“Tomorrow’s schools are places where students can learn how to motivate and organise their own learning, where teachers stimulate their curiosity and build on and channel their creativity, sociability and energy.” (Schleicher, OECD, 2021)

St Catherine’s is a vibrant, close-knit community where students, teachers and parents share in the process of learning. Our relatively small size has many advantages for students, particularly the way in which each student is recognised and valued based on individual skills and interests.  Our pathways from Early Learning to Junior School then on to Senior School, ensure a successful transition through to the senior years of education.

St Catherine’s Learning Framework

Our Model of Academic Care is underpinned by three critical frameworks – Teaching and Learning, Wellbeing and Co-curricular. Student wellness is central to each framework and intertwined into every innovation and program. A St Catherine’s education begins with our Teaching and Learning Framework which seeks to provide every student with the strongest foundation possible for them to reach their aspirations in learning and in life. We sees teaching and learning and the development of wellbeing as parallel, integrated and complementary processes. High-impact teaching & learning contributes to the growth of individual and collective wellbeing.

Our Framework is based on current pedagogies and evidence that demonstrates the strong association between wellbeing and learning. Learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked; students learn best when their wellbeing is optimised, and they develop a strong sense of wellbeing when they experience success in learning.

We strive for a holistic development of all students that recognises the importance of cognitive, social and emotional skills. Acquiring essential skills and competencies is foundational for learning and life, leading to academic success and positive student wellbeing. Cultivated through the positive character traits of bold, independent, resilient, and creative learners, these attributes form the basis of our teaching, learning, and wellness programs, representing the qualities we aim for in our St Catherine’s graduates.

Students, teachers, parents, and members of the wider school community have a shared understanding of the behaviours, attitudes and expectations that enhance wellbeing and lead to improved student outcomes in learning and social and emotional skills.

St Catherine’s students will leave the school with capacity and agency in cognitive, social and emotional skills.

Every student has the opportunity to achieve, through an exciting and progressive curriculum and within a sound moral and ethical environment. Our commitment to academic excellence has resulted in outstanding performances each year across a wide range of subjects from our Year 12 cohorts.

Our teachers, mindful of the many different ways in which students learn, search for innovative ways to create engaging and appropriately-complex classroom activities, new educational programs and assessments.