STEMpreneurs

Bentley Park College students just wrapped up an epic three-day adventure at Woree State High School for the STEMpreneurs program – where STEM met entrepreneurship and BIG ideas came to life!  

Our students teamed up, got creative, and used their tech and business smarts to design products and services tackling real-world challenges facing Cairns and the globe in 2025. From brainstorming solutions to pitching their ideas to a panel of judges, these changemakers turned problems into possibilities!  

We’re SO proud of our #BPC legends for showcasing their STEM-powered business solutions, ready to make a difference in our community and beyond. The future is bright!

Esports

Minecraft

Check out what our BPC Year 9 Esports students have been building!

Using Minecraft Education, our talented team has recreated a huge section of our school—block by block, in perfect scale. But this time, there’s a twist: the model is set at night, and Creepers are lurking in the shadows! 

This project isn’t just about gaming—it’s about teamwork, creativity, and bringing digital skills to life. From mapping out classrooms to collaborating on every detail, our students have turned learning into an adventure. Minecraft Education is the perfect platform for building collaboration, critical thinking, and digital citizenship—all while having a blast.

Watch the video to see if you can spot the school's CE Block… and maybe a Creeper or two! 

Valor Esports Inclusion Grant

We are excited to announce that Bentley Park College has been awarded the Valor Esports Grant, launching a brand-new structured esports training program for our students.

This initiative is about more than just games. It’s about helping students build essential life and career skills through an activity they love. Through weekly sessions powered by the Valor platform, our students will grow in areas such as:

• Communication and teamwork: Students practice clear communication and cooperation under pressure — vital for both school and future work.
• Inclusion and belonging: Over 60% of student esports participants nationwide were previously uninvolved in school life. Esports offer a welcoming space for everyone.
• Attendance and motivation: Some schools report up to 10% increases in attendance, as students become excited to engage.
• Digital and critical thinking skills: from game strategy to hardware use, esports enhance digital literacy, strategic thinking, and even interest in STEM fields.

We’ve already kicked off our first sessions and are thrilled by the enthusiasm and engagement from our learners. The esports program helps students develop:

• problem-solving under pressure
• resilience and leadership
• focus and memory
• a sense of school pride and connection.

We’re proud to be at the forefront of this exciting educational movement. Stay tuned as we share our students’ progress and success stories throughout the year!

Robotics

RoboCup

Bentley Park College Robotics Club students won the FNQ QSITE Cordiner Trophy for the third year in a row at the recent Robotics RoboCup.

Approximately 70 robotics enthusiasts from Year 1 to 12 from four local schools - St Augustine's College, Redlynch State College and Out Lady Help of Christians - converged on the Bentley Park College Senior Stadium for the event.

Sponsored by QSITE, RoboCup was the culmination of over a year of building and programming robots to compete in three events – Rescue (line following and obstacle navigation), OnStage (dance) and Sumo.  Each competition required different engineering, design and programming.

BPC entered one robot in the Senior Secondary Rescue Competition, four robots in the Junior Secondary Rescue Competition, and one robot in Junior Secondary  Sumo – winning all three! Congratulations students!!

Consistency was the winning formula for team ‘Bob’, made up of Kayden (Year 12) and Dillon (Year 7). They won the Senior Secondary Rescue Competition in the play off -  Kayden won the competition back when he was in Year 7, and is handing the robot’s name of ‘Bob’ on to Dillon.

BPC took the top four places with their four teams in the Junior Secondary  Rescue Competition.  Adam and Koby’s team ‘Banana’, with their good building and clever coding, took first place

Armelle, who has been in Robotics Club for four years, and Aria, who in in her second year, showed their prowess at coding and engineering by winning the Junior Secondary  Sumo competition with one draw, four wins and no losses. 

Well done also to the other BPC participants – Benjamin, Maximus, Caleb, Jake, Coby, Lily, Chase, Lachlan, Cooper, Oliver, Madison, Braxton, Alex and Andrew, and also Robotics teachers Mr O’Grady and Mr Ryan.

Thank you and congratulations also to the other schools who participated in RoboCup, especially the winner of the Junior School Competitions and winner of the Holland Trophy and Cordiner Trophy, Redlynch State College.

Robotics Club

The Bentley Park College after-school Robotics Club was established to allow time for students in Years 5 to 12 to develop robots to compete in competitions. These competitions are run by QSITE each year at Cairns’ schools, including Bentley Park College.

Robotics Club is run by Secondary ICT Teacher Mr John O'Grady after school on Fridays from 3.15 pm to 4.45 pm in TA Block. In Term 1, the Club will run in Weeks 4 to 9; in Terms 2, 3 and 4 in Weeks 1-9. Interested students can collect an Excursion Consent Form from Mr O'Grady.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Program

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a term used to describe a digital device ownership model where students or staff use their personally-owned devices to access the Department of Education and Training's (DET) information and communication technology (ICT) network. 

At Bentley Park College, we aim for as many students as possible to have access to their own device in response to the significant role technology plays in education.  Students are strongly encouraged to bring a personally-owned or hired device to school as a learning tool to provide a seamless movement between school and home. 

For more information on our BYOD Program, please see our website. 

H2O Student Laptop Program 

Our first H2O laptops have reached students' hands! Brothers Braxton and Jake received their devices from IT Support Officer Josh, one of the coordinators the program, and couldn't wait to login!!

The Bentley Park College Student Hire to Own (H2O) Laptop Program provides eligible students with exclusive use of their own laptop through a flexible payment plan that leads to full ownership. 

More information is available in the H2O Charter on our website, including the Charter Agreement form and Financial Application.

Upcoming Technology Events:

• Robotics Club: Friday afternoons, 3.15 pm to 3.45 pm
• ESport Fuse Cup Rocket League: Wednesday 30 June