2012 Winter Futurum

St Paul’s Grammar School No. 51 WINTER 2012

Science and Wonder at St Paul’s

Our New Threads Students Take The Lead FUTURE DIRECTIONS The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Contents From the Principal

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At A Glance

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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

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52 Taylor Rd, Cranebrook NSW 2749 Locked Bag 8016, Penrith NSW 2751 Australia

Our New Threads

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Students Take The Lead

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Contact St Paul’s

Out And About: The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

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Big Ideas: The Primary Years Programme

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ISSUE 51 WINTER 2012 St Paul’s Grammar School

T: +61 2 4777 4888 F: +61 2 4777 4841 info@stpauls.nsw.edu.au www.stpauls.nsw.edu.au

Five Minutes With Miss Emma Bate

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Five Minutes With Daniel Joller

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Science and Wonders – Staff Profile : Mrs Trish Humble

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Make Some Noise For Pots ‘n’ Pans

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2012 Term Dates Term 1

Wednesday 1st February to Thursday 5th April

Term 2

Thursday 26th April to Friday 22nd June

Term 3

Monday 16th July to Friday 21st September

Term 4

Tuesday 9th October to Thursday 6th December

Find St Paul’s online www.facebook.com/stpaulsgrammar www.twitter.com/spgs www.twitter.com/spgsprincipal www.vimeo.com/spgs www.flickr.com/spgs

Editor Amanda Kelshaw, Fine Tooth Comb Communications

Design Boheem

Contributors Daniel Weatherhead, Paul Kidson, Amanda Kelshaw

Do you have news for Futurum?

Do you want to let us know what’s happening around St Paul’s?

We would love your involvement.

Please send us an email at: futurum@stpauls.nsw.edu.au

Changed your address or contact details?

Please email us at: development@stpauls.nsw.edu.au CRICOS 02267A 041265B 041264C 041263D

Welcome to the WINTER 2012 EDITION OF FUTURUM. When you think of science, what common sayings spring to mind?

“It’s the stuff of science fiction” is the kind of comment you might have heard in reaction to a strange or unusual event or phenomena; “it’s not rocket science” in response to something that is straightforward or easy to explain.

Futurum is pleased to share with you some of the future directions of St Paul’s and Science, and rest assured, it’s not “the stuff of science fiction”!

Principal Paul Kidson outlines the “future planning” that our St Paul’s School Board and senior staff are currently undertaking. This includes the engagement of architectural firm, Gardner Wetherill, in developing a building masterplan of which the School Science facilities will be an initial focus. What does a sophisticated school uniform for a 21st century Christian Grammar School look like? Futurum looks back over the consultation process that oversaw the development of the new St Paul’s uniform.

A diversity of student opportunities continues to be on offer for St Paul’s students. The launch of the new Senior Student Leadership structure enables greater student involvement and Futurum listens in on the process of application to the Senior Student Leadership Team. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, or as it’s affectionately known, The Duke of Ed, continues to attract student participation year on year, so Futurum looks at what’s involved for students.

We invite you to be part of the future directions at St Paul’s… read on!

Cover photo Year 11 IB Chemistry student Annabelle Hoang using a spectroscope to identify the unique emission spectrum produced by the sample in the flame. Year 11 Chemistry was studying atomic absorption spectroscopy – a technique used by analytical chemists.

From the Principal The place of Science

Mr Paul Kidson addressing St Paul’s families from Penrith at the St Paul’s Towards 2033 Community Forum.

“Our plan is to develop a facility and set of programs where students will not simply learn about science, but be involved in doing science.”

There are moments of historical significance that seem to come only once in a generation, moments which forever change our view of ourselves, the world and the universe: astronomer Copernicus argued that the sun, not the Earth, is the centre of our part of the universe, an idea proved by Galileo and his telescope; Isaac Newton’s breakthrough on gravity and laws of motion helped us understand much of our physical world, until Einstein and his colleagues added new dimensions to our understanding of the universe; Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie and Alexander Fleming made breakthroughs in medical science which are today taken for granted – sterilization and vaccination, x-rays and penicillin.

“Science” derives from the Latin word, scientia, which simply means “knowledge”. From ancient times, humanity has sought to know and understand our world. The link between science and philosophy was historically very close – to know the world was part of knowing oneself and becoming wise.

Medieval scholars referred to theology

as “queen of the sciences”, highlighting a close connection between the physical and metaphysical. Over time, science has come to be thought of as a way of understanding the world based on observation of natural phenomena, causes and effects, patterns and systems, repeatability and predictability.

This issue of Futurum includes a special focus on Science to link in with the School Board’s decision to upgrade our High School Science facilities in the next few years, although much more planning is to be done before architects can start work on ideas for a new facility.

Discussions are planned between St Paul’s and some of the local medical research facilities to explore ways in which our students might be involved in research projects outside the School.

Our plan is to develop a facility and set of programs where students will not simply learn about science, but be involved in doing science.

It’s an exciting vision; there is much work to be done to bring it into reality, but we are already underway.

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WINTER 2012

at a glance...

Grandparents Day

480

10kg

10l

Scones 40 Dozen

Strawberry Jam

Thickened cream

5kg Butter/Margarine 150 tomatoes 10 lettuce

700 MINTS 94 loaves

2800 Cheese & CRACKERS

2068

slices of bread

2000 napkins 250 gloves

18KG luncheon meats 5kg TURKEY 8kg hAM 350 sticky buns 700 paper bags

What will this area look like at the St Paul’s Semi-Centenary in 2033?

The Way We Were in 1987 In 1987, the St Paul’s student body was 522 students.

