Signature Programs

In order to give our students the best start in life, we run a host of programs and initiatives exclusive to St Peter’s Girls’ School.

The School delivers a groundbreaking wellbeing program tailor-made for our families.

#EMPOWHER was developed specifically for our girls following comprehensive surveys of students and parents.

The curriculum for Years 7 to 12 flows into Home Group sessions twice a week. Our girls are provided with a range of tools to tackle various challenges facing young women including stress, mental health, self-esteem, sleep and social media.

The Junior School curriculum was launched following the Middle and Senior School rollout, and program content continues to evolve to meet the needs of our girls.

Topics and tools are also shared with our parent community, as successful wellbeing programs empower schools and parents to work in partnership.

The creation of this bespoke program is a key pillar of the School’s Strategic Plan which is cementing our reputation as a national leader in girls’ education and wellbeing.

As part of #EMPOWHER, students hear from inspirational speakers such as cycling legend Anna Meares, shark attack survivor Paul de Gelder and Adelaide Crows AFLW Captain Chelsea Randall.

At Saints Girls, we believe in the power of quality career education.

As a continually evolving space within schools, best practice asserts that the majority of career education content should be covered before students enter Year 12.

Designed for Years 7 to 12, our new bespoke and future-focused ‘Career.Ready’ program aims to equip our girls for the everchanging digital age and connect them with industry to set the foundations for success.

Teaching content draws from the Australian Blueprint for Career Development as well as intensive programs taught in other states, with emphasis placed on enabling students to make sound career choices by better understanding their passions and preferences.

Girls in each year group also complete career action plans, exploring with their teachers and parents the resulting data and insights in order to revisit and adjust their plans each year.

The program incorporates our popular ‘JobChat’ initiative which allows our students to delve into their fields of interest by connecting them with industry professionals including many of our talented Old Scholars.

In parallel, St Peter’s Girls hosts a Scientist in Residence throughout the year to help further ignite and nurture the STEM spark in our girls, and the School facilitates regular seminars and workshops across a wide cross-section of careers.

To complement and work in triplicate with our #EMPOWHER wellbeing and Career.Ready programs, St Peter’s Girls has proudly introduced our new bespoke Leadership program: Leadership Matters.

The program is named after Muriel Matters who was studying at university in Adelaide when our School was founded in 1894, the same year women in South Australia gained the right to vote. Muriel went on to campaign courageously for female suffrage in the UK, and as such, her legacy inspires the values and skills we wish to instil in our girls today.

Our Leadership program is based on research from academic papers on student leadership from around the world, as well as an audit of best practice from national and international schools.

The program is arranged into four domains:

Self-Leadership: understanding emotions, self-regulation, personal values, motivation, strengths, weaknesses and personal wellbeing.

Fostering Positive Relationships: how empathy, trust, inclusiveness, conflict resolution, collaboration, and the ability to motivate and empower others combine to help build great teams.

Goal Achievement: harnessing communication, problem-solving, agile thinking, time management and project management skills to bring ideas and projects to fruition.

Taking the Lead – Taking Action: carefully curated practical opportunities to experience and reflect upon leadership moments.

Core content has been tailored for our students across Years 7 to 11, and we hope to reinforce to all of our girls that everyone can experience and share moments of leadership.

Our EDGE (Extended, Differentiated and Gifted Education) program is designed to provide all students with challenge and stretch. Our EDGE Coordinator works with teachers to complement and enrich the curriculum in our classrooms, whilst also leading additional activities to ensure gifted and talented students can extend themselves by participating in other rigorous and stimulating learning opportunities.

The program focuses on developing the skills of creativity, critical thinking and collaboration through the disciplines of Philosophy, STEM, Critical Literacy and Design Thinking.

Students are able to work with a range of specialists including our Scientist in Residence, School Psychologist, Old Scholar professionals and external industry experts to gain realworld perspectives and insights. They also have the opportunity to showcase their creative talents by publishing and contributing works to our annual Arts Journal, Out of the Blue

Many of our girls put their learning to the test through competitions and other external stretch activities. Year after year, their passion and dedication yield local, national and international accolades with highlights across the da Vinci Decathlon, Philosophy, Ethics, Linguistics, STEM and more.

At St Peter’s Girls, we provide our bespoke Pathway to School , a targeted ELC-to-school experience for all ELC children during the six months prior to their commencement as Receptions at the start of a new school year or in the mid-year intake.

Based in a new flexible and dynamic learning space within our Early Leaners’ Centre, our Pathway to School is led by a qualified Early Childhood Teacher. To complement the globallyrecognised learning experiences that already take place across our Centre, children are engaged in an extended range of focused learning opportunities aimed at setting them up for a successful and positive start to school.

Fundamental capabilities that are accelerated through our Pathway to School include social, emotional and self-management skills to further develop independence, organisation and resilience. Literacy, numeracy and STEM explorations are amplified daily during rich inquiries and interwoven play activities, guided by problem-solving and creativity. Crucially, our Pathway to School places children’s wellbeing at the centre as we focus on their individual growth.

Benefits for children progressing from our ELC to Reception at St Peter’s Girls’ School:

• A strong sense of belonging in our School community from a young age as girls become familiar with School staff and the wider School environment.

• Close communication and handover of information shared between our ELC and Reception teachers.

• The power of all-girls’ education delivered by a world-class provider of single-sex schooling.

• A consistent approach to the teaching of literacy and numeracy across ELC to Year 6.

• Buddy programs with girls in other year levels that create connections across our ELC - 12 School.

• A high sense of aspiration as younger girls see and engage with older girls daily.

• Involvement in our ELC to Reception Hat and Bag Ceremony – an exciting rite of passage celebrating our girls’ Pathway to School