THE WEST AUSTRALIAN LIFTOUT MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 • 1

St Stephen’s SchoolSERVE GOD SERVE ONE ANOTHER

www.ststephens.wa.edu.au

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2 • MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 LIFTOUT THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Editor: Louise Allan Design: Michelle Nunn Advertising: Rajesh Kulkarni 9482 3567

St Stephen’s School

A message from the Principal Over our 30 year history, St Stephen’s School has

become one of the largest schools in Australia

with more than 2700 students and 400 members

of staff across three geographical sites.

While three quarters of the almost 300

graduates continue with their studies at

university, St Stephen’s School is also the largest

Vocational Education and Training provider in

Western Australia. Further, St Stephen’s School

has also been recognised nationally for its care

and support of all students, especially those with

learning diffi culties and disabilities.

As a Christian community, education as an

exercise in growing people and growing faith is a

natural expression of who we are.

As we inspire learning that transforms and

empowers lives, our desire is for everyone to be

alive in the adventure of learning as they aspire

to live lives of purpose.

While our graduates consistently achieve

excellent academic results, families choose

to bring their children to St Stephen’s School

because of the kind of person they would like

their child to become.

We catch our humanity from each other and

it is the humanity of our school as a Christian

community that has ensured our success over

these past 30 years. Curriculum comes and goes,

but the nature of humanity remains the same.

- Mr Tony George, Principal, St Stephen’s School

At St Stephen’s School we aim to “grow

people” and the St Stephen’s Institute aims to

“grow staff ” because relationships are at the

core of who we are and what we do.

The institute works with teaching and non-

teaching staff across the multiple campuses of

St Stephen’s School to develop and build their

capacity by supporting them in their professional

growth in a variety of ways including:

• Staff and leadership development

• Coaching

• Mentoring

• Talent identifi cation, recruitment, induction

and management

• Evaluation and goal setting opportunities

• Career mapping and training

• Facilitation of a number of conferences and

symposiums including our annual LeaderCon

(for the 70 leaders of the school) and

StaffCon (for all 400 staff of the school)

• Creating partnerships with universities and

other educational institutions that benefi t our

school community

• Assistance for staff towards further studies

(fi nancial and/or time)

• Providing a coordinated approach across

St Stephen’s School for professional

development and ensuring that teachers’

standards are met and enhanced

through engagement with ongoing

professional learning

• Teacher cadet program

• Staff wellness program

• Parent engagement seminars

• Community events to enhance teaching

and learning.

The St Stephen’s Institute is about building

capacity, building connections and

building culture.

For us it is about making a difference in the

lives of others, giving back to the community

by ensuring we are passionate about teaching

and learning, and understanding that we have an

obligation to be excellent for the sake of others.

- Mrs Donella BeareDirector, St Stephen’s Institute

Launch of St Stephen’s Institute

Where children can learn, growSt Stephen’s School is an independent co-educational Christian school of the Uniting Church for Kindergarten to Year 12 with an enrolment of 2727 students. The School’s campuses are located in Perth’s northern suburbs of Duncraig and Carramar.

Providing a school where children can learn and grow into people of Christian character and integrity was at the heart of the founders’ intent when the fi rst brick of St Stephen’s School was laid in 1983.

Today, the School’s founding vision remains core and is embedded in the fabric of the School as it strives to fulfi ll its mission of ‘growing people, growing faith’ for our ever-changing world – a world that needs people who aspire to live with purpose.

To this end, St Stephen’s School teachers strive to make every student’s learning an adventure. Enlivened by Christian purpose, they provide a caring and challenging environment with innovative education and community service programs which engage students in the adventure of learning and serving.

As the School enters its fourth decade, it is committed to ‘changing the world one mind at a time’ by ensuring the adventure of learning begins at St Stephen’s School – an adventure where students aspire to live with purpose.

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Reverend Des Cousins appointed as Chair of Council

1981

Reverend Marie Wilson appointed as Chair of Council

1984

Reverend Owen Roberts appointedas Chair of Council

1986

Doug Lambert appointed as Chair of Council

1994

Carramar Campus Opens (pre primary to Yr 8)

2001

Reverend Gavin Collinson appointed as Principal

1989

Duncraig Secondary School opened 1984

John Allen-Williams appointed as

Foundation Principal

1983

1988

Duncraig Foundation students graduated

Lorraine Paul appointed as Chair

of Council

2001

Duncraig Primary School opened

1993 Dr Glenda Parkin appointed as Principal

2002

iDay 2014 is our annual digital learning

conference designed to enhance teaching and

learning. During the day our staff take part in

numerous workshops designed to make the

most of the digital mobile technologies available.

There are more than 50 workshops

offered including learning management systems,

digital creation, online tools, social networking,

blogging, presentational tools, stories from the

classroom, controversial ideas and numerous

software applications. We have guest presenters

from Winthrop, Sharp, Seqta, Apple, Microsoft

and Datacom, incorporating international and

local presenters.

iDay July 24

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SERVE GOD SERVE ONE ANOTHER

The St Stephen's Institute annual staff conference focuses on our model of a relationship-centred approach to teaching and learning.

The conference is a two-day professional learning event that all St Stephen’s School staff participate in.

This year, keynote speakers include Melinda Tankard-Reist who is well known for her work on the objectifi cation of women and efforts to address violence against women and Tim Costello who is a sought after voice on social justice issues, urban poverty and reconciliation.

This conference will be held at our Carramar campus.

Sta Con July 21 to 22

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From L-R: Dr Liz Criddle (Director of Teaching and Learning), Mr Brian Plowman (Director of Wellness), Mr Stuart Wesley (Parent Coach)

Teacher Cadet ProgramThe contemporary education landscape is

changing. It is no longer good enough for a

graduate to only be knowledgeable in their chosen

area of curriculum study, they need to be skilled

in communication, able to navigate the world of

social media and to clearly understand they are

the most signifi cant adult in a student’s educational

life. With this in mind, one of the cornerstones

of the St Stephen’s Institute is our Teacher

Cadet Program. This program is open to all new

graduates and sees each cadet employed full time,

however they only teach part time with the rest

devoted to training and development under the

guidance of a mentor teacher.

Ideas around the Cadet Program such as

classroom observation, meeting students at

their individual points of need, and knowing how

students learn are not limited to new graduates

and this is another area of focus for the Institute

as we have been working to develop communities

of practice both within St Stephen’s School and

with partner schools and tertiary institutions. The

Cadet Program runs alongside our set classroom

observation and mentoring work that the Institute,

including our Director of Teaching and Learning,

undertakes on a day-to-day basis. These initiatives

contribute to St Stephen’s School being an

employer of choice for many prospective staff.

WellnessThe appointment of a Director of Wellness

to the St Stephen’s Institute recognises the

importance of health and wellbeing initiatives

to create a workplace culture that supports

and encourages all staff to fl ourish and thrive.

The defi ned and focused approach provided

by positive psychology research has informed

the way that the Institute operates in this area.

The holistic approach of positive psychology

for all members of the school community is

beginning to gain momentum at the various

campuses of St Stephen’s School. Some

examples of this are:

• Partnership with NIB Health

• Corporate gym memberships

• Planned health expo to target areas of

health concerns

• Workshops on nutrition

• Workshops on personal fi nances

• Lunches for staff on wellness theory

• Seminars on coaching and the link to

positive psychology

One of the most important aspects of the

Institute’s wellness initiatives revolves around

the role of personal coaching to assist in the

evaluation and goal setting process.

The old adage, “it takes a village to raise a child” reinforces the notion that parents are not enough for the raising of a healthy child.Extended family and friends, sport coaches, music teachers, pastors and youth leaders to name a few all share, albeit to a lesser extent, the role of shaping young lives. The education of a child, as a part of their development, is not the job of the school alone. Once again, it is a team effort, a partnership between the school, the student and the parent. The latest research demonstrates that when parents are engaged in their child’s education the child does better. In light of this, the St Stephen’s Institute recognises the need to encourage

and challenge parents to be the best parents they can be and to engage with their child’s educational experience all for the sake of better outcomes for the child. To facilitate this, a Parent Coach has been employed as part of the St Stephen’s Institute to work with the School community to foster a deeper sense of community engagement. The Parent Coach meets one on one with parents to support them in the journey of parenting, provides workshops and seminars to increase parenting competency and works with school staff to ensure that the partnership between school, student and parent is optimal.

