At The Springfield Anglican College, we are committed to delivering a holistic education, because we know that doing so enhances our students’ learning potential and because it is crucial to our mission to shape young people who are curious, active and compassionate.

We also refer to teaching and learning as our ‘core business.’

At TSAC we refer to an old Chinese proverb that ‘a tiger chased me up a tree, and when I got to the top I enjoyed the view.’ We want to encourage, inspire, challenge and push our students to do their best, achieve their potential and reap the benefits and satisfaction of success, in a safe and encouraging environment. In some cases, the metaphorical tree is in leadership or service, in some it is in sport or the creative arts. In all cases though, our students are provided with an achievable tree to climb in their academic studies. We are dedicated to maximising the potential of each of our students, whether their strengths lie in academics or in vocational learning, and have Learning Enhancement and Academic Extension programs to support the least and challenge the most able, and have a committed team of teachers who are well trained in offering support and challenge in the classroom.

We are very proud of our 2017 Year 12 results, which were excellent across the board, and clearly demonstrate that we can provide rich learning experiences for all of our students.

The fact that 100 per cent of our Year 12s earned a QCE, 76 per cent of them left the College with an additional qualification in the form of a vocational certificate or diploma, and that we had the best OP results in our history clearly reflect the strength of our diversity – for those students who want to pursue an academic stream and study at university, we can provide for their needs, and for those students who want to enter the workplace, we have the course access and expertise to provide for them too. This year, with an added emphasis on entrepreneurialism through Enterprise and Business, we are also providing more experiences for those students who may wish to go into business for themselves.

As part of our Teaching and Learning strategy for 2018, we have increased our focus on key areas. Two examples of this are:

Literacy Strategy

Fundamental to success across the curriculum is high levels of literacy for students. This year we have introduced a Literacy Strategy to assist in this.

On the Primary Campus, the introduction of an uninterrupted morning literacy block emphasises the importance we place on these vital skills.

During this time, students are immersed in a range of literacy activities that focus on the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

Teachers work with students to set individual learning goals and ensure that each student is provided with clearly articulated feedback.

On the Secondary campus, students from Year 8 – 10 are all involved in the Literacy Pro Program, where they are set individual reading goals and have texts selected for their individual interests and reading levels.

A strong focus has also been placed on the development of students’ abilities in writing, based on specific criteria for all subject areas.

Our teachers on both campuses, in keeping with our understanding that Literacy is a cross curricular skill, have received Literacy training.

Academic Extension

New to the College for 2018 is the Coordinator of Academic Extension whose role is twofold: firstly, in assisting our classroom teachers in ensuring the learning they are offering in lessons is challenging; and secondly, ensuring we have meaningful extension activities on offer for our most gifted students. Already, work has begun preparing pre-university courses for eligible students, along with developing holistic identification processes involving the collation of school based information and standardised testing data.

We will then have an evidence base to ensure that no student with an academic gift goes unrecognised.

To support this philosophy of supporting and challenging all of our learners, we have taken an inclusive approach to creating our five-year Strategic Plan, which details our commitment to steady and continuous improvement in the following areas:

• Teaching and Learning
• Student Care
• Student Life
• Facilities, Resources and Financial Strength

Each of these areas are crucial to enhancing the educational journey of each of our students. Our staff have worked together as a community to create these commitments to our students and have outlined specific, accountable goals to ensure that we fulfil each of these commitments for their benefit.

Our 2018-2022 Strategic Plan and Built Environment Plan will be released in conjunction with the Official Opening of our Rosewood Resource Centre on Monday 5 March.

Darren Pitt
Principal