NEWS

Congratulations Sasha Zhang

On 19 November 2020 Sasha Zhang attended the VCE Chinese First Language Speech and Writing Competition (via Zoom) held by Chinese Language Teachers’ Association in Victoria (CLTAV) on behalf of St Andrews Christian College. It is exciting news that Sasha Zhang won a merit Medal, a great honour to both herself and to our College. This is especially encouraging to our students of Chinese language, who engage in these types of events.

Nelly Wang

Chinese Language Teacher

CSEN Interschool Mastermind Challenge

The CSEN Masterminds Challenge was held during Week 7 at Belgrave Heights Christian School. Teams of 10 students from various Christian schools battled their wits in 5 different categories: English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities (SOSE or HASS) and General Knowledge. Each pair of students were peppered with 5 rounds of questions in their field of expertise.

After a close tussle, both the Primary and Secondary team finished second in their divisions. Well done to the following students:

Primary Masterminds Team:

Joshua Chen

Erica Dunham

Nathan Elbourne

Joanna Kwe

Naomi Law

Declan Lee

Eric Li

Andrew Muggeridge

Isabella Tan

Connor Xu

Secondary Masterminds Team:

Matthew Wu

Vivienne Wang

Ethan Wang

Eugene Tu

Daniel Lee

Joash Law

Michelle Feng

Agnes Chiu

Max Demunck

Sidra Dharmadasa

Ethan’s comment sums up the event:

“It was a really fun competition and even though we were facing students much older than us we still did really well. Thank you to everyone who organised this event.”

If there was an award for the combined effort from both teams, St Andrews Christian College would surely be on top of the leader board for 2021!

Kerryn Terrington

Senior Ensembles Concert - Book your tickets

Vividus Survey Reflections from 2020

Vividus Marketing have just released their findings into the performance of St Andrews Christian College for the 2020 school year. A comprehensive study was undertaken across all facets of the College's activities and a number of findings emerged in regard to the College’s overall performance and satisfaction levels.

Considering the difficult year we had with COVID-19 and the constant changes in schooling from face-to-face to remote learning, the results of the 2020 Survey are very encouraging and continue to reflect a positive and affirming community regarding College operations.

Response Rates

Response rates in undertaking the Survey were higher in 2020.

Student response rate – 90%

Staff response rate – 91%

Parent response rate – 37.3%

Observations

Despite the difficult year, our focus on Christ and reliance on God united our staff and community.
A minor, negative theme was noticed in the parent responses in their struggle with remote learning. Responses could have been affected by parent frustration with all the changes to do with COVID.
44% of new students are referred to the College by a friend/family member.
The focus on being a caring, connected and communicative community, committed to continuous growth and learning helped the College to successfully complete 2020.

Positive Responses:

Strong Christian emphasis throughout the College.
Teachers gladly provide help and support students when needed.
Quality teaching.
Encouragement from teachers to students to achieve to the best of their ability.
The College’s friendly/inclusive and supportive atmosphere.
Staff and Parents work cooperatively to deliver high educational outcomes for students.
The College’s Vision and Mission are integrated into school life.
Staff are approachable and available to help.
Responsiveness and guidance from our Chaplain has been so appreciated and valued.
There are opportunities to engage in service to others.
Day-to-day organisation and management is done well
Clear and effective communications to the community.

Suggested Ideas for Improvement	Action
Availability of scholarships.	Our College is full and has huge waiting lists. There is no need to offer scholarships at this stage. We do give bursaries to families in need.
Convenient parking/drop off and pick up at the school.	Continues to be a challenge. We keep trying new initiatives and work with Knox City Council on this problem, but the congestion will only ease if more families walk to school or arrange pick up from Knox City shops.
Questions about the need for Middle School.	To continue to grow in ‘Excellence in Christ’ we have seen the importance of moving to be a Primary/Secondary model. 2021 is the transition year of undertaking this change.
Need for parent webinars.	Due to the success of parent webinars in 2020, we will look at further opportunities to present webinars.
Desire for a café on site.	Café currently being built!
More student extension programs and choice of sports.	We already undertake many programs to extend students. Further programs will be considered in 2021 – 2023.
Improved House system.	Targeted for 2022.
More choice in subject areas.	We actually offer as many elective subjects as other schools, except in Manual Arts. The costs for facilities in Manual Arts does not equal the demand from students wanting to undertake these subjects. Our focus at St Andrews Christian College continues to be providing a more academic path for students who desire to go to university.

Catriona Wansbrough

Principal

Fun at the St Andrews Open Day

What a wonderful day!

The St Andrews 2021 Open Day took place on Friday 5th March with a great interest from prospective new families and buzzing with lively atmosphere. It was the most successful Open Day ever for St Andrews Christian College with a 30% increase in visitor numbers, indicating the increasing desire amongst the community for quality Christian education. An amazing result considering the all the uncertainty and issues surrounding COVID.

Our Student Leaders did a stellar job leading small groups of visitors on personalised tours to showcase our College and all it has to offer. Visitors were greatly impressed by the way they engaged with their groups and communicated the values and advantages of a Christian Education. Well done students you made us proud!

A huge thank you to all our wonderful parent volunteers for their help in the lead up to and on the day, for delivering our sausage sizzle, welcoming and interacting with people to create a warm welcome to all visitors, and showcase all that our College and community have to offer. The College would like to also thank Tarah at Grinds Coffee Co for providing the fantastic coffee cart.

A first for our Open Day was to have ‘The Light’ Positive Radio (previously known as Light FM) broadcast on-site throughout the event. Their presence added a real air of excitement to the event, as the live broadcast was heard all across the College grounds and kids were busy taking part in a heap of prize winning games and activities; the ‘Face Sticker’ competition being amongst the most popular.

Overall it was a stunningly successful day and we look forward to an even bigger and better Open Day 2022.

Peter Friend

Communications & Community Relations Manager