A City School with a World View
A City School with a World View
Mercy Light: Learning
Recent days have delivered finer skies, crisp air and fresh blooms. With seasonal change upon us, many who’ve spent the winter months tucked up inside the house are enticed back out by drier weather and warmth. For years now, SAC has celebrated this transition with the suitably named Spring Concert at the Adelaide Town Hall, located just a few hundred metres away from the College. It’s a showcase of students’ musical gifts, inside one of the state’s most recognisable landmarks.
As many of SAC’s current students take position onstage in Adelaide Town Hall for annual Spring Concerts, or pass by the venue during their daily commute, the Beatles-enthusiasts among them are aware of their school’s proximity to a breathtaking piece of music history.
Imagine this: it’s a crisp, June Friday in the year 1964, and for a fleeting moment, the eyes of the world are fixed on the Town Hall’s stone façade. Beatlemania has captivated the people of Adelaide, who’ve taken to city streets a number to the tune of 300,000 – the biggest crowd that 60s’ rock legends, The Beatles, ever encountered – right near SAC’s Wakefield St doorstep. Inside, The Sisters of Mercy who staffed the College at the time kept a keen eye on the locked doors and gates, ensuring students remained inside and safe. It was a school day, after all! Still, as told by an unnamed Old Scholar in the 1964 SAC Magazine, their city location gave the students a dizzying piece of the action:
“The yard was hushed in silence as, with tears in our eyes, we listen to their [The Beatles’] arrival. John Lennon’s voice at last comes through: “Hello” he said, “…Yes, it’s fantastic!…” Girls gasp, squeal, tremble,” the former student’s reflection reads.
St Aloysius College being in the heart of the city means students and staff have always been well-placed not just to observe, but participate in important and historic moments.
Year 12 student, Zayna K, says, “going to a city school means that we have opportunities to enrich our learning experience across all of our subjects, and having the opportunity to play in iconic city venues for our music events creates lasting memories.”
There’s a saying that “if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.” There’s no shortage of inspiration at students’ fingertips. On any given week, a glance at the school’s events calendar gives an impression of the accessible sensory feast that lies beyond the College gates.
Primary Coordinator, Abby Matte, says that city-based excursions are an opportunity “to connect to real-world experiences and our local community,” and adds that, “as well as reaching historically and culturally rich locations efficiently, we can easily visit exhibitions that change regularly.”
Reception teacher, Ms Olivia Spadavecchia, with fellow dedicated Early Years teachers, recently took SAC’s youngest students to the Adelaide Zoo, which is less than two kilometres away.
Ms Spadavecchia says, “our city location means it’s only a very short trip to the zoo, so reduced travel time maximises our time and energy exploring the animals and their habitats. The school’s proximity to well-known places like this allow us to seamlessly integrate excursions into our curriculum, providing valuable hands-on learning that complements our classroom teaching and fuels the students’ imaginations.”
The Adelaide Central Market is another popular neighbouring site, utilised by teachers for a wide variety of extended learning activities. Mr Aaron Casey and his class of Year 4s enjoyed a short stroll west of the College, where they spent time applying learnings from Humanities and Social Sciences, and their Health topics.
Mr Casey believes that, “this easy access to a diverse environment of cultures and lifestyles fosters qualities that SAC values, such as understanding, tolerance and global awareness. The ability to witness and apply classroom concepts in real-world settings that are just around the corner makes the city feel like a seamless extension of the classroom.”
SAC’s PE department, too, benefits from access to close-by sporting facilities such as Netball SA, SA Athletics Stadium, and badminton and squash centres, not to mention lush playing fields in the parklands. Likewise, countless Drama and Visual Arts encounters are at students’ fingertips, with state-of-the-art theatres and prominent festivals being held just a few blocks away.
Travelling between all these different facilities for school activities can enrich young people’s perspectives about their place in the ‘big, wide world’.
Close to SAC are legal courts, government services and St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, where the College celebrates sacramental milestones and whole school Masses. There are also renowned non-government organisations, emergency services, hospitals, premier hospitality, arts and retail precincts, and tertiary institutions. Regular exposure to these sites, either incidentally or through educational immersions, helps students to learn about the world that awaits them, and gives them opportunities to dream about what’s possible for their futures.
The heart of the city has changed in many ways since SAC students cheered for The Beatles from the schoolyard. St Aloysius College is structurally rather different that it was in 1880, when its foundations were laid. Yet, in this pocket of the city, students bloom in learning, growth and courage, just as they have been for more than 140 years. Every day, students can “see it”, and therefore know they can “be it”.
Ms Maddie Kelly
Marketing & Communications Team
