2023 Highlights
In 2023, Beulah had many highlights. We welcomed new staff, students, and first-time families to the school as our enrolment numbers continue to grow which is exciting for the school community. The school has moved from a balanced approach to a strucutred approach to teach literacy. Through more strategic leadership and staff consistency and capability the school has been effective in creating the change and students outcomes are improving and the school is better equipped to support students at their point of need. The continuation of our reading at home rewards and behavior management system had continued to have a positive impact with students enjoying reading at home and staff dealing consistently with behaviours. Our swimming program is held in high regard and remains an important aspect of our school program which saw students become more confident and safer in and around the water leading up to the swimming sports and as a result seen Beulah students representing the school at district and regional levels. This was also evident in athletic and cross country where we joined with the cluster schools to organise and run these events. Students attended camps to Melbourne, a school sleepover and were asked to join another school on their camp to Doxa Malmsbury Camp. Students attended excursions which included tree planting for Tree Week, Junklandia, Suessical, bowling and visiting a neighbouring school to celebrate Harmony Day. All of which provided students with additional learning opportunities and experiences through various ways and allowed students to socialise and interact with peers. Parents Club involvement and fundraising efforts were extraordinary, and they continued to assist with running of activities, fundraising, and serving of end of term lunches which were well received by students. The school made a point of trying to participate in special events, days, and weeks such as Book Week, Hip-hop dance workshop, Science Week, Remembrance Day, NAIDOC Week and community events such as ANZAC Day ceremonies, Pancake Day, singing at the local Christmas Carols night and Wide Open Spaces festival. The SRC or Student Representative Council continued to evolve and become more active participants in the school community and ran various lunch time and classroom activities. Students organised a school fete and invited community members and neighbouring schools to attend. They sold goods at stalls and involved community groups to raise further financial contributions which students used for a Student Fun Day which included numerous activities chosen by them specifically. Students work is shared and celebrated and the end of semester showcase and achievements recognised at the end of year school concert. These events are well supported and attended by family and community members.