The college is well placed to provide a primary school approach with high school opportunities. 

This means more resources, more support, and more opportunities for students who make the switch to St James College.

St James College Principal, Ann Rebgetz said that a strategic acquisition made the expansion possible, and that offering Year 5 and Year 6 was driven by demand.

“We are doing it now because we were able to acquire a new property next to our school that provides much more space,” Principal Rebgetz explained.

“Placing primary school students into a college with a secondary school facilities context, allows them to have that opportunity to actually engage with the older students, to have the stimulus of the older students as role models, and as mentors.

“Stepping into a middle school is stepping into a new world, because the students in Year 5 now are young adolescents and we know it's a different time.

“They go from childhood to adolescence, and in that adolescent exploration, it gives them that comfort, if you like, of putting a blanket around them to say, ‘This is your middle school home.’

“We do that by nurturing the wellbeing, by having a team of people professionally qualified to look after their wellbeing.“

And that is led by our teachers, our house deans, our support staff, but also the expertise of our counsellors, our therapists, we have an arts therapist, our school youth health nurse.“

All of those people work together to nurture them through the adolescent stage.“And we know in adolescence there are often many challenges.“

It's a challenging time for parents.“

So, we want to make that very special for them by nurturing the middle school philosophy.”

Further, many facilities not found in primary schools will be made available to middle school students, giving them a head start on their counterparts.

The college has a rich history and avowals alumni including former Brisbane Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk, and TechnologyOne CEO, Adrian Di Marco, along with many others.

St James College is accepting enrolment applications across all year levels over Christmas, to find out more visit https://jta.link/SJC56