Believing in Something Big: St Peters Springfield Celebrates with Springfield City
This week has taken me on a trip down memory lane! It has seen me return to our very first ‘Review’ and our 10 year College history book to explore the wonderful growth of St Peters Springfield since its inception in 2008.
Why so much page turning? Well, August 2022 is a milestone because it is the 30th birthday of Springfield City, 30 years since Springfield City Group led by Chairman Maha Sinnathamby and Deputy Bob Sharpless, took ownership of almost 3000ha of land on the ‘doorstep of Brisbane’ in 1992. And, St Peters has played a special part in the development of Springfield City.
It was a privilege to attend the 30thcelebrations of Springfield this week on Tuesday night at the Event Cinemas at Orion Springfield Central to represent St Peters Springfield. The theatre was packed with people from across the area from politicians including Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, to industry partners and school leaders to local community members.
During the evening, guests watched a documentary created by renowned journalist and author, Madonna King, called: “30 Years through 30 Eyes” and listened to the stories of community members who have helped to shape the Springfield area. I was provided with an opportunity to speak about our College in its early years and now, as a part of a panel following the screening. One of the key aspects that I spoke about was how our school has always been built on strong, enduring relationships – it has always been about working together to build a kind, respectful community. I must say that I was very proud to listen to some of our students perform in the combined school choir at the evening, singing ‘We Built this City’ and ‘You’re the Voice’ by John Farnham – it was a tremendous effort.
During the speeches, it was interesting to hear that the Springfield area had no interested buyers for quite some time and that when the area was purchased, it wasn’t newsworthy. But Maha Sinnathamby made it clear that ‘belief’ was the important ingredient in building a city, a city that will expand to 145 000 people in the future, a similar size as Darwin. Mr Sinnathamby and Mr Sharpless have reflected that their commitment to the Springfield project has always been ‘well into the future’ and that there is ‘a long way to go.’
Just as both men drove an innovative vision for Springfield City and had a strong sense of ‘belief’, St Peters believed in a Lutheran school offering excellence in Christian co-education in the area. In 2008, St Peters Lutheran College Springfield welcomed 96 excitable students with a handful of staff under the leadership of Ms Jill Lange-Mohr, Principal. I reflect that in those early years I used to say that we needed to be a ‘Jill of all trades’ since we really needed to work across a range of areas to build up curriculum, processes and co-curricular opportunities to ensure that our students were getting maximum opportunities. It wasn’t always easy but we believed in creating something bigger.
Our school is now approaching 700 students from Prep – Year 12 with three streams in Year 7 this year which will continue to expand our Secondary school. We are in the process of refreshing our Masterplan and determining the next state of the art facilities to be put in place. There is a keen focus on best practice in curriculum and pedagogy with our Primary Years students engaging in inquiry learning – asking questions, exploring answers in a deep and purposeful way, having agency in their learning, while we plan new elective opportunities for the Junior High students. We have introduced a new Wellbeing Framework – REVAMP – this year in line with Dr Martin Seligman, Father of Psychology’s wellbeing frameworks. Our student leadership and mentoring systems across the College are developing and thriving. Our students are excelling through the Sport and Performing Arts, with some achieving at the highest of levels. We are working with industry within our local community to bolster our offerings. How far we have come in nearly 15 years of being in the area! And just as in the first weeks and years of our College, there is still that excitement and buzz in the air and lots of huge, lovely smiles.
At the end of Upper Primary chapel this week, as in the tradition, the idea of ‘belief’ and vision were encapsulated as our students sang our College song so beautifully: ‘Ever Higher, knowing that there is more than what we can see.’ It will be exciting to see what will happen in the Springfield area over the next 30 years. It will also be exciting to see our College continue to flourish as a result of our mindset of believing in something big, and because of the strong, friendly and respectful relationships within the College itself and within our local Springfield community. Thank you for working in partnership with the College as we strive ever higher. There is infinite potential – more than what we can ever see!
Natalie Houston
Principal
