Your Guide to St John's Home Boarding

YOUR GUIDE TO ST JOHN’S HOME BOARDING

From the Principal.

Welcome to St John’s Anglican College and thank you for considering our College for your child.

At St John’s we value partnerships with parents in their children’s education. When school and home values are in harmony and there is cooperation between the two, students reap the benefits. We encourage you as parents to participate in your child’s educational journey and through our community networks, we will support your child in their transition from school to university and beyond.

As educators, it is our responsibility to nurture and develop every child to prepare them for life in a globally connected world. At St John’s we do this through the delivery of an exciting, joyful and innovative learning experience and a range of programs that prepare our students to be active participants in a changing world.

We challenge young minds to develop the confidence to be creative, collaborative and innovative in their thinking.

Our College’s values align with my own including the importance of faith, hope, love, courage, justice and a sense of community. Our holistic approach to education is designed to develop balance, deepen connections and uncover true learning potential. Our rich learning experiences across cultural, community, spiritual, co-curriculum, and academic pursuits cultivate a spirit of enquiry and build character and integrity in our young people.

Our teachers care about your child, are available to listen and are fine role models. They are leaders in their own learning, focused on providing the best possible educational environment and ensuring that each child’s academic potential is nurtured.

Your family is welcome in our community and I encourage you to explore St John’s for yourself and all the extraordinary possibilities offered here. Take a tour of our campuses and talk with our students and you will begin to appreciate their unique insights, talents and perspectives. I’m confident that you’ll be as impressed as I am by their respect and kindness, as well as their intellectual curiosity and concern for this world they’ll one day help to shape and lead.

Mrs Maria McIvor Principal

Our Guiding Statements.

Mission

Values

St John’s inspires lifelong learning by living faith with the courage to lead self and serve others.

Faith

“where learning comes alive”

We are guided by faith in God, our community and our self.

Vision

Hope

Every learner is empowered to excel and equipped to embrace the challenge of any future.

We believe in the power of mindset and attitude. We foster a positive, safe, optimistic and empowering environment.

“developing people of good character”

Love We flourish by demonstrating cooperation, encouragement, compassion and joy.

Courage We grow by being brave, confident, determined, resilient and putting in the effort.

Community We are service-led and do so with respect by nurturing and celebrating relationships and traditions.

Justice We stand for inclusivity, equity, acceptance of diversity and are stewards of the environment.

St John’s at a Glance.

St John’s Anglican College is a Kindergarten to Year 12 co-educational Christian school founded in 1994 and located at Forest Lake, in the greater western corridor of Brisbane. With over 1100 students, St John’s offers a faith-led education within an Anglican framework.

Forest Lake is located 16km south-west of central Brisbane offering a leafy picturesque setting, a strong sense of community and is centred around a recreational man-made lake. St John’s is easily accessible by several major highways connecting to rural and regional areas.

St John’s consists of two beautifully maintained campuses minutes apart and connected by the College shuttle buses. The Junior Campus houses students from Kindergarten to Year 6 and students in Years 7 to 12 are situated at the Secondary Campus. Both campuses feature large sporting fields and together utilise exceptional facilities including a Performing Arts Centre with a 700 seat auditorium, brand new state-of-the-art Sports Precinct, Faith Mission and Wellbeing Centre and the STEM Institute Design Centre.

St John’s academically rigorous program, which includes accelerated learning and enrichment, is complemented by Mandarin Chinese, STEM, performing arts, sports, outdoor education and service-learning opportunities. Students at St John’s also maintain healthy wellbeing due to our holistic educational approach with the inclusion of a rich co-curriculum, positive pastoral care and spiritual programs.

To discover more of St John’s, visit our College website.

Meet our Student Accommodation Coordinator.

St John’s Anglican College launched its Home Boarding Program in 2020 offering a unique boarding alternative for Australian families.

St John’s Home Boarding differs from more traditional boarding schools, offering a safe and joyful experience in private boarding with a long-established and trusted home boarding family.

The College has a long history of providing accommodation to students with our wonderful home boarding families opening their doors and hearts to all. Fostering a sense of family and belonging, students in home boarding benefit from living in a home with a loving and caring family from within our College community.