St Paul’s opened the J Block and Music Block (now The Arts Quarter – Visual Arts) and had the first prefect body elections. It was also the first year that the School had students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh’s

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Award (see 'Students Take The Lead', page 8 for more information).

The photo on the left (taken in 1987) shows School Captain Dean Wright with Deputy School Vice Captain Jacquelyn Cabban as they discuss plans for a new

outdoor assembly area between the Science Building and the proposed School Library. In 2012 (right photo), you can see significant changes in landscaping and the addition of M Block next to the Hall.

Gala Day August 8th

Seussical The Musical September 14th & 15th

The Duffy Medal September 17th

Valedictory Dinner September 22nd

Aspiring Leaders Supporting our staff

The Blue+Green My School Act Cross My Heart Threads New space and new place ‘The Blue+Green Threads’ is St Paul's new uniform shop, nestled in the more prominent position near the Kiss ’n’ Drop zone between the Junior and High Schools. For over 25 years, the uniform shop had been located at the furthest end of the School road.

The Blue+Green Threads will be open 3 days a week, and during regular morning and afternoon times where our parents can grab a coffee on the way to and from school.

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by the new shop, drop by and say hello to our staff in The Blue+Green Threads, Brenda and Rebecca.

Congratulations to Michael Godwin, Jye Hannan, Heath Joukhadar and Ethan Mestroni (Year 11) who successfully competed for St Paul’s in My School Act competition, a national competition for musical groups from schools around Australia.

Cross My Heart placed 10th in the competition – a fantastic achievement by the boys. This picture shows Michael, Ethan and Heath presenting their award of a $500 voucher to Mr Kidson to put towards the purchase of musical instruments.

See ‘Make Some Noise For Pots ‘n’ Pans’, page 17 to find out a little more about Ethan’s involvement with music in the Junior School.

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other”– John F. Kennedy. On Saturday February 25th, St Paul’s ran a voluntary one day workshop on leadership and career progression for our staff.

Over 50 staff were involved and heard from guest speakers, current and former principals, Dr Phillip Cummins, Dr Briony Scott, Mr Andrew McPhail and Ms Jenni-Lee Williams.

Since achieving an EOWA (Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace) waiver in 2011, St Paul’s has been working towards running a more far-reaching “Aspirant Leaders Programme”. This workshop was a pilot programme and, based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback, more programmes of this kind will be run in the future.

On The Rise Supporting St Paul’s FOOTBALL On Friday June 1st, St Paul’s hosted Georges River Grammar for the Bill Turner Cup intra-week football tournament. Our students and staff came out to support the boys during our weekly meeting time and they didn’t disappoint, producing a 3-1 victory over GRG. For the first time in the School’s history, St Paul’s is fielding a team in the Boys ISA Football Competition. At time of print they are currently sharing first place on the ISA Boys Opens Table.

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St Paul’s student leaders meeting with architects, Gardner Wetherill to discuss the St Paul’s Building Masterplan. From left: Susannah Hoffman, Sarah Smith

Future directions What does the future hold for St Paul’s, and how best can we get there?

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where --” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “-- so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

From: Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Since the start of this century (the year in which most of our current Year 12 students started schooling), we have witnessed 9/11, the Boxing Day and Japanese tsunamis, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the election of the first AfricanAmerican president, the release from house arrest and election of Aung San Suu Kyi, the rise of smart phones and tablet computing, Facebook, the global financial crisis, the collapse of numerous European economies, and, as recently as this month, confirmation of the existence of the Higgs Boson, one of the fundamental particles required in our current understanding of the nature of the universe and its genesis.

These events, and much more, have happened in the length of just one school generation. What will the next 13 years bring? What will our Kindergarten students witness throughout the life of their journey through schooling?

Future planning for St Paul’s has been underway for some considerable time.

The School Board is taking a deliberate approach to our future, unlike Alice in Wonderland. For Alice, it was of little

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Toby Wetherill of Gardner Wetherill meeting with St Paul’s students and staff.

Mission

Inspired by Christian purpose and hope, St Paul's Grammar School enables teaching and learning for the whole of life to serve the world.

Vision

St Paul’s will be a dynamic, transformative and exemplary Christian Grammar School where students and staff can flourish, both within and beyond the school.

h-Wade, Alice Tarnawski and Damian Meduri.

importance that she gets anywhere in particular – she just needed to get SOMEWHERE. Poignantly, the Cheshire Cat pointed out that Alice need do little that was active, other than keep walking; the destination would arrive eventually, regardless of how much deliberation and planning Alice undertook.

By contrast, there has been much planning, consultation, deliberation, thinking, discussion and reflection done by the School Board and senior staff. The process commenced formally late in 2011 and has already included a communitywide stakeholder survey (undertaken

by MMG Education), publication of a renewed commitment to the Christian educational mission established by the School’s founders, and development of a vision for the next 3-5 years in our history.

In addition, three community forum meetings and a series of staff meetings have been held to seek feedback on possibilities for our future. The School Board has also engaged architectural firm, Gardner Wetherill, to update the School’s masterplan, the practical resources we use daily and through which we are able to pursue the mission and vision of St Paul’s.

Mr Paul Kidson addressing parents from the Hawkesbury at the 2033 Community Forum.

During Terms 3 and 4 of 2012, more detail will be available to the community.

Already, the mission and vision statements (see the box, right) are being used to help make decisions about such matters as staff training, pastoral programmes, technological resources and co-curricular activities. These vision statements will be central to the development of key goals and timelines for their completion, providing greater certainty for the future of our community. It is anticipated that the School Board will publish a comprehensive strategic plan during Term 4 of this year.

