College Newsletter Issue 2 / 13 May 2016
From the Principal Junior School Redevelopment Project I am pleased to report that the Junior School Development Project is on track. The final fittings of A Block were completed in the April holidays, with the last of the furnishings for the Junior School Library arriving last week. A special feature of the Junior School Library has been the creation of a Maker Space. It has been fascinating to watch students apply their learning in a 3 Dimensional environment. The area underneath the ELC, which is to become Year 1 classrooms and learning spaces for Junior School Student Services will be ready sometime next month. Locating Student Services in this space was a conscious decision as it will enable many of the learning enhancement opportunities to be centred in the lower Junior School. Construction of the amphitheatre in the Year 7 area is also progressing well, and when complete (also next month) will provide a flexible outdoor learning space for Middle School and upper Junior School students. The redevelopment of the Years 5 and 6 classrooms, and the creation of a purpose built S.T.E.A.M room (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths) is scheduled to start work in the month of June. Once complete the contemporary, agile, flexible learning areas for our students will be among the very best anywhere on the coast.
Teaching & Learning Frameworks At St Andrews we have two Teaching and Learning Frameworks - the International Baccalaurete’s Primary Years Program (PYP) in the Junior School and Marzano’s Dimensions of Learning Framework in the Secondary School. Both are considered world class Teaching and Learning Frameworks. Teaching and Learning Frameworks are an important precondition for ongoing improvement in teacher pedagogy and student learning. It ensures that teachers operate with a consistent learning focus. It provides teachers and students with a common language to talk about learning and a defined lens with which to view all activities that occur within the classroom. Both frameworks help to ensure consistency of teacher practice without being so prescriptive that innovation, creativity and individuality cannot be brought to the classroom. These frameworks help to ensure that at St Andrews we are daily striving to get better at what we do and remain focused on our core business of improving student learning. Educating the Whole Child Student learning is not just what happens within the four walls of the classroom. One of the things that St Andrews does well is to educate and develop the whole person. A St Andrews Education goes well beyond the academic learning of the classroom. In addition to the academic development there is a consistent emphasis on developing the social, emotional, physical and spiritual dimension of each student. As I’ve moved around the campus in the first month of this term, this holistic development of each child has been clearly evident. From the spectacular musical involving 150 students, to the teams of senior students doggedly training for Kokoda; to the record number of futsal teams who have qualified for the Champion of Champions Tournament later in the year, through to the erudite arguments of our debaters, and the nearly 200 St Andrews students who marched on ANZAC Day thereby honouring the ANZAC legacy, the array of opportunities for St Andrews students to challenge themselves and to grow in character and deepen their values have been clearly apparent. There is clear evidence that