Empowering Future Leaders at St Peters Lutheran College Springfield

At St Peters Lutheran College, our motto 'Plus Ultra' challenges us to aim for 'Ever Higher', strive for excellence, and embrace continuous growth. One of the programs that embodies this spirit is the Duke of Edinburgh Award (commonly known as 'The Duke of Ed'), a globally recognised initiative that helps young people develop essential life skills, build resilience, and gain a sense of achievement through self-directed challenges.

What is the Duke of Edinburgh Award?

An internationally recognised, structured, self-development program available to young people aged 14-25. Participants undertake a variety of activities over a set period, categorised into three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. At each level, participants engage in four main components:

• Service: Giving back to the community through volunteer work.
• Skills: Developing or enhancing a personal interest, hobby, or talent.
• Physical Recreation: Fostering physical health through sports or fitness activities.
• Adventurous Journey: Embarking on an outdoor expedition to develop teamwork and resilience. At St Peters, we are fortunate to partner with our Ironbark staff, who provide invaluable expertise and support for the adventurous journey component, ensuring students have a safe yet challenging outdoor experience.
• For those pursuing the Gold Award, an additional Residential Project is required, where participants engage in a purposeful experience away from home, usually involving community work or personal growth.

The Impact at St Peters

At St Peters Springfield, we have rich Service-Learning opportunities for both Primary and Secondary Years students. We also have a camps and outdoor education program which starts in Year 3 and culminates with the 30+ night Ironbark experience in Year 9. The Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme is an excellent continuation of and companion for these experiences already offered, allowing students to complete an internationally recognised award which can also contribute to the attainment of a QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education). St Peters students also have somewhat of a head-start on the Bronze award by attending Ironbark, where the Adventurous Journey aspect is fulfilled.

Many of our students have already embraced the challenges and opportunities offered by the Duke of Edinburgh Award, enhancing their leadership, problem-solving, and collaboration skills. Through their involvement, they have truly lived out the spirit of "Plus Ultra" by pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones and achieving more than they thought possible. Participants not only learn to push their limits, but they also discover more about themselves, their peers, and the world around them.

Get Involved!

For our young people in Primary Years and early Junior High, you don’t need to wait until you are 14 to challenge yourself, develop new skills, and live out the "Plus Ultra" motto. You can start working toward your personal growth now by using the Duke of Edinburgh model of:

• Serving the community and volunteering.
• Playing a sport, learning an instrument or developing a skill.
• Engaging and enjoying (safe) adventure with your friends, family or through the many opportunities provided at the College.

If you are a student who is 14 years old and ready to challenge yourself, we encourage you to consider participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. It is more than just a program—it’s an opportunity to grow, both as an individual and as a leader, reaching new heights with every step.

For more information on how to get involved, please contact Mrs Lucy Hinchliffe – Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator at l.hinchliffe@stpeters.qld.edu.au.

Thank you and blessings.

Craig Brown
Head of Springfield

On Thursday 12 September we will be celebrating R U OK? Day.

R U OK? is a harm prevention charity that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives.

The reason we find this day so important is because, as a community, we all need each other. Life can be challenging, and we can go through tough times. Checking on yourself and checking on your friends is something that we value and something we believe in celebrating.

On Thursday, the students are able to wear a touch of yellow – ribbons, socks, any yellow accessories – to wear with their full school uniform.

Our Wellbeing Team will be greeting the students on the Concourse stairs before school on Thursday morning to welcome them on this day.

What a fabulous way to end Term 3 – we want our community to know that every day is a day to ask ‘R U OK?’

Sarah Johnson
Careers and Guidance Counsellor

• 12 September - QGSSSA Track & Field Championships
• 12 September - RUOK Day
• 12 September – Term 3 concludes
• 1 October – Term 4 commences

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) focuses on active, inquiry-based learning, where students take ownership of their education through meaningful, hands-on experiences. In the PYP, action is central to the learning process, as students are encouraged to apply their knowledge to real-world situations. This could take many forms, such as engaging in community projects, environmental initiatives, or creating solutions to local or global challenges. Action is viewed as a manifestation of students’ understanding and their commitment to making a positive impact on their world.

