Santa Maria Library Crowned Team of the Year
Our library recently received the fantastic news that the Western Australian School Library Association (WASLA) awarded them Library Team of the Year. This award and our library winning the School Libraries Association of Victoria (SLAV) Innovators Award for its UpGrade program make for an exciting year.
WASLA commended our library for several initiatives, including its UpGrade program. UpGrade is an e-course platform where students can go to brush up on their skills. From study skills, technology how-tos, and leadership to wellbeing courses – there is something for everyone. Most importantly, students can go onto upGrade at any time and love earning SMC coins and spending them on various incentives!
The library was also recognised for its information literacy program SIFT (stop, investigate, find, trace). This program focuses on effective internet search techniques and encourages students to quickly and efficiently double-check their sources. With the ease that information can be published on the internet, it’s an essential life skill that students can utilise credible websites and identify bias.
Our library staff also support teaching and learning by providing research guides for studied topics. This saves our students time, as all the websites they need for their assignments are in one place. The research guides can be accessed easily from the library portal.
The library portal is continually updated to showcase our new books. Staff and students use the library portal’s online news, including The Australian, The West Australian, Sydney Morning Herald and more! Databases assist students in their research, who always keep an eye out for the library’s competitions regularly advertised on the library portal.
The library space is welcoming, with new furniture in the reading and study areas. The ‘creator space’ is a high-demand space where students go to record podcasts, such as Santa Station, and utilise the green screen. The ‘study sanctuary’ gives our Years 11 and 12 students a quiet space to study. Collaborative spaces are situated in the Non-Fiction area where students can work on research tasks together. Fiction books are organised into genres, making choosing that perfect book much easier!
The library staff are honoured to be this year’s recipients of WASLA’s Team of the Year and the SLAV Innovators Award. They hope to continue to make the library a welcoming, inspiring and innovative place for staff and students.
Santa Maria Teams Shine in Term 1 Sports
Santa Maria had a huge number of girls in the IGSSA AFL and Volleyball competition with strong results for a number of teams.
Lee-Elle’s Insights from the ‘Make it 16’ Forum
Lee-Elle Cooper is a passionate Year 12 student who advocates for youth engagement and political participation. She has recently returned from the Make It 16 Forum in Canberra.
With Laurissa Knowles From Valley Depths to Mountain Peaks (1993)
Laurissa Knowles (1993) has had an incredible career journey so far, from Santa Maria College Teacher to Celebrant and Councillor.
- ConnectingLearning2Life, Featured, Learning4Life
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
