President Tom - proud to be an Old Saint* 
A few months ago President Tom visited his old school, All Saints College (ASC) in Bull Creek, to discuss reestablishing the link between Applecross Rotary with ASC, through Rotary Youth Exchange, both Inbound and Outbound. 
(We’ll leave supporting AFL team St Kilda for later)
A few months ago President Tom visited his old school, All Saints College (ASC) in Bull Creek, to discuss reestablishing the link between Applecross Rotary with ASC, through Rotary Youth Exchange, both Inbound and Outbound. During his discussion with ASC Principal Belinda Provos, Tom invited her to come and speak to us about her school, which she did at our recent breakfast meeting. Her theme was “What Matters at All Saints College”.
Some background first. Belinda is the fifth Principal of ASC (since 2013); its second Principal Tony London (1987-2000) was an enthusiastic member of AxR and his College was home to our Rotary Exchange students. A Day Care program began this year, so ASC now looks after 1350 young people from 12 months of age to 18 years.
Belinda describes the College’s Strategic Plan as ’set in jelly’ because ASC needs to pivot and be agile in an ever-changing world. She reminded us that Management Guru Peter Drucker once famously said “Culture Eats Strategy”.
So what does “matter”?
- Human factors matter - people (students, staff parents, community), are very important
- Building a network of positive relationships with peers, staff, the College and broader communities, matters
- Alignment matters - serve with wisdom and courage (the ASC motto)
- A Values Driven culture matters - Values are the moral compass to guide us through life
- Living our Values matter - Empathy, Respect, Integrity, Courage (ERIC**)
- A culture of Vulnerability matters
- Belonging and Safety matter
- A culture of learning through failure matters - Belinda called it ‘flearning’
- A culture of Innovation matters
The Beyond Boundaries institute at ASC is dedicated to innovation and leadership, and advocates for change. ASC is the first school in Australia to partner with the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Metrics Program. ASC advocates for an ATAR Plus approach to identifying high performing year 12 students, in terms of their capabilities to survive and thrive beyond secondary school. ATAR or Not to ATAR
The Studio School
How’s this for innovation? ASC has established a Fremantle campus with a two storey shopfront at 28 Adelaide Terrace Fremantle. It offers an alternative to mainstream school structures through a studio model for students to combine their studies with real-world projects of learning to achieve their WA Certificate of Education and if desired, an ATAR. It caters for 120 year 10-12 students who co-design their learning with their teachers - The Studio School
It quickly became apparent during Belinda’s presentation, that there are more opportunities to partner with ASC than just RYE.
But first let’s take up Belinda’s invitation to visit the two campuses, on two different days of course. Vocational Director Peter McEwen will set these up, and I’m sure Liz Palmer will find somewhere to have lunch afterwards - Sailing for Oranges might be nice (hint, hint)
ASC also has its own café Wanju at its main campus in Bull Creek, serving staff, students and the surrounding community.
ASC Principal Belinda Provos with our Margaret Brede and RYE Valentin
* Disclosure: While Tom is the only current Applecross Rotary member who is an “Old Saint”, several AxR members are parents of Old Saints - myself, Graeme Fardon, and John Kelly, who also has grandchildren at ASC.
** ERIC is also the name of the College’s Wellbeing dog!
Editor's note: We’re fortunate to have another engaging and insightful speaker for our Breakfast Meeting. If you can’t attend in person, you can still join us via ZOOM. Simply log on around 7:50 a.m. from your smartphone, tablet, PC, or desktop—wherever you have an internet connection. 