Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

Timothy 4:12

I want to reach out to students in the younger grades and make them feel like part of Junior High.

I want to encourage other students to keep going even when something seems hard.

There’s a great spirit in Junior High; everyone gets along and I want to make sure that doesn’t change.

These are some of the comments made by students who applied for the newly-created positions of Junior High House Captains.

Far too often, adolescence is viewed by parents and teachers as a no-man’s land between the innocence of childhood and the wisdom of adulthood traversed by difficult, uncommunicative and self-absorbed teenagers.  However, the research paints a different picture. In their book, Teaching Middle Years, Pendergast, Main and Bahr make the observation that students are motivated to make a difference within their social context and are willing to accept increasing levels of responsibility. To help young people flourish, we need to provide opportunities for them to take responsibility, to lead, and to motivate others. Hence the decision to create the role of Junior High House Captain.

The Junior High House Captains have different responsibilities to our Senior House Captains. While out Senior Captains focus on encouraging House spirit and helping with interhouse carnivals, our Junior High Captains will assist with developing a Junior High identity and strengthening ties between the year groups. They will work closely with Mrs Boase who will mentor them as they grow into roles.

However, we do not have only our House Captains leading in Junior High. Other students have come forward and offered to lead initiatives in Junior High. This means that not only do we have our Captains; we also have students who are willing to be buddies to younger students, to assist with the technical set-ups for Assemblies and Chapels and to care for the physical environment of the Junior High Precinct.

All the young people who volunteered to be leaders in Junior High spoke of their joy at being at St Peters and their desire to give back to the school community. Their maturity, thoughtfulness, and willingness to serve reflect adolescents far removed from the surly, resentful teenage stereotype. Rather they confirm that given respect, trust and opportunity, our adolescent learners have much to offer.

Sue Grotherr
Head of Secondary School

Arise is a Christian Community where people gather each Sunday morning at 9am in the St Peter’s Hub, to meet Jesus the Light of the World. "Arise, shine, your light has come!" Isaiah 60:1

All are welcome.

The video on Facebook is of the complete worship service.

View video of worship service

Not taking useless short-cuts. Being there for the long haul.

One of the wonderful ironies about working with students is that when I get frustrated at my own inability to fix something or stay on track I say to myself, "Now, what do we expect our Year 8s to do?  Show some resilience and persistence, Michael.  Take a deep breath, step back, have a cuppa, then have another go.’

I am not a natural home handyman. In my wife’s chest of drawers most of the thin wooden runners had given up. So, off to my dad’s, for him to cut me some slim hardwood strips. Precise measuring and me do not go together, so it was one runner at a time, constant checking, re-screwing, repositioning, eventually getting the two top drawers to fit – at the same time!

Last day of holidays, but my remaining wooden strips were a few millimetres too thick for the bottom two drawers. I gave up. Said we had to buy another. Started looking on Gumtree. Was informed by my beloved that there was no way she would have whatever I found. Had a grump, had a cuppa. Went and found the shaving tool I had, put the wood in the vice, persisted. By 4pm it was all done, not perfect, but drawers fitted, and the careful piles of clothes on the bedroom floor were able to be repacked.

In Luke 4:1-13 Jesus has just been filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism but surprisingly is not sent straight into full time preaching. Instead, there is this 40-day time out - fasting and discovering who he really is and the God way he is to do his work. Satan tempts him three times, trying to get him to take short cuts that would never work. Jesus keeps reaffirming his trust in his Father, and his willingness to go his Father’s way. That long and faithful road to the cross brings us hope, forgiveness and new life. It shows that we have a God who is always with us. It shows us the path to joy.

In this time of uncertainty, with Covid spreading in Victoria, we remember that we are all in this together for the long haul. No matter our biological age, some attractive short cuts are plain wrong. Go that way, and we short-circuit maturity, we put off growing in character and reliability, in faith, hope and trust. Keep trusting the invitations to a deeper life that the God of life and love continually sends our way. Don’t give up, even after taking some wrong turnings. Grace, love and mercy always win.

Pastor Michael Mayer
St Peters Indooroopilly College

Dear Parents, Guardians and Caregivers 

To assist with planning for 2021 to ensure effective educational programs, staffing and administration, it is important that the College is aware of expected student numbers.

As per our Enrolment Policy and contract, families are required to give one term’s notice of a student’s withdrawal from the College, therefore we need to be notified by the end of this term (15 September 2020) if your child(ren) is/are not returning to St Peters in 2021. It is imperative that the College receives written notice if you do not intend for your child(ren) to be enrolled as we commence next year. Please email s.enrolments@stpeters.qld.edu.au with your advice, or if you have any questions.

Important: No action is required to confirm that your child is staying at our school as all enrolled students automatically transfer into the next school year with St Peters Springfield.  
This year has been very challenging for many in our community. Any families who continue to experience financial hardship as a result of Covid-19 are advised to make contact with the Principal, Mr Craig Schmidt to discuss your individual circumstances. Mr Schmidt can be contacted by emailing c.schmidt@stpeters.qld.edu.au. 

Please also consider whether any contact, medical or emergency details may have changed for your child. If so, please make changes via the St Peters Community Portal - Update My Details.
We appreciate your support and look forward to our continued partnership for your child(ren)’s education. 

Kind regards
Carolyn Jacobs 
Enrolments Registrar 

Here at St Peters Springfield we are committed to the wellbeing of our students, families and staff. We have recently joined forces with Lilley Place to offer on site Psychological services to better serve the wellbeing of our community.

Support arrangements for St Peters Springfield Students - Information (PDF) click here.

Lilly Place Referral & Authorisation Form (PDF) - click here.

Year 1 launched their unit of inquiry titled, ‘How Do Communities Care for People?’ with a highly motivational lesson to illustrate the concepts of sharing and trading. Each of the classes was gifted a basket containing just some of the ingredients required to make a delicious ice-cream sundae. One class was given two large tubs of vanilla ice-cream and a packet of spoons. The other class received bowls, an ice-cream scoop, chocolate sauce, lollies and sprinkles. There was lots of discussion about how fair this was, before the children weighed up the benefits of sharing or keeping their gifts for themselves. It did not take them long to realise the other class had the items they needed and a deal needed to be brokered.

The children worked together to write a persuasive email to the other class highlighting the reasons why they should share their goodies and outlining the terms of the trade. Needless to say, the negotiations were hilarious! Finally, it was decided that we all benefit when we work together, and we enjoyed our delicious sundaes.

Based our inquiry based approach over the term the children will participate in guided research and conduct observations to build an understanding of the critical role communities (home, neighbourhood and global) have in looking after the people who live in them. They will research and explain features of local places such as shops, churches, temples, parks, hospitals, etc. and create maps and models to represent their understandings. The students will also identify people in the community who help us and determine ways they can personally serve other people and care for places.

Year 1 students will also determine where some of our most popular foods are produced and how they processed before we purchase them at the shops.

In Christian Studies the children will compare our community to others around the world which are less fortunate. We hope this will lead to an appreciation of living in a society so richly blessed with resources. We will identify ways more affluent communities can serve and share with those who have less, and inspire the children to act and make a difference to the lives of others.

We have many more exciting activities planned—stay tuned for further updates!

This article was written by Dr Anita Collins  in response to Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon's piece in the Sydney Morning Herald published on June 19, 2020. 

It gives a valuable insight into the important role extra-curricular events, and more particularly music, has in the lives of children and teenagers.

On June 19, an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by Money Contributor Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon discussed the situation parents are in after the COVID lockdown – more time on our hands with our kids. Some loved it, some hated it, and some rediscovered and reimagined parenting and associated priorities. But now we are mostly back to school and, in some cases, back to a mild case of mania ferrying our children to and from school and extra-curricular activities.

Enter Ms Pedersens-McKinnon's world view of cost versus benefit parenting. Five questions were posed that could help parents re-evaluate extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately, these questions and their answers represent a very singular view of their true value. Let's look at some alternate answers that focus on the benefits for the development of the whole child.

1. Does your kid enjoy it?

Could it be that your child may enjoy the activity itself, but in amongst seven other extra-curricular activities, it is the straw that breaks the camel's back?

Could a more productive question be, "Looking at the range of activities and free time, how does this activity balance out my child's development?"

Adults don't get to give up some activities because we don't enjoy them; we work through frustrations to reach new heights, stretch goals, and new understandings. Are we teaching children the skills they will need in adulthood by saying, "Well, if you don't enjoy it, don't do it."

