College Newsletter Issue 2 / 26 February 2016
From the Principal Junior School Redevelopment Project The Junior School Redevelopment Project has begun in earnest. Over the December-January break, A Block where our Year 1, 2 and 3s learn was completed. The result has been learning spaces that reflect flexibility, diversity and agility in learning. Within the classrooms there are spaces for teacher directed learning, small and large group learning, individual focused learning and informal learning opportunities. ‘Awesome’ was a word that was used a lot by our Years 1 to 3s as they settled into their refurbished learning areas for the first time.
periods of time in the coming months. The end result will be worth the inconvenience with the result being greatly enhanced learning spaces and facilities to meet the learning needs of our students. Academic Awards Assembly Recently as a College Community we celebrated student learning at our start of year Academic Awards Assembly. At this assembly the College recognized three key elements of student learning: • • •
Excellence in Academic Achievement Significant Improvement in Academic Achievement Outstanding Effort in Academic Achievement
These 3 awards, reflect 3 key things that we value highly at St Andrews. Firstly, we unashamedly value excellence. Excellence is something that is sought after and highly prized. At St Andrews we choose to strive for excellence not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Regardless of what we do in life, we should strive to do it the best we possibly can. Secondly, we value improvement. The desire or motivation to get better at something, in this case, learning, is important. At St Andrews we want all our children and young people to want to become a better student, a better musician, a better athlete, a better brother or sister, a better son or daughter, a better person, every day.
In recent weeks the new classrooms for the Year 1s in the space under the Early Learning Centre and expansion of the Junior School Library has begun. The doubling of floor space for the Junior School Library is particularly exciting as it will enable the Library to be a true hub of learning and innovation for our Junior School students. A little later in the year the enlargement of the Year 5 and 6 classrooms in B Block will occur. The Year 4s will move out of their current location in the modular building and into A Block. The modular building (C Block) will be converted into a Music Facility with large rehearsal and teaching spaces, as well as additional PAT lesson spaces. The building of a specialist S.T.E.A.M room for the Junior School under B Block will also be a feature. (S.T.E.A.M stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths). Finally, the old Junior School Music building will be demolished and converted into an attractive amphitheatre, suitable for outdoor learning. As mentioned previously there is likely to be some disruption to physical movements around parts of the campus for
Finally, we value effort, hard work and persistence. This is something that every student regardless of ability can show in their school work, and is something that will stand each of us in good stead for our life beyond school. Increasingly researchers are finding that effort and hard work are key factors in people achieving mastery and success in their chosen field. As part of this Awards Assembly we celebrated the highest OP achievers from last year’s graduating Year 12 class. The class of 2015 continued the fine tradition of excellent academic scholarship that St Andrews has developed – 27.3%, over 1 in 4 students were awarded an OP between 1 and 5, and 36.4% received an OP between 1 and 7 – the College’s best ever results on these two measures. These results are a credit to last year’s class – their work ethic, their perseverance, their willingness to engage in class, the way that they used feedback from teachers to help them to get better, and the way they made use of lunchtime and afterschool tutorials. It is also a credit to the teachers of our College – their expertise, skill and the quality of relationships that they formed with them.