Case Study: Bundoora Secondary College (BSC)

Overview

Bundoora Secondary College is a government secondary school in Melbourne’s northern suburbs that has undergone significant redesign since 2019 under new leadership. Enrolment has been increasing since 2019, attributed to the adoption of the ‘Take Control’ empowerment education model (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024). Its current direction emphasises student agency, personalised pathways and flexible progression, priorities embedded in the School Strategic Plan (2022–2026) (Bundoora Secondary College, 2022). Reform is most visible in the middle years through PACE21 (Years 8–10), which provides a flexible pathway model within a diverse cohort. Recent campus redevelopment, including a new entry and administration hub, a Science and Environment Centre, and integrated open learning spaces, supports the school’s applied and experiential orientation.

What Bundoora Does Differently

As a Victorian government school, Bundoora Secondary College delivers the Victorian Curriculum and accredited senior certificates. Its distinctive features lie in the structural organisation of learning pathways and student choice.

In the middle years, BSC departs from conventional year-level sequencing through PACE21 (Passion, Achievement, Choice and Empowerment for 21st Century Skills). Students select subjects across Years 8-10 according to readiness and interest rather than age alone. Opportunities for acceleration into senior subjects or deeper exploration of specialist areas are embedded within this structure. Entry Year (Year 7) remains more scaffolded, positioning PACE21 as a staged transition toward increasing autonomy that prepares students for senior secondary pathways, whether VCE, VCE Vocational Major or VET programs.

The school emphasises personalised pathways through Personalised Learning Plans developed with Pathways and Learning (PAL) mentors. Core studies in English and Mathematics are retained to ensure foundational skill development, while interdisciplinary and specialist electives promote project-based learning, demonstrations of learning, and real-world application. The school’s strategic documentation prioritises student agency, flexible learning structures and entrepreneurial capability (Bundoora Secondary College, 2022).

Student autonomy is scaffolded through the PAL mentoring system, with students meeting regularly with a dedicated mentor who supports academic progress, attendance monitoring and wellbeing. Additional oversight is provided through Sub School Leaders and the HUB centre, particularly for students requiring targeted inclusion or attendance interventions.

BSC also adopts a “Yes is the default” principle, approving reasonable student requests unless they cause harm, excessive cost or limit future options. Student leadership roles and co-designed learning pathways embed voice and negotiated decision-making within everyday practice.

Evidence of Impact

BSC’s performance data presents a mixed profile across attendance, retention, wellbeing and post-school destinations. The 2024 Annual Report notes that the school’s empowerment model attracts students who have not previously experienced success in other settings, which is important context for interpreting the data below.

In 2024, average absence days were 43.2, compared with 34.1 in similar schools and 31.2 across the state. Year 7-10 retention was 54.5%, below similar schools (69.9%) and the state average (71.5%) (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024).

Attitudes to School Survey data shows Sense of Connectedness at 45.7%, above similar schools (41.6%) and slightly below the state (46.9%). Management of Bullying was 48.2%, above similar schools (43.8%) and comparable to the state (47.6%). Parent Satisfaction was 81.3%, above the state average (71.6%) (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024).

NAPLAN proficiency data reported in the Annual Report places BSC below similar schools in most domains at Years 7 and 9 (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024).

Post-school destination data indicates that 97.7% of students exiting in 2023 transitioned to further study or full-time employment, compared with 86.5% in similar schools and 88.6% statewide. In 2024, 45% of Year 12 students undertook at least one VET unit of competence, reflecting the school’s commitment to positioning multiple post-school trajectories as legitimate outcomes (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024).

Enablers

• Clear principal vision since 2019, articulating an empowerment model adapted to local context.
• Deliberate use of Victorian Curriculum flexibility to enable vertical pathways.
• Strong relational infrastructure (PAL mentors, HUB centre, Sub School Leaders).
• Capital investment in learning environments (Science & Environment Centre, Urban Agriculture, new entry/admin hub).
• Explicit valuing of vocational and applied pathways, normalising diverse definitions of success.

Key considerations

One tension emerging in the data concerns the relationship between the philosophy of empowerment and patterns of attendance and retention. Average absence days remain high at 43.2 days in 2024, well above similar schools (34.1) and the state average (31.2) (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024). While school documentation reports that retention across Years 7-10 broadly aligns with system benchmarks, retention into the senior years is lower than comparable schools, with Year 10–12 retention at 54.5% compared with 69.9% in similar schools and 71.5% statewide (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024).

These patterns should also be interpreted in the context of the school’s role in supporting students who may have previously experienced disengagement or limited success in more conventional learning environments. The school’s Annual Report suggests that some students arriving at BSC require time to adjust to its contemporary learning model, noting that some students “discover BSC and sometimes unlearn their conditioning to acclimate in this contemporary environment,” and that for some “the change is too great” (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024). While programs such as PAL mentoring, the Outreach Program and Student Absence Learning Plans provide targeted support, attendance remains an ongoing challenge within the model.

A second tension concerns the relationship between standardised academic indicators and broader pathway outcomes. NAPLAN proficiency remains below similar schools across most domains at Years 7 and 9 (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024). At the same time, the school’s strategic direction emphasises personalised pathways, applied learning and diverse post-school destinations rather than a singular emphasis on standardised academic benchmarks. Longitudinal growth data following cohorts from Year 7 to Year 9 will therefore be important in assessing whether students make meaningful academic progress within the model. This does not imply that academic learning is de-emphasised, but rather, the model positions academic progress alongside engagement, agency and diverse post-school pathways as interconnected indicators of success.

The contrast between lower retention into senior years and strong post-school destinations also highlights the complexity of evaluating pathway-oriented schooling. While fewer students remain at the school through to Year 12 compared with similar schools, those who do complete Year 12 transition to further study or employment at very high rates, with 97.7% of students in 2023 moving into further education or full-time work (Bundoora Secondary College, 2024). The school attributes this to strong careers education and expanded access to vocational pathways, including VET, VCE Vocational Major and Headstart programs. These patterns illustrate the challenge of evaluating empowerment-based schooling models within accountability frameworks that continue to prioritise attendance, retention and standardised academic performance.