8 - 12, Boarding available (+Girls Boarding Residences for students of St Monica's College)

starting from less than $3,500p.a

A word from the Principal
Welcome to St Augustine’s College, the home of Marist education in north Queensland.

By any measure, this is a special place. Discover ‘Saints’ and you will find a school that is at once dynamic yet rich in tradition, caring yet challenging, broad in its offerings yet specialist in its expertise, a busy campus but never so much that a boy’s needs should go unnoticed or unattended. Students matter here: it is they who come first and our best efforts are directed at achieving the highest outcomes for them.

A mark of any successful school is the way, in its continual search to seek out the best in educational innovation, it can let go of outmoded ways without compromising those things that are most valuable in its wisdom and experience. St Augustine’s is a school on the move, but one rooted in a rock solid belief that all young people deserve to have reason to believe, to hope and to love, and to be able to engage their world in informed, creative, responsible and just ways.

Take a look through this feature to see what Saints might be able to offer you. Better still, visit our website www.sac.qld.edu.au. or contact us for a prospectus. The best way to find out about a school, however, is to speak with its students. Ask them about their school, about St Augustine’s.

Br Michael Green
FMS, BA, GradDipRE, MCurrSt(Hons), EdD, MACEA

•Teaching and learning strategies especially suited to developmental needs of boys

•Proven methods to maximise the educational outcomes and personal growth of boys

•Latest technology incorporated into the curriculum

•Broad range of subject offerings, suited to learning needs of all students

•Small class sizes in most subjects and priority given to pastoral care

•Extensive specialist facilities: purpose-built technology centre, cutting-edge science laboratories, five computer laboratories, chapel, swimming pool and fitness centre, e-learning centre, whole-campus wireless environment.

•ALL indoor learning spaces fully air-conditioned

•A boarding programme nationally recognised as ‘best practice’

The College features a 2-stage curriculum matching the two level pastoral structure of the College. Each level is designed to suit the developing needs and learning styles of boys.

In the Lower Secondary (Years 8 and 9) students follow a common group of subjects, with some electivity introduced as they become familiar with the style and expectations of secondary school. Year 8 students are helped to make the transition from primary school and are introduced to extra challenge and diversity as they are ready for them. The core subjects at the Lower Secondary level are: English, Mathematics, Science, Study of Society and Environment (SOSE), and Religious Education. All students also have an opportunity to study most of the elective subjects about which they later have to make some choices: Visual Arts, Japanese, Technology and Design, Health and Physical Education (HPE), Food Technology, Drama, Business Studies and Music.

When students begin Year 10, they enter the Senior School and begin studies for the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). Year 10 is an introductory year where their study of English, Mathematics, Science, and their elective subjects, is shaped by QCE expectations. From Year 10, they begin to accumulate credit towards their QCE, and gradually make choices that suit their post-school aspirations. In Year 11 the range of subject choices increases markedly. Students may opt for:
• the mainstream academic programme leading qualification for tertiary entrance. (Over 30 subjects are offered. St Augustine’s is widely known for both the breadth the rigour of its senior studies, and the success of its students in winning university places.)
• more vocationally-oriented subjects. The College is its own Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and its VET programme allows for a range of possibilities.
Student handbooks and the College Website provide curriculum details and other advice for each level.

PASTORAL CARE
The size of St Augustine’s means that all students are known well. Their pastoral care is paramount. Each boy is under the care of a ‘Homeroom Teacher’ and a ‘Year Coordinator’.
Additional support is offered by the full-time Counsellor/Psychologist, the staff of the Learning Support Centre, the Careers Adviser, the College Nurse, and class teachers. Extra tutorial assistance outside of class time is also available.

BOARDING
The College is particularly proud of its boarding programme. Boarding schools have changed enormously over the years and St Augustine’s is a national leader in the quality of its student accommodation and the level of its care.

The fully air-conditioned student residences feature individual bed/study areas for each student, computer rooms with internet access, recreation areas and modern bathrooms. The boarders enjoy three professionally prepared meals each day as well as morning and evening snacks.

Other features of boarding at St Augustine’s include
• Options of full-time, weekly or occasional boarding
• After-school care and evening study for day students
• Structured evening study, with tutorial assistance
• Organised after-school and weekend activities and sports
• Camping and outdoor education
• A team of full-time boarding staff

In 2003, in partnership with St Monica’s College, a girls boarding residence was opened.

Saints is known for both the wide range and the success of its co-curricular programmes. Boys have opportunity to be involved in:
• The performing arts: stage bands, instrumental ensembles, small bands, annual musical and theatrical productions
• Service and leadership: community service activities, toastmasters, leadership courses, debating, special interest clubs
• A range of sports, including athletics, Australian football, baseball, basketball, cricket, hockey, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, swimming, touch football, volleyball. St Augustine’s is proud of its long held title as champion sports school of far north Queensland.
• A camping and outdoor education programme designed to suit the needs and dispositions of boys