As we approach the halfway mark of the school year, it is a valuable practice and opportune time to reflect back on what has been happening in the life of the College and what is still to come.

My hope from this newsletter is that you will get an insight into even just a few of the many great things that are happening at St Andrews Christian College and how God is working in and through our staff and students on a daily basis.

Some of my recent reflections have been centred around some of the key strategic projects that have been developed or implemented across the four key strategic priorities that form our 2024-2027 strategic plan. Families can get their own hard copy of the strategic plan from reception, or it can be accessed and viewed on our website. I encourage all families to read and familiarise themselves with our strategic plan, as this forms our roadmap for the future of the College, not only for the next four years, but also a long-term view towards 2040. When reading through our strategic plan and reflecting on our progress in the strategic projects, I am encouraged to see how much progress has been made in the first 18 months of our four-year plan, as well as setting our sights on and beyond the horizon with our long-term plan towards 2040.

One of the four strategic pillars of our current strategic plan is Student Focussed Wellbeing, in which we seek to support students to truly understand their Christ-centred identity and foster a culture of wellbeing and learning and its role to play in God’s plans and purpose for our students. Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation highlights the alarming statistics associated with the deterioration in mental health and wellbeing of adolescents, particularly citing the reduction of free play and the significant rise in smartphone usage and use of technology as key contributors to this change. With statistics pointing toward an overall decline in mental health of adolescents, particularly in post-covid society, we feel called and compelled to proactively focus our prayer and efforts on fostering a culture of making wellbeing visible at St Andrews Christian College. 

After much research, prayer and consultation led by our Deputy Principal – Operations, Lisa Wilks-Beasy and our Head of Wellbeing, Marina Heading, the College has engaged in a multi-year partnership with leading researcher and psychologist Professor Lea Waters in supporting the outworking of this strategic priority through Visible Wellbeing; a whole school approach to supporting the wellbeing of our students and community. Professor Lea Waters can be credited with decades of research in the youth mental health space and developing evidence-based tools and resources for teachers and schools to support students and their wellbeing. 

Whilst we will draw on these resources and our learning to support students by making wellbeing visible, we never cease to know and understand that God is our source of peace, refuge and sustenance. A scripture that I often draw on is Psalm 23 — "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

This scripture speaks to the refuge we can seek and the rest we at times need, drawing from God and the rest that He brings by stepping into His presence. As a College, we seek to honour God through equipping our students to identify their strengths, understand the importance of self-awareness and emotional management be able to see how this helps them to better understand themselves. However more importantly, we use this to help our students better understand who God has created them to be and to understand that we can draw on God for refuge, our strength, our peace and joy.

This term I have been challenged to rethink my use of time, especially my screen time. It is easy to fall into the trap of using your phone as a device that controls your life and a way to keep up with everything and everyone. 

Do not get me wrong, I embrace technology and celebrate that technology is clever and innovative. However, I have been challenged by the book Faithfully Present by Adam Ramsey, about intentional use of time and that ‘doing well is not necessarily doing more’ (p. 61, Faithfully Present, Ramsey, A.). Like us, students also face the same challenges about how they embrace innovation and technology, yet grapple with how to mould to the expectations of the College and parent expectations about screen time. The context might be different; however, I would suggest at times, we often face the same challenges as our young people.

The discussion about how to be a responsible digital citizen is an important learning conversation that we value at St Andrews. We also want to view this through the lens of God’s eyes as we endeavour to instil in our students from an early age how we each hold a digital footprint, and we are entrusted to act thoughtfully and with respect when on a digital device. At St Andrews we have a growing IT department consisting of our Senior IT technician Aaron Davis, IT support Josh Koster and IT intern Ye Han Chong. At the beginning of each year, we ask parents and students to agree to an IT agreement through our consent platform Operoo. This agreement asks students to communicate respectfully, be wise with their decisions when using online material and to always inform and communicate with their teachers about any concerns. This area of education is constantly changing and shifting, and it is my privilege to guide the IT department and the Wellbeing team as we navigate how to lead students to make wise, yet innovative decisions.

We are committed to safe online behaviour, and we value partnering with you. This is why we have aligned ourselves with an online digital safeguarding company, Linewize, and have rolled this out successfully in the Secondary School in Term 2 and have an excellent uptake from parents already. If you are interested in finding out more about the Qustodio App and how you can help to partner with us as a College, please connect with our Head of Secondary, John Presant and follow his HUB news items that he has recently posted. We want all students to learn how to manage and be aware of how to represent themselves and the College in the best feasible way to honour and glorify God. Please continue to have a conversation with your young person at home about this and seek information if needed.

Regarding HUB news items, we continue to develop our online communication with all families using communication notifications via the College HUB app, which can be downloaded onto your mobile phone. These notifications are the key way to keep up to date with the comings and goings of students and events across the College and if you are unsure of how to download this app, please contact the IT department (adavis@standrews.vic.edu.au) for more information. You will very rarely receive an email communication for news items and updates, so please ensure that you are following the HUB to keep up to date.

I wish all students and families a restful holiday break. Thank you for all your support and I look forward to seeing all students wearing correct Winter uniform in Term 3 commencing back on Thursday 24^th July.

[Ramsey, A (2023). ”Faithfully Present” The Good Book Company, Turkey.]

Warm regards,