2. Do they practise if they need to?

As a young musician's parent, I understand the frustration of paying every week for music lessons and, in some weeks, feeling like the only time my child plays is in her lesson. However, I am also a music educator who studies and works with the brain development research that has found that music learning is cognitively beneficial far beyond the music concerts and exams. Learning music is not a linear progression - it goes up and down with breakthroughs and plateaus.

Those 30 minutes a week at the age of seven heighten her neural connectivity, synaptic synchronisation, memory process, and analytical skills. In fact, at this age, her music learning has the most significant impact on her language development. This impact will really start to matter when she is eight and beginning to "read to learn."

A better question might be "Knowing that music learning is so beneficial for my child's cognitive development, how can I have appropriate expectations for my child's home practise (five minutes a day is great at this age) and how can I work with her teacher to develop this habit which I know will be very useful (including dealing with homework which is the same process of internal motivation based on habit building)."

3. Could it make you rich?

Ms Pedersens-McKinnon begins with: "I jest but there is a return-on-investment equation… could they become elite?"

Is this a measure of parenting that we want to use? Extra-curricular activities, whether music, chess, or soccer, are disciplines that research has shown to have significant impacts on brain development, which can be correlated with earning capacity.

Extra-curricular activities should be seen as ways of enhancing a person to be more successful in life, whether that be measured by strong relationships, robust mental and physical health, or earning capacity.

4. Does it give them a usable life skill?

Ms Pedersens-McKinnon sees extra-curricular activities as a means to find happiness and fullness, which will open social doors in the future. She is missing all the other life skills that come from learning a discipline which requires consistent training and learning to master. This develops "grit" which Dr Angel Duckworth defines as "passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way." Extra-curricular activities teach children persistence, grit, and resilience. What is the monetary value of that?

5. Is it worth the effort for everybody?

If the COVID lockdown has taught us anything, there are many qualities of life, and time without kids is incredibly valuable. With all the extra time and money gained from pulling our children out of extra-curricular activities, what will be the challenging and enhancing activities we will be doing every week with our kids?

NEW SHOW CHOIR COMMENCING

With distancing regulations due to the pandemic still in place, we are unable to run Mezzo Voce and Fella Voce rehearsals. In place, Ms Sharon Johnson, our vocal tutor, will be running a Show Choir on Monday first break (10.30-11.00am). This choir is for Years 4-6 students, and rehearsals are held in PAB. Any queries can be directed to Ms Sally Grennan, via email S.Grennan@stpeters.qld.edu.au.  

It is great to see so many students involved in Term 3 Sport for St Peters. It was great to see Sport back up and running last weekend with the first round of WDNA Primary Girls Netball, AIC Year 5 – 12 Basketball and Tennis and trials for QGSSSA Netball, Volleyball, Hockey and Tennis also taking place. This weekend will see the second round of games for AIC Basketball and Tennis against St Patricks and the first round of games for QGSSSA Winter fixtures against Brisbane Girls Grammar.

It is important that students and parents check the St Peters App for all fixture details as well as COVID Safe procedures for the various venues at St Peters and relevant opposition schools. No spectators are allowed at this point in time so please adhere to the relevant school procedures.

St Peters Sport Captains

We would like to acknowledge Springfield students who have been awarded Captain Positions for their respective Sport. We congratulate Caitlin M who is the QGSSSA Cross Country Captain for 2020. Although there was no QG Cross Country this year, Caitlin is a worthy recipient who has represented the College since Year 7. We also congratulate Gabby H who is the 2020 QG Netball Captain. Gabby has been an excellent role model for students throughout her time representing the College in Netball and been a great help to Mrs Champion since becoming Netball Captain. Finally, we also congratulate Sophie J who is the 2020 QG Tennis Captain. Sophie has been a member of the Open Girls Tennis team since Year 8 and has been a valued member of the Tennis program. We congratulate Caitlin, Gabby and Sophie and look forward to their leadership!

Open/First Representatives

We also acknowledge those students who have reached the top of their chosen sport with selection in a St Peters Open Girls team for First Boys team. 2020 has seen the most ever student gain selection in Open or First teams. We congratulate the following students:

• QG Open Netball – Martina R, Kiara C, Larika M, Mia B, Chloe D
• QG Open Tennis – Sophie J, Hayley J, Tahlia K
• QG Open Hockey – Ariel W, Sarah H, Lauren H
• AIC First V Basketball – Allystar G, Liam S
• AIC IV Tennis – Michael K

To reach these teams requires many hours of dedication, effort and a passion for their chosen sport. Well done to all these students!

