At St Peters Springfield, we aim to cultivate a culture of belonging that ensures every student learns every day. Accordingly, we are deeply committed to the provision of high quality, holistic education that develops the whole child for the whole of life. This is why when the opportunity became available to us at the beginning of 2023, the College elected to partner with The Learner First through a signature pilot program facilitated by Lutheran Education Queensland (LEQ).
Founded by renowned educational thought leader Joanne McEachen in 2012, The Learner First supports schools to transform education by putting learners at the centre of the learning experience. Like the staff of St Peters Springfield, The Learner First believes that every young person has the potential to thrive, and that classrooms and schools should be designed to help learners realise their full potential. Hence, The Learner First organisation works with education leaders, teachers and communities to create a learner-centred approach that emphasises individual needs, interests, and passions.
Really, the key objective of The Learner First is to activate contributive learning, which McEachen describes as "the process of discovering who you are, connecting with others and developing knowledge and competency. We call it contributive learning because when those four elements are present when someone has self-understanding, a sense of connection, relevant knowledge and key skills or competency they contribute to the world. It’s as simple as that.”
At St Peters Springfield, The Learner First pilot program members include educators from across the Primary and Secondary schools. Alongside Principal Natalie Houston, members of the pilot program include:
Primary School: Prueann Browning, Karen O’Neill, Linda Zozevski and Kelly Stolz.
Secondary School: Dominic Piacun, Sarah Gunn, Clare Santangelo and Joel Sheppard.
Over the course of Semester 1, we have been working with The Learner First team to create a purposeful and collaborative school ecosystem by aligning the moral purpose of the College through the lens of our learners' identities and needs. We have discussed shifting mindsets, developed a shared understanding of wellbeing, and considered how we can strengthen community partnerships for the benefit of the young people in our care. We are identifying ways that we can use evidence to inform and improve our teaching practice and we are reflecting on the ways in which we can action student voice and choice.
While we are early on in our journey with The Learner First, we certainly feel blessed to have been granted such a rare opportunity to engage in context-specific and ongoing professional learning that authentically reframes our professional identities and practice. Ultimately, we strive to create a culture where all learners feel agentic, have a sense of belonging and learn to contribute to others' lives and to the world in their own unique ways.
Sarah Gunn Director of Studies and Pedagogy
What's On
10 May - 31 May
10 May – Mother’s Day stall (main event)
10 May - Years 8, 9, 10 and 12 Drama Theatre excursion QPAC
12 May - Mother's Day Breakfast (7:30am) & Chapel (8:20am)
12 May - Mother's Day stall (follow up)
15 May - Semester 1 Sec Sport Photos at Indooroopilly
15 – 19 May - Under Eights Week (Prep and Year 1)
16 May - Semester 1 Showcase 7:00pm Performing Arts Building
19 May – Ipswich Show public holiday - Normal School Day
19 May - Semester 1 Pri Sport Photos at Indooroopilly
21 May - Evolution Dance Comp (9:00pm)
20 May - QGSSSA Cross Country Champions
23 May - Parent Workshop: The New Learning Reality - 2 sessions: 8:15am - 9:15am & 6:00pm - 7:00pm
23 May - Year 3 Beenleigh Historical Village Excursion
24 May - Met West Cross Country
24 May - Primary National Simultaneous Story time 11:00am
25 May - Community Focus Day
26 May – Fit Education Excursion (Year 11 & Year 12 Cert 3 Students )
26 May – Sustainability Design Thinking Workshop- Year 5 (Lesson 5-7)
31 May - AIC Cross Country Championship
Ministry
Arise Lutheran Community Church
Arise is a Lutheran community that meets at St Peters, Springfield. It’s a place where you can come to know God’s love through Jesus, and find light and hope for your life, and connect with other families from St Peters and the wider community.
In our service you will hear God’s word, sing, pray and share in Holy Communion if you want to. There’s a message for the kids too.
“They will do even greater things than these!” – John 14:12
I love how Jesus tells his disciples they will do things even more impressive than the incredible things he did. Jesus did many amazing things, but one of the things he did not do was raise children. We celebrate that Jesus was fully human, but we also recognise he didn’t have kids. Jesus may have turned water into wine, but he never had to get a toddler out of the confectionary aisle of the supermarket empty-handed. He may have walked on water, but he didn’t have to separate an eight-year-old from an iPad. He may have fed the 5,000, but he didn’t ever explain to a teenager why they don’t necessarily need an iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Being a Mum and raising a child could qualify as one of the “greater things” Jesus was talking about. Motherhood has hard moments. At every stage of your child’s life there are new challenges to meet. Sure, there is plenty of advice, but none of it has been tried and proven to work on your child. You are the one who must decide if you will test out the latest parenting hack. And you are the one who will live with the results if it doesn’t work. Never mind that it’s only the future life and wellbeing of your child that you could mess up!
