A Touch of Yellow
to Spread Sunshine
and Support

A Touch of Yellow to Spread Sunshine and Support

In June, Perth College Junior School students came to school wearing ‘a touch of yellow’ to signify a special new friendship with Burbridge School.

Pre-Kindergarten to Pre-Primary students have been collaborating with students at Burbridge School as part of their sparc classes.

Food was donated to the Pantry2Pantry food collective to wear yellow socks, hair accessories and hats and support families at Burbridge School. Yellow was chosen to spread sunshine and brighten the days of both school communities and recognise the growing connection between our schools.

Head of Junior School, Katie Petchell, thanked the PC community, Burbridge School and Pantry2Pantry for the collaborative effort.

‘Our Junior School community filled 26 food hampers and brought brightness and joy to families at Burbridge School,’ she said.

‘Both schools also delivered handmade artworks representing a growing reciprocal friendship.

‘Thank you to everyone, and also to Pantry2Pantry, for their inspiration and support!’

Sparc Framework Changing the Way Students Learn

Across the rest of the School, the new sparc framework introduced this year has been transforming the way students learn.

Sparc goes beyond the curriculum to Spark Passions, grow Attributes and build Relationships to Contribute to the world.

As part of their sparc classes, Pre-Kindergarten to Year 10 students have been engaging in opportunities to build their skills and knowledge of leadership, innovation and citizenship. Through sparc, students are provided the opportunity to grow skills of the future including: critical and creative thinking, problem solving and collaboration. The students are then able to transfer these skills to their other subjects and everyday lives.

Year 1 and 2 students have been looking at what it takes to make a community, developing their collaborative skills through a community system mission, while Year 3 and 4 students have been learning how to advocate for people who live with a disability by developing empathy and building perspective.

In the Senior School, Year 7 students have been taking part in a series of team-based leadership challenges to step out of their comfort zone and gain confidence in their personal strengths, and Year 9 students have been working through a design thinking process to create a project that serves as a solution to a chosen problem for a group of young people in the community. Working together, they have considered solutions to mental health issues, alcohol abuse, parent and school expectations, homelessness and more.

Dean of Learning Innovations, Andrea Holloway, said there was a need to prepare students for a future world.

‘We all know that our young people are facing unprecedented social, economic, and environmental challenges and an uncertain, unpredictable future,’ she said.

‘As a school, we aim to equip our students with the knowledge, skills, attributes, and values that will see them flourish into that future.’