Registering for Sport Bus

It is vitally important that all students using the Sport to travel to and from St Peters Indooroopilly for training register their names on the Sport Bus Manifest. This online document has been shared to all Year 4 – 12 students’ Google Drive Account. Students are required to place their name on the Bus Manifest at least the day before they require a seat to ensure all students can be catered for.

As there are extra sports taking place this term, there are more students needing to travel to Indooroopilly for training than would normally occur in Term 3 due to revised programs. Students are responsible for adding their names, however, can parents please remind their child/children to register as well.

Co-curricular Sport Photos

In early Term 2, we reviewed our school photo process due to the restrictions on group gatherings and social distancing requirements and advise group cocurricular photos will not be taken in 2020. A composite photo will instead be produced.

A composite photo is when students are photographed individually, with the group created digitally using a composite template. This will eliminate the need for students to be grouped together in close contact with other students, staff and photographers.

To facilitate these composite group photos, students will be required to have their individual photo taken on Tuesday 28th July at St Peters Lutheran College Springfield. Students are required to be dressed in their Full Winter Formal Uniform (excluding formal hat):

• Secondary (Year 7 – 12) – Full Winter Formal Uniform including blazer and tie
• Primary (Year 6) – Full Winter Formal Uniform including blazer and tie
• Primary (Year 3 – 5) – Full Winter Formal Uniform

Students who have sport training on Tuesday will need to bring their formal uniform to get changed into for photos. Parents should have received further communication regarding photos earlier this week.  

GIRLS SPORT – Term 3

Girls Sport Coordinator: Anne-Marie Champion

QGSSSA TERM 3 WINTER FIXTURES OPERATIONS UPDATE – PDF attached

Please click on the link to view the latest update from the QGSSSA Association re the ‘Return to Sport’ for Term 3.

CHANGE OF DATE

Winter Fixture Sports – Netball, Volleyball, Tennis & Hockey

Round 5 v St Margaret’s has been moved from Saturday 15 August to Friday 14 August. This change has been made to allow the girls to play their sport on Friday morning and then they are free to enjoy the long weekend with their families.

How fantastic it was to see Sport back on again last weekend. Well done to our Netball, Volleyball & Hockey girls who enjoyed the trial games against St Aidan’s.

Our Rowing girls are working hard to prepare for the four BSRA Rowing Regattas that are now back on the calendar in August – Mr Hicks will advise further details.

QG Track & Field training has commenced this week and our Track & Field Coordinators Mr Nodwell, Mr Donatini and Mr Lohe are excited as they prepare for the QG Track & Field Championship on Thursday 17 September (Student Free Day at the end of this Term) – that is eight weeks away!  Well done girls on a great turn out this week!

Run Club / Middle Distance Running continues to draw large numbers of girls enjoying the Mrs Schreiber running sessions. Further details can be found on the St Peters App.

Good luck to our Netball, Volleyball, Hockey and Tennis girls for the Round 2 fixtures v Brisbane Girls Grammar School this Friday afternoon and Saturday.

It has been a huge effort from our Coordinators and Coaches to get the teams sorted in such a short time frame, we thank them all.

Good luck Girls!

QG NETBALL

Coordinator: Mrs Champion – a.champion@stpeters.qld.edu.au

The Netball Round 2 Draw for this Saturday 25 July can be found on the St Peters App.

DATE CLAIMER – Vicki Wilson Cup is on again! Saturday 3 - Monday 5 October – Nissan Arena, Brisbane.

QG VOLLEYBALL

Coordinator: Mr Singh – j.singh@stpeters.qld.edu.au

The Volleyball Round 2 Draw for this Saturday 25 July can be found on the St Peters App.

QG HOCKEY

Coordinator: Mr Glass – c.glass@stpeters.qld.edu.au

The Hockey Round 2 Draw for this Saturday 25 July can be found on the St Peters App.

If your daughter would like to learn the game of Hockey, please contact Mr Glass. Due to injures any interested girls will be very welcome.

QG TENNIIS

Coordinator: Ms Franco – r.franco@stpeters.qld.edu.au

The Tennis Round 2 Draw for this Friday afternoon 24 July can be found on the St Peters App.