The PYP Exhibition is the culmination of the PYP journey, where students work in small groups to inquire into issues of personal and global significance. It is a powerful demonstration of their ability to investigate, collaborate, and take action on a chosen topic. Throughout the exhibition, students identify a problem, research its causes, and propose actionable solutions. The action component here is essential, as students often implement their ideas, whether by raising awareness, influencing policy, or organising events. The PYP Exhibition empowers students to demonstrate their growth as independent learners and global citizens, ready to apply their skills and understanding to effect change in their communities and beyond.

Ne Energy visited our Year 6 students to share their mission of recycling unused goods to be repurposed. As part of the action from the PYP Exhibition, groups are inquiring about waste reduction and how we can all be part of the big picture.

How can you reduce waste? Ask our Year 6 students.

Lia Sabri
Head of Primary Years

Student leadership plays a vital role in shaping the culture and spirit of St Peters Springfield. Our portfolio-based student leadership model empowers young leaders to take ownership of specific areas within the College, fostering personal growth and making meaningful contributions to our community. This innovative approach not only develops crucial leadership skills but also ensures that student voices are heard and valued across various aspects of College life.

Student Leadership Portfolio Teams provide opportunities that build on the College's strengths, by students and for students. Each portfolio is guided by a staff member, focusing on three main goals:

1. Develop a specific area of St Peters Springfield.
2. Foster College spirit and embody Care, Dignity, and Respect.
3. Recognise and highlight individual achievements within these portfolios.

A key feature of this system is the co-creation of vision and expectations by both students and teachers. This collaborative approach ensures that all students in Years 7-12 have an authentic avenue for their voices to be heard and validated.

Congratulations to Our New Student Leaders

We are thrilled to announce the completion of our rigorous selection process. From an impressive pool of 34 applicants, we have appointed our new student leaders. Their dedication, creativity, and vision stood out throughout the process.

Congratulations to the following students on their appointments as portfolio leaders:

These exceptional young individuals have demonstrated remarkable potential, and we are confident they will make significant contributions to our College community. We look forward to seeing how they shape and enhance their respective portfolios in the coming year.

To all 34 applicants, we commend your initiative and courage in putting yourselves forward for these leadership roles. The selection process itself has been a valuable learning experience, and we encourage you to continue developing your leadership skills in various capacities within the College.

Dominic Piacun
Head of Secondary Years

AVEO

On Monday Cantabile Strings and selected Instrumental and Speech and Communication soloists from Years 6-12 performed at a morning tea concert at the AVEO Springfield. The audience were entertained from a wide range of musical styles including classical, contemporary, movie themes and pop music. Thanks to Mrs Campbell, Ms Crellin, Mrs Schmeider, Mrs Pomerenke and Ms Powell for their work in making this a reality after many years of absence. We look forward to a continued association.

Dolce Voce Performances

As the College acknowledged R U OK? Day this week, Dolce Voce were gifted a beautiful piece by Timothy Sherlock in May called Come Sit By Me. Dolce Voce performed this work at the 7-12 Assembly on Tuesday and at the Primary Chapel on Thursday. Thanks to Mrs Schmeider and Mrs Pomerenke for making this a reality.

Twilight Tour

Great work once again to Cantabile Strings and Taashya who performed at the Twilight Tour this afternoon.

Commencement of IM Lesson and Rehearsals Term 4

Private Tuition lessons and all Ensemble rehearsals will commence in Week 1. Please ensure students are in attendance as most ensembles will have performing commitments in Term 4.

Private Tuition

A reminder that any requests to cease lessons (four week’s Term time notice) or to change Instrumental Tutor, must be directed through the Performing Arts Coordinator. Mrs Yasmin Scott (Speech and Communication) does have availability on Wednesday’s until 2:30pm-4:00pm if students would prefer an out of school hours lesson.

Performing Arts Showcase

Plans are underway for the Performing Art Showcase to be held on Monday 14 October in the JHP Foyer from 6:00pm-7:10pm.

Thank you

Term 3 has been a rewarding and eventful one with numerous performances. Wishing all staff, students and families a restful holiday so that all can be energised for all the end of year events that are listed below.