We are also reminded daily in our School motto, In Christo Futurum, of the fundamental role of Christian faith at St Paul’s. Our founders chose this as our motto to focus attention not just on the matters of strategic planning or buildings, but to focus us on Jesus Christ, in whom, says St Paul, “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). The School Board continues planning for the future of St Paul’s where the life of Jesus Christ is central. In doing so, they seek to fulfill the vision set out by our founders 30 years ago; they are planning that such a rich vision will still be at the centre of the School when we celebrate 50 years of St Paul’s… in 2033.

In order to achieve our Mission and Vision, the School will continue to: • enhance its distinctive Christian heritage and culture; • pursue a positive, rigorous and contemporary Pre K-Year 12 learning environment for all students; • increase principled and active student involvement in the wider cultural and sporting life of the school; • engage, value, develop and retain staff capable of achieving the mission and vision of the School; • encourage and promote the engagement of the wider community in the life of the school; • enable collaborative and vibrant student and staff learning through provision of excellent resources; • respond to the challenges of governing the school for a sustainable future, educationally, financially and environmentally.

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Our New Threads “The [uniform] designs needed to effectively address the key components of: colour, presentation, formality and flexibility.”

Term 4 2011 marked stage one of the transition to a new St Paul’s uniform. This was the realisation of a five-year project involving consultation and decision making with a range of representatives from the St Paul’s community.

Such a significant change as a new uniform presents a range of challenges and opportunities. What are the important considerations when undertaking a school uniform changeover? What is the process for transitioning to this new uniform?

What is a contemporary, sophisticated school uniform for a 21st century Christian Grammar School? Futurum looks back over the process.

Why the change?

In 2004, St Paul’s student representatives and Senior Prefect body met to review the current uniform, with an initial focus on the poorly designed or outdated elements that needed attention. Whilst some of these suggestions were acted on, it became clear that an overhaul of the design (and therefore supply) of the uniform was needed to effectively address the factors of comfort, style, colour and the overall impression of the uniform.

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The Process In 2008, the St Paul’s Grammar School Board approved a uniform committee whose goal was to steer the (seemingly monumental) task of a St Paul’s uniform re-design. To bring together a range of opinions, the committee was made up of executive, teaching and support staff and parents from the School community as well as student leaders at significant points. The committee also gathered input from student leaders and parents from previous years.

The committee developed a changeover brief that outlined the current position of the school, the strengths and weaknesses of the current uniform and the opportunities and threats that a complete uniform change might present to the School community. In thinking through the issues of uniform supply to the St Paul’s community, the brief outlined the importance of relocating the uniform shop from its place of more than 20 years, to a more central location within the School.

Part of the committee’s research was to speak with a range of schools who

had undertaken a uniform project of the same scope. Many of these schools were also addressing the same challenges of design and comfort, as well as the additional challenge of a well-established uniform history – for some schools, this history was in excess of 50 years.

The uniform committee identified the importance of generating designs that drew on the traditions of the current uniform without developing a poor imitation of it. Important questions that guided this design process were: What should the uniform for a 30 year Christian Grammar School look like?

What colour is a natural fit for St Paul’s?

Is our geographical location at the foot of the Blue Mountains significant? What are the community’s expectations about how formal our uniform should be?

One of the biggest considerations was that of the choice of uniform colour.

The old St Paul’s uniform had shifted from its original royal blue to a much more generic navy blue. This core element would be an important factor of the uniform redesign.

“Part of the committee’s research was to speak with a range of schools who had undertaken a uniform project of the same scope.”

After determining the feasibility of the changeover, the committee identified that the School at that time had over 20 different suppliers for the various uniform elements, with often only slight variations to the competing garments.

The St Paul’s committee consulted with these suppliers and, outlining the changeover brief, sought advice about improving consistency.

The uniform changeover project was put out to tender in the middle of 2009. After a long process of working through the range of suppliers who were keen to work with St Paul’s, three were selected to present their work in a design presentation to the School.

The presentation needed to propose a uniform design that addressed the aspects of the uniform committee’s brief. In late 2009, the Ranier Design Group – a fashion house with over 40 years experience and 23 school clients across Australia - was announced as the successful firm to design and supply the new uniform.

Over the following months the Ranier Design Group worked with St Paul’s staff, students and parents in developing two designs, with one for final approval by the St Paul’s School Board. The designs needed to effectively address the key components of: colour, presentation, formality and flexibility.

By the end of 2010, St Paul’s School Board approved the new uniform design. This meant that the uniform changeover could be looked at in light of current uniform supplies with a scheduled changeover period between 2011 to 2014.

The Challenges

The Outcome

The process of consultation is always challenging. From the student, parent and staff community, all had varied and conflicting ideas about what was successful and unsuccessful with the existing uniform. Many saw a clear and present need for an immediate change – while others were more hesitant to make any changes.

New students entering the School in 2012 (primarily Kindergarten and Year 7), as well as students who have opted to make the early (complete) transition, are currently wearing the new St Paul’s uniform. Over a dozen schools have contacted Ranier or St Paul’s over the past few months identifying the St Paul’s uniform as a quality, cohesive design that is the equivalent of what they desire for their own school community.

The existing St Paul’s uniform operation was a complex system of ordering and stock accounting, thus a new uniform would present a challenge in forecasting the expected uptake of the new uniform.

Another considerable difficulty was supplying a uniform to the School community that was cost effective – and to avoid mandating the changeover immediately. An important consideration was for St Paul’s families to be able to plan and budget for the transition, rather than a surprise one-off, lump sum cost.