Parent Coach

Desmond Mitchell appointed as

Principal

2007

Caryl Roberts appointed as

Principal

2009

Hepburn Heights Duncraig ELC opens 2011

Carramar Kindergarten

opens

2013

Carramar Foundationstudents graduated

2005

St Stephen’s School recognised as one of the safest schools in the country

2013

Governor McCusker recognises the school’s Change the World Program

2013

Michael van Drunnen appointed as Chair of Council

2007

Tony George appointed as Principal

2011

2012

Only school in WA to be awarded with the National MindMatters award

St Stephen’s Institute offi cially launches

2013

Dr Brian Handley appointed as

Chair of Council

2014

4 • MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 LIFTOUT THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

St Stephen’s School

It is with great pleasure that St Stephen’s

School announces the purchase of a rural

property 8km south of Dwellingup.

After a period of due diligence, investigation

and extensive discussion, the decision was

made to purchase the 46ha area, which is

adjacent to both the Munda Biddi Trail and

Bibbulmun Track.

The property boasts extensive native forest

and 800m of Murray River frontage, perfect for

adventure activities, water sports and targeted

educational programs.

The School intends to sustainably develop

the property for school camps, leadership

development programs, team building and

student retreats.

We also anticipate family groups may be able

to camp on the property in the future.

We look forward to the enrichment that this

acquisition will bring to the school community.

Nanga Bush Camp

Two exciting projects of the master plan for the coming triennium for both Duncraig and Carramar campuses are expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

The Oceans Centre is essentially a geographically contextualised science facility for the Duncraig Secondary campus that capitalises on the unique location of the campus in proximity to the Indian Ocean, Hillarys Boat Harbour, the Aquarium of Western Australia and WA Fisheries. While the Oceanographic Centre will provide everything a standard science facility provides, it has the added advantage of being able to incorporate Geography, Design and Technology, Food Science and Physical Education.

By focusing attention on oceanography, the facility may boast signifi cant features such as a wave tank, display aquarium and aquaculture that serve to inspire students to take up the sciences.

The Business Management and Accounting Centre is designed to invest in the School’s extensive Vocational and Education (VET) Programs.

The intention of the centre – to be built at our Carramar campus – is to bring together VET and Western Australian Certifi cate of Education business and accounting related courses, including Business Studies, Economics, Politics and Law, and Retail Management into one centre that will offer both standard and alternative pathways to university.

The Business Centre would seek to extend its offering of courses and services beyond our students to include parents through evening seminars and breakfast presentations.

Oceans Centre and Business Centre

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St Stephen’s Press has celebrated the School’s 30th Anniversary with the publishing of Staying True written by Dr Phil Ridden. Staying True tells of the people and events which have shaped the fi rst three decades of the School’s life.“It is written from the standpoint of a fair-minded participant-observer. The issues are honestly presented in a good lucid readable style. This book makes an interesting and original contribution to the history of education in Western Australia. I’ve enjoyed reading it and I warmly congratulate the author.”

- Geo rey Bolton AO

30thAnniversaryBook

St Stephen’s Global is a branch of St Stephen’s

School that focuses on developing international

programs of service learning and enhancing

educational opportunity throughout the Indian

Ocean Rim.

Not only do we live in the most highly-populated

time zone of the world, but we are the only

western city in the region of the Indian Ocean

Rim – a region that contains two thirds of the

world’s population in only one quarter of the

world’s circumference.

The opportunities for Western Australia are

immense because of our unique geographical

location.

This creates a unique opportunity for St

Stephen’s School to make a difference through

service learning and the provision of ongoing

educational development as a global provider of

educational services to the region.

The school has already commenced this process

by offering teacher professional learning and

student tours to Malaysia and Cambodia.

The school will also host a Round Table

Conference of key Indian Ocean Rim education

stakeholders in November 2014 where it will

plan a 10-year program of learning and service

opportunities for the region.

St Stephen’s Global