SPACE TO LEARN

In Term 2, the Centre for Learning and Innovation finally opened much to the excitement of our College community. Head of College Tim Kotzur revisited the original Vision for the building which forms a key part of St Peters’ learning landscape.

TIM KOTZUR Head of College

OnApril 26, 2023, our new Centre for Learning and Innovation (CLI), the first major project of the College’s new Masterplan, finally opened to students and staff. It has been a four-year journey to take a conceptual idea and turn it into a physical reality. The Centre for Learning and Innovation is the biggest building project that the College has undertaken in its history. The location, right in the campus heart, made it a challenging project to begin with and this was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic impacting upon timelines, labour availability and supply chains. Walking through the CLI on that day and in subsequent weeks and observing our students and staff engaged in their learning and teaching has made the time, resources and energy devoted to its creation worthwhile. It has been a joy to see our staff and students using the space in ways that have brought the Vision for the building to life.

The Vision for the Centre for Learning and Innovation was threefold:

1. A genuine Prep to Year 12 facility located in the heart of the College that serves as an unmistakable statement to all in our community that learning is our core business. This has been reflected within the four levels of the building which encompasses contemporary learning spaces, maker spaces, technology studios, a green room, a student boardroom, amphitheatre and breakout spaces.

2. A space that reflects the best of what we know about how students learn and reinforces the already strong student learning culture in the process. This has been captured in the learning spaces that facilitate a range of approaches to learning from large group explicit instruction to small collaborative group work and breakout spaces for focused individual work. The multiple writeable surfaces help students to make their thinking and learning visible to themselves and their teachers. The flexible classroom furniture easily facilitates a range of learning styles within the classrooms. The ease of technology use within the building is another feature. The university-style feel of the SPOSA Café within the building creates a space where students want to spend time learning. The type of learner, graduate and person that our students will need to be to flourish also underpinned the Vision for the building.

3. A space that encourages and promotes growth in teacher pedagogical practices, both best practice and next practice.

With this Vision in mind, it has been heartening to hear some of the comments from our students and staff about their early experiences with the Centre for Learning and Innovation:

• I love the different types of furniture and how you can adjust the heights of the desks to suit you.

• The student boardroom is amazing.

• The technology is so easy to use.

• All the glass makes the building so light.

• I really like all the writeable surfaces.

• It feels like a university.

• The Centre nurtures a sense of community and collaboration by providing opportunities for group discussions and task-oriented learning activities in its versatile and unique spaces. These spaces, fitted with interactive features such as frosted glass, writable desk surfaces and sliding whiteboards, not only promote a dynamic, hands-on learning approach but also greatly appeal to students learning character-based Asian languages. Maggie Jin, Language Teacher

• The implementation of the CLI has created an exciting opportunity for staff and students to engage in a wide range of educational experiences. The CLI has enabled students to take an engaged, enthusiastic and collaborative approach to learning, allowing them to deepen their understanding within a practical realworld context. Alanah Miles, Technology and Innovation

specialist, eLearning Facilitator

• The large rooms in the CLI have been fantastic for the students to separate to their own zone. The varying heights of the furniture have allowed students to be in a learning space that suits them and the amount of writable space in the room has enabled student group work better than in one of our more traditional classrooms. All in all the environment facilitated by the rooms makes for a really calm and productive learning space. Peter MacDonald, Head Teaching & Learning Innovation

While the Vision for the Centre for Learning and Innovation is entirely contemporary, the College has endeavoured to honour our past through key features of the building, such as an external facade that mirrors the historical architecture of Langer Library and the Chapel. Within the building, there are hexagonal soundproofing tiles on the ceilings that mirror the hexagonal pavers of the Chapel Forecourt. At each of the entrances are wooden crosses made from the floorboards of Luther House. The crosses remind us of our enduring link to our past and serve as a reminder of the origins and foundations of St Peters, as well as our hope for the future.

As a community, we look forward to all the learning and growth that will occur within the Centre for Learning and Innovation – a space that both honours our past and represents our future.