Jesus invites us into a future with him in which all things are possible and in which we do “even greater things than these”. He invites us to trust he is with us on the journey. He invites us to recognise the sacredness of what we do in his name. He invites mothers to recognise the wonderful vocation of motherhood. Of all the ways God could have chosen to save the world he did so by sending his Son to be born as a human baby to a human mother. God entrusted Jesus to Mary knowing she and Joseph would raise Jesus the best way possible, in grace, humility and love in readiness to save humanity.
Although motherhood has hard moments, it has even greater joys. Every day your child learns new things, growing and changing. You have had a hand in that in a way no one else has. There is a very real sense that you are the best mother in the world for your child. You are the one God chose to give a child to and to give to your child.
When Jesus promised his disciples that they would do even greater things than these, he also promised to send the Holy Spirit as their Helper to enable and empower them for this work. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to mothers and fathers as they do the work of raising children, just as he gave the Holy Spirit to Mary and invited her to be a Mother in the first place.
God bless all Mums on Mother’s Day as you do a “greater thing” in raising your children.
Pastor Matt Wilksch Springfield Chaplain
LYQ Camps 2023
Lutheran Youth of Queensland offer a number of wonderful camping opportunities for children and teenagers. Kids Camp is for Primary aged students from Years 3-6. Christian Life Week is for Secondary aged students in Years 7-12.
For full details, prices and registrations CLICK HERE.
Wellbeing on Wellness Way
High Quality Connections
Relationships are our focus for wellbeing this term. To have a positive relationship in any capacity whether that be at school, within a family or in a friendship.
Our relationships are defined by our connections, most often these connections are quick incidental conversations or small gestures.
Positive relationships are defined by having three positive connections to every one negative. This could look like a friendly smile, a joke in the car on the way to school, singing a song or a cuddle.
So think about your day today how can you make sure you are making the most of your connections, time with family and moments with friends?
Sarah Johnson Careers and Guidance Counsellor
The Arts
Semester 1 Showcase Concert is only one week away
Please join us next Tuesday 16 May at 7:00pm in the Performing Arts Building for our first concert of the year. We have a varied musical program as well as a spectacular jazz/hip hop routine – “A Little Party” from Dance Troupe, and excerpts from “Spontaneous Human Combustion” performed by our drama students.
Family and friends are most welcome and we look forward to supporting the work of our Arts students.
Students who are involved have been sent a performance letter please check the details carefully. May I also remind students to devote a little extra time to practicing their parts in the lead-up to the concert, to make sure that they are well-prepared and to attend remaining rehearsals on time with parts learnt.
Dr Bradley Voltz Coordinator of Performing Arts (Cocurricular)
Sport
Springfield Sport
Representative Sport
Congratulations to all students who represented the College at the Central District Cross Country Trials. We had a number of students run well on the day. These include:
Lily T – 2nd 10 Year Girls
Tahnee B – 1st 13 Year Girls
Olivia A – 2nd 13 Year Girls
Tamika R – 7th 14 Year Girls
Stella S – 4th 15 Year Girls
Jade H – 1st 16 Year Girls
Boden R – 9th 12 Year Boys
Dahlair N – 10th 13 Year Boys
Isaac K – 4th 14 Year Boys
Rahul K – 6th 15 Year Boys
Anil N – 8th 15 Year Boys
Well done to Lily, Tahnee, Olivia, Stella, Jade, Isaac and Rahul who will represent the College at the Met West trials in a few weeks time.
Primary Sport
Year 4 – Year 6 Primary Athletics
St Peters Lutheran College Springfield is looking to establish a Primary Athletics Club which will run for the duration of Term 2 and 3 for students in Year 4 – Year 6. Students who sign up will be coached by outside coaches who have many years of Track and Field experience. Students will be able to attend up to 2 sessions per week for the duration of the program. Only students who have registered for this program will be able to attend.
Athletics Club Details:
Venue: St Peters Lutheran College Springfield Oval Start Date: Wednesday 3 May, Week 3, Term 2 Training Times: Wednesday morning 6:45 am to 7:45 am Thursday afternoon 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Auskick will again take place at St Peters Springfield in Term 2 on a Friday afternoon for all Primary students. Information will be sent out to parents early in Term 2. The first official session will take place on Friday 28 April and run for 6 sessions. Session times will be confirmed early in Term 2 by Auskick as will sign on information. Once available, parents will need to register and pay directly with Auskick.
Baseline Tennis Coaching
Baseline Tennis will continue their programs in Term 2. Sessions for Lower Primary students will take place on Tuesday afternoons from 2:45 pm to 3:45 pm. If you wish to register for this or any other Baseline Tennis program, please contact Baseline Tennis on 0450 622 307, by email at admin@bltc.com.au or go to their website.
