Bridging Hub
You may know this program as the Inclusion Hub. We have intentionally renamed it the Bridging Hub, because that name better reflects what this program has always been about: supporting students with particular learning needs to build the skills, knowledge, and readiness required to transition into mainstream schooling at Wangaratta High School, or into an alternative educational pathway that suits them.
The Bridging Hub is not a separate ‘school’ within Wangaratta High School . It is a focused, time-limited program for students in Years 7 and 8 who need a more structured and personalised starting point in their secondary education. Every student in the program is working toward a transition — the goal from day one is to bridge them into the right setting for their next stage of learning.
The program meets students at their point of need. That means an appropriate curriculum and learning experience built around each student, alongside deliberate work on the classroom readiness and skills that make a successful transition possible. Some students will move into mainstream classes at Wangaratta High School. Others will transition into a complementary learning space, a specialist school, or another educational setting that better meets their needs.
Enrolment into the Bridging Hub is a considered process. In most cases, a student’s primary school will identify the program as part of their secondary transition planning and raise it with families early. From there, the school works closely with parents and carers through a series of conversations and planning meetings to determine whether the program is the right fit. Because the Bridging Hub operates as a small, intentional group, places are limited and each enrolment is assessed carefully to ensure the program can genuinely meet that student’s needs. Families are partners in this process from the beginning.
All transitions will have occurred by the time a student reaches Year 9. The Bridging Hub is the starting point of that journey, not a long-term placement. Our ambition — and our commitment to every student and family who comes through this program — is to ensure that journey is well-supported, clearly planned, and purposeful from the outset.
Values of the Bridging Hub
Belonging
Students in the Bridging Hub are full members of the Wangaratta High School community. We work to ensure every student feels genuinely connected — to their teachers, their peers, and their school — not set apart from it. That sense of belonging is part of what makes the transition into broader school life possible.
Personalised Learning
No two students arrive at the Bridging Hub with the same needs, and no two programs look exactly alike. We build each student’s learning experience around their individual strengths, challenges, and goals, with teaching approaches that flex to meet them where they are and move with them as they grow.
Pathway Focus
Everything in the Bridging Hub is oriented toward what comes next. From the moment a student joins the program, we are working with them and their family to understand where they are headed and to build deliberately toward that destination — whether that is mainstream schooling at WHS or another educational setting that suits them better.
Family Partnership
Families are involved in this program from the very beginning, and that involvement does not stop at enrolment. We work closely with parents and carers throughout a student’s time in the Bridging Hub, keeping them informed, seeking their input, and ensuring the transition planning process is something we do together, not something we do to them.
Respect
We hold consistent expectations for how students, staff, and families engage with one another. Differences in learning, background, and experience are understood and respected here — not as obstacles to manage, but as the reality we build our practice around.
Advocacy
We speak up for our students. Within the school and in the broader conversations that shape their educational journey, we work to ensure each young person is seen clearly, understood fully, and given a genuine opportunity to succeed in whatever pathway lies ahead.