St Paul’s has faced the current challenges of supplying the uniform due to overwhelming demand as well as managing the implementation of some of the more problematic elements of the uniform – we have seen a noticeable shift in the presentation of our students who are wearing either the old or the new uniform.

We have also noticed a significant shift in the recognition of St Paul’s from the external community.

In 2011 the School issued an information booklet, ‘Our New Threads’, that addressed these elements, including garments, transition, timeframes and cost.

The new St Paul’s uniform shop, The Blue+Green Threads, is a more accessible, centrally located community facility in the heart of our School.

“St Paul’s is proud to have achieved the goal of a sophisticated School uniform for a 21st century Christian Grammar School.”

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2012/13 Senior Student Leadership Team with Mr Kidson and Mr Humble at the Leadership Induction Ceremony morning tea.

Students Take The Lead The goals of all St Paul’s student leadership teams: • Glorify the Lord in all works • Work for Justice • Establish relationships with all Years in the School – Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 • Develop and promote each individual student • Be sincere in encouragement • Give credit where it is due In early Term 2, 2012, Mr Paul Humble, Director of Students and Family Services, introduced the new St Paul’s Senior Student Leadership structure to our Year 11 students. So, what's so different about the structure? What kind of impact will it have on the School community and who are the new Senior Student Leadership Team? Futurum listened in on the announcement...

"What will future students think of you?" and "What does it look like for a student leader to act with integrity, transparency and authenticity?" were just two of the questions posed to our eager Year 11 students.

The revised leadership structure is a team model with a number of roles, each overseeing an aspect of the School community, Mr Humble explained.

"We're really pleased to present this 8

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new leadership structure to students.

From the process of application, to the leadership roles themselves, the structure more closely reflects current leadership models in the community." The aim is to provide leadership opportunities for students [in the School context] that will translate in to, and them for, more leadership opportunities once they've completed their schooling, he says.

Students applied for a leadership role by submitting an electronic curriculum vitae (CV), which included a supporting statement for each position for which they applied for, and choosing relevant St Paul's staff as referees. Student nominees then require endorsement by their Head of House and a Head of Department.

Leadership Coordinator, Mrs Catherine Stacker, oversaw the recent application process. "The students have done an amazing job with the application process. As the students had to address very specific criteria for each role, it forced them to really choose jobs that they believed they could do well. All of the applications were considered individually and each student sat through an interview. Some had an individual interview; some were interviewed in a group. Students found this a nerve racking process but they said afterwards that they no longer felt daunted about applying for part-time jobs, having gone through the process."

So if the application process has changed, what about the roles

themselves? The introduction of Portfolio Captains provides students with the opportunity to serve the School in an area about which they are already passionate, such as the arts, or Christian fellowship, or sport. Mrs Stacker reflects, "It is our vision that the Portfolio Captains, House Captains, School and Vice Captains will bring individual skills and inspiration to specific parts of the School’s life and in turn improve the School as a whole."

The appointment of School Captains and Vice-Captains is the responsibility of Mr Paul Kidson, and additional Captaincy roles are appointed by Mr Kidson in consultation with the Director of Students and Family Services, the Senior Leadership Co-ordinator, the Portfolio Advisors and the Heads of House. The applicants gave a two-minute presentation during a House Meeting (to all House staff and House peers), and all students and staff were able to view the presentation on the School’s eCampus website. Every High School student voted for House Captains within their House.

Mr Humble recognises the importance of partnering these Captaincy roles with 'support' roles "in the form of Portfolio Advisors - St Paul's staff who are a natural fit to the relevant Portfolio. We… want the student leadership roles to be manageable, rather than burdensome for students… and to be able to work alongside students in managing the responsibilities of each leadership role."

To watch The Inauguration Address from 2012/13 School Captains Susannah Hoffman and Damian Meduri visit www.vimeo.com/spgs

"Student Leaders… are to set an example to other students that models good school citizenship, be generous in support of school life and considerate of the needs of others." Mr Paul Humble

Senior Student Leadership Team Damian Meduri School Captain

Susannah Hoffmann School Captain

Laura Smith School Vice-Captain

Scott Wotherspoon School Vice-Captain

David Goode Futurum put some questions to new School Captain, Damian Meduri, Vice Captain, Laura Smith, and Kate Gunther, Captain of the Arts.

Tell us a little bit about the new leadership roles and the application process.

Kate Gunther, Captain of the Arts: "I believe the specialised roles… give both my peers and me a chance to pursue the elements of the School we're passionate and interested in… I found the process a little daunting (because of the interview process and applying with a CV), however, I feel that the overall experience was entirely positive and loved the opportunity to apply my services to the School community."

What appealed to you most about the new leadership structure?

Damian Meduri, School Captain: "This new approach appealed to me because of its diversity… each Captain has individual responsibilities that they want to carry out, and then we can work as a team to complete the larger tasks… its a revised way of Leadership at St Paul's that is going to be extremely effective."

Laura Smith, Vice Captain: "I thought it was very innovative as each student [applied to] an area which they were passionate about, allowing for a stronger sense of enthusiasm for the role. This attracted me to the new system since I could directly impact the School in areas which I am interested in".

What do you hope to contribute to St Paul's during your time in this role?

Damian Meduri, School Captain: "During the next 12 months I hope to continue to foster St Paul's sense of community and lead the Captains through the work we do. I also aim to solidify the new leadership structure and make it even more effective for the following years."

Laura Smith, Vice Captain: "I hope to encourage a stronger Christian culture throughout the whole School, supporting each student according to their needs, as well as encouraging a positive, evolving School."

What do you think the more challenging aspects of your new role will be?

Damian Meduri, School Captain: "[As it is a new structure] I believe working out how we want to go ahead will be an immense role but we have [good] communication happening right from the start… balancing these roles between normal school and out-ofschool life is also going to present a challenge but these individual captain[cy] roles help… [and] reduce the pressure."

Laura Smith, Vice Captain: "I think attempting to connect the Junior School and High School will be a challenge… the many programs, such as peer tutoring, which the leadership team are keen to run, will help bridge this gap."

What does leadership mean to you?

Damian Meduri, School Captain: "Leadership is service. Our peers and teachers have selected us to perform a duty for the School… Another element of leadership… is being able to unite a group of people and effectively complete the tasks laid out to us. Leaders have to have the vision and passion to do their job and connect everyone else behind the same cause."

Laura Smith, Vice Captain: "I believe that a leader is a servant someone who listens, interacts and gives guidance and direction to the wider community by, essentially, ‘knowing the way, showing the way and going the way’."

House Captain – Castlereagh

Emma Johnson House Captain – Castlereagh

Merrick Andreone House Captain – Claremont

Annabelle Hoang House Captain – Claremont

Alissa Tessoriero House Captain – Cornwallis

Veronica Mitchell House Captain – Cornwallis

Lachlan Johns House Captain – Melville

Stephanie Dunger House Captain – Melville

Sophie Peek House Captain – Strathdon

Serena Entwistle House Captain – Strathdon

Lewis Kidson House Captain – Wilberforce

Matthew Madden House Captain – Wilberforce

Kate Gunther Captain of the Arts

Cameron Findley Captain of Christian Fellowship

Gabrielle Grant-Nilon Captain of Co-curricular

Sarah Smith-Wade Captain of School Environment and Culture

Monica Farrelly Captain of International Relations

Nicholas Coulshed Captain of Outdoor Education

Nicole Papadimitriou Captain of Service

Sarah Roberts Captain of Sport

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Out and About: The Duke of EDINBURGH’S Award

“It's up to the students to pull together as a team and to rise to any challenges along the way”

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award began in 1956 and was designed as a program “to motivate boys aged between 15 and 18 to become involved in a balanced program of voluntary self-development activities to take them through the potentially difficult period between adolescence and adulthood” (from www.dukeofed.com).

More than fifty years on, the Award is open to girls, a greater range of age, and has the much broader aim of "experiences that last a lifetime".

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award:

So, what does participation in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award offer students?

What attracts more and more St Paul's students to get involved each year? Is it easy? No, not really. Is it just for sporty kids? No, not at all. Is it rewarding?

Yes, absolutely.

IS Open to young people aged 14 - 25 years IS Completed by over 33,000 young people from 120 countries, each year Originated in the United Kingdom over 50 years ago

Part of the appeal, of the affectionately termed ‘Duke of Ed Award’, is that it isn't a competition but rather a self-directed program in which students achieve personal goals in three sections: Physical Recreation, Skill, and, Volunteering.

A fourth section is the Adventurous Journey. The three Award levels require different time commitments: Bronze level is 3 months, Silver level is 6 months and Gold level is over 12 months, and they are aimed at different age groups.

Mr Geoff Newton, Head of Outdoor Education, Co-curricular and Service Learning, is involved with students undertaking the Duke of Ed Award.

"Students first need to register to complete the Duke of Ed, starting with the Bronze Award. They need to identify a series of personal goals for each of the four Award sections. Week by week, for the duration of the Award, students keep a personal electronic Record Book in which they log their hours and an Assessor oversees their participation. A number of St Paul's staff are assessors for the Award, especially the Adventurous Journey section. As part of their commitment to seeing students complete the Award, they are available to talk to students about how they are progressing with their goals”.

Another appeal of the program is that it can complement what a student is already involved in, so that the activities chosen for the Award build upon an individual’s interests and passions.

Mr Newton gives an illustration: "I recall speaking with a parent who wanted to support her daughter's involvement in Duke of Ed amongst the activities she was already involved in, such as horse-riding. It became clear that some of the responsibilities her daughter already had, such as mucking out the stables and horse-hoof shoeing, were activities that could be classified under the Service and Skill aspect of the Award.”

Gold Duke of Ed students (from left to right) Laura Hall, Taylor Miller, Andrew King, Geordy Armsworth, Claudia Cochrane, Ellen McCallum, Dylan Busst.

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The opportunity to develop personal interests and skills is appealing, however, it’s the 'Adventurous Journey' section of the Award that is particularly enticing to students. Mr Newton explains some of the attraction.

"A lot of students have heard about the walks via an older brother or sister. I think the hikes are in contrast to their day-to-day experiences; it's really very physical. The students are in groups for the duration of the walk and in sub-groups to cook, share a tent, collect water. When things are bumpy, it's up to the students to pull together as a team and to rise to any challenges.

Things like sloppily packing up their tents or misplacing tent pegs, impact the whole group. In Year 8, students can apply to be part of the ‘Student vs. Wild’ camp. This gives them a real taste for the Year 9 ‘Sea to Summit’ hike, which is used as the Year 9 Bronze Adventurous Journey.”

Bear Grylls may not be along for this adventure, but there are certainly enough challenges to whet even his appetite amongst the range of experiences on offer. Mr Newton says the students taking part are from different backgrounds and have a range of interests.

“It's fair to say that getting the most out of the overnight walks isn't about 'being outdoorsy'. There are plenty of opportunities for students to surprise themselves with how capable they are, with responsibilities they mightn't normally have, for example, preparing a meal or reading a topographical map."

Gold Duke of Ed students exiting the tree line and entering the Kepler Track alpine area.

Walking up onto the Kerries Range along the way to Mawson Hut, on the Snowy Mountains Silver Duke of Edinburgh hike.