Date Claimers – Term 1
Saturday 20 May: QGSSSA Cross Country Championships - John Paul College Wednesday 24 May: Met West Cross Country - John Paul College Wednesday 31 May: AIC Cross County - Curlew Park, Shorncliffe
AIC Boys Sport
“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!'” — Audrey Hepburn
Last weekend was a successful round of AIC sport for St Peters. Commencing with the success of our St Peters Chess boys who competed against St Laurence’s on Friday afternoon and finished with some exceptional games of Rugby and Football on Saturday, at St Laurence’s College Playing Fields in Runcorn.
It was extremely impressive to again witness the overall enthusiasm and sportsmanship of our boys. The pride they display when competing for their college is overwhelmingly evident. For this, I do thank them for living up to our college’s moto of ‘Plus Ultra’.
Looking forward, we now prepare for Round 3 this weekend as St Peters takes on St Patrick’s College.
To all our teams competing, we wish you every success and look forward to once again witnessing some strong support from our St Peters community both at Home and at St Patrick’s College.
AIC Chess Round 3 Games Friday 12 May
Chess will have their first Home Round of the season. This will be a Focus Round for Boys Chess this Friday afternoon so we encourage all students to come along and support this Friday night. Please refer to the St Peters App for details about training times and games for Term 2 AIC Chess.
This Saturday 13 May St Peters Football teams will compete against St Patrick’s College in Round 3 of AIC Football. Our senior teams (Year 9 - Year 12) will be ‘Home’ at St Peters whilst our junior teams (Year 7 - Year 8) will play ‘Away’ at St Patrick’s Playing Fields, Shorncliffe.
We request everyone to please check the St Peters App for game times and details. Please also check the app for any cancellations.
This coming Saturday our St Peters Rugby teams will also compete in rugby games against St Patrick’s College. Our 1st XV, 2nd XV, 10A, 9B, 8B and 7B teams will all play ‘Home’ at St Peters. We request everyone to please check the St Peters App for game times and details. Please also check the app for any cancellations.
The 2023 AIC Championships is fast approaching and will be held on Wednesday 31 May at Curlew Park, Sandgate. St Peters will be attending three AIC lead ip Cross Country meets in the weeks preceding the AIC Championships. The first lead up meet was yesterday at Sherwood Arboretum. It was great to see so many boys running at the first meet.
The AIC lead up meets will be:
Wednesday 10 May – Sherwood Arboretum, Sherwood
Wednesday 17 May - Curlew Park, Sandgate (St Patrick’s College Playing Fields)
Wednesday 24 May - Laurence’s College’s Playing Fields, Runcorn
Wednesday 1 June – AIC Cross Country Championships, Curlew Park, Sandgate
We request that all boys ensure they are fully committed to attending both training and the two lead up races prior to the AIC Cross Country Championships on 31 May.
We still welcome all boys from Year 7 - Year 12 boys to get involved in our Cross Country program or the social Runners Club.
Training times and our Cross Country Calendar can be found on the St Peters App.
Uniform Requirements for Term 2
As boys will be aware, Rugby, Football, Rowing and Cross Country will have College uniforms that each boy is required to wear for games/competitions. It is an expectation that these uniforms be worn during games/competition. If you have not purchased the correct uniform, please do so asap. No slides are to be worn before or after games.
Game Day Student Supporters
As a College, we value the support given to our sporting teams by other students. We do expect students supporting to be in Formal Uniform for the duration of their time supporting either at Home or Away venues. It is an expectation that students dress as they would on a normal school during the week. We look forward to seeing great support throughout the Term at our Rugby and Football games.
Wet Weather and Cancellations
With regards to wet weather and any unforeseen or potential cancellations of AIC sports, please ensure that you keep an eye out for notifications and alerts via the St Peters App.
Term 2 AIC Sporting Coordinators – St Peters Boys Sport
If the sport specific information you are looking for, in relation to Term 2 AIC sports for St Peters, cannot be found on the St Peters App, please contact the below sport specific sports representatives directly:
Wishing all our Mums a wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday, thank you for all you do to support our girls.
IMPORTANT AUTUMN FIXTURES RESCHEDULED DATES
Round 1: Basketball - Senior B2 rescheduled games v MBC: Wednesday 17 May, 4:15pm at St Peters Outside Gym Courts. Round 8: Basketball – Open Team rescheduled game v IGGS: details to be advised. Round 2: Touch – 8B and 9B rescheduled games v MBC: Wednesday 17 May, 4:15pm at Mayer Oval. Round 7: Football – Rescheduled Open game v BSHS: Wednesday 24 May, 4:00pm at BSHS Playing Fields, Fursden Road, Carina Round 9: Junior Football, 8A & 8B Touch & 8A & 8B Basketball v St Hilda’s: Monday 22 May at St Hilda’s, times to be advised.