I joined St John’s at the beginning of 2019 in the position of Homestay Coordinator. In this role, I helped international students find accommodation and settle into our community, providing them with support whilst they studied here at St John’s.

My background is in working with students who have relocated to Australia, coordinating the process, finding suitable private boarding families, and helping those students to settle into their new homes, schools, and studies. I also lived and worked in China and Japan and understand the challenges of being away from loved ones and home for extended periods of time.

Mrs Kylie Brunell Student Accommodation Coordinator

The most rewarding aspect of my role as Student Accommodation Coordinator is being able to share my experiences with students, supporting their transition into home boarding and helping to make their time here at St John’s enjoyable. From the moment your child joins St John’s, they will become part of a special, inclusive community with the courage to soar in school and in life.

I welcome the opportunity to talk with you about our flexible Home Boarding Program and how it can work for your family.

Our Purposefully Designed Spaces.

Sports Precinct Home to the St John’s Dragons, this newly developed first-class sports centre is utilised for our student health and physical education classes, sports training and weekend matches.

With a large undercover terrace to enjoy weekend sporting fixtures on the oval and tennis courts, this new centre provides the best sporting opportunities for our students now and in the future.

Dragon’s Den Café

Year 7 Precinct Scheduled for completion in early 2022, the new Year 7 precinct will create a vibrant environment of visually stimulating and practical spaces that students can identify with, personalise and call their own.

St John’s newly refurbished College Café serves delicious and healthy meals and snacks from 7am to 2pm, Monday to Friday.

Operated by Chartwells catering and offering value for money, a weekly menu is communicated to all students and families one week prior.

STEM Institute Design Centre An award-winning educational space that incorporates the latest technology to promote learning and collaboration amongst students. The centre features flexible teaching modes, robotics and drones, 3D printing, virtual reality, media studio and more.

Performing Arts Centre of Excellence A state-of-the-art multipurpose facility for learning, teaching and performing. With its tiered auditorium and 700 capacity seating, it is the perfect venue for concerts and performances with additional teaching, rehearsal and recording spaces.

The College’s much anticipated biennial musical is also staged in this well-appointed facility.

Faith Mission and Wellbeing Centre Home to the College Chaplain and College Psychologist, the centre is purposefully designed to offer students a safe, confidential place to talk and problem-solve wellbeing concerns and to nurture their spiritual growth.

Student Life.

Your child will be immersed in the St John’s way of life, being involved in some of the College’s many rich co-curriculum and extracurricular activities and supported through the student wellbeing structure while having the option to return home on weekends to spend time with their own family.

All students at St John’s are allocated to one of four houses where they are provided with support and develop a sense of community and belonging through sporting, cultural and community activities. The house system generates interconnectedness across all year levels, encouraging the formation of role-modelling, mentoring, friendship and fostering a strong house identity as well as a whole College spirit.

All secondary students attend two short homegroup lessons each day. These classes are vertical groupings that include students in Middle School (Years 7 to 9) or Senior School (Years 10 to 12) within the same house.

Students stay in their homegroup with the same teacher throughout their middle and senior schooling. It is here they develop the confidence and leadership skills to be future leaders in their community.

At each year level up to Year 11, students participate in our outdoor education program designed to develop their self-confidence, teamwork and leadership skills.

The program has been developed in collaboration with specialist outdoor education providers to specifically complement the St John’s Anglican College curriculum and to meet the needs of our students. The program focuses on specific developmental areas at each year level: Year 6 - Team Building Year 7 - Connection and Belonging Year 8 - Community Year 9 - Resilience and Character Year 10 - Personal Development and Challange Year 11 - Leadership

Boarding Life.

There are many benefits to St John’s Home Boarding. In addition to the valuable opportunities to develop independence, resilience and personal growth, St John’s Home Boarding fosters a sense of family and belonging, developing lifelong friendships with fellow students and homestay families.

Home boarding students have the option to return home on weekends to spend time with their own families or to spend their weekends with their home boarding family, experiencing College organised activities with other home boarding students or participating in and supporting the College sporting teams.

