The SOTE campus was established in 1981 near the northern boundary of the rural township of Warwick in Queensland (Australia). Since then, much of the grounds and campus buildings have been extended to ensure our students enjoy a range of great facilities to support their learning experiences.
Founder of SOTE, Vijayadev Yogendra, envisaged a design for the school that would align with the philosophy of Total Education. The design follows a hexagonal pattern, encouraging unity and collaboration both in the classroom and building formation. The buildings were also built with purpose to provide maximum natural light and a sense of communication across the central courtyard areas.
At SOTE, we understand the importance of technology in the present and future lives of our students. However, we also believe overexposure can lead to potential reliance and inhibition of other creative, intellectual and physical skills. To balance the two, SOTE has established computer labs to enable structured learning in a digital environment. We also offer a film & TV lab which features the latest technologies for students to explore filming and editing.
The school library hosts a wonderful selection of resources, both physical and digital. It’s also a great place for students to enjoy some quiet, to enquire about their interests, to study and to relax.
The Year 9 Discovery program is hosted in a space separate to the main school campus. This helps to build a unique environment and a feeling that the Discovery Year is different and special. To facilitate this, the building features everything from a classroom and art space to break out areas and a kitchen.
Seating over 300 people, the Vijayadev Yogendra Auditorium features a large modern stage, dressing rooms, a sound and lighting booth and video booth. This facility provides for daily physical education classes, music and drama performances, combined parent meetings and school functions such as graduation.
The School Kitchen and Dining Rooms are housed in the former Goondiwindi Post Office, a historic timber building purchased by the school and moved to its current location in 1991. The space is now a modern commercial kitchen and dining room capable of seating up to 75 students at a time.
The design for each of the central buildings is quite unique, each housing three hexagonally shaped classrooms which allow light to enter from at least three sides — bringing “the outside in” and providing visual contact between groups within the same building. There are buildings for early childhood, middle school, junior secondary, senior secondary, science and art, IT & film TV and new media.
Named after a much-loved former science teacher, the Roy Fox Science Centre comprises two modern laboratories and a storage and preparation room. This space provides students the opportunity to explore a range of science experiments and develop a deeper understanding of scientific learnings.
The school campus provides a variety of outdoor spaces including an oval and a central playground, a sheltered gazebo and grassed areas for play and recreation. The school also hosts a vegetable garden, allowing the children to get involved in preparing, planting, weeding and harvesting.
Designed by a playground designer to complement the school’s philosophy of learning from interest and action, this area is the physical focal point of the school. An inviting space, it includes a tree house, giant sandpit, swings, climbing equipment and tractor as well as a rock landscape for climbing adventures.
Warwick, Queensland’s second oldest city, was established in 1840 and is the hub of the Southern Darling Downs region. It is a provincial city of approximately 12,500 people, with around 25,000 in the surrounding region. The city is sited on the Condamine River near the head of Australia’s longest river system.
Warwick is just two-hour drive from the cosmopolitan vigour of Brisbane, Queensland’s state capital, and an hour away from Toowoomba, Queensland’s major regional centre of around 100,000 people.
More information about Warwick can be found on the Southern Downs Regional Council’s website.
