PROFILE
Shenton College:
Walking the walk with school culture Images courtesy of Shenton College
By Shannon Meyerkort, Industry Reporter
Established in 2001, Shenton College is one of Western Australia’s largest and mostawarded high schools, a public co-educational facility of just over 2000 students in the western suburbs of Perth. The school is partially selective – offering a gifted and talented program – and also incorporates the Deaf Education Centre, the state’s only secondary deaf school. Anyone who has attended an orientation or graduation at Shenton College in the past 15 years will have heard Principal Michael Morgan fiercely repeat the same statements: that Shenton College is proudly public, proudly co-educational and proudly inclusive. While he could have sent his own children to any of the excellent private schools that are nestled
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amongst the towering gums of the western suburbs, he insisted that they attend his school. It is, he admitted during the orientation for the most recent cohort of Year 7s, the fastest way to find out what students really think and how well a school is really doing—the manifestation of a school’s culture. Often, when we read about school culture in the news, it’s framed in adverse terms – a culture of bullying or toxicity. Perhaps this is because it’s easier to identify culture when it’s negatively impacting us, like noticing a bad smell in the room. But when things are working well, it can be harder to pin down.
cannot be addressed formally, although many have tried.” Often, the idea of culture is mistakenly tied up with philosophy or values, but school culture can’t be embroidered in Latin on your blazer pocket nor printed beneath the school crest in the assembly hall. Values and mottos can talk the talk, but only through actions and behaviours, can schools actually walk the walk.
More than words Adam Pengelly is the Associate Principal at Shenton College. He started at Shenton College as
an English teacher back in 2006, knowing little about the school which, at the time, was still in its infancy. “I never would have imagined staying in a school for as long as I have; what has kept me here is a strong alignment with the values of the school and a culture that is always looking to provide opportunities to enrich learning and promote growth. “At Shenton College, we have a number of slogans and mottos Much more than Marks, Learning for Life; Proudly public, proudly inclusive, proudly excellent and it would be accurate to say that they are lived, they aren’t just words on posters.”
Adam Voigt is a former Principal who is now a prominent voice in the Australian education media conversation. He is also the founder and CEO of Real Schools, a burgeoning organisation focused on helping schools develop strong, restorative cultures. To School News he said, “School culture is best defined as a set of behaviours – those we encourage and those that we tolerate. These behaviours are enormous in number and EDUCATION
Term 1, 2024 | school-news.com.au