Total Education Blog

Independent Schools Queensland recently ran a two-day workshop on school wellbeing, facilitated by Professor Donna Cross from the University of Western Australia. SOTE principal Shane Power and Secondary Coordinator Judy Funder attended.

2018 Senior class placed in the top 1% of all Queensland high schools, based on their improvement from 2015 NAPLAN to 2018 OP data.

We are very fortunate that past student of the school, Dr Indra Nordstrand, is returning to address the graduates and parents at our graduation ceremony and parents seminar on Sunday 20th November 2016. Most parents and newer teachers will not know Indra, who graduated from The School of Total Education herself in 1989 and went on to study medicine at the Flinders University of South Australia. After developing an interest in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Indra completed postgraduate studies in surgery at the University of Queensland and specialist surgery training in Victoria to ultimately become one of a few female Cardiothoracic Surgeons in Australia.

We often say that The School of Total Education is a living community. One of the ways that aliveness is engendered is through the encouragement of communication - not just between teachers and students but between teachers and parents. Deputy Principal Judy Currie was asked by one of the parent groups to talk about this recently. This is transcript of her talk.

The APN press recently ran an article by Dr Ali Black, a lecturer in early childhood teacher education at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The article was titled ‘Is Curriculum Pressure Killing Student’s Joy?’. In it Dr Black reflects on her experience of her daughter not wanting to return to school because of a general lack of joy in the classroom.