Middle School

Stories of Impact

At St Andrews, our staff are passionate about educating to impact young lives for Christ. We love hearing stories about how God is actively at work here at the College and we would like to share with you the stories of one of our Year 7 students:

Before I moved to St Andrews, I was just a normal kid who didn't know my purpose in life. I had no idea what a religion was or what to choose a religion meant. I was bullied at school and moved to St Andrews. Here was a completely different environment.

People prayed to this God and read a book called the Bible. I never went to church and had no idea what they were. I thought Biblical Studies was a waste of time and very boring. My friends kept telling me to go to church and I just said I'd ask my parents, but never did. After Year 4, I went into Middle School. My family started taking me to church to learn about God. But I only went to see my friends. I had a really caring teacher that year, who was intent on helping us all develop on our faith journeys and that's exactly what she did.

That same year, I gave my life to Jesus for the first time. My teacher, Mrs Provis, showed me who Jesus really was and what He could do. I felt so happy when I realised there was always someone I could talk to. The next year, I had her again and I developed into a man of Christ. But I still had questions. Luckily, Mrs Provis was always open. She answered my questions and prayed for me when things got tough. I started reading the Bible more as it was now something I wanted to make part of my daily lifestyle. 

This year, I still talk to Mrs Provis. Jesus has done amazing things in my family and I go to youth group regularly. All this led up to my baptism, on the 1st of September this year. A lot has changed since I began Middle School. Today, I am a unique kid who is loved by God and does everything in the name of the Lord.

Year 7 student

We also like sharing stories about how our students are impacted by their teachers to develop and improve their talents and capacity in different areas. Here is a success story about a teacher inspiring a student to develop in an area that she did not think possible:

At the start of this year, I was not confident at art at all. I would always doubt myself and think that all my 'artworks' weren't good enough. I have always enjoyed art but never could create something amazing like everyone else did.

I always saw so many artworks done by my friends that were so good, as if it had been done by a famous artist! It made me feel like I wasn't good enough and that I didn't match the standards of everyone else. I have always felt that art was one of my weaknesses and I always wanted to improve but my 'artworks' never seemed to be good enough.

Then this year, we were introduced to a new art teacher, Mr Gibbs. At the start, I thought that this year would be the same thing where I would dread art lessons every week, but I was wrong! Mr Gibbs is a wonderful teacher and has helped me in all the art lessons. I have gained more confidence in what I am doing and I am not embarrassed by my artworks.

Now with the help of Mr Gibbs, I am more confident in my drawings and artworks. I also look forward to every art lesson and I'm always having fun!

Year 7 student

What wonderful witnesses of God working in the lives of our students through their teachers!

Christa Cloete

Year 7/8 Coordinator

Thanks Mrs Gaschk!

Dear community,

As you know, Lauren Gaschk will be finishing up at the end of the year with the arrival of her little bub. I want to publicly thank her for all her contributions, particularly in the area of Student Leadership within the Middle School. Well done, Lauren!

I am delighted to inform you that Emily Hill will be taking the role of Student Leadership Coordinator in the Middle School for 2018. In the past, Emily has been involved in developing emerging leaders in a local church setting and I’m so excited to see how she grows and develops our Middle School leaders.

Daniel Lee

Head of Middle School

MS Leadership Excursion

On Wednesday, the 6th September, the Middle School Leaders and select students from Years 5 and 6 went to Hedgend Maze. When we arrived, we were split up into groups of four (2 leaders and 2 grade 5/6’s). We then were given our challenge to complete an amazing race.

The amazing race included, several challenges to see who worked the best together as a team. We had to find hidden clues in the maze to reveal a secret message that got us through to the next stage of the race. These challenges were fun and helped us develop our leadership and team working skills. It was a great day despite the rain, thank you to Mrs Gaschk and Miss Hill for organising the day.

Evan Hughes

Middle School Captain

French Day

On Monday 18 September, the Year 8’s once again ran a French Day for the entire school. There were 10 stalls that sold a variety of food and drinks as well as a few stalls that ran games. The foods that were sold included popcorn, crêpes, fries and truffles. The drinks included soft drinks, milkshakes and chocolate milk, as well as juice. The French Day event was raising money to help a mission group in Malawi, and most of the stalls raised over $100 each. There were prizes awarded for the best dressed students and teachers, with four big prizes given out and many runner-up prizes. (See our photos for the winners!)

As soon as the bell went the queues grew long and it got quite busy at most of the stalls. There was loud music and people everywhere, as well as Year 8s competing with one another to sell their own products. On the basketball court there were a few stalls running games, and these were very popular with the junior students. Over all, French Day was so much fun and a wonderful experience for the Year 8's who were running the day. We hope everyone else enjoyed the day with us - we appreciate the support you gave us!

Natasha Rowley

Year 8 Student

Year 8 Humanities Excursion – Hanging Rock