Pedagogy Aligns with Design in New Primary Precinct

The Sunshine Coast is booming, as people discover life outside the capital cities is pretty good, they have been arriving in number, that means more kids and more infrastructure at Suncoast Christian College.

Being at the epicentre of the boom SCC needed to rapidly accommodate new students, many of them young. Their new Primary Precinct is a large new wing of the College built over three stories with a connecting common, housing four-hundred and fifty students from Years 1 to 6.

Suncoast is located in the Hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, in the suburb of Woombye, directly west of Maroochydore. The surrounding area has transformed from small orchards and cane fields to housing subdivisions for young families in recent years.

Real estate is cheaper west of the M1 (Bruce Highway) and so the area attracts families, and those looking for more space and a more semi-rural outlook. Post COVID-19, many people have relocated to the Sunshine Coast from southern states and are able to work from home.

There are several large schools close by - Woombye and Palmwoods State Schools, Nambour and Burnside State Colleges, along with Catholic schools St Josephs and St Johns, and independent schools, Nambour Christian College, Sunshine Coast Grammar School and Montessori International College. Immanuel Lutheran College, Coolum Beach Christian College, Good Samaritan and Sienna Catholic Colleges and Chancellor State College are located within 20-25 minutes of Suncoast too.

The school worked closely with m3architecture to arrive at a design that would enhance the precinct’s pedagogy. They love it.

“It was a bit emotional when we first walked students through, they said, oh it feels like home…and this is a school! It doesn’t feel like an institution. We got this extraordinary facility that is so bespoke, and every detail has been thought through. Removing the walls, but not having a big box, it’s a cleverly designed space that is easier for students and teachers to flow between,” Principal Greg Mattiske said. 

“On the front of the building there are these stainless-steel geometric designs which create a beautiful piece. The light, space, colour, connection with the rural site and its history (the site was a former pineapple farm) is so good for student and teacher wellbeing, it’s palpable,” Mattiske said. “I really valued that m3architecture took all the decision makers on that journey. Every rationale was detailed and there was great confidence going to the Board. They also took over supervision of construction which was exceptional.”

m3architecture Director Ben Vielle said they took the time to understand the College’s co-teaching model, incorporated a connection to the natural environment and imagined the building as a greenhouse for growing children.

“Suncoast Christian College has a co-teaching pedagogy whereby two year levels of three streams are taught together - a stage. We devised a model for each stage where 150 students could cohabitate the space across two to three floors in various teaching modes. At various times of the day, they reconfigure to suit how they want to learn. Within those environments there are specialist spaces as well. Each of the three stages has a makerspace, a kitchen, and lounge areas. A lot of children refer to it as like their home,” Mr Vielle said.

Principal Mattiske thinks that, "It is amazing that students and parents say that it exudes a sense of calm, which is conducive to learning. We are delighted with how our approach to co-teaching is going. We have been working at this for at least 5 years, experimenting with learning space design and co-teaching models in existing classrooms in which we removed walls. We were convinced it was the way to go for the school and built the new facility specifically with co-teaching in mind. Once the design was settled and construction started, we undertook a very deliberate program to prepare the staff (and students) who would work in the new facilities.

“Some were very excited; some were extremely nervous. However, once the move occurred, the concerns and anxieties quickly abated as people understood how the building would work and experienced it working so well. It was perhaps a surprise at how well students settled in and took to learning in the new spaces. We have been coaching our Stage Leaders in team health and dynamics (with an external consultant using the work of Patrick Lencioni as a framework) and this has been a key part of the success.

“Of course, we are still at the beginning of this journey and are fine tuning how we work and learn in the spaces, and share the responsibility as a team for student growth. From my observation as principal, I am continually impressed every time I walk through the space to observe the level of calm, happiness, focus, productivity and signs of wellbeing. Then building and facilities are achieving the vision and our goals.”

Students and staff spent the first two weeks in the new facilities learning how to move and transition between spaces in the building. It is the configurations of students that changes frequently throughout the day, more so than the furniture. Stage Leaders might negotiate a change to the arrangement of furniture with the team to trial something better or new, but generally the furniture stays put. There are spaces for carpet time, desk work, project work, small group work, pair work, individual work and so on.

One of the early innovations was to repurpose the large withdrawal rooms as coaching boxes for groups up to 25 children. The furniture was removed permanently so that the children can sit on the floor with their own small whiteboard for 15-20 minutes of hyper-focused learning which includes direct instruction.

“Another strategy we are beginning to implement is to timetable the spaces so that particular activities occur in the spaces, rather than particular classes being permanently located in one space. People are also discovering more ways to use the bleachers which it turns out are great for laptop work, pair activities, reading and project work, in addition to large group situations,” Mattiske says.

The master plan was completed in 2019 and work started immediately on planning the new facility. The concept design phase took about a year, from articulating vision and ideas, and gathering with stakeholder input, to finalising the design. The design and development phase also then took many months with final plans being submitted for the various applications and approvals in September of 2021. Funding approvals were obtained by May 2022, with the ground breaking ceremony held in June 2022 with the commencement of construction. The new wing for Year 1-6 was completed and occupied in September 2023, and the refurbished H Block facilities completed in Term 1 2024, with Prep taking occupancy in mid-term 2024.

“There are different settings within the larger connected space to each stage. Although the spaces are open to each other, they are acoustically private. The acoustics are a really big thing within the building in terms of making it a flexible learning environment. Because there are so many classes within the one space it needs to work acoustically, and it does,” Mr Vielle said.

Principal Mattiske agrees, “We have ceiling acoustic treatment, the carpet helps, the timber, and then these beautiful lampshades that are not just pieces of art, they function as part of the acoustic treatment as well, trapping the horizontal travelling of sound.

“The use of colour and timber and openness to the oval and all that green on one side and the green of the forest on the other, the sense of wellbeing in the building is palpable. I was not anticipating how extraordinary that would be,” he says. “For example, a lot of parents, staff, and if I’m honest, me too, were quite nervous about how our students with particular needs, such as those with noise sensitivity, or distractibility, would go in there, but it has been such an improvement.

“It is very calm, it really is. When I need a pick-me-up, I go for a visit. When you walk in there the kids are truly engaged in learning. It’s so good, there’s so little distraction or off-task behaviour. There is quite a bit of visible student agency as well. There are options for where you sit, and teachers can keep the learning flowing because there is space to move around. There can be movement, there can be a change that refocuses everyone. The bleachers that join the two floors to create a community space was a genius solution. The children love learning there, they do their reading and their group work. I would like to work on the bleachers,” Mattiske said. 

m3architecture developed the colour scheme with an understanding of the College’s culture of learning and growth. “Each of the stages, whether that is Years 1-2, 3-4, or 5-6, are themed to a season to provide a unique identity. For example, Years 1-2 is based on Autumn colours. Spaces are named after Autumnal fruits, so the students also become familiar and attuned to seasonal produce - pineapple, pear, plum. There’s a Winter scheme and a Spring scheme. There is a deