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the student wellbeing issue

THE SACS MAGAZINE | 2014

the people behind the publication

To keep up to date with all the latest news and events, visit our website www.sacs.nsw.edu.au

Special Thanks

Max Barber-Cato OA (2012)

Mrs Penny Barletta (Rough Edges café)

Ms Roxanne Briggs

Ms Alison Courtney Media Club Coordinator

Mrs Jess Chilton Girls Coordinator

Mrs Emily Edwards Junior School Pastoral Care Coordinator

Mrs Tracey Ireland Head of Westminster House

Mrs Judy Karikios SACS Canteen Manager

Mr John Kennedy Head of Science

Mrs Alice Peel Gawura teacher

Ms Zoe Powell OA (2013)

Mr David Smith Head of Middle School

Mrs Grace Stone Head of Senior College

Mr Simon Tedeschi OA (1998)

Dr Jill Wheeler School Council Member

Mr Ralph Wilcock Head of Music

Students

Gabe Bates (Year 9)Angus Bray (Year 10)Jake Cowie (Year 12)Calum Edsor (Year 12)Blair Ferguson (Year 10)Ben Flannery (Year 11)Nate Griffiths (Year 7)Jessica Jenner (Year 8)Persia Littlewood (Year 10)Jessica Luff (Year 6)Lauren Mathen (Year 12)Noah Oshiro (Year 8)Chelsea Paton (Year 8)Nina Perry (Year 10)Emily Savage (Year 12)Kay Savage (Year 11)Tcharne Sawyer (Year 11)Cooper Sheppard (Year 9)Ava Stael (Year 8)Marcus Vrondas (Year 5)

Cover photo of Keshia van Wachem (Year 5) and Max Cholakos (Year 7) in Sydney Square. Photo by Jack Toohey.

The Magazine Team

Managing Editor Alison Walburn

Editor Melanie Collins

Production Coordinator Kelsey Hake

Photography Jack Toohey, OA 2010

Contributors Laura BannisterSean Brady (Year 11)Ross CameronDr John CollierLucy CrookRev Craig FosterLizzie Garrett OA (2008)Lyn JarvisRosemary MillerMelanie PenningtonBrad SwibelHamish Waddell (Year 11)

02 INSPIRED | THE COEDUCATION ISSUE

contents04 St Andrew’s continues to build

on its culture of care Dr John Collier and Mr Brad Swibel

provide an overview of our school’s approach to student wellbeing and the new programmes introduced across the school in 2014.

06 Old Andrean: Simon Tedeschi The international concert pianist and

music educator speaks about his school days spent mostly in the Fairfax Room at St Andrew’s.

08 Get to know your School Council: Dr Jill Wheeler

Dr Wheeler is the mother of three students who have attended St Andrew’s and is a long-standing member of our governing Council.

08 Why I decided to get involved in the P&F – a parent’s perspective

P&F Vice President Mr Ross Cameron shares his motivation and the rewards that come with volunteering at the school.

09 Have you had Breakfast at SACS? SACS Foundation Executive Lyn Jarvis

tells us about a new initiative to build up our school community – groups of parents having breakfast together.

10 On the desk of … We speak to the Head of Science,

Mr John Kennedy, about his passions and how he uses his workspace.

12 Love in action in SACS Junior School A new student wellbeing programme

equips students with the words to speak and actions to take in challenging situations, with the aim to build a loving culture at the school.

14 Unleashing the power of positive thinking

Gawura students are being taught a number of new resilience strategies to equip them to cope with new or challenging situations.

15 Nurturing environment allows students to thrive

Gawura parent Roxanne Briggs shares her thoughts on the benefits to her children of an education at Gawura and St Andrew’s.

16 Rules of Engagement The new Middle School student wellbeing

programmes specifically address the often turbulent adolescent years of schooling.

18 Stepping out Head of Senior College, Mrs Grace Stone,

explains how Senior College students are being equipped for life after school.

20 Music at the heart of school with heart Music has always been an integral

element of life at St Andrew’s. We find out how involvement in Music continues to transform the lives of students today.

21 Hooked on music for life! Former student Lizzie Garrett (OA 2008)

shares her memories of St Andrew’s and the impact it has had on her professional career.

22 When buildings breathe We explore the role of St Andrew’s

Cathedral in the life of our school.

23 When wellbeing extends to faith School Chaplain Craig Foster explains

what programmes, camps and guidance are offered to St Andrew’s students seeking to learn from the Bible or grow in their Christian faith.

24 Smoothing out the Rough Edges We explore what it means to students

who volunteer to serve the homeless at Rough Edges café in Darlinghurst.

26 Eat right, learn well We speak with school Canteen Manager

Judy Karikios about how she decides what food and drink to serve to students.

27 Media Club captures school spirit A new media club in the senior school

is capturing many of the school’s key events on film. We present a selection of their photographic efforts to date.

the student wellbeing issue

03 THE STUDENT WELLBEING ISSUE | INSPIRED

C urrent research indicates that almost half of the Australian population will experience a mental health

disorder at some point in their lifetime (The Mental Health of Australians 2).

Similarly, one in five children and adolescents experience mental health problems and disorders (Black Dog Institute). Schools are increasingly assuming a greater role in the health and wellbeing of students, recognising their critical role in helping students understand and overcome the enormous number of issues that impact children today.

At St Andrew’s, however, this is not a new development. The school is well known for its nurturing, caring environment, where every student is valued. Underpinned by its Christian values and a belief that it is essential to nurture the heart to educate the mind, the school strives to promote a positive, encouraging environment where each student is heard, known and supported.

And these beliefs are supported by our parent community who, in a survey conducted in 2013, rated “focus on student welfare, providing a safe and caring environment” as their number one reason for choosing a school.

Inspired met with Dr John Collier, Head of School, and Mr Brad Swibel, Deputy Head of School, to discuss wellbeing and the next stage in the school’s Student Wellbeing programme.

Much is often made of the school’s approach to student wellbeing. What makes SACS special?John Collier: At St Andrew’s we are

committed to dealing with whole people, so we don’t have the notion that we are educating brains on sticks. We want to integrate caring for our young people with extending them academically. We see them as two sides to the same coin, and we believe that strong pastoral care will help their holistic development as people and help them achieve their academic best.

Why is student wellbeing so important in Christian schools?John Collier: Our Christian ethos determines an ethos of care. We want to engage deeply with young people and build into their lives that care means compassion, care means involvement, care means being there in times of need or even crisis. The school is well known for that and we regularly get feedback from parents expressing gratitude for the depth of pastoral care in the school. So it is a primary calling of Christian educators to nurture and support students and parents in that way.

During 2013/14 the SACS programme has been reviewed, what did you find?John Collier: The pastoral needs of students require a number of staff who have a specific pastoral brief beyond the general pastoral brief of all teaching staff, and to have enough specific positions that can deal with various levels and layers of this. For example, in the Senior College we have a Head of Senior College, Deputy Head of Senior College and Heads of House. In the Middle School we have a Head of Middle School, a Girls’ Coordinator and Year Coordinators. We also have Tutors in high school who report variously to Year Coordinators

(in Middle School) and Heads of House (in Senior College). Their role is to get to know each student really well, to meet with them regularly, to track them socially and academically, and to organise interventions when necessary, and be points of reference for parents. Because the Tutor groups are small, usually around 16, it’s a mechanism that prevents students from slipping through the cracks in what is otherwise a large school, so that every student is known and cared for by at least one adult on the teaching staff. In Junior School, we have a Head of Junior School, Pastoral Care Coordinator and the classroom teacher.

We have always been very strong in reactive strategies, so we have three School Counsellors, who are clinical psychologists, and they can work in a whole host of areas, from the lower end of the spectrum such as time management, stress management and examination skills, through to the more clinical end where necessary. But we have felt the need to increase the number and depth of the more proactive structures and strategies, in order to have our students foresee issues and take control as they can.

Brad Swibel: In early 2013, myself and a team of staff spent a long time discussing the vision and mission of the school and what makes St Andrew’s distinctive. We then considered, in light of these statements, what did the graduating student of St Andrew’s look like? We kept coming back to “Heart, Mind and Life” and we became determined to explore these features of the school more deeply. Out of this exploration, the Graduate Attributes were established, with consultation from

INTERVIEW WITH DR COLLIER, HEAD OF SCHOOL AND MR BRAD SWIBEL, DEPUTY HEAD OF SCHOOL

WORDS: ALISON WALBURN PHOTOGRAPHY: JACK TOOHEY

St Andrew’s continues to build on its culture of care

Dr Collier, Head of School with Mr Brad Swibel, Deputy Head of School.

Student wellbeing has long been a feature of St Andrew’s Cathedral School’s culture. In 2014, a new student wellbeing programme, targeting the specific needs of each year group, has been implemented across the school.

04 INSPIRED | THE STUDENT WELLBEING ISSUE

STUDENT WELLBEING AT ST ANDREW’S

the wider staff body, the School Council, parents and student leaders.

The Graduate Attributes are a set of student traits that expand on what “Heart, Mind and Life” means. Therefore, “In the light of the Cross, we strive for all students to have hearts that love, minds that grow and lives that give.” And each attribute of Heart, Mind and Life has three characteristics which describe the St Andrew’s student.

How do Graduate Attributes link to the Student Wellbeing programme and impact students directly?Brad Swibel: The establishment of the Graduate Attributes clarified what we, as a school, are aiming to produce through the Student Wellbeing programme. From here the existing Student Wellbeing programmes were re-evaluated and mapped to the Graduate Attributes, with each year group being assigned a number of key wellbeing programmes targeted to their age-group.

Recognised programmes were drawn in to further develop the Graduate Attributes such as Bounceback (Safe Schools Framework), Biteback (addressing mental health issues through the Black Dog Institute), You Can Do It! (positive psychology programme), Resilience Doughnut, Circle Leadership, and Personal Bests (engagement and motivation from University of Sydney) adding to our already comprehensive suite of character-building pastoral programmes. Guest speakers have been brought in to cover needs particular to girls and we plan to include boys-only programmes too.

In 2013, the Learning Model, addressing the overall academic focus of the school,

was also established. It was developed to support the Graduate Attributes, incorporating the Student Wellbeing programme.

A new discipline system was introduced in August 2013 which redrafted the Student Rights and Responsibilities to align with the Graduate Attributes and also the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young People (2008). From this our Student Management Guidelines changed to focus on restorative practices, goal setting and reflection. In doing so, importance was placed on a communication loop between the student, teachers and parents in this process. Rather than a purely punitive reaction to misbehaviour, the response has been transparent, consistent and predictable. Students have the opportunity to receive feedback on goals that they set and positive behaviour is rewarded through feedback.

In 2014, the implementation of the Graduate Attributes took a further step forward in a review of the merit system. The Junior School and Gawura School replaced their merit system with Heart, Mind and Life Awards and the Secondary School followed suit with Heart (Service and Character), Mind (Academic) and Life (Cocurricular) merit awards that lead to Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Excellence Awards. Instead of the previous point system which

resulted in a transactional approach to student behaviour that was digital and not visible, the new system specifically acknowledges student effort in developing Graduate Attributes through tangible merit cards and involves an increasing degree of public recognition of these attributes in subsequent awards.

What is the role of the greater school community in student wellbeing at St Andrew’s?John Collier: Parents are obviously the major influence in children’s lives as they negotiate the challenges of school life. We know we will get the best outcome for students if parents are well-informed and supportive of our strategies and programmes – across academic, cocurricular and student wellbeing. A consistent, encouraging message to students from parents and the school will have the greatest impact on student achievement. As such, we seek to provide briefings and seminars to parents who seek to be engaged with their child’s learning and may need parenting tips at different stages of their child’s development. We include pertinent information about our student seminars and programmes in newsletters and on our parent portal to enable parents to engage with their children on these issues. Our community includes students, ex-students, parents and staff – and all add value and voice to our programmes.

St Andrew’s Graduate AttributesHeart Mind Life

• A heart that is compassionate and forgiving

• A heart that is faithful and respectful

• A heart enriched by relationships and service

• A mind that is engaged and persistent

• A mind that is discerning and reflective

• A mind that is inquiring and creative

• A life filled with courage

• A life that embraces challenges and change

• A life of hope and purpose


Subject of an Archibald prize-winning portrait, news and opinion blog editor, ABC’s Spicks and Specks regular guest, music educator and most famously, international concert pianist, Simon Tedeschi is a former graduate (1998) of St Andrew’s Cathedral School and spoke to us about his school days (spent mostly in the Fairfax Room).

Could you tell us a little bit about your time at St Andrew’s, particularly your musical education. I started in Year 8 and graduated in 1998. I left my previous school after not enjoying it at all, so I was pretty anxious starting at St Andrew’s in Year 8. On my first day I met Alan Beavis and Micheal Deasey. We became friends almost immediately – as odd as that is for a teacher and student.

I came from a school where the facilities were nothing like St Andrew’s. Travelling up an office building in an elevator was so flash compared to what I was used to. I was so amazed by the facilities.

I came to St Andrew’s wanting a lot of latitude to play the piano. It had a musical tradition from the cathedral choristers, but it wasn’t a jungle for classical musicians. It was a good mix for me.

The first musical performance I did at SACS was St Nicolas Mass by Benjamin Britten – it had an overpowering effect on me.

I also worked a lot with the orchestra and was involved musically on every level – I was almost always practising.

We understand the SACS Head of School discouraged you from taking part in sports like cricket, for fear of damaging your hands. Is this true?That sounds about right. From the very beginning, Phillip Heath was very supportive of me as a musician. He practically bent over backwards to allow me to pursue music. As a pianist, I was very structured, but that had repercussions in other areas and I misbehaved a lot. Phillip put up with a lot, as well as Jim Boddy and Michael Deasey.

Are you still in contact with anyone from school?Yes, I regularly work with the former Director of Music at St Andrew’s Cathedral Michael Deasey and the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra. He is now the Precentor and Director of Music at All Saint’s Bathurst Cathedral. I am in touch with Alan Beavis – he books me to play in Bowral almost every year. I spoke at a music conference on education and saw the former Heads of Music Cathy Aggett and Bruce Rixon.

Can you reflect on your memories while at St Andrew’s and its impact on you as a person?As a student, it had a really positive impact on me. It would have been impossible to produce music without a good sense of wellbeing. And music was integral to my wellbeing.

After coming from a school that made being involved in music quite difficult, to St Andrew’s, where I was begged to play music, SACS was a ray of sunshine in my life. I spent so many hours in the Fairfax room!

During my time there, I developed some very long-term friendships and look back on St Andrew’s as some of my best years – but I mean I still hated the idea of school.

You performed Mozart in the Sydney Opera House, aged just nine years old, and in front of Nelson Mandela and the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark. Do you have any pre-performance rituals? Do you ever get apprehensive before you play?Oh I still get very nervous! At SACS, Michael Deasey calmed me down more than once before a performance. I made

Old Andrean: Simon TedeschiWORDS: MELANIE PENNINGTON


OLD ANDREAN: SIMON TEDESCHI

sure I went to the toilet fully. There used to be toilets near the sports office back in my time and I’d run back and forwards! With regard to rituals, yes, I have the same socks on!

What are three composers that really shaped the way you now approach your music?1. Benjamin Britten – right from

the beginning.2. Mozart – he’s shaped me in

every way as a human, his music is so redemptive.

3. Gershwin – is probably who I identify with the most and who I am most known for.

Masterclasses and workshops are an important part of your work. What first drew you to teaching and did you ever think that being a pianist would be so tightly connected with being an educator? I realised I wasn’t the young one anymore. I love being able to communicate music with love. One way to do that is to impart music through teaching. Everyone has something to give, even a concert performer.

With teaching, I never planned for it to happen, it’s just something that happened with maturity. It’s definitely something I’m still learning how to do – it’s a work in progress.

What’s the most incredible venue you have performed in?Carnegie Hall in New York City – mostly because of everyone else who has performed there!

Who is one emerging performer to watch?I’m a patron of 102.5 Fine music FM and was a judge for the Young Performer Awards last year. And I honestly don’t remember being so good! The standard today is incredible.

The most incredible thing about being a musician full-time is…It’s never boring. I get to communicate in a language that everyone, irrespective of culture, can understand as a primal language.

It’s probably second to David Attenborough [laughs].

What advice would you give to young musicians looking to pursue music for their tertiary education / embark on a performance career?It’s needed now more than ever …Classical music has been relegated to the edges of society. For the young generation born now and those older, it’s really important for them to realise that they are at the coalface of culture.

Any closing comments?Thank you SACS for playing such an important role in my formative years.Through your support of my music, it’s become my career and life.

Simon Tedeschi’s new CD of Australian Piano Music, Tender Earth, is out now on ABC Classics.

Currently known for playing Mozart in the seasonal Babies Proms concerts at the Sydney Opera House, Simon regularly performs with the Sydney Youth Orchestra. “As a soloist I have the opportunity to work with musicians at a vital stage of their intellectual and human development which is a true gift,” Simon said.

Simon Tedeschi

Simon Tedeschi with the ABC Spicks and Specks team.


OLD ANDREAN: SIMON TEDESCHI

The SACS community is made up of many working parents, all balancing the demands of their home and professional life. I met with Dr Jill Wheeler, a mother of three, a doctor, P&F volunteer and member of the School Council to speak about why she loves being part of the SACS community.

What does an average week look like for you?I see my life a bit like a juggler – keeping a number of balls in the air at once. I work part-time as a doctor in General Practice and on top of the usual family/home responsibilities, I am involved in various

ministries at my local church, including teaching scripture to primary school students and leading a women’s Bible Study Group.

I try to fit in a swim or gym session three times per week. My passion for playing team sports and jogging with my husband (and our dog!) has unfortunately been curtailed by persisting injuries – we have to make do with walking!

Why did you decide to join Council?I had previously been on a council of a K-6 school, and after being a parent at SACS for three years was asked if I would consider joining the council. I am always open to seeing where God might want to use me in his service. Having been a parent at SACS for those years I could see the school was very much seeking to follow its values of seeking to honour God in how they educated students. I guess I

liked what they were doing, and if others thought I could play a role in helping the school to do that even better, I was willing to get involved.

Do you have any specific role on Council? I think it is important to have parents on council to bring the parent’s perspective – presently there are three of us and an ex-parent as well. As part of this I try to be as involved as I can be attending SACS events and interacting with parents, hearing their perspective on SACS and listening to feedback. It all takes time but it is a real joy spending time with other parents, many of whom are also committed to serving the school in various ways.

I am a keen supporter of Gawura, having joined the council not long before Gawura started at SACS and I have seen it develop and grow. It is now an important

Dr Jill Wheeler Meet the doctor and mother of three who is also a P & F volunteer and member of our School Council.

A common comment from parents of high school students is the sense of ‘losing contact’ with their child’s life. You

move from the very immersive lower school environment, which, with young children, provides (and often demands) a significant level of parent involvement in their daily activities, into the more remote high school environment. We also have a significant change in communication style as your child moves into adolescence, which in the case of boys (to date, my only first-hand experience) becomes the stereotypical grunts, one-word arguments or extremely funny responses to every enquiry (extremely funny to a teenager – that is).

We are also told by any number of media experts and others that our child’s frame of reference moves away from the parent to their social groups, with their friends now dictating normal and acceptable behaviours. And finally (and particularly in the case of SACS) we are often more physically removed as they travel to school

Why I decided to get involved in the P&F – a parent’s perspective

WORDS: ALISON WALBURN

WORDS: MR ROSS CAMERON

Get to know your school council

Dr Jill Wheeler with daughter Mady at a St Andrew’s soccer game.

Ross Cameron is a Vice President of St Andrew’s P & F – the volunteer group of parents and friends that helps organise school community events and performs some of the fundraising activities for the school. With a son in Year 10 at St Andrew’s, Ross says his main reason for getting involved was to build an extra bridge into his son’s life.


GET TO KNOW YOUR SCHOOL COUNCIL

and even further from home to be with friends.

So I thought getting involved in the school through the P&F or other school events and activities was the most powerful way to remain connected to the high school life of my child — to be part of the environment and community in which he exists.

For me, it provides a significant benefit on a number of fronts, mostly (though not always) also valued by your child. Your child knows the value of your time and the power of you committing that time to ‘their’ environment cannot be underestimated. Shared experiences from the wider parent group, particularly those with older children who have ‘been through it’, can be hugely reassuring and often more tangible than ‘formal’ communications, no matter how well constructed.

You experience a strong personal sense of contributing something as the effort

of volunteers is very openly and warmly recognised by the school and across the school community and is genuinely heartening; an unsolicited “thanks” from a teenager (even if not your own) can be a surprisingly uplifting feeling.

Also, never forget a little information is a powerful thing. The direct connection with the school and the wider community (mostly other parents) cuts through the standard teenage “but no one else is doing it” or similar excuse.

While you will inevitably lose some of that original parent/child connection as they grow, you can embrace the opportunity to build the replacement relationship with him/her as a developing adult. Ultimately (as at any age) you as a role model will still help define who they will become, so being involved and taking some responsibility for the community of which they are part will become another positive behaviour they see as right and normal.

WORDS: LYN JARVIS, SACS FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE

P & F Vice President Ross Cameron with his son Andrew and daughter Neve, 9.

Early on a Wednesday morning, you may see a small group of parents finding their way to the Council Room on Level 6 for breakfast. This is a new initiative at St Andrew’s to increase our opportunities to spend quality time with our parents.

SACS is a very busy, and, at times, chaotic place, with students, parents and alumni having many opportunities to attend concerts, assemblies, information sessions, sporting games and P&F initiatives. Big school events allow us to spend time together, but there are not many opportunities to have deeper, more meaningful conversations – to listen, be heard, discuss, debate and understand.

Recognising this, we have initiated a weekly breakfast programme, with small

groups of parents joining together for a light meal and conversation. Breakfast is relaxed, chatty and great fun. Invited parents are mostly from the same year group and their Head of Division and Dr Collier also attend. Many parents don’t know each other, so it is a lovely opportunity for parents to make new connections. There is a great deal of laughter and a chance to swap stories, give feedback or raise any concerns.

Breakfasts are from 7.30–8.30am so that very little of a parent’s working day is affected. Younger SACS students and siblings can be looked after nearby by Senior students, making it as convenient as possible for parents to attend.

We are looking forward to breakfasting with you soon.

The Breakfast Programme is run by Mrs Lyn Jarvis, SACS Foundation Executive. For more information, please contact Lyn on 9009 5431 or email [email protected].

part of our school community and I have loved being involved in supporting and advocating on behalf of Gawura in whatever way I am able.

As a mother of three SACS students – what are your reflections of the school? I have had three children spend all their high school years at SACS – my youngest is finishing Year 12, and as happens in most families, they are three quite different children. We have found SACS to be a school where each one of them fitted in and felt they belonged, despite all being so different. It is one of the things we appreciate about SACS – it is a school that suits a wide range of students; there is no one ‘type’ that defines it as a school.

We talk about SACS being a school with heart and I think what that reflects is the relational nature of the school. Our children are valued as people who are at SACS to learn and grow in many different ways and our experience has been that this is particularly reflected in how the staff interact with our children – be it the way they are disciplined, how they are noticed and cared for if they are distressed or the encouragement and support they are given in their studies (all of which have been personal experiences of one or another of our children). Of course in a large school this will never be done perfectly by every member of staff, but time and again this has been our experience, and in it I see the Christian message in action. It has certainly been a great witness and model to our children and has contributed to making SACS a community our children have been happy to be a part of.

Have you had Breakfast at SACS?


GET TO KNOW YOUR SCHOOL COUNCIL

Physicist mr john Kennedy is extraordinarily busy as the Head of Science and his desk

reflects his life. His computer has three screens open, his coffee cup is rarely cold and his PhD research is always present. As a self-declared tinkerer and computer nerd, the physicist has plenty of gadgets on his desk, most of which are used in teaching his Year 11 and 12 HSC Physics and International Baccalaureate Physics classes.

Mr Kennedy recently completed the first section of his PhD on Science and Maths education. Called the Continuing Decline of Enrolments in Science and Mathematics in Australian high schools, it appears in the June 2014 edition of Teaching Science. “The remaining parts of the PhD address why there has been a decline, where those students have gone and what Australia should do to address this, if anything,” he explains.

His research has attracted the attention of Australia’s Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb and his preliminary data was referenced in the Labor Government’s positional statement addressing the state of Australian science in schools. “Apparently no one else has the data except me, and Professor Chubb was keen to see the (updated) real data, so he now has that, but I’m not sure what it will be used for as yet.”

In his second year at St Andrew’s, Mr Kennedy aims to make Science fun for all students and is keen to ensure they understand the applications of Science outside the classroom.

What do you love most about your job at SACS?This place is an insane, crazy place but the kids are actually fun and no two days are the same. Teaching IB Physics and HSC Physics and also being a learning coach at the school means there is plenty to do and there’s never a dull moment. Being involved with the kids and seeing them have the “A-ha!” moments is the fun part. When they start to see the applications for things that they thought were boring and previously didn’t make sense, it is really rewarding. It’s lovely to see their eyes just light up.

What other interests do you have outside work?I’m doing a PhD in Science education part-time over six years and I’m a tinkerer and a computer nerd, so I like to programme robots and to create automated objects. Some of the automated stuff has gone into my modelling. I used to make model aeroplanes and automated those to an extent, which combines a bit of aeronautical engineering, a bit of electronics engineering, a bit of black art, and trial and error! But it worked.

Describe your work desk in three words.Chaotic, a refuge and stimulating (it’s where my innovative ideas come from).

What three items are always on your desk?Coffee, my computer with three screens (because I work on so many tasks simultaneously), and my Tenor recorder, which is one of my de-stressors (when I get around to playing it).

ON THE DESK OF … We speak with the Head of Science Mr John Kennedy about how he uses his work space.

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01 My “needs to be done” pile. It includes student work and lesson notes and on top is an order for new Science equipment.

02Data-logger. We can now do our Science using these hand-held computers, which can measure 18-20 different sensors. This one is an ultrasonic motion sensor, which measures distance, velocity and acceleration using ultrasound. There are eight full class sets of data-loggers for the Years 10-12 Science classes.

03 Graphical calculator. It can connect to the data-logger to display its data and can be used in experiments.

WORDS: MELANIE COLLINS PHOTOGRAPHY: JACK TOOHEY


ON THE DESK OF

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04Part of my PhD. This paper makes up ¼ of my PhD. It investigates the ‘Continuing Decline of Enrolments in Science and Mathematics in Australian high schools’ and was published in the June edition of the national education magazine Teaching Science.

05 Tenor recorder. This is one of my de-stressors. I taught myself how to play three years ago as I needed an outlet for stress. I usually play it outside but the Science staff occasionally are blessed by my music!

06My coffee supply. The picture shows that I have plenty of de-caf pods left but no caffeinated pods, which tells you how much I need my caffeine.

07 Popular Science book. How to teach physics to your dog has a great chapter I will share with my students, which will broaden their horizons.

08 Hazcards. These are used when you are doing a chemical experiment. The staff think my desk is a hazard so they put this on my desk.

09 Super-conductor. This is our department’s new toy. When we put liquid nitrogen on it, the magnet that’s on top will actually levitate or float in the air! But you have to cool it down to -197 degrees for it to work.

10 Giant copper sulphate crystal. It was an experiment gone wrong and now it’s a paperweight.

11 Remote control helicopter. This is used in classes occasionally and also for getting revenge on other staff members!

12 Electronic photo frame. I have photos of my family screening here, which is a reminder of why I come to work.

13 Humidity and climate control sensor. This is used in experiments.

14 Power cable that feeds a sub-station. It carries enough power to power 40,000 100watt lightbulbs and is used in IB and HSC Physics to teach about electricity.

15 Blue laser. We use it for various experiments. It was last used for a Year 11 Nerf gun experiment to help aim the Nerf gun to see how accurate it is. So we used it to make data analysis more interesting.

16 Educational DVDs. Stephen Hawking’s Universe (used in Years 10-12 classes) and the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (used in Years 7-12 classes).


A longside her drama and Art teaching roles, Mrs Emily Edwards is tasked with the implementation of a

new personal development programme in the Junior School. She has worked with Gawura’s Alice Peel to develop a programme, based on current research, which helps develop the three graduate attributes in students – hearts that love, minds that grow and lives that give.

This new programme, which was initially implemented through Mrs Edwards’ Drama and Art classes, began to be integrated into the classroom curriculum in Terms 3 and 4 in 2014. There are two components to the programme, one being core values and the other being strategies to help students negotiate friendships and better understand themselves and their own behaviour.

Core valuesMrs Edwards has selected a Dr Seuss statement to accompany each year’s programme (see breakout). Each reflects the stage of development of those students. For example, in Year 5, students are faced with lots of choices and are on the brink of being leaders in the school, so their Dr Seuss line is: “You have brains in your head,

you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose”.

Along with addressing some of the issues and responsibilities faced by students in each year group, the core values and skills from the Bounce Back Programme (an established wellbeing and resilience teacher resource), are taught. Values include: being honest, fair, responsible, kind, cooperative, friendly and respectful, along with accepting differences in other people and demonstrating self-respect. Students are also taught how to cope and bounce back from challenging situations.

“We have crafted a programme that draws on the best elements from the most reputable student welfare programmes, incorporating components of Bounce Back, GROWTH Coaching, Child Protection, GRIP Student Leadership, Rock and Water, Better Buddies and Buzz-off Bullies, all aligned to the curriculum outcomes and our SACS graduate attributes, to make our wellbeing programme both comprehensive and unique,” Mrs Edwards explained.

“My goal is to ensure we’re doing the absolute best for the students. I have the

pleasure of teaching all of the students for Art and Drama, so I’ve been able to use the creative avenue to launch the programme. We work on collaborative artworks, and in Drama we perform and create skits that reinforce some of the skills, strategies and positive behaviours of critical and creative thinkers.“

Much of the programme will be implemented through rich literary texts used as provocations with a wide variety of books, triggers and tools selected to match different core values for each year group.

Skills and strategies to enhance relationships and behaviour“There are a number of skills and strategies that we are teaching the students, with the aim being to help them better understand themselves, to make better choices and take steps to build good relationships and have respect for others in everything they do,” Mrs Edwards explained. “Along with the activities is the related language and terms used to deal with different situations. It is my aim that as a school we embed this restorative, respectful, and, above all, loving language, along with actions, so the students can call on them when needed.”

Love in action in the Junior School

While the care and wellbeing of students is a fundamental element of life in St Andrew’s Junior School, it is the loving actions taken by students and staff that are really encouraged and celebrated. But how does a school equip students to act in a loving, unselfish way? We spoke to Junior School Pastoral Care Coordinator Emily Edwards about the school’s new wellbeing programme.

Junior School Pastoral Care Coordinator Emily Edwards works on the school’s new student wellbeing programme.



Some of the strategies include:Stop, Think and Go – You Stop, you Think about it – what options are there, and what’s the best possible solution based on the most loving response – and then you Go with that.

Paddle-pop strategy – This is used after an incident between two or more people where blame is involved. The students involved are asked how much responsibility they will take for what happened and how many paddle-pop sticks out of 10 relate to that responsibility. This helps them understand how their actions can contribute to an outcome, whether positively or negatively.

Seven-minute solutions – This gives the students an opportunity to think through a situation from beginning to end, working through it verbally, unpacking it and setting restorative goals .

Bin-It – The emotional action taken by a student after they’ve thought through an incident, taken on board any truths and thrown away/ trashed what was irrelevant or unfounded.

Scales – Used with students to describe the effort they are making out of 10 and to help them set realistic goals about how they can improve in their work or attitude.

Disciplinary processPoor behaviour by a student in the Junior School can lead to “Reflection and Restoration time” (or R & R), with the intention of giving the student time to examine their choices and come up with solutions (with Mrs Edwards) that might change their behaviour next time.

“We ask the student to talk through everything that’s happened and apply the different strategies to try and address some of what’s been going on,” Mrs Edwards explained. “It’s all designed to help them reflect on what’s happened and modify any maladaptive behaviour. We equip them with those skills and strategies to better understand themselves and their behaviour so that they will learn to make better choices in the future. Some students need specific guidance in the best ways to deal with the intricacies of social interaction.”

Two of the lead characters in the 2014 Junior School musical Daniel – A Hard Act to Swallow talk about their experiences at SACS.

What music involvement do you have at school?Jessica Luff: I started last year (Year 5) at SACS. I am in orchestra and choir and I play percussion and piano.

Marcus Vrondas: I’ve been here for four years and I learn acoustic guitar and have private singing lessons at school and two years ago, I was in the school musical.

Have you been involved in a school musical before?JL: We did a musical at our old school but it wasn’t really professional, but this is my first SACS one.

MV: Yes, two years ago. I really enjoyed it and it made me want to do more.

What do you think of this musical and your role?JL: I really do like my role. I’m the narrator, and with my friend Angie, we narrate the whole play but it’s really fun because it’s really goofy and silly and it’s not like a normal play; it’s really fun.

MV: There’s singing, acting and a bit of dancing. I am King Darius and he is the

King, and in the play, he is like Elvis – he’s a bad boy but he’s really cool. I do acting, singing and dancing in the role. There’s one song I really like – it’s me and Daniel (Luca Crothers in Year 5) – and we sing it together. I really love the role and the musical.

What are the things you most enjoy about SACS?JL: There’s a lot more musical involvement here, you make more friends, and there’s a lot more to do, a lot more opportunities than at my old school. I like doing lots of different things. Music is up high on my list of things I love to do here.

MV: Friends are very easy to make; in my old school there was a lot of bullying and there’s not much of that here. There’s a lot more space here too. Music is much bigger here. I really want to be an actor/singer/dancer.

Every student from Kindergarten through to Year 6 is involved in the Junior School musical. This year’s performances take place on 17-18 October.

Q&A with Marcus Vrondas (Year 5) and Jessica Luff (Year 6)

Year statements from Dr Seuss: Kindergarten: “A person’s a person, no matter how small …”

Year 1: “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no-one alive who is youer than you!”

Year 2: “UNLESS someone who cares a whole awful lot, NOTHING is going to get better. It’s NOT!”

Year 3: “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.”

Year 4: “If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, JUST GO RIGHT ALONG and you’ll start happening too.”

Year 5: “You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”

Year 6: “You’re off to great places, today is your day, your mountain is waiting so get on your way.”


I n 2013, gawura implemented the Dolphin Project to teach and promote positive attitudes and behaviours in

students. In Term 2 this year, the school also implemented the BOUNCE BACK programme. Alice Peel, a much loved Gawura teacher, explains what the programmes are and how they have been streamlined into the school.

What is the Dolphin Project and BOUNCE BACK?They are positive thinking and self-esteem programmes. We try to convey to students that there are two ways to look at the same event, task or problem; like a Shark, negative and defeatist or like a Dolphin, positive and optimistic. The programme also focuses on separating feelings from actions. We are now complementing this project with the BOUNCE BACK programme, a resilience project that teaches students coping skills to handle setbacks, bullying, loss, failure and any other personal challenges. The programmes aim to encourage students to learn and grow from mishaps rather than avoid them.

How has it been implemented?Each letter of BOUNCE BACK stands for a coping skill that students can gradually learn to get them through a personal hurdle they are facing. The programme uses story books to cement messages of different themes related to resilience. During class students read books that reinforce positive attitudes and give clear illustrations of behavioural change. For example, Years 3-6 read Oh the Places You’ll Go to discuss the fact that everyone has ups and downs. Years 1 and 2 read Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Terrible Day to look at how they should always blame fairly and try and take some responsibility.

We also teach K-6 the Traffic Light analogy, encouraging them to always STOP (red) and THINK (orange) before ACTING (green), knowing they are making a good choice that will not harm themselves or anyone else. We do this to encourage greater impulse control in students, which has also been shown to influence wellbeing and academic success later in life.

Is the Dolphin Project exclusive to SACS and the Gawura programme?Yes it is. It uses the PDHPE curriculum combined with health promotion programmes that have been used with Indigenous youth in the Northern Territory. BOUNCE BACK is the world’s first positive education programme and is implemented in primary schools across Australia and internationally.

Could you give any examples of how the programmes have impacted or enhanced students’ wellbeing?These programmes give us, as teachers, wonderful opportunities to enhance student wellbeing by using a common language of resilience in both a preventative and reactive way. It unifies all of us, staff and students. We have heard students encourage others to “Think more like a Dolphin”. During basketball recently, we heard one Year 2 student encourage a friend by referring to the ‘N’ in BOUNCE: Nobody is perfect, not you and not others. We also witnessed a Year 5 student encouraging

WORDS: ROSEMARY MILLERPHOTOS: JACK TOOHEY

UNLEASHING THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

A student’s behavioural attitude is established in their Junior School years. It is here that they learn the difference between right and wrong and the skills of resilience and coping strategies. Research has found that by the time a student leaves primary school they are already an optimistic or pessimistic thinker. It requires considerable effort to challenge and alter this line of thinking later in life.

Gawura teacher Alice Peel with some of the Gawura students.


GAWURA

WORDS: LUCY CROOK

Gawura parents Roxanne Briggs and Stephen Green have two children currently at Gawura (Leita in Year 10 and Sadie in Year 5). Gawura Fundraising Manager Lucy Crook spoke with Roxanne about Leita’s journey at Gawura and how she has blossomed since arriving at the school in Year 3 in 2007.

Leita and her family had just moved from the country to Sydney when Leita commenced at Gawura in Year 3. Since then, Roxanne and her husband, Stephen, say they couldn’t be happier about the education and support Leita has and still is receiving at school.

“St Andrew’s definitely ticks all the boxes in terms of support – pretty much in all areas,” Roxanne said when questioned about the academic support and pastoral care aspects of St Andrew’s. “I’m fairly certain most kids at the school would feel that way as SACS has a reputation for looking after the kids. We certainly couldn’t ask for more support than the school is already giving Leita.”

Roxanne was very upbeat about the friendship groups Leita has established at St Andrew’s and Gawura. “Leita has a really good group of friends who kick around together all the time. She has friends from Gawura and St Andrew’s but the friends she hangs around with the most are the ones she plays sport with. We are happy that she spends most of her spare time playing sport. It’s so healthy for many reasons – it’s healthy for the mind and the body and does good things for your confidence,” she said. Leita has won best and fairest in basketball for the last four years and her soccer team won Girls Sporting Team of the Year at St Andrew’s in 2012.

Confidence and self-esteem are elements, which, in correct proportions can positively impact wellbeing. Roxanne and Stephen feel confident that Leita is in a good place in terms of wellbeing. “When we first enrolled Leit in Gawura, she was fairly shy but since being at the school, making friends, being voted Head Girl at Gawura and winning lots of sporting awards, her confidence and self-esteem have really grown – we are really proud of her,” Roxanne said. “This year she has a really good routine at school – she is either at

Study Centre or sport every night of the school week and doesn’t get home until after 7pm – it’s the norm for her now.”

When quizzed on what opportunities are offered to Leita at school and whether or not she makes the most of them, Roxanne mentioned that initially Leita was a little reluctant to take up some opportunities but these days she doesn’t say “no” to anything.

“She put her hand up to go on an outdoor education excursion this year which had her away from home for nine days. She has never been away for more than two nights before so we didn’t think she would go – but we were wrong! We were really chuffed with the feedback we got from John in the Outdoor Ed department. He told us that Leita was a pleasure to have on the excursion – she never complained and nothing was ever too much trouble for her. To be honest, I think she would have been in there helping run the excursion if she had her way! We had the same positive feedback from the Kirrikee excursion too.”

Roxanne lauded her daughter on her perseverance and making the most of school-life but also praised the school for playing a big part in providing an environment that allows students to thrive and develop confidence.

“I really think it’s the atmosphere at school, the comfortable atmosphere that the school creates and the support the teachers and staff give which instils confidence in the kids,” Roxanne said. “With opportunity comes confidence and with confidence comes opportunity – that’s what we’ve been witnessing with Leita, particularly over the last few years. We really couldn’t be happier with the school and with how Leita is going.

“We can’t thank her sponsor enough for this opportunity – there is really nothing more anyone can do for us than educate our children – we feel so lucky.”

friends who were in dispute in the playground to “Act like a traffic light, walk away from each other guys”. It is early days with the programme and BOUNCE BACK suggests it takes up to three years to see a real shift, so watch this space!

How do the students respond to the programme?The students seem to really enjoy it. There are quite a few excitable “Yeses” when it is time for discussion on the project. I think they love the group work component. There is an emphasis on music in the project too and we have already heard that Music teacher Ms Scarfo has found some catchy BOUNCE BACK tunes to share with everyone.

Do you have any general feedback about the programme?I want to add that Head of Gawura David North has been such an inspiring and supportive leader. He has complete faith in the students’ abilities and in the staff’s capacity to support their wellbeing, which makes implementing new programmes like this so much easier.

Nurturing environment allows students to thrive

Roxanne Briggs


GAWURA

The middle years of school, from Years 7 to 9, can often be the most challenging for boys and girls, with the onset of puberty and the establishment of long-term friendships having a major impact on every student. It is also the time when key traits such as self-discipline and being organised – which impact on academic success – are established.

W hile many students embrace these areas of growth, some don’t and disengagement

from school life is one of the major risks during these years.

St Andrew’s Cathedral School has recently revamped its comprehensive student wellbeing programme that aims to further address many of the concerns and issues faced by this age-group.

Head of Middle School, Mr David Smith, said while most classroom situations in Years 7 to 9 are now coeducational, the school recognises the importance of separating boys and girls for pastoral care and wellbeing development.

“Our approach to pastoral education is to have separate boys and girls groups

in the Middle School. We feel it’s really important to support them in gender groups and in developing friendships,” said Mr Smith. “We recognise that boys and girls face different issues, so we target tutorials to the age and stage of development of each gender in year groups.

“We also recognise that at this age, we need to provide boys and girls pastoral support to help them to learn together. As students progress through the Middle School, we see less need to have separate classes for boys and girls as there is no conclusive evidence of there being any academic benefits to either gender in doing so. Our focus is more about them starting to understand one another and work together, in preparation for the Senior years and life beyond school.”

Mr Smith said one factor that is often discussed with Middle School students and their parents is the need for students to meaningfully interact with the adults in their lives.

“One of the anchors kids need to have through these turbulent years is strong relationships with adults, so I often stress to parents how important it is to keep talking to your kids during these teenage years,” he said.

Girls Coordinator at the school Mrs Jess Chilton has been at the forefront of developing and implementing a restructured student wellbeing

programme in Middle School, which has been built around the SACS graduate attributes.

“The programmes are designed to address key issues relating to adolescent development, such as getting along with others, respect, self-control, resilience, compassion and gratitude. We have also developed a series of Digital Citizenship tutorials that are designed to help students develop skills for interacting with others online,” Mrs Chilton explained.

“We want students to grow in their understanding of themselves and how to relate well with others and for them to learn some key skills that will enable them to cope with the physical and emotional changes they are facing in adolescence.”

Mrs Chilton has also organised targeted activities and programmes specifically addressing issues pertinent for teenage girls.

“Middle School girls need help navigating issues such as friendship, body image and self-worth,” she said. “We have found that initiating girls-only activities, such as a girls’ only recreation space and topical seminars, have been enthusiastically embraced by the Middle School girls at SACS. One particular programme run recently by Enlighten Education, called the Butterfly Effect – an all-day programme that addresses friendship, body image, personal safety and girl power – has received really positive feedback from the girls.”

Rules of Engagement

WORDS: MELANIE COLLINS

Middle School programmes steer students through turbulent waters


"One of the anchors kids need through these turbulent years is strong relationships with adults."


RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Girls Coordinator Mrs Jess Chilton, right, with external consultant Dr Patricia Weerakoon, who recently delivered a talk on sex and sexuality to Year 9 students.

Interview with Middle School student Ava Stael on the Butterfly Effect programme

Last year the Butterfly Effect programme was just one lesson, but this year, it was a day-long series of talks. What issues impacted you the most? AS: She talked about personal safety on public transport and gave us some examples of what to do. So now whenever I go out in public, I’m aware of what’s going on around me and I go into (what she called) ‘Amazon’ mode, so that’s helped me a lot. She also talked about body image and showed us some photos of models and how a lot of photos aren’t real but have been Photoshopped. They were the two things that stood out for me.

Overall, what did you learn about friendships from the programme? AS: It was great having a whole-day programme as it made us all come together as Middle School girls and have some fun. I think it made us realise that we should all be one and should all be friends and not talk about each other because this is Middle School – it’s not going to last forever so we should just make the most of it – supporting and caring for each other.

S t andrew’s is passionate about improving the mental wellbeing of all of its pupils. The Middle School

has approached this in tutorial groups with various teambuilding and certain structured programmes to help students grasp life to its fullest extent. Head of Middle School Mr Smith recognises the importance of student wellbeing, stating, “[the] wellbeing of the mind links very closely to academic success.”

One of the most successful programmes in Middle School is ‘The Rite Journey’ programme. It aims to help Year 9 students who are moving up into Senior School to grow in maturity. We spoke to one of the Year 9 tutors who ran this program, Mr Hasler, and he seemed very confident that he had seen great results in his tutor group: “I think my tutor group is definitely ready for the step up into Senior school, they’ve really shown that they have the maturity needed for Senior College life.”

We also interviewed a few students who had taken part in the programme and were eager to share their experience. Nina Perry said that tutor groups were really just a safe environment where she could open up without fear of being judged.

Year 8 also has a structured programme that addresses the attributes of respect, self-control and leadership.

Year 7 students have a range of short programmes implemented throughout the year, ranging from engaging the students in awareness activities to teambuilding programmes and other mental development talks. Jessica Jenner said she loved tutor group in Year 7 because it was a safe space where everyone was supportive and everyone could open up. Noah Oshiro also said he and his peers have definitely grown in maturity and have learned how to use technology more appropriately.

Though school may be hard, with the help of your peers and tutors, who you can look up to, it can make school a fun and safe place to be. The Head of Middle School, Mr Smith, said: “It’s fantastic to see the students become independent and to grow wings and learn to fly.”

It was truly inspiring to hear how the students had taken advantage of the programmes set out for them by the school and put them to use in not only the school environment but in their day-to-day life as well.

NOTE: Hamish and Sean wrote this article while doing work experience with the SACS Marketing and Communications team. Great job boys!

Learning through experienceWORDS: STUDENTS HAMISH WADDELL AND SEAN BRADY (YEAR 11)


S t andrew’s has always had as its focus the overall wellbeing of its students – seeking to create an environment

that encourages and equips every single student to find solutions to the issues and challenges they face on a daily or weekly basis. Mrs Stone said the current Senior College programme has introduced some unique initiatives that seek to address many of the challenges faced by teenagers today.

“These programmes are really interesting and help the students discover themselves and how they can best deal with a range of issues, from relationships through to study commitments and career choices,” Mrs Stone said.

“The role of the Senior College is to prepare every student for the next step in their life. We want to ensure that we’re looking holistically at a student’s life – so they can understand themselves, how they work and what tools they might need in the future.”

Year 10 seminarsMrs Stone said the groundwork for preparing students to become healthy, productive adults begins in Year 10 at Senior College, with the introduction of a cross-section of programmes and seminars aimed at helping students to engage with the school, their peers and their school work and to gain an understanding of the adolescent mind and experience.

“With the demise of the School Certificate in Year 10, there was a bit of a void, which

led to some disengagement by students,” Mrs Stone explained. “We really sought to change this and so we developed the SACS Year 10 signature experience that says we really value Year 10 and think it’s an important year academically for personal growth and character development. We have created engaging programmes that will help them to think about their future as emerging adults.

“We introduced the Big Day In and the Big Day Out and included student voice, choice and challenge into the programmes offered.”

Those programmes include:

Outdoor Education camps – which allow far greater choice and challenge;

A careers testing and personality profiling programme – that gives students more information about themselves and looks at where their interests, strengths and gifts might lie;

A Back Off seminar – about protecting yourself physically and socially;

A Sex Smart seminar – discussing sexual activity in relationships;

The Resilience Donut programme – to develop a language for discussing resilience; and

The Black Dog programme – A unique mental health seminar and tutorial programme exclusively developed in partnership with the Black Dog Institute.

After a trial year of the Black Dog programme in 2013, Mrs Stone said an evaluation by students, parents and staff found the eight-session programme overwhelmingly positive, so the school extended it to 10 sessions in 2014 and added in follow-up tutorial sessions, where the students can provide feedback on the session and talk through some of the issues with one another.

“I initially approached Black Dog about implementing a programme at SACS because I thought we needed to address the unrealistic expectations often held by teenagers that they should be happy all the time,” Mrs Stone explained.

“We wanted to equip our students to understand the nature of happiness and to think realistically about their lives. The premise is that potentially unhappy events can happen to all of us but how we position ourselves in relation to those events is really important.

“While many schools are implementing ‘positive psychology’ programmes, the programme developed in partnership with the Black Dog Institute goes one step further in acknowledging, understanding and dealing with the huge range of emotions and feelings we encounter. The programme is based on the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, as revealed in the book The Happiness Trap, by Dr Russ Harris.

Stepping out

WORDS: MELANIE COLLINS

PHOTOGRAPHY: JACK TOOHEY

While many high schools offer some kind of wellbeing and resilience programme for its students, none do it as comprehensively as St Andrew’s Cathedral School. We spoke with the Head of Senior College Mrs Grace Stone about the reasons behind the variety of personal development seminars delivered to students in Years 10-12.

How Senior College students are equipped for life after school

18 INSPIRED | THE STUDENT WELLBEING EDITION

“The students learn that life is full of troughs and rises, and sometimes it is appropriate to feel sad and depressed, to feel grief, shame or disappointment – these are all emotions that we need to own. But what’s important is knowing how to ride those waves successfully and understanding what tools can help them on their journey.”

While the Black Dog programme is currently being run for all Year 10 students, Mrs Stone said they are looking at doing some follow-up sessions in Years 11 and 12, as the Year 10 group moves through Senior College.

Year 11 seminarsIn Year 11, the student wellbeing programme switches focus slightly, with the students finding out more about themselves as learners and what factors affect their motivation and engagement as students (and workers).

The school works with Dr Andrew Martin from the University of Sydney, who is an expert in this area. He has defined 11 factors that affect our motivation and engagement – six positive attributes and

five that he terms guzzlers or mufflers, which muffle or pull us away from (guzzle) our motivation and engagement.

After completing a detailed online questionnaire assessment, Year 11 students have their results collated and receive a report about their strengths and weaknesses.

“In Year 11, the students look at their motivation and what factors affect their motivation and engagement,” Mrs Stone explained. “We spend the first two terms of Year 11 working through each of those factors and looking at how we can enhance the positive elements or boosters and how we can identify any mufflers or guzzlers, and how to minimise those.

“The students learn a lot about themselves and what strategies they can use to overcome weaknesses, so by the start of Year 12, they know themselves well and are really well positioned to know how to deal with stressful situations and anxiety.”

Year 12 seminarsThe school’s student wellbeing focus in Year 12 includes the development of effective study skills, leadership in the school and careers seminars to help students start thinking about their life after school.

A programme on financial literacy has been introduced this year, which Mrs Stone said was motivated by her experience.

“I introduced it because a young family friend had a $12,000 credit card debt (plus 22 per cent interest) at 21 and it took her three full years of working to pay it off.

I think it’s important that teenagers have some basic understanding of the financial world they are entering as adults and the responsibilities they will have,” she said.

Of the five tutorials held weekly, two have an academic focus, with study skills tips provided and tutors available to help students with their work.

“A lot of Year 12 is flexible in nature, with plenty of time spent meeting with their tutor and doing work, and some tutorial time is allocated to careers, with guest speakers coming in, and we also hold a regular relaxation and mindfulness session just for Year 12 students,” Mrs Stone said.

Overlaid on all of the programmes offered in Senior College is the House system, with the care for students initiated in the eight Houses. All of the programmes are run in the student’s House tutorial groups. In terms two and three, each tutor group meets with Dr Collier to discuss their progress. Dr Collier monitors closely the progression of each student in Year 12 and addresses the cohort regularly at Year meetings.

A large part of the House system is outwardly focused, with students expected to participate in charity work, not simply doing fundraising but also being actively involved in service.

“We acknowledge that with privilege comes responsibility to look after those less fortunate,” Mrs Stone said. “We want our students to be aware of the world in which they live, to have grateful hearts and to be looking up and out – which helps to build a balanced attitude and positive mental health.”

Year 11-12 motivation and engagement workshops Positive attributes studied (boosters): self-belief, planning, persistence, valuing school, learning focus, task management

Negative attributes studied (mufflers and guzzlers): fear of failure, low control, anxiety, disengagement, self-sabotage

Note: This programme is based on Carol Dweck’s book Mindset

One of the Year 10 seminars for girls.

The 2015 Senior Leadership team.


STEPPING OUT

Music was the foundation upon which St Andrew’s was built, with education for the Cathedral’s young choristers being the school’s initial focus in 1885. It has grown and expanded in the past 129 years but is still a core activity in the school, with more than 20 ensembles inviting participation from every student in the school.

Music was the foundation upon which St Andrew’s was built, with education for the Cathedral’s

young choristers being the school’s initial focus in 1885. It has grown and expanded in the past 129 years but is still a core activity in the school, with more than 20 ensembles inviting participation from every student in the school.

While many schools have a music department, few of those are driven so strongly by the interests and talents of the students, as is the case at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

Head of Music Mr Ralph Wilcock explains: “The overall aim of the Music department is to create an educational environment in which musicians can thrive at all levels. We ensure we provide something that will challenge every student – and that it’s something they’re going to love,” he said.

“My philosophy is, if you let music be the focus, it’s inspirational. You just have to pick the right music for the right kids and then you can sit back and enjoy the experience with them. I also want every

student in the school to have some involvement in music before they leave.”

Besides Showcase, the two major music events on the school calendar are the whole of school musical and the international Music tour, which take place on alternate years. Both events require 12 months of planning, and the choice of musical and the tour music arrangements are selected based on the strengths of the students involved. Mr Wilcock said the recent Music tour to the USA was a classic example of the music evolving to match the skills and strengths of the students.

USA Music Tour“Over the past few years, tours have been an open invitation and once students have confirmed their participation, we can decide what music arrangements need to be done, so it’s a very inclusive way to run a tour group, but there’s also a lot of work involved in getting special music arrangements done,” Mr Wilcock explained. “On this tour, we had 35 students - with a reasonable string balance, three saxophones, one trumpet, one trombone, three flutes, no bass

instruments, and nine students who didn’t play an instrument. Because we didn’t have a huge orchestra or band, they all had to sing.

“There were 21 pieces in the tour repertoire and the students memorised it all – the words, the music and their own parts. There were 18 concerts performed in 18 days across the US and twice as many choral performances as instrumental concerts, but it all worked out and was very successful.

“The one piece we always started with was I Am Australian. For this, I asked Harry Hetherington-Welch and Lachlan Renwick whether they’d be interested in learning the didgeridoo and they happened to be perfect for it and picked it up very quickly. By the end, they were circular breathing, doing animal sounds and everything, so that was something special. In the piece, we started with 30 seconds of piano and didgeridoo, then brought in the flutes, cello solo and other instruments and then after two minutes, we had 10-year-old chorister Joshua Prestwich sing ‘I came from the Dreamtime … I am Australian’.


MUSIC AT THE HEART OF SCHOOL WITH HEART

The 2014 USA Music Tour Group before their departure and (below) at one of their US performances.

2014 Showcase at Sydney Town Hall.


MUSIC AT THE HEART

What music and other cocurricular activities are you involved in at SACS? I am involved in six different ensembles at school, playing trombone, singing and even beat boxing sometimes. I generally practise about five hours a week for my main instrument, trombone. I also do soccer as a sport.

What do you love about being involved in music at SACS? To be honest, I love everything about being involved in music. All the music teachers are wonderful people who are encouraging and talented, and they have taught me a lot. They are all friendly and give lots of advice on how to improve. It makes the music department a very happy place. Practising is fun because you have to push yourself to do your best but the results you get from doing this are worth it. I love performing and just generally sharing music with people, and it's what I hope to do in the future. Overseas tours with music have been the most amazing experiences for me and helped me discover my passion for music. Also, I have gained many good friendships through music, across all year groups and with people outside of school.

You went on the recent music tour to the US. Can you tell us what your favourite memories are of the trip?Music tours are such amazing experiences that are really once in a

lifetime opportunities (or twice if you are lucky like me). I enjoyed every moment of the music tour to the US but my favourite memory is when we performed at the JFK memorial library because it is the most amazing space I have ever performed in and during the performance I felt a strong connection to all the people who were there with me.

How do you manage to fit in homework with all your music commitments? Music is usually a pretty good way to get me motivated to do my studies. If I have band in the afternoon, I know that when I get home I need to do my homework pretty much straight away, otherwise I will be tired and get lazy. Also, if I have something that I want to achieve in music, for example a new piece, I say that I have to do my homework before I can start this piece, which makes me motivated to finish my homework. Sometimes it's a bit distracting and I find myself playing an instrument rather than doing homework, but most of the time it's for the better.

Do your academic teachers support your music commitments at school?A lot of the teachers know about my musical commitments and they are all extremely supportive. As long as I catch up on the work that I missed in the lesson they are considerate.

Hooked on music for life!

Former student Lizzie Garrett (2008 graduate) shares her experiences and

music involvement at SACS and the impact it has had on her professional performing arts career.

The decision to move schools halfway through my high school education was heavily affected by the variety and wealth of experiences offered by the Performing Arts programmes at SACS.

From my first interactions at Summer Music Camp, I was hooked! Preparing for a European tour while in development for the school production (The Pirates of Penzance), I was afforded every opportunity to immerse myself fully in the culture, while working closely with the Head of Music, the Head of Drama, and even the Head of School. Holidays spent touring the world with music, weekends exploring characters for plays and musicals, and a school schedule that generally lasted from 7am-7pm, soon became a way of life!

The friendships that I developed throughout my time at SACS were heavily influenced by my cocurricular participation in Drama and Music.

Every moment of my time at St Andrew’s was so wonderfully bolstered by my participation in these programmes. It was so easy to motivate myself through a day of study knowing that I had a rehearsal to look forward to at 3.30pm. Every subject I undertook allowed me opportunities to channel my love of the Arts, from English essays to passionate public speaking, even extending to my exploration of other co-curricular activities such as Mock Trial!

There are few words to describe my gratitude to the performing arts departments for their impact on my life as it is now, and the lasting legacy of the gifts I honed in my time at St Andrew’s are a joy to share with others.

* While at St Andrew’s, Lizzie played lead roles in Guys and Dolls, Les Miserables and Pirates of Penzance. After graduating, Lizzie gained an Arts degree at the University of Sydney, Diplomas in Musical Theatre from Brent Street Studios in Sydney and Cap21 in New York and has been awarded her AMusA (Classical Voice) and a Certificate of Voice from the AMEB. She has performed in many local and international productions.

Music is central to my life at SACSQ&A with Year 10 student Persia Littlewood

Then the drums started and the whole choir joined in, so it was a spectacular start to the concert and the audiences were captivated.”

Academic results risingThe unique aspect of Music is that it has two sides – one being academic and the other being about performance and composition opportunities. At St Andrew’s, the academic results at HSC and International Baccalaureate level have improved dramatically in recent years. This has been a direct result of the Music department’s deliberate focus on teaching musical skills and theory in rehearsals.

“We now try and view every rehearsal as a teaching opportunity, so what they learn in the classroom is reinforced in rehearsals or sometimes, the other way around,” Mr Wilcock explained.

“Our academic results have gone through the roof, so we’re on the right track with having a more academic approach to rehearsals. Our Music 2 and Music Extension results last year were the best we’ve had at the school since 2006.”

Mr Wilcock firmly believes involvement in Music at any level benefits students enormously and can aid understanding in other subjects.

“You only have to look at the honours list of the school to see that many of them are musicians, so while some people think Music takes away from a student’s academic focus, the reverse is true. It actually promotes higher organisational skills, better language and social skills, improved mathematical skills and socially, students of music are less violent, more caring and more sensitive,” he said.


It was celebrated architect Frank Gehry who articulated it best: “Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” Buildings are not lifeless structures, a fleeting means of shelter, but ever-changing, mouldable spaces, ready to be adapted by those who move through them. The most brilliant of them achieve a sense of duality, uniting the spirit of the context in which they were built with possibilities for the future.

S t andrew’s cathedral School is inextricably connected to the Cathedral itself. Whether members

of the school community profess a faith or not, they will have had some experience within it – a cocurricular performance, a public speech or a weekly assembly. There is a sense of grandeur about the giant structure, replete with stained glass windows – but also a certain accessibility. As a public building, St Andrew’s Cathedral is open to all, be it tourists armed with maps, wandering through from Sydney Square, filled with a million different worldviews, or parishioners attending in earnest each week who love their church community and find it an essential ritual to feed their soul.

St Andrew’s is Australia’s oldest Cathedral, designed by Edmund Thomas Blacket, the city’s first official colonial architect. Consecrated in 1868, it retained much

of the character of the English expatriate community it served, designed in a Gothic Revival style that mimicked those back home. As a tight-knit group of choristers began to sing weekly at its services, there grew a need to find a means of education for them that would accommodate their schedules. A choir school was born, taking refuge in small schoolrooms around the city. As Canon M.C. Newth commented in Serving a Great Cause (a history of the school), “no other activity in which a boy regularly takes part requires such concentration, attention to detail, and above all, sense of awareness as the daily performance of complex music.”

For the current school chaplain, Rev Craig Foster, St Andrew’s Cathedral is a building he never tires of. It’s a little less stiff than in those early days – he’s brought his pet bunny rabbit in to illustrate a story told from the front and even organised

students to ride scooters through the front doors for a Junior School service. A Gawura student has rapped in there, with the Junior School orchestra playing behind. Staff have been farewelled. Year 12s graduate to a torrent of applause and tears inside the building each year. It has come to represent a place of inclusivity, community, togetherness; a distinctive identity for the school.

“One of my most memorable impressions is walking up the steps from Kent Street into Sydney Square,” said Rev Foster. “You have the dramatic image of the old sandstone Cathedral with the glistening blue city skyscrapers in the background. I love that view of the old and new right beside each other in the middle of the city.”

To Rev Foster, the Cathedral is a second home, a place he spends six days in every week. “I do love the place,” he said. “I have met so many special people there, heard so many great sermons from the Dean and experienced so many joyous and also sad times … I think it can feel very formal compared to most churches, but they are making the chairs more cozy and relaxed all the time, which I find nice. I also love having all the school kids in there, the place comes alive and is a real buzz full of energy. Empty Cathedrals don’t move me that much, Cathedrals full of people do.”

When buildings

WORDS: LAURA BANNISTER

breathe“I love that view of the old and new right beside each other in the middle of the city.”

School assembly in St Andrew’s Cathedral. Photo by Gabe Bates (Year 9).

WHEN BUILDINGS BREATHE

St Andrew’s students are encouraged to investigate the Christian faith and the relevance of Jesus Christ in today’s world. The chaplaincy team provides programmes, camps and guidance to support and encourage any students seeking to learn from the Bible and grow in their Christian faith and spiritual wellbeing.

P sychologists are increasingly recognising the importance of a person’s spiritual wellbeing.

Leading Australian psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, when speaking at SACS on building resilience, said that “kids with a sense of connectedness that transcends the material world, do better.” (2010)

At St Andrew’s we are obviously very concerned about the health of the whole person; our school’s core values state: “we strive to grow whole people (spiritually, physically, in creative expression and in wisdom).”

Spiritual wellbeing is offered today in many ways by our society. If we were to go for a wander around the 200-plus stalls at the Mind Body Spirit festival, spiritual health is offered through chanting, meditating, visualising, chakras, clairvoyancy, charms, sacred music, various incenses, spiritual dancing, ear candling, iridology and even “Pure Magic” water distillers and holistic dentistry.

When we turn to the Bible, it is not surprising that it has a lot to say on the topic of spiritual wellbeing. Its focus is not so much on what we do but in who we worship. Consider what King David has to say about spiritual wellbeing:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3)

We notice in the Psalms that it is The Lord who is the one who gives rest, who quietens and restores the soul. It is not a rest that is totally self-absorbed but one that leads to a transformed life of righteous living. As we study the Psalms of David in the Bible we are given a glimpse into the inner soul of an Israelite King who knew his God very well and knew his own soul very well. His meditation is filled with reflections upon the greatness and glories of his God. It is a joyful worship as he describes the Word of God as being sweeter than honey to his soul.

As a Christian school we recognise the importance of spiritual wellbeing and want to give our students opportunities to “delight in The Lord”. Opportunities to do this at SACS range from the more formal (chapels) to the less formal (voluntary lunch-time Crusader groups and Christian camps). Students would say that it is our annual Blue Mountains’ Christian camps where they best get to experience God, away from the stresses of school life. However, the more formal chapel services

also provide an important opportunity for our students to be still, to sing, to pray and deeply reflect upon God’s word.

Currently at St Andrew’s, we have 12 voluntary lunch-time Crusader groups across Years 7-12 and two groups in the Junior School and Gawura. These are run by an amazing group of staff and student Cru leaders. These groups revolve around four key ingredients: food, fun, Bible and prayer. It is a time where any student is welcome and our hope is that all who attend will be spiritually encouraged and refreshed in the midst of a busy day at school.

In Psalm 23, King David spoke of the Good Shepherd. Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd – the spiritual guide who cares for his sheep (his disciples or followers) and even lays down his life for his sheep. I would like to finish with some of the most amazing promises of spiritual rest and peace in the Bible. They come from Jesus and have often been a great blessing to my soul and I pray they may be to yours as well:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

WHEN WELLBEING EXTENDS TO FAITHWORDS: CHAPLAIN CRAIG FOSTER

Craig Foster

Benefits of Cru meetingsThe CRU programme at St Andrew’s has been really encouraging because it has given me an opportunity to meet the Christians in my year and have conversations about big issues with them in a safe environment. Cru also has great leaders and offers a more mature Christian viewpoint. It provides a different perspective on aspects of the Bible which is really helpful. Having more mature Christian students and teachers in the group also allows me to get advice as I struggle in my Christian life, as all Christians do. The Cru programme has been a big help in encouraging me through my faith.

Calum (Year 12)

Reflections on Edge camp at WinmaleeEdge Camp 2014 was my first Edge (for Years 10-12 students) after three years of Ledge (Years 7 to 9 students) and I expected the same things, just with older students. What I got, however, was something much, much better. We started on the Friday night with a campfire and marshmallows, which was when we met Simon Cowell (who was the speaker for the weekend camp). After a brief talk about Galatians, we had free time to chill out, join in some singing, play soccer or just keep eating marshmallows.

Overall, Edge Camp was amazing, with really great Bible talks that deepened my understanding of Galatians. The discussions

also opened my mind much more to how little things impact others and how I can help others. It was also lots of fun spending time with mates and making new ones. I cannot recommend it enough.

Blair (Year 10)


Through fundraising and volunteering in the Rough Edges Café in Darlinghurst, students of Westminster and York Houses gain an up-close experience of supporting the most vulnerable people in our local community. We found out more about the programme and spoke with some current and former students about how their experiences serving the homeless at Rough Edges has impacted them.

Most schools across Australia are involved in some kind of charitable programme that aims to teach

students the value of thinking of those less fortunate than themselves and helping them out in some way.

Some of the common phrases parents may use to teach children this idea of acting selflessly and being a good citizen have their origins in the Bible, starting with “it is better to give than to receive”. Others include “be a Good Samaritan”, “love thy neighbour”, “it is a labour of love”, “Blessed are the peacemakers”, “Charity begins at home” and perhaps the warning: “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”.

Scientific research has actually shown that it really is better to give than receive, mostly because the giver usually experiences joy and receives a boost to their positive emotions and psychological wellbeing. This is undeniably true for many of the students involved in the York and Westminster House charity, Rough Edges café, in King’s Cross.

The café is a safe haven for homeless people, providing food, shelter and recreation/social interaction for a few hours every evening. Run as an outreach

programme by St John’s Anglican Church in Darlinghurst, the aim of the café is to “offer hospitality, assistance and education in order to forge community so that the marginalised people of Kings Cross can be blessed and be a blessing to others.”

To support Rough Edges, York and Westminster hold their annual Big City Bake-off cupcake competition in June as their major fundraiser. They have also set up links with Rough Edges to provide a number of volunteers from Senior College to staff the café one evening a week in school terms.

To get involved, students undertake a comprehensive training programme run by Rough Edges staff that provides students with a hands-on experience and explores the social justice issues faced in the Darlinghurst area.

Head of Westminster House Tracey Ireland said the well-organised programme exposes the students to people and experiences that open their eyes to a world they rarely see.

“Students are given plenty of support and training before they start volunteering and they hear the stories from the homeless

Smoothing out the Rough EdgesWORDS: MELANIE COLLINS

The annual Big City Bake-off House competition raises funds for Rough Edges cafe. Emily Savage (Year 12) serves up a meal at Rough Edges cafe.


people themselves right from the beginning,” Mrs Ireland said. “Each year we train a new group of students and they are then able to volunteer in the cafe a couple of nights a term, depending on their other commitments.

“We go to the café each time with between four and six students and a staff member. The students serve food from Oz Harvest to the homeless patrons and the students are also encouraged to chat to the patrons in the two to three hours they are there.

“There are a lot of patrons who have mental illness, some who are drug-affected and agitated, so it can be quite confronting. But it’s an incredible opportunity for the kids to appreciate what they have in their own lives and gain an insight into the lives of less advantaged people.”

Four Senior College students – Jake Cowie (Year 12), Lauren Mathen (Year 12), Emily Savage (Year 12) and Kay Savage (Year 11) – who currently volunteer at Rough Edges café, said the experience can be intimidating, but also immensely rewarding.

“Volunteering was initially confronting,” says Lauren. “The first couple of times we were more comfortable just serving food. But now, we go and talk to patrons and play the odd game of Scrabble with them.

“It’s good to move out of your comfort zone and do something different and it’s definitely worthwhile. It’s made me appreciate my family and little things like going to school and being able to go home every day. ”

Jake, who lives in Darlinghurst and often sees the café’s patrons in his neighbourhood, added: “We do have to be careful with how we speak to them. You’re not allowed to ask things like ‘where are you from?’ or ‘do you live around here?’ because

some questions might be offensive to them or upset them.

“I actually never serve food. I just walk around, go downstairs and watch the footy [on TV] with them, eat a meal with them or play a game – I just get along with people and it’s easy to get them talking. You just sit there, get them a coffee and listen to their stories.”

Kay said her experiences at the café have given her the confidence to speak with homeless people.

“I used to always feel awkward walking past homeless people, but after Rough Edges, I understand their situation better – that they are just the same as me but homeless, so it’s easier to interact with them now,” she said.

Emily said volunteering at Rough Edges has been personally rewarding but is perhaps not for everyone.

“I feel like it would be more confronting for some people and perhaps be too much to handle, but once you have the skills and experience behind you, it can be really rewarding,” she said.

The Chair of St John’s Community Services, Penny Barletta, said the student volunteers are greatly valued by the Rough Edges staff and patrons.

“There have been nights when having the St Andrew’s students has made the difference between us opening or closing Rough Edges, and even when students are mostly serving food and drinks, this allows our other volunteers to talk to people and help them with phone calls for emergency accommodation or other services,” she said.

“Most of all, people in the Rough Edges community love the opportunity to talk with young people and share their wisdom or just beat them at a game of Scrabble!”

Former SACS students Zoe Powell (2013) and Max Barber-Cato (2012) reflect on their experiences volunteering at Rough Edges while at school.

Zoe“Being able to help out those in need is an unexplainable experience. Every time at Rough Edges was different but always remained fun. It really did open up my way of thinking and changed the way I looked at people who were less fortunate, enabling me to be more sympathetic. It made me realise there is more to their stories than what we initially perceive.”

Max“Rough Edges was a chance to make a difference in a small way to the lives of people who had suffered so much. It affirmed my belief that you can never judge a person from the outside. Patrons are often dismissed as unintelligent and lazy, having only themselves to blame for their situation, when the opposite is usually true.”

“My experiences helped shape me as a person and inspired me to continue in my efforts to serve the community and make a difference in the lives of as many disadvantaged persons as possible.”

Jake Cowie (Year 12), Lauren Mathen (Year 12), Emily Savage (Year 12) and Kay Savage (Year 11) regularly serve at Rough Edges cafe.

Rough Edges cafe in Darlinghurst.


It’s the perennial question for parents of school-aged children: how can I ensure my child eats well at school? According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare paper ‘A Picture of Australia’s Children, 2012’, the early years of a child’s life “provide the foundation for future heath, development and wellbeing”.

W hile families can go through periods of transitory or long-term instability (both

emotionally and financially), schools can function as a source of consistency, particularly in terms of diet. From the experience of Mrs Judy Karikios, the manager of St Andrew’s school canteen, up to 70 per cent of students get their daily nutritional needs from their canteen.

For over a decade, Mrs Karikios has been serving healthy, balanced meals in the canteens of independent schools – both at St Andrew’s and International Grammar School in Ultimo. The former café owner, current caterer and soon-to-be holder of a Diploma in Nutrition and Weight Loss Consulting has forged a career that

marries nutrition with accessibility. She’s fine-tuned exactly what students need to make sure they last through the school day, optimising their minds for long periods of learning. There are no sports drinks (“sugar-laden pretend juice”) or “flavoured water” in her store – instead she features small bottles of flavoured milks to minimise sugar hits, “real juice” from Nudie and bottled water in two sizes.

“School canteens are changing with society’s expectations, especially in the private sector,” Jude says. “The key to success in any food business is to keep it simple, fresh and interesting. Kids have remarkable tastes and although most ‘would die for a pie’ as one Junior School student [told me], they are just as happy with a chicken salad wrap.”

One prominent factor in ensuring students eat well is tailoring canteen services to their age – making the experience of purchasing food as convenient as possible. Available to all students, the online system means families can make orders from home and skip the in-person queue.

“The ‘save money and take it with you’ [concept] was set up for Senior College students, who are allowed to use the city as their lunch room,” Jude explains. “The city can be very expensive, so we developed a menu that is designed to pick up on your way out the door. The students can still eat

in the local city environment but just not spend the money!” Counter credit accounts and multiple canteen locations (in both St Andrew’s House and the Bishop Barry Centre) ensure geographic convenience, while a restriction upon Junior students – who must use the online system or traditional lunch bag orders – lets parents keep tabs on their child to guarantee they’re making the right choice. Supporting that is the recently introduced ‘Crunch and Sip’ programme within the Junior School, where students break at 10am for fresh vegetables, fruit, small amounts of dried fruit and plain water.

In 2010, the NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey conducted research across a student sample of 8000, aged from Kindergarten to Year 12. It found that nearly a quarter of students involved were overweight or obese, while many consumed ‘extra’ high-kilojoule junk foods, which are low in nutritional value. A sense of care and responsibility is important in canteens, a genuine desire to enhance students’ wellbeing. It’s an approach that values the customer first and puts the business second.

“In my experience, the larger catering companies have a formula in place that is designed to concentrate on the bottom line, rather than the food or service,” explains the SACS canteen manager and mother. “There is little scope to chase current trends or seasonal produce.”

What sells at SACS?We put Mrs Judy Karikios to the test to find out what the best sellers are in the St Andrew’s canteen.

“Our best seller is the pasta bolognaise,” Mrs Karikios explains, “closely followed by the chicken teriyaki and rice bowl … we change the salads depending on seasonal produce and the toastie can be complex, or as simple as ham and cheese.”

Tips for a balanced diet:“Make sure you have plenty of protein but don’t forget the carbs as they are essential for energy. Food does not have to be cooked to taste good – kids love

celery, carrots and cucumber. For the parent I go by the old adage: “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Finish before 6.30pm.”

Does the SACS canteen cater to specific diets?“We can cater for gluten free, salt free, fat free, peanut/nut free and the like,” says Jude. “We generally discuss dietary requirements with the parent and work from there.”

EAT RIGHT, LEARN WELLWORDS: LAURA BANNISTER


MEDIA CLUB CAPTURES THE SPIRIT OF THE SCHOOLThis year, St Andrew’s has established a Media Club as one of the cocurricular activities offered to high school students. Here are a selection of the photographs taken by the Club.

Photo by Tcharne Sawyer (Year 11)

Photo by Ben Flannery (Year 11 )

Photo by Cooper Sheppard (Year 9)

Photo by Chelsea Paton (Year 9 )

Photo by Angus Bray (Year 10)

Photo by Nate Griffiths (Year 7)


St Andrew’s:St Andrew’s Cathedral School is a coeducational K-12 Anglican school, located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.

St Andrew’s Cathedral School

Sydney Square, Sydney NSW 2000 phone +61 2 9286 9500 fax +61 2 9286 9550 email [email protected]

ABN 34 429 367 893 CRICOS Registration: The Council of St Andrew’s Cathedral School 02276M

www.sacs.nsw.edu.au

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