2022 AUTUMN FIXTURES – FOCUS ROUNDS
Well done to our students lead by our Girls Sport Captains on the support shown for the third Focus Round of the Autumn Fixtures. Last Friday the students again came out in force to support the Football girls at Toowong Football Club. The atmosphere was fantastic with some great games, the Open team going down in a close one against St Aidan’s, they may not have won the game, but they certainly did themselves proud.
WINTER FIXTURES - NETBALL, VOLLEYBALL, HOCKEY & TENNIS
Sign ons are now complete.
Please watch for details of the pre-season training sessions from each sport coordinator, training schedules will be on the St Peters App as soon as they are finalised.
AUTUMN FIXTURE SPORTS – BASKETBALL, FOOTBALL & TOUCH
Please see the St Peters App for training details.
Good luck to all our girls competing this Friday against Brisbane State High School.
Date claimers:
Please Note, Round 8 is on Thursday afternoon next week Round 8 v Ipswich Girls Grammar (H) - Thursday 18 May Round 9 v St Hilda's (Gold Coast) - Friday 26 May
Well done to all the girls that participated in the compulsory meet at Shaw Park on Wednesday afternoon. With over 70 girls attending it was a huge turnout for our last QGSSSA meet of the season, Mrs Schreiber is now working hard to finalise the team that will be named in the next few days.
The big day of competition for the 2023 QGSSSA Cross Country season is Saturday 20 May. For those girls new to Cross Country, buses will leave the St Peters Bus Stop at 6:30am to take the girls to John Paul College, Daisy Hill. It is important the girls travel together to the event as part of the team. Parents can take girls home after their race or buses will return to school at the completion of the competition at approximately 1:00pm. The QGSSSA Cross Country Championships is always a fun filled morning where every member of the team supports each other in running 3km. Please support our runners for being part of 2023 QGSSSA Cross Country, we look forward to a great day.
The 2023 Cross Country season calendar is on the St Peters App.
Community Run Club: Join our Running Community on Friday mornings - meet at 6:30am at the St Peters Bus Stop.
Date claimers:
QGSSSA Cross Country Breakfast: Friday morning 19 May - further details next week. QGSSSA Cross Country Championships: Saturday 20 May
Training for our 2023 BSRA Rowing season is well underway with all rowers now on the water. Our Year 9, Year 10 and Opens girls are working hard to finalise crew selections.
Date claimer: Rowing Camp – an important event on the Girls Rowing calendar is the Rowing Camp, this will be held on the first week of the school holidays at the end of Term 2, Saturday 17 June - Friday 23 June.
Thank you girls, it has been another successful week of RG training.
This week we continued to work on choreography for all group divisions including collaborations, routine requirements and artistry. A jam-packed afternoon!
Remember strong attendance for all students means stronger team performances on QGSSSA Competition Day.
As always keep up the great work, keep practising and of course keep smiling.
I look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday at training.
Date Claimer: QGSSSA Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships – Friday 4 August (Week 4, Term 3).
The 2023 Rhythmic Gymnastics Calendar can be found on the St Peters App.
Please CLICK HERE for the Term 2 Athletic Performance & Development Training Schedule.
The schedule can also be found on the St Peters App.
If you would like further information on this wonderful opportunity to improve your fitness please email Mr Leigh Smith.
DRESS CODE FOR WEEKEND SPORTING FIXTURES
When attending/watching other sporting fixtures (eg Basketball, Football or Touch) girls are asked to ensure they are wearing their St Peters Formal Uniform or if they are playing their St Peters playing uniform is allowed. (PE Uniform or casual clothing is not allowed).
WET WEATHER SPORT CANCELLATIONS
Please keep an eye on the St Peters App for cancellations. We will endeavour to do this by 1:30pm for afternoon training sessions and 5:30am for morning training sessions. Updates for game days will also be provided, students will also receive an email.
Communication of Sport Information
Information regarding the St Peters Lutheran College Springfield Sport program will be communicated through a range of modes including email, St Peters App and Cornerstone. Students and parents will primarily receive information from the Head of Sport at Springfield but at times may also receive information from the Girls and Boys Sport Coordinators or individual Sport Coordinators. Parents and students are encouraged to download and use the St Peters App for information regarding the Sport program.
St Peters APP
Please download the St Peters ‘app’ today!!
All information regarding the St Peters Lutheran College Sport program including sport training times and venues, draws, coordinator details and wet weather arrangements can be found on the St Peters App.
*Please ensure that you update your preferences in the Settings> Subscriptions section of the app so that you only receive information from your appointed Campus or area of interest that are relevant to your family e.g. Springfield or Sports.
The app can be downloaded free through iTunes or Google Play, please search for St Peters:
