Dear College Family,
Each year, I have the pleasure of having a meal with all Year 12 students, in small groups. It’s an opportunity to be reflective about their time at SCBC, and share their thoughts about what can help our college community be a great place for future students.
Almost 10 years ago, I distinctly recall students from the Class of 2010 sharing their ideas. They told me that they really like being in a school which they share with their brothers and sisters. Family is very important. They liked being able to interact with younger students. Being in the same place together helped contribute to a strong sense of community.
Back then they told me: “We are a nice community … ”. This was then closely follow-up with … “and we are getting flogged in sports.” When I asked them what they think would be helpful in the future, they said to become more competitive in sport would be good. Play it forward almost 10 years. We are currently the State’s soccer champions in both primary years and senior secondary years. The impetus for having a successful sports programme came from our past students. Their suggestion has been realised. They also spoke about the importance of great staff and wanted to see the school continue developing good facilities.
It’s been very rewarding to see their aspirations for improvements becoming reality. The hopes they spoke of became architectural plans. Plans were submitted for approval. The college grew, and during the last couple of years, we’ve developed and constructed a world-class STEaM facility to help our students feel supported. The translation of hopes and dreams into our new reality continues to be an annual process. We feel very blessed.
I thought you may be interested to know what our Class 2019 think is important when given the opportunity to share ideas. Rather than dwell on current challenges, I invite them to share with me what they believe ‘great’ looks like for their school. During our conversations, I took notes as a means of honouring their participation and interest in the wellbeing of future students.
Below is a summary of the actual phrases our current Year 12 students shared with me. I’ve clustered them together under umbrellas of similar ideas.
Values
Happy community
Presence of Christian faith
Kindness
Respect of younger students to older students and staff
Friendly school
Courses and Activities
Enjoying classes
Lunchtime activities
Selection of subjects
More discussion forums
Range of activities
Culture of high academics
Expanding options
Range of electives
Expanding options … e.g. swimming, boxing classes for girls
Teachers and Staff
Great teachers
Teachers and students having great relationships
Teachers are known for their caring attitude of wanting to help
Strict teachers, but approachable
Staff care
Supportive teachers … teachers are very supportive
People are great
Great staff
Supportive staff
Great staff
Great teachers
Facilities
Good facilities
Property respected, especially the toilets
Increased parking for Year 12’s
Separate bathrooms for each year group
Different changerooms for different year groups
Soap in the girl’s change-rooms
Effective hand-blowers
Community
Supportive student community
Continue having integrated opportunities between year groups
Sense of community
The community is always moving forward
Competition and engagement with others
Interschool competition
More interactive opportunities between soccer players and other students
Great football programme
More sports
Other: Appreciation and ideas
Being a welcoming school … more than just saying “welcome” … actually being welcoming
More freedom with the uniform … like to wear their Year 12 jacket more often
A safe place to learn
Like having events … there’s always something going on
Widely recognised ‘school brand’ i.e. people knowing about South Coast Baptist College
During the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sending out a short survey, hoping to draw upon your insights and ideas as a means of helping our school community be great for the young people we love and care about. With your help, we will further develop our school into a place where our young people can thrive, doing their best work in an environment that helps them develop their strengths. We want to see our vision increasingly come alive: ‘SCBC is a thriving Christian community that inspires learning, as a means of transforming and empowering lives.’
Des Mitchell
PRINCIPAL