In 2018, 2020 and 2022, Wesley College was named as an Innovative School by The Educator, the leading Australian resource for senior educational professionals.
The Innovative School status reflects our commitment to cutting-edge facilities and ideas.
At Wesley College our students, staff and community have access to state-of-the-art learning spaces. Our Junior School sustainability garden is a living learning environment that transforms into a bustling market garden. Inspired by Reggio Emilia, our Early Learning teachers deliberately design their classroom spaces as the ‘third teacher’. They use natural materials, nature play spaces, and a combination of inside and outside spaces, for learning.
Many other buildings, such as Middle School Transition, Ward and Kefford, have flexible breakout spaces and furniture that provides a range of micro-learning environments for students. Additionally, 2017 saw us open the refurbished Languages Centre and the Mildred Manning Science Centre, which was presented with the Architects Institute of Australia Western Australia ‘Award for Educational Architecture’. In 2019, we opened the refurbished Clive Hamer Wing, which houses a range of prototyping lab zones for building, 3D printing, model creation, construction and deconstruction, as well as multiple-purpose classrooms and a small lecture theatre.
Our spaces are based on balancing flexibility and agility (the capacity to change the space according to need), with deliberate zoning in which different spaces are designed with particular types of working and being in mind. The Languages Centre has signed zones for talking, collaboration, creation and quiet work. The Science Centre is a living science experiment, with a drop zone, living wall, and pulley systems that allow observation, data collection and data tracking, using sensors, cameras, data probes and monitors.
Innovation also spreads to how the students are educated. For example, the College’s unique Katitjin experience – a unique, term-long experiential education program in Year 8, where students leave the classroom to experience a range of challenging and inspirational environments within the Perth CBD to explore self-awareness, team dynamics and community.
Another standout program is Wesley NEXT.
Wesley NEXT was created to give our Year 10-12 students an opportunity to learn real-world skills that they can list on their resumes – a positive step towards getting their first jobs.
As they accumulate ‘micro-credentials’ the students up-skill themselves in ways that employers, industry and tertiary institutions are looking for.
These innovative spaces and ideas allow students and staff to live the pursuit of excellence, lifelong learning, and our motto ‘By Daring and By Doing’.