Upcoming Events

• SHEP: 26 and 29 September
• Performing Arts Showcase: 14 October
• Christmas Celebration: 8 November
• Secondary Presentation Evening: 14 November
• Valedictory Ceremony: 15 November
• Primary Celebration Service: 22 November
• SHEP Primary: 23 and 24 November

Geraldine Campbell
Performing Arts Coordinator

WDNA

Congratulations to the St Peters 3 team who played their Grand Final on Saturday 7 September. These young ladies showed great spirit and resilience all the way through the game. In the end, St Peters was defeated 21-18 in a close and exciting contest.

Track & Field Training

QGSSSA and AIC Track & Field Championships are here! Congratulations to all the St Peters Springfield students who have been selected for these teams. The QGSSSA Track & Field Championships are being held on Thursday 12 September, with the AIC Track & Field Championships held on 3-4 October. Students have been training hard for several months now and we wish them all the best as they represent St Peters.

Opens & Firsts Premierships

Congratulations to Ella M (Year 12), Jazelle D (Year 12), Leilani F (Year 12) and Mia H (Year 12) who were all part of the St Peters QGSSSA Opens Netball team. This team had an undefeated season and secured the Opens Premiership on Saturday when they were victorious over St Margarets 47-39.

Congratulations to Rahul K (Year 10) who was part of the AIC Firsts IV Tennis team. This team also had an undefeated season and secured the outright premiership with their victory over Villanova on Saturday.

Term 4 Prep – Year 3 Afternoon Sports Programs

Please check emails for information that is being sent home regarding the Term 4 Prep – Year 3 Cricket Programs. This year in Term 4, Preps – Year 3 students will have a Cricket program on Monday afternoons and a Hockey program on Thursday afternoons. Parents of students in Prep to Year 3 will have information emailed to them.

Hockey

Five week program without the pack: $115.00

• Week 1: 17 October
• Week 2: 24 October
• Week 3: 31 October
• Week 4: 7 November
• Week 5: 14 November

Participation Packs & Five week program: $200.00

Pack includes:

• Hockey stick and stick bag
• Hockey ball
• Shin pads
• Mouth guard

www.trybooking.com/CUZKW

Brendan Johns
Head of Sport

Last weekend saw the final round of AIC Basketball, Rugby League and Tennis fixtures for 2024. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in making our 2024 Basketball, Rugby League and Tennis season such a successful one. Many thanks to both Georgia Smith (Basketball Coordinator), Nathaniel Bartlett (Rugby League) and Lija Marshall (Tennis Coordinator) for all their hard work each week in ensuring that both sports ran smoothly and effectively.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all our coaches for their support, knowledge and mentoring of our boys. It would be remiss not to thank both the students who participated as well as their families who supported them each week throughout the AIC season.

Without the enthusiasm and support of all the above mentioned, such a successful sporting season of AIC Sport would not have been achieved.

We would like to congratulate the following St Peters Tennis teams who completed the AIC Tennis season as premiers

• 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, 10A, 10B, 9A, 9B ,

We must also congratulate our Basketball teams who despite most teams having tough seasons developed as the season went on and remained dedicated to training and games.

While our first season of Rugby League was a memorable one with both our Junior and Senior Rugby League teams winning nine games from a possible twelve. With a Senior squad being predominantly comprised of Years 10 and 11 students it was a testament to their ability to record wins against Villanova and St Laurence’s College. While our Juniors were promoted off the back of impressive results and remained undefeated in the As for their three games against IONA, Padua and Villanova. We look forward to seeing this age group continue to progress and develop in the years to come.

Congratulations

Kai G (Year 11) who competed at the World Lifesaving Championships. Kai helped the Australian team to numerous team gold and silver medals as well as individual efforts. Congratulations Kai on a phenomenal achievement, with a selection of events listed below that Kai contributed to:

• Gold, world champion youth men beach relay
• Gold world champion youth men rescue tube rescue
• Gold world champion youth men 4 x 25m manikin relay

Rugby League News

Last weekend our Juniors rounded off their successful first season of Rugby League with a win against Villanova. After the boys were promoted in Round 5 to the 7A division they remained undefeated which was an incredible result! Congratulations boys on a fantastic first season, to lose only one game by two points all season to the strongest Rugby League College for the age group is an incredible turnaround from where we started.

While our Seniors narrowly went down to Second XIII premiers Marist College Ashgrove, the boys can hold their head high for a well contested match. A thank you and farewell to the 10 departing Seniors who represented the Senior team this year – Alex B, David C, Sam C, Wallace C, Xavier C, Ben F, Grayson G, Dan N, Johnny N & Alex T.

