Looking back, Looking Forward
With 2022 coming to an end, it is timely to reflect on all we have achieved at St Peters Springfield throughout the year. Achievement (or Accomplishment) is in fact a key aspect of our new Wellbeing Framework, REVAMP, which we launched at the College this year. Staff have over the course of this year started to embed REVAMP aspects in their teaching and interactions with students after workshops. The new Wellbeing Diary for Secondary Years students has also been beneficial in helping our students develop effective wellbeing strategies. In Year 11, the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum from the Institute of Positive Education has been trialled and Pastoral Care teachers in the Secondary Years look forward to rolling this out with all classes in 2023. These are just some of the key actions taken to enhance ‘Wellbeing & Care’ at the College.
This year, it has been also wonderful to see the variety of ways that our College is ‘Celebrating the Gospel’. Our Faith Captains have taken more of a role in Chapels and Assemblies; it has been pleasing to see our students participating in Alpha, a faith formation program, at lunchtimes; and we thank our Year 4 students for refreshing the Spiritual Garden which has been used by classes and our staff during devotional times.
‘Teaching & Learning’, our College’s core business, have continued to be refined and enhanced. The Primary Years staff have continued to create engaging Units of Inquiry so that our students can be confident thinkers, collaborators, researchers, communicators and self-managers. It has been pleasing to see parents back on campus for the Years 1 and 3 Inquiry Exhibition Evenings. The students’ display of their learning was most impressive as were their clear in-person explanations.
In Junior High, staff have been working hard to expand the elective offerings for 2023 with the development of vertical electives for Years 8/9 students. This process has taken into account student voice. We look forward to introducing greater variety and subjects which appeal even moreso to our students’ varied interests and passions next year.
There have been numerous opportunities for ‘Life-wide Learning’ across Primary and Secondary Years. A new Senior Student Leadership structure, a portfolio structure, has been introduced. Students spoke of the need for Wellbeing Captains and Culture Captains who can highlight the rich benefits of wellbeing and cultural diversity at the College. These positions have been carefully considered and introduced. The portfolio system has allowed any student from Years 7-12 to show leadership by joining and supporting a portfolio area; the system is creating greater spirit and purpose amongst our students. Mentoring programs between year levels have also hugely benefitted our students.
In Sport, it has been a year of increased participation in Lower Primary sport and girls’ sport across all QG Sports. We are also very impressed with the increased uptake in boys’ cricket, with an extra 12 boys joining Mr Brayne this year! In the Arts, we are thankful that our passionate Arts staff have created the inaugural ‘A Night on Wellness Way’ for Secondary and the ‘Believer’ Project for our Primary and Secondary students. Both of these opportunities have enabled our students to showcase their amazing singing, dancing and acting abilities. Our Private Tuition program has also increased by 20 students and we had our largest showcase of Private Tuition to date this term with almost 100 recital pieces being performed over two evenings.
‘Innovation’ has been seen through the introduction of Thriving Thursdays in the Primary Years where students can develop skills in an area of passion; Future Anything’s IGNITE Program in Year 10 where students can develop a product in groups that will solve a real world problem; and e-Sports where students have started to hone their gaming skills and even compete against other schools.
Finally, the importance of being a ‘Global Citizen’ has been reinforced through Multicultural Days across Primary and Secondary Years, through our renewed online connection with students at Sharon Lutheran School, Hong Kong, through a highly successful French Week and with the successful application for the Lendlease Landcare grant to develop an Indigenous Garden.
In 2023, we will watch as the next stage of the Junior High Precinct is built – Stage 3B. Stage 3B will include a variety of general classroom areas, visual art/maker space areas, breakout areas, a larger ‘Learning Commons’ area, contemporary, agile furniture in classrooms and additional amenities and change facilities and locker areas. This stage will no doubt create excellent conditions for effective teaching and learning and help our students to feel more comfortable at school well into the future. Parents and caregivers are invited to view the final Stage 3B designs at the P&F Annual General Meeting on 6 November at 6.30pm at the College.
It has been a big year for our students, families and staff, one in which we have needed to navigate a new set of challenges but also one in which many valuable opportunities have been presented. It has certainly been nice to see parents, grandparents and volunteers on campus and to see our school’s growing connection with St Peters Old Scholars. St Peters Springfield looks forward to celebrating many more events with our parents, caregivers and community over the final few weeks to acknowledge the many achievements and accomplishments of our fine young people in 2022.
Natalie Houston
Principal
