Opening Service and Founders Day 2024
As we celebrate the completion of our 16th and beginning of our 17th year of St Peters Springfield, we look forward to the bright future that is in store, while also paying tribute to the past and the firm foundations upon which we have been built. On Day 1, 29 January, 2008, our school comprised of 96 students and 14 staff; this week, we have almost 750 students and 90 staff.
It was my pleasure to share in our Opening Service with students, old scholars, staff and community members on Tuesday 30 January. At the Service, Pastor Matt Wilksch led the Founder’s Day rite, installation of myself as the new Head of Springfield and installation of new staff. We then moved into the acknowledgement of our Dux and Proxime Accessit for 2023, Hugo Koch and Julianna Ganczer respectively, who were presented with their awards by our Head of College, Mr Tim Kotzur. Finally, it was my pleasure, along with Mr Dominic Piacun to Present the Year 12 students to the College as the Seniors for 2024.
One of the key focuses of a St Peters education is on nurturing the whole child, providing life-wide learning through our exceptional academic and cocurricular program. This year, our Year 12 Student Leadership Team has already had the opportunity to travel to the Sunshine Coast where they bonded as a team and refined their goals for 2024. We are excited to see how they contribute to our community and lead in their different portfolio areas.
Our Year 9 students at Ironbark are going well as we approach the halfway point of their time away. There has been some homesickness, although there has been amazing teamwork, growth and self-development also occurring. We look forward to their stories when they return and the ongoing development of the Ironbark legacy with Year 9 cohort as a whole, but also on our students as individuals.
The Year 6 students have also begun their leadership journey, looking at the areas of the College where they may be able to serve, including on the Concourse, with flags and at Chapel to name just a few. It was my privilege to be in their classroom last week when they were selecting the areas they were interested in and the enthusiasm shown by all students was fantastic.
At the other end of the school, the Prep students had a fantastic start to the year. They slowly met their classmates and new teachers in week one and were then well-prepared for a full week at the College this week. This is one of my favourite places in the College to visit and the fun, learning and laughter that takes place in these classrooms is a credit to our amazing staff.
I want to finish in with some words of inspiration and gratefulness that were shared with me by Mr and Mrs Koch, parents of Hugo, our College Dux in 2023. Katie and Paul shared that St Peters Springfield provided opportunity for their son to achieve (as many other schools do), however, more importantly, it provided him a place to be himself; to be confident and to flourish as a young man.
Thank you again to the community for your warm welcome and I look forward to meeting and getting to know more of you as we progress throughout the year.
Craig Brown
Head of Springfield
