8 minute read
Leadership
As a School we continue to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our students. In 2021, we had much to celebrate with the outstanding VCE results of our Class of 2021, placing St Catherine’s as the number one girls school in Victoria.
From the Chair of Council
From the Principal
These results are testament to the strength of a St Catherine’s education, and the deliberate and considered approach St Catherine’s applies to educating, nurturing and empowering young women for their futures, from the moment they step through the Heyington Gates. In our Early Learning Centre our youngest learners build lifelong thinking routines and social skills, connecting them to their learning and the world around them, developing a solid foundation to move into our Junior School, Barbreck, where our young girls discover their passions and talents, immersed in our Thinking Classrooms. This year, our Year 6 students will extend their knowledge in Mathematics, Science, and English in preparation for the step into the Senior School, with our academic transition program. In our Senior School, students begin to sharpen their skills, extend their capabilities, and challenge themselves through intellectual endeavour and experiential learning. In 2022, our Year 9 students commence a new Humanities program that lifts their leadership, independence, and critical thinking skills through a yearlong Critical Conversations program. This Program forms a platform for students to move into St Catherine’s innovative Senior Years Learning Model in Years 10 and 11, empowering students in their learning, and preparing them for life post-school,
— MICHELLE OBAMA
Inspired by the words of singer-song writer,
Natasha Bedingfield, our 2022 School
Co-Captains, Angela Yu, and Madeline Powell, encouraged our younger cohorts to ‘Emerge’ from the COVID years stronger, smarter, and wiser, and to seize the opportunity by embracing the blank page of every day. “Today is where your book begins. Your book, your story for 2022. At the start of the year, we emerge into the unwritten, staring at the blank page before us with confidence and anticipation. No one else can speak the words on your lips. We all write our individual, unique stories. So, embrace the blank page that is 2022 with this in mind: follow your passions, express your opinions, be around people who make you happy, who lift you up.”
As we embrace this post-pandemic period, the St Catherine’s story for every student begins the moment they walk through our Heyington Gates; a time when they are encouraged to be courageous, to inquire, to question, to learn and contribute. This story tells of the shared passion for connecting, engaging, and participating, an opportunity for every student to create their own chapter. As we step forward this year, we celebrate the stories of the Class of 2021, and their outstanding VCE results that led to St Catherine’s being ranked the top performing girls school in Victoria. These extraordinary results were not achieved by one, single reason, rather a deliberate combination of factors summarised by two simple words: Academic Care. Throughout Term One of 2022, we continue to witness repeatedly, our model of academic care in action, and combined with a culture of participation, the story of every St Catherine’s student is written.
through self-paced Independent Learning Tutorials and subject Masterclasses. Across the spectrum of a St Catherine’s education – a St Catherine’s girl has experienced 15 years of purposeful and deliberate learning. Building her unique capacities to reach her individual goals. When she graduates, she is known well by her peers and her teachers, but most importantly, she knows herself. She is equipped with a comprehensive tool kit of transferable thinking skills, fully prepared for her future. We have much to celebrate as St Catherine’s continues to deliver its vision of graduating well rounded, intellectually, and emotionally agile young women.
Ms Jane Hodder Chair of Council
We enjoy the story of remarkable resilience in our musicians, reflecting the hours of music rehearsals conducted online for the past two years. Our Term One Concerto Concert was the first of what will be many musical and performing arts events in our new Black Box Theatre. It was a privilege to attend this Concert and to provide our musicians a new performance space, and an exciting home for Music and the Performing Arts at St Catherine’s School.