Mr Newton thinks that one of the great attributes of the Award is the opportunity to develop a new range of skills that the students may not otherwise have. "The standouts for me are resilience, showing initiative, teamwork and leadership. It's encouraging when a student makes the commitment to complete the Award and, maybe against the expectations of their peers, completes and receives the Award. For the walks in particular, students need to develop problem

solving skills and respond to different situations or challenges in a way that really stretches them. Some students might want to participate because their mates are; experiences such as the walks can definitely impact friendship groups in positive ways."

So, if you haven’t already succumbed, there’s no time like this year to put everything you need in a hiking pack, switch off the phone and iPod, and start out on a great Adventurous Journey.

For further information on The Duke of Ed, speak with Mr Geoff Newton For further reading: www.dukeofed.com.au

Rashmi Shingde Year 10 "I was interested in doing the Bronze Duke of Ed as I'd never really done anything like a hike before.

My family doesn't go camping so being outdoors like that is a totally different experience. I also really wanted to do it with my friends.

[For the Award] I was involved with piano, guitar and basketball and for the Service section I walked my elderly neighbour’s dog. I don't have a dog, so I got to do the fun part of [walking him] and then to give him back to his owner at the end.

As we were hiking, it felt like every hour we'd ask Mr Newton "How far, sir?” and each time he'd say "One more hour!" and we'd groan and keep going. The time would pass and we chatted away as we hiked; then before you knew it, you'd be standing on the top of a mountain and Mr Newton would point out into the distance and say, "See that little peak over there? That's where we started hiking from this morning." It was so awesome to look back at where we'd started and it gave you such a great sense of achievement.

Things I'd do differently next time? I'm definitely packing better food for the Silver

hike. It's hard to believe how hungry you get when you're hiking – and no tuna tins next time, they're too heavy anyway!

A stand-out memory from the hike was being totally worn out at our campsite at the end of the day and my friend Molly cooking our group some macaroni cheese and serving it to us in our tent – what a legend!

I think a great reason to be involved in the Duke of Ed hike is that you learn to push through difficulties and you also learn a lot about what your friends are really like.”

ST PAUL’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL 11

Big Ideas: The Primary Years Programme “As a team we strive to model what we encourage in our students, that culture of collaborative learning.”

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Mrs Corinne Day began her new role as Primary Years Programme (PYP) Coordinator at St Paul’s in Term 3 last year. She recalls the time her daughter, who was in Year 5 at the time, was busily measuring their lounge room. When Mrs Day asked what she was doing, her daughter explained that her class was learning about a recent oil spill and she was designing a machine that would clean it up. Mrs Day says she was struck by the impact of ‘inquiry learning’ on her daughter’s understanding of the world.

"My connection with St Paul's began many years ago when I was a casual teacher in the Junior School. As my daughter and son had started at St Paul's

around that time, I began to hear... about 'inquiry learning'. I have to admit that I didn't really understand a lot of it at the time and it wasn't until a bit later, when I attended some International Baccalaureate (IB) Workshops as a teacher, that the concepts associated with ‘inquiry learning’ really connected with me.”

Mrs Day explains how a large part of her job is putting into place the structures that support this type of learning. “A part of my role... is being involved in our grade planning meetings, being part of the brainstorming process and working with teachers to facilitate what's possible in their programs. We've got a strong collaborative culture amongst staff and that's really rewarding to be part of.

As a team we strive to model what we encourage in our students, culture of collaborative learning.

It's clear that Mrs Day is focussed on developing and equipping her strong team. During our visit she showed us the 'planning wall' in the Junior School Meeting Room. The planning wall is an impressive snapshot of every program being taught across each the Primary Years. Mrs Day explains,

"This stays up for the whole school year and is continually revisited; in areas where there's overlap of vocabulary words or if staff develop some additional ideas for resources it's a really helpful at-a-glance version of what's happening in our programs. It encourages staff to have a good understanding of what is happening across the year groups and where the connections are with what students are learning in the Junior School. A big focus of our current programming is on literacy and mathematics and looking across the programs to see where they are included is very helpful."

Developing a PYP ‘Unit of inquiry’ is really 'planning backwards'; teachers start with a big idea, or what we call the 'central idea'. For example, a Year 4 Unit is: 'The human body is made up of many systems that work together and allow us to live a healthy life'. We then work back from [the central idea]; so, working out what we want the students to know and developing learning activities that point us in the direction of the central idea; these lead us to an understanding of 'Who we are' which is one of the IB Organising Themes. We always start a Unit by asking "What do you already know about this” as well as ask students "What questions do you have?" From here the independent learning is very purposeful and we structure learning activities around developing the relevant factual and conceptual knowledge.

Action occurs naturally as students bring in artifacts, and relevant books, newspaper articles, and other resources that show their understanding and the impact the learning has had on them.

Mrs Day explains how the IB programme dovetails into other Curriculum requirements: “One thing about the [International Baccalaureate] Primary Years Programme is that it really complements the Board of Studies’ requirements and allows for an integrated approach across the Key Learning Areas (KLAs) known as ‘trans-disciplinary learning’; it's a great framework for learning."

See Page 14 for information on the Primary Years Programme in our Pre-Kindergarten years.

ST PAUL’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL 13

Five Minutes WITH Emma Bate

Miss Bate reading to her Pre-K class during afternoon story time.

Emma Bate is the Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) Coordinator and Assistant Primary Years Programme (PYP) Coordinator at St Paul's. She has taught in the Junior School for three years and brings experience and enthusiasm to these important roles. Emma describes her job as "really special".

Describe your day in a few words.

Creative, noisy, colourful, energetic, full of wonder and excitement.

What are the best parts of your job?

Seeing the children smile and hearing them laugh. It's also observing children make connections with their world; learning with and from each other. These are really special parts of the job.

The importance of play for little people can be easily overlooked in our busy world. Why is play so important?

Play is, in essence, inquiry. It is trying something new, exploring and wondering, and it's an avenue for skill development. Play forms building blocks for lifelong learning through the development of social and emotional skills, language and cognition skills, and fine and gross motor skills. These are really important skills and developmental milestones.

What's coming up for you and the students over the next week?

I'm looking forward to continuing our cultural Unit of Inquiry. It's an exploration

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of our student’s cultural backgrounds, where we 'visit a country' each week.

When we ‘visited’ Lebanon, we set up a traditional market stall with Lebanese produce and had parents cook and share traditional foods and customs with our students. It's all about encouraging students to inquire into the world around them.

Can you tell us a little bit about what happens in the Pre-K day?

The [class]room is already set up and ready to go when the children arrive for the day, with a variety of activities that provide for ‘play-based learning’. These activities focus on student interests, questions and developmental needs.

We then move outside where students can get involved in more physical, active play or they can find a quiet space to play or they can be creative. Last term, we baked bread together, so students were involved in weighing and mixing ingredients and later, tasting. The Pre-K [class]room is very open [plan] and adaptable which means it's easy for us to change the space around to accommodate our students learning.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme focuses on ‘Inquiry Learning’. What does this type of learning look like for the children in Pre-K? Inquiry Learning with this age group is about the value of play, formulating questions and information gathering.

There's an overarching programme [for the International Baccalaureate] and within that the students develop interests and ask questions that direct our learning.

[As a part of this programme], we recently, ‘visited Italy’, and when students asked, 'How long does it take to get to Italy?', this led us to look on Google Earth and to investigate using flight schedules. ‘Inquiry Learning’ is about understanding your world and one another.

It wouldn't be a great Pre-K without…

Our awesome team! We have two Pre-K Teachers, Karen Heath and Michelle Carter, and three Teacher's Aides, Sue Tandy, Sue Seckold and Olivia Craig. We work in a collaborative way and love creating a dynamic and interesting program for all our PreKindergarten students.

Five Minutes WITH Daniel Joller

Year 9 student Daniel Joller started at St Paul's in Term 2, 2011.

He and his mother were looking for an alternative to the school he was attending when a family friend recommended St Paul's.

"I really wanted to be at a school that offered a range of extra curricular activities. I love sport and drama so it needed to be a school that offered a more rounded education. After looking around, we decided to enrol at St Paul's.

I was pretty positive about the new start at St Paul's.

Although the school day is a long day for me - I need to leave before 7 am to make all the connections and I get home just before 5 pm - I actually look forward to coming to school each day. I've already made some good friends. I love being able to study Drama, particularly

as it wasn't a subject they offered at my previous school; I really like working on plays and the freedom of drama.

I went on the St Paul's Cultural Tour last year, which I really enjoyed. I speak fluent German and a bit of French, so that helped (Daniel has a Swiss background). I enjoyed getting to know St Paul's students from other years and my Tutor, Mrs Ingold, was also part of the Cultural Tour.

We have a busy family life and some people might be surprised that I'm not on Facebook. If I want to talk to

a mate, I call them and speak to them instead! I love playing cricket and squash. I also like to play video games – I think I have a good mix of being active, and chilling out playing video games.

I was surprised to be elected as Middle Year Captain after [such a] short time at St Paul's. I'm really enjoying the challenges it presents.

I feel lucky to be at St Paul's and I love being here."

See page 8 for more information on Student Leadership opportunities at St Paul’s.

Daniel (far right) receiving his Middle Years Captain badge from outgoing captain Campbell Barnes.

ST PAUL’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL 15

Staff Profile

Mrs Trish Humble Science and Wonders

In conversation with Head of Science, Mrs Trish Humble, any misconceptions you may have about Science from your own schooling experience are quickly set aside. Trish brings to her role a genuine enthusiasm for discovering the wonders of science.

What is it about Science that excites you most?

I love that it explains the ‘hows' of the world: our understanding of how we are made and the world around us. It forms the basis of all learning and that continues to fascinate me.

I love that what the students learn now will inform them, years down the track.

For example, they might be mixing fertiliser for their garden or concrete for their home and in that process, there's a connection with the world of science that they were introduced to way back in high school. In this way, science is a genuinely accessible subject.

What are the moments that make you most proud?

I love the constant 'a-ha' moments, particularly with my Senior Chemistry students at the moment. Science is about discovery and innovation, so to begin a lesson with the grand claim: "By the end of today, you will know how that tree [points out the window] processes the nutrients it needs." That's a lot of fun. We recently explored photosynthesis, the process by which plants use the sun's energy to generate food – plants are a unique organism in this way – so for students to get their head around the food chain from this perspective really brings the practice of science 'out there' [in the world] to a more relevant and meaningful learning experience for them.

It's pretty difficult to talk about science without talking about creativity.

Definitely. Science and creativity are definitely a partnership. [For example], learning with students about metals; when they're heated they change their energy

state (see Front Cover) and produce different coloured flames - even the idea that metals have different colours!

- looking at this thing of beauty in our world, that's pure creativity!

Heredia last year [Sol is in Year 12 this year].

His prize involved him spending a day at the Victor Chang Cardiac Institute and, on returning to school, he was abuzz with the potential of scientific research.

In the St Paul's Building Master Plan, the Science Block will be one of the first areas of the School to be redesigned and built. What is the Science Department looking forward to most about these new plans?

We are a really well resourced faculty so we're looking forward to using these resources in a more flexible, purposebuilt facility. So, for our senior students, who work on research projects, the new dedicated senior research area will mean they do not need to pack away their projects [for other year groups using the rooms] and can continue to work as they need to. We’ve ‘outgrown our home’ so to speak. We want students to be able to walk into a science classroom that says, “Something's about to happen!”

The new design and layout will allow for ‘inquiry learning’ to take place in spaces that are designed for group work and that emphasise the ‘hands on’, practical experience – after all, science is about the real, physical world.

In the student assessment process, we're keen to develop student assessment tasks to reflect the way students learn, emphasising the impact of technology in how they receive and communicate knowledge.

What are priorities for the Science Department over the next few years?

We'd love to form partnerships, with students in the Junior School and with universities, researchers and science-based organisations, such as the CSIRO. Being able to host science practitioners, and building connections with scientists from different fields, is a really important part of what it means to study science. It was inspiring to see the impact that [winning] the Victor Chang Science Award had on Sol

The International Baccalaureate uses the term 'Inquiry Learning' to refer to a student-led, question-based approach to learning. What does this look like in your subject area?

‘Inquiry Learning’ in Science emphasises how students make sense of their world through research and asking questions. [In Science] it means an emphasis on group work, and in the senior years particularly, there is a lot of designing and driving a research project.

There's a lot of physical preparation involved in setting up for experiments.

What do your support staff bring to the role?

Glenis Shaddock and Kathleen Berger have a combined 35 year history with St Paul's. We are so fortunate to have their expertise and enthusiasm for science at St Paul's. At the recent St Paul's Annual Ball, Glenis danced the night away. She is constantly showing me innovations and new discoveries that are relevant to our student's learning. Glenis and Kathleen are dynamic Lab Technicians!

Are you a parent or family member that works in any field of Science? Or do you know someone who does? Mrs Trish Humble would love to talk to you about being part of the celebrations for National Science Week in August this year.

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Make some noise for Pots ‘n’ Pans In his own words: Ethan Mestroni

'Pots ‘n’ Pans' might sound like the name of a Masterchef Fan Club, but it's actually the name of a new percussion group in the Junior School, founded by Year 11 Music student, Ethan Mestroni.

Earlier this year, Ethan approached Mrs Cathy Jarman, Head of Visual and Performing Arts – Performance, with the idea of starting a percussion ensemble in the Junior School.

"I asked him why,” Mrs Jarman explains to Futurum, "and Ethan responded that he'd been thinking about Mr Kidson's comments at a recent Principal’s Assembly. Mr Kidson had encouraged students to support and serve one another and Ethan thought this could be his way of serving others at St Paul’s."

With only a few months under its belt, Pots 'n' Pans is made up of Year 5 students Daniel McCarthy-Mills, Bailey Jude, Kate Bavor, Rose Cook and Phoebe Willis, Year 3 student Scott MacCormick, and, the slightly older music ‘student’, Mr Daniel Weatherhead.

Mrs Jarman says that Mr Weatherhead was an obvious candidate for the role of supervising teacher as he'd previously expressed interest to her about being part of a percussion ensemble. She recognised the unique opportunity to have a non-music teacher facilitate a music group and felt that the concept of a High School teacher working with Junior School students was a strong reflection of the school's Pre-K to Year 12 vision of students supporting one another.

The Pots 'n' Pans group develop their skills in traditional hand percussion instruments as well as experimental or home-made instruments such as, you guessed it, pots and pans. Ethan says he has opened the group to both experienced and inexperienced Junior School students because he wanted to encourage all students to "have a go" and to have an open mind about music whilst developing “knowledge and understanding of drums and percussion”.

The range of percussive instruments used by the students creates robust sounds that have a distinctly international flavour, similar to the genre of street drumming where musicians use nonmusical instruments such as bottles and bins.

Pots 'n' Pans is currently working on performing original percussive pieces, and in the future, will develop variations of existing pieces which incorporate tuned percussion and tribal singing melodies to provide a more dynamic and varied sound.

Look out for Pots 'n' Pans first performance towards the end of Term 3. In the meantime, you can see Ethan in street drumming action in his Year 10 Music Performance Exam at http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=AbxM4w6E3Xc

Pots 'n' Pans founder, Ethan Mestroni, is a member of the band, 'Cross My Heart' with fellow students, Michael Goodwin, Heath Joukhadar and Jye Hannan.

Cross My Heart recently won $500 in the national school music competition, 'My School Act'.

Ethan hopes to put the money towards the purchase of percussive instruments for Pots 'n' Pans.

What's the appeal of 'street drumming'?

"Street drumming is all about creativity. I believe that a true drummer should be able to drum on any surface or object and make it sound musical. A real drummer doesn’t need a really good drum kit to sound good. I also think it's a lot of fun to give household objects a new meaning through music."

How did the students initially respond to drumming on everyday objects?

"The students didn’t even question using household objects instead of actual drums. They thought it sounded cool and they've all brought things in from home to play, so it really came very naturally to them."

What musical styles influence your own?

"To be honest, I have a huge range of musical influences. I really like trying to play every style possible, but for this group I like to find inspiration in the students themselves and to build on the ideas they have to make great music."

ST PAUL’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL 17

Farewell, Rev Wilson.

Grace and peace to you.

WINTER 2012

On June 20, St Paul’s students from Kindergarten to Year 12 joined to farewell Pastor Peter Wilson.

Pastor Wilson has been part of the St Paul’s community for the past 12 years and will soon begin pastoral ministry at Camden Uniting Church.