Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar finalists in Australian Educator Awards 2019
Recognised for Best Student Wellbeing Program and Best STEM Program
Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School is proud to announce we are finalists in two award categories at the Australian Education Awards for 2019: Best Student Wellbeing Program and Best STEM Program.
The Australian Education Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of the country’s top performing schools, principals, department heads and teachers.
Strathcona is in the running with eight other schools for the Best Student Wellbeing Program. We are a school that is committed to nurturing students’ learning through physical and mental wellbeing, so in 2017 we conducted research into current wellbeing pedagogy and programming. This research resulted in the launch of the Felicitier (‘happy’) Program.
Teacher and author of the Strathcona’s Wellbeing Program Mrs Lucinda Thom, says the program involved a bold change in the structure and delivery of pastoral care in the school to increase the wellbeing of students.
“We designed and implemented new initiatives such as The Buddy Program and the PAW (Pathways, Academics, Wellbeing) Model of mentoring to allow more effective relationships between students and greater connections with staff. Based on our school values, Felicitier Program aims to empower creative, ethical young women who have an authentic sense of self and optimism for their future,” said Mrs Thom.
Strathcona is also a finalist with nine other schools for the Best STEM Program award. We have been recognised for their STEM based education program called Tinker Train, which provides a pedagogical framework that aims to enhance student creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and problem solving. Inspired by Stanford University’s User-oriented Design Process, the “Tinker Train” is teaching Strathcona’s students to generate original ideas and solve problems in new ways.
Miss Michelle Dennis, Head of Digital Learning and Innovation at Strathcona, said: “We believe that the Tinker Train is empowering our students to confidently solve authentic problems. It is empowering them with the skills to analyse problems, generate new ideas, express solutions, and assess validity. It is our hope that as our girls develop their capabilities, competencies and confidence, they will continue to seek out opportunities and endeavours in STEM related fields in the future.”