We rejoice in the story of bold and courageous goals set by our Senior rowers achieving back-to back wins at the prestigious Head of the Schoolgirls (HOSG) Rowing Regatta, in addition to their striking win at the Australian Rowing Championships this year. An historical year for our rowers, reaching new heights for St Catherine’s Sport. We acknowledge a story of independence, as Year 9 students embark on a new Harkness inspired learning model in their Humanities program, which aims to further enhance our open and academic thinking culture. To be successful in Harkness, students must refine their listening skills, be empathetic thinkers, articulate, and unashamedly intellectual. This program requires independence and critical thinking from our students, along with the ability to collaborate and construct a discussion, all essential skills for them as they emerge into their senior years of education. Finally, we cherish a story of creativity and innovation as our teachers also emerge from COVID confidently seeking the fresh innovative design of a learning framework that encapsulates the needs of every graduating girl at St Catherine’s, building their capacities to be bold, creative, independent, and resilient. Our Teaching and Learning Framework harnesses the character dispositions and culture of thinking required in every St Catherine’s classroom, every day. Having fully emerged from the shadows of COVID lockdowns, our School community is now enjoying the opportunity to embrace the fullness of life once again on campus. Together, with educators across the globe, we remain curious about the impact of COVID interruptions and how they may alter the learning trajectories and behaviours of children today. As you unfold this edition of St Catherine’s News, you will understand the impact of our Towards 2025 Strategic Plan; our blueprint detailing how we inspire every St Catherine’s girl to be creative, independent, resilient, and bold in all that they pursue in the post-COVID world.
Michelle Carroll Principal
Transforming TEACHING & LEARNING
St Catherine’s is a unique school, founded on core Values that drive our School’s Towards 2025 Strategic Plan. We align these Values with innovative programs that develop 21st Century skills and dispositions in all students.
We do this extremely well, as our recent academic learning models have forged ahead with the development of our Senior Years Learning Model, Independent Learning Tutorials and this year, our Learning Framework, focusing on academic care and wellness.
St Catherine’s is known for its personalised academic care, providing every student with the strongest foundation possible to reach their individual aspirations in learning and in life. A testament to this was our outstanding VCE results in 2021. To ensure every student continues to be engaged, resilient, intellectually curious and independent in their studies, St Catherine’s must continue to develop creative and rigorous academic programs. Our Senior Years Learning Model for Years 10 to 12 was developed to empower students in their learning and equip and prepare them for life after school. PostCOVID, educational reform and disrupting the traditional view of learning is a necessary step for schools to stay relevant. As part of our Senior Years learning Model, we introduced the Independent Learning Tutorials in 2021. Years 10 and 11 students step into a hybrid learning model with face-to-face classes and online delivery of Masterclass lectures and tutorials.
The students have relished the opportunity for a self-paced and independent learning model. As we move into 2022 this model will continue to be developed and refined.
Teaching & Learning Framework
To develop 21st century skills in our students, we recognise St Catherine’s must offer innovative strategies and programs that align learning and wellness, mapping connectedness of a ‘whole education for character, competency and wellness’. (OECD, 2021) This vision led St Catherine’s to once again review our academic programs and develop our Teaching and Learning Framework that seeks to provide every student with the strongest foundation possible to reach their aspirations. A key focus is our view that teaching and learning, and the development of wellbeing, are complementary processes. In short, students learn best when their wellbeing is optimised. The Framework aligns to our School Values, our Teaching for Thinking culture, and our vision of learning and wellbeing integrated within a framework for improving student outcomes. Within the Framework we have prioritised eight learner competencies, differentiated for each Year level. At Year 7, we model, at Years 8 and 9, we scaffold and at Years 10, 11 and 12, we coach.
A key academic priority for 2022 is that teachers model, scaffold and coach students, focusing on the learner competencies in order to build independence, boldness, resilience and creative capacity. Teachers will purposefully plan to teach for knowledge, thinking and dispositions. I am excited that our Learning Framework will be linked to both wellbeing and learning in academic care. I look forward with great optimism as I work with our teachers to continue to foster our teaching and learning programs, to innovate and to care, as we do this so well.
Mrs Ceri Lloyd Director of Teaching and Learning
Reference: OECD (2021), Beyond Academic Learning: First Results from the Survey of Social and Emotional Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/92a11084-en