Our boys celebrated a memorable first year of Rugby League for their break up party in the P&F, organised by Mr Bartlett and coaches.

Tennis News

The final round of 2024 AIC fixtures were played last weekend with St Peters capping off another successful year of Tennis. With Round 7 being a focus Round against Villanova, our Year 9 and Opens were treated to great support from the St Peters community on both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning with each of our teams winning!

This wrapped up an incredible year for AIC tennis where we won the Aggregate Shield for the 10th year in a row and premierships for the following teams: 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, 10A, 10B, 9A, 9B. While 4ths, 8A, 8B, 7A, 7B finished as runners-up.

A special Thank you to our Head Coach, Mark Lewis and our old scholar coaches who work so hard with our AIC Teams

track & Field News

The fourth and last of our AIC Track & Field Lead Up meets was scheduled for this Wednesday 11 September at The State Athletics Facility (SAF), Nathan. With record attendance for Meet 4, It was one of the last opportunities for our boys to practise and hone their skills before the 2024 AIC Track & Field Championships which will be held in the first week of Term 4. We are extremely proud of the work and enthusiasm our boys have exhibited so far and we are looking forward to seeing what they can achieve at the AIC Championships.

The AIC Track & Field Championships will be held on Thursday 3 October and Friday 4 October at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC). We wish all our athletes the best of success as they finalise their preparations leading into these championships.

Please keep an eye out for the Holiday training schedule to continue to prepare for the Championships!

TERM 3 AIC SPORT COORDINATORS

St Peters AIC Track and Field:
Mr Daniel Fraser - d.fraser@stpeters.qld.edu.au

St Peters AIC Rugby League:
Nathaniel Bartlett - n.bartlett@stpeters.qld.edu.au

St Peters AIC Tennis Coordinator
Mrs Lija Marshall - l.marshall@stpeters.qld.edu.au

St Peters AIC Basketball Coordinator:
Miss Georgia Smith g.c.smith@stpeters.qld.edu.au

Please also CLICK HERE to access the AIC Sporting Calendar for 2024.

ST PETERS STUDENT SPECTATORS ON GAMEDAYS

Please note, dogs are not permitted on campus to accompany spectators to watch Football or Rugby fixtures (service dogs permitted).

Should any St Peters student be attending a St Peters sporting event/game outside of normal College hours, it is expected that they are dressed in St Peters formal uniform. Should a student not be wearing the correct attire when attending a sporting event/game, they may be asked to leave the venue.

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. We will endeavour to keep everyone updated on both training cancellations and game day changes as the week progresses.

Daniel Fraser
Boys Sport Coordinator

We’ve reached the end of the term, and what a fantastic journey it has been!

Congratulations to all the girls who have represented St Peters this term—whether on the Hockey field, Netball court, Volleyball court, Tennis court, in Rhythmic Gymnastics, or out on the water with rowing.

A special mention to our Year 12 girls, many of whom have competed for St Peters for the final time. We couldn’t be prouder of your efforts, and we’re grateful for the memories and commitment you’ve brought to our sports teams over the years.

The dedication shown by all our girls has been incredible this term. Watching their growth each week has been a real highlight, and the improvement across our Sports has been outstanding. We’re also immensely grateful for the support and expertise of our coordinators and coaches, whose contributions make these opportunities possible. A big thank you as well to our wonderful Parent Support Groups, whose encouragement and assistance play such an important role in the success of St Peters Sport.

We look forward to sharing an end of season report for each of our QG Winter Fixtures next term.

QGSSSA Premierships

Congratulations to the following teams who have won premierships in the QGSSSA Winter Season.

• Netball - Open, Senior A and Senior B.
• Volleyball – Open, Senior A, Senior B and 10A

Be sure to visit the QGSSSA website to view all results and final ladder standings.

Good Luck

Best of luck to our Track & Field athletes as they compete in the QGSSSA Championships this week, and to our rowers preparing for the Queensland State Schools Championships at Wyaralong this weekend.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for updates from your sport coordinators and check the St Peters app for information on when Term 4 Sports training will start up again.

Andy McGregor-Lowndes
Acting Girls Sport Coordinator