St Hilda’s reimagines 21st century skills

A culture and commitment of constant improvement will underpin a major strategic rethink for St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls as it sets out on an ambitious overhaul of what the future of learning will look like in the coming decade.

That’s according to the school’s principal, Fiona Johnston, who joined St Hilda’s in 2019 following a stint as head of the Secondary School at The Australian International School in Singapore.

Ms Johnston told Business News the school’s strategic plan had been formulated to address the increasing permeability of skills students would need as they prepared to enter the workforce in the 2030s.

“To continue to be a school of the future, you can’t afford to sit still,” she said.

“Coming into the role at St Hilda’s a little over two years ago I took on a huge responsibility to embrace a legacy of 125 years of education.

“With that responsibility, I believe, comes a dedicated focus to ensure we are modern, fresh and progressive.”

Under the new blueprint, dubbed ‘St Hilda’s Reimagined’, the school will increasingly focus on creativity, imagination and entrepreneurial skills with an increased emphasis on problem-solving skills.

That will require reimagining our curriculum for students leading up to year 10, with cross curricular STEAM opportunities among one of the approaches the school will utilise to achieve its goal.

Ms Johnston said it was important for St Hilda’s to give students room to be flexible with their subjects ahead of years 11 and 12, when they would be required to follow a more structured path into further studies.

“What’s underlying [the new strategy] is an entrepreneurial and innovative lens and looking at programs that will really give our girls a platform to solve global and community problems,” she said.

“When you change the way teaching and learning occurs, you have to change assessment so that it mirrors the contemporary world they’re going into.

“When you change the way learning occurs, you change the way girls think, respond and engage. We aspire to be the school that sparks extraordinary futures for our graduates.

"Our girls know they need to be a part of resetting the table, influencing conversations and having a voice in decision making when they venture beyond the walls of St Hilda’s.