History:
The first parish school of St Peter's, East Bentleigh, was established in 1865 in Centre Road, opposite the present site of the Monash Medical Centre, Moorabbin Campus. The tiny timber schoolhouse served the community for 36 years and was replaced in 1903 by a brick building when the Presentation Sisters took over the school. In 1934, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart took over the running of the school. In 1953, the parish purchased the present school and church site and erected a school/church, which has now been incorporated into the main school complex.
When East Bentleigh became a rapidly growing urban area, almost overnight, hundreds of acres of market gardens were auctioned, sub-divided and built on. The stream of new settlers from overseas was becoming evident among the young families who had come to the district.
In 1983, the first lay principal, Mr Des Dalton was appointed, and served the school community for 10 years. Mrs Lorraine Francis was then appointed Principal in 1995 until 2005.
In 2012 the Parishes of St Peter’s Bentleigh East, St Paul’s Bentleigh and St Catherine’s Moorabbin became one to form the Holy Trinity Parish. As a result the three schools now being part of the one parish created a larger catholic learning community – A Federation of Schools.
Within this model, each of the three schools have remained Prep to Year 6 and retained the ‘soul’ of each community that makes it unique. The schools work closely together and in 2015 Michael Juliff was appointed Coordinating Principal of the Federated Schools with each school having their own principal. The present principal is Mr Michael Hanney.
Over the years, the school has seen many changes in refurbishment and extensions. Many of the present St Peter's students are the grandchildren of the original parishioners.
Description:
St Peter’s has an enrolment of approximately 600 children across 25 single-level classrooms. The school demonstrates a strong Catholic ethos, which is enhanced by the committed relationship between the parish and the school. Parents actively participate in classroom literacy activities, excursions, inter-school sport and the Parents and Friends Association, which organises a range of social activities across the year. The school has an Out of Hours Care program that operates daily and during school holidays.
Features:
St Peter’s School offers a comprehensive curriculum. Religious Education is based on Archdiocesan texts which emphasise doctrine, faith and prayer and the sacramental program is parent-initiated, parish-based and school-supported.
At St. Peter's the teaching of Literacy, Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, is fundamental to all areas of the curriculum. Literacy learning occurs every day for approximately two hours. All students participate in a variety of teaching and learning activities, which cater to their individual literacy needs. The gradual release of responsibility is implemented in Literacy, with teachers providing modelled, shared, guided and independent activities, to scaffold student learning. Assessment is an ongoing process and the data is used to inform teaching. The three-tier approach to intervention facilitates the process for teachers to refer students for enabling and enhancing interventions, should their quality differentiated teaching not meet the needs of their students. We have individual and small group interventions to support at-risk students and to extend those who are high achievers.
Numeracy at St Peter’s is focused on differentiating the curriculum so each individual student’s learning needs are taken into consideration. Teachers use a range of assessment tools including Essential Assessment to identify the zone of proximal teaching and plan optimal learning paths accordingly taking note of curriculum across the levels.
We offer small group and individual intervention and extension classes when needed but also cater for this within the classroom by ensuring lessons offer enabling and extending hooks to engage all. Learning experiences are based on real life investigations and our overall philosophy is to inspire a confidence with and appreciation of the Numeracy that permeates our everyday lives.
Student wellbeing is addressed through the implementation of key whole school programs including: Peer Support, Friendology, Health Relationships, The Buddy Program and Bounce Back. In addition the two year Mappen program addresses all key wellbeing curriculum areas across all year levels. Other initiatives include student voice in child safety policies, SRC input into school rules, events and wellbeing direction, social skills groups run by allied health professionals, a focus on restorative justice and Year 6 lead Action Teams.
There are specialist classes in Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Information Technology and Japanese. Other Music involvement includes a school choir and private instrumental lessons.
The school offers a comprehensive Physical Education program from Prep to Year 6, access to an art room and a computer and STEM space, and access to computers and iPads in all classrooms.