Our History
"How can we keep the light alive in the eyes of our children beyond the first few years of school? Is there a choice where children are respected for what they know and challenged to discover and explore new knowledge?"
To this end the McAuliffe family gifted the Kindergarten to the newly formed “Bold Park Community School Advisory Council” so that a true educational choice could be developed for the Western Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia.
Gillian McAuliffe; staff Gabbi Lovelady, Dianne Rohde and a committed parent, Taryn Hyder, worked to bring the kindergarten’s Social Constructivist philosophy; inspired by Reggio Emilia, to children from Kindergarten into the Primary School.
The journey from 1998 saw the community move through two campuses to its present site in Wembley; and face challenges of a system preference for large schools as they sought a smaller and more friendly option in the later years of schooling.
There has since been a steady stream of educators coming to engage with us and learn from our work; we have run conferences for other educators, workshops and tours; and now the Bold Park name is known around the world and viewed as an example of excellence in innovative and respectful education for children.
In 2010 the our Founder’s goal was finally realised with a successful High School Registration and school numbers truly began to grow. In three learning communities within one larger campus, students continue to learn and engage in small, connected communities and we celebrated our Inaugural Year 12 graduating students in 2011 – The video was created for screening at our Inaugural Graduation Event.
In 2009-10 we were able to take advantage of the Federal Government’s Building Revolution and contract two new buildings on the site to support our Arts program and the expansion of the Secondary School.
We will continue to grow and evolve but there is one thing that will remain the same – the passion of our community for realising the vision for the education of our children.