Home boarding families are carefully screened and are either a St John’s family or a family within the community who have opened their doors and their hearts to welcome our rural families. All our home boarding families provide a supportive and caring environment for students, offering a home away from home.

As a St John’s Home Boarding student, your child will be safe, comfortable, supervised, and supported both academically and socially. Our St John’s family will offer the highest of care to your family.

The College will assess and approve the suitability of a St John’s Home Boarding family in line with the provision contained in the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Regulation 2011. The College will monitor the ongoing accommodation arrangements and the welfare of St John’s Home Boarding students to ensure that the students are placed in appropriate care and are protected while studying at the College.

What to expect from your home boarding family?

Your own private bedroom, which includes a bed, desk, wardrobe and study lamp.

Three meals a day provided by the home boarding family (breakfast, packed lunch and dinner).

All home boarding families live within walking distance, are on bus routes or can arrange suitable transportation to and from St John’s including extra-curricular activities.

A warm and supportive family environment, St John’s homeboarding families open their doors and their hearts to support our rural students.

ST JOHN’S HOME BOARDING

Student Wellbeing.

Student wellbeing as a framework for student pastoral care is led by our Deputy Principal - Pastoral Care, our College Psychologist and College Chaplain.

Our faith is lived. We are hospitable and welcoming, we embody compassion, kindness, fairness, justice and love, where exceptional pastoral care is practised.

Creating a positive culture and ensuring the individual wellbeing of our students is something we take very seriously at St John’s. It’s part of the St John’s Way, where everyone is responsible for upholding our College values and striving to achieve a respectful, inclusive and joyful College community.

This commitment is sought to be consistently reflected through the decisions and behaviour of all persons within the School or Service, who are guided by effective governance, policies, tools and processes. This fosters a child-safe culture, where acting in children and young people’s best interests is at the heart of what we do.

Anglican Schools and Education & Care Services are committed to providing environments where children and young people receive the highest standard of care, where their rights are supported, and they have the opportunity to thrive and be fruitful. Such environments nurture and safeguard the intelligence, dignity, safety and wellbeing of each child or young person, by placing them at the centre of thought, values and actions.

As reflected in our Ethos, our vocation is education, driven by a vision of humanity, shaped by the image of God made visible in Jesus, present in every human being.

Discover More of St John’s.

Enrolling at St John’s.

The best way to learn more about St John’s Home Boarding is to come and see us. Chat to our passionate staff, meet our home boarding families and students, and experience the beautiful grounds at the Junior and Secondary Campuses.

St John’s welcomes applications for enrolment at any time however, due to increased demand, it is recommended to lodge an application at least two years prior to your child’s intake year.

We also hold a number of Open Days throughout the year. Registrations for any of these can be made via our College website.

Our website is also a great place to start your journey; explore our virtual tour, connect with us on social media and book a personalised tour with our College Registrar.

Our College Registrar welcomes the opportunity to talk with you about the endless opportunities offered here at the College and how St John’s Home Boarding can work for your family.

Enrolment Applications can be submitted via our College website and online Enrolment Form. Information regarding the enrolment process and current fee schedule can be found on our College website.

For further information about our flexible Home Boarding Program, please contact our Student Accommodation Coordinator.

Phone: 07 3372 0175 Email: homeboarding@sjac.qld.edu.au

Phone: 07 3372 0106 Email: enrolments@sjac.qld.edu.au

EXPLORE OUR

stjohnsanglicancollege.youtour.com.au

ST JOHN’S HOME BOARDING St John’s Anglican College Junior School Kindergarten to Year 6 Alpine Place, Forest Lake QLD 4078 07 3372 0888 Middle and Senior School Years 7 to 12 College Avenue, Forest Lake QLD 4078 07 3372 0111 PO Box 4078 Forest Lake QLD 4078 ABN 14 060 936 576 CRICOS Provider #01406C stjohnsanglicancollege.com.au

Every care has been taken to ensure the information in this booklet is correct at the time of publication. The producers accept no responsibility for any errors, omissions or changes leading to such information being incorrect. This booklet provides general information only and may be subject to change at any time without notice.