St Margaret’s has been named as one of Australia’s most innovative schools for the second consecutive year.
Each year, The Educator releases its Innovative Schools report, revealing schools at the cutting edge of change and innovation in Australia.
This year, St Margaret’s was recognised for its development of St Margaret’s Plus (STM+), a program created in response to the growing call for wider recognition and development of students’ skills beyond academic assessment.
Principal Ms Ros Curtis explained that St Margaret’s Plus identifies and documents the essential skills students develop outside of the classroom through participating in extracurricular and philanthropic activities.
“It records and maps the skills developed through the varied activities which sit outside or alongside the academic program. Each student is provided with a spider graph of the skills they have demonstrated and areas that need to be developed across Years 10, 11 and 12.
"By focusing on developing 'soft skills' gained through activities outside the classroom, St Margaret's Plus is providing a future-focused program that will benefit students as they enter tertiary study or the workforce.
"Rather than just having on their resume they held a leadership position in school or were involved in philanthropy, the skills they gained through this involvement are demonstrable and comprehensively mapped and can be presented to their desired university or employer," said Ms Curtis.