Please Note: Bus details can also be found on the draw.

BSRA ROWING

Coordinator: Mr Hicks – p.hicks@stpeters.qld.edu.au

BSRA Rowing Regattas are back on the calendar, further details to follow.

• Saturday 8 August
• Saturday 15 August
• Saturday 22 August
• Saturday 29 August

QGSSSA TRACK & FIELD

Coordinators: Mr Luke Donatini – L.Donatini@stpeters.qld.edu.au
Mr Shaun Nodwell – s.nodwell@stpeters.qld.edu.au
Mr Jeremy Lohe – J.Lohe@stpeters.qld.edu.au

DATE CLAIMER – QGSSSA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Thursday 17 September

Training has commenced this week – please see the St Peters App for the Training Schedule.

AIC Boys Sport -TERM 3

Boys Sport Coordinator: Luke Donatini

What a big week of Sport we had last week!  For some of our St Peters boys, they participated in four competitive games in seven days plus training. We could not be any prouder of them for their commitment, enthusiasm and resilience and all with a big smile on their face. Thank you, gentlemen your efforts did not go unnoticed!

It has been great to be able to visit training sessions of all our Term 3 sports (both currently in-season and pre-season) and witness the large number of boys involved.

Introducing our Captains of Basketball and Tennis

congratulations to Matt H (St Peters Tennis) and Calvin M (Basketball) for being named as the 2020 Captains of their respective sports. I am certain both Matt and Calvin will do both the College and their sport proud.

AIC Basketball and AIC Tennis Round 2

After some tough games verse Villanova College (Round 1) last weekend, our Basketball and Tennis players will take on St Patrick’s College this coming weekend in Round 2.  Congratulations to all of our Boys Tennis teams who were all victorious against Villanova College last weekend.

Once again, we wish every St Peters team the very best and encourage them to represent their college with pride and enthusiasm.

For details on game locations, venues and times please refer to the St Peters App where all details can be found.

Please note that each venue has a COVID Site Map which outlines both drop off and pick up details which should be adhered to.

With reference to Term 3 training for AIC Basketball and Tennis, please refer to the St Peters App. Any further information required, please contact the respective sport coordinators.

AIC Tennis Coordinator:
Mr Matt Stubbings – M.Stubbings@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC Basketball Coordinator:
Mr Orhan Memedovski – O.Memedovski@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC Football, AIC Rugby and AIC Chess pre-season training is now also commenced. We encourage all boys who are participating in these sports to ensure they know when their training is on (please check the St Peters App). For all students who are also participating in either Basketball or Tennis, please be reminded that attending Basketball or Tennis training takes priority over Rugby or Football as the are the ‘in-season’ sports.

If you have any questions pertaining to the up and coming Rugby, Football or Chess season (last four weeks of Term 3), please contact the coordinator.

AIC Football Coordinator:
Mr Nathan Edwards – N.Edwards@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC Rugby Coordinators:
Mr Juan Gouws –  J.Gouws@stpeters.qld.edu.au
Mr Trent Hacking – T.Hacking@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC Chess Coordinator:
Mr Gil Bygraves – G.Bygraves@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC Track & Field and AIC Cross Country

This week has seen the commencement of Term 3 Track & Field (and AIC Cross Country) training. It’s been brilliant to have so many students involved and attending our event training session.

For both Track & Field and Cross Country we ask all students and parents to refer to the St Peters App for training times and locations of specific event group training.

The 2020 AIC Cross Country Championship will be conducted on Wednesday 12 August at Curlew Park, Shorncliffe.

For more specific information pertaining to AIC Track & Field and/or AIC Cross Country, please contact the below coordinators:

AIC Cross Country Coordinator:
Mrs Kerry Schreiber – K.Schreiber@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC Track & Field Coordinators:
Mr Luke Donatini – L.Donatini@stpeters.qld.edu.au
Mr Jeremy Lohe – J.Lohe@stpeters.qld.edu.au

AIC First Half of Term 3 (Week 1 to Week 4)

• AIC Basketball (Year 5 to Year 12)
• AIC Tennis (Year 5 to Year 12)
• AIC Second Half of Term 3 (Week 5 – Week 9)
• AIC Football (Year 5 to Year 12)
• AIC Rugby (Year 5 to Year 12)
• AIC Chess (Year 5 to Year 12)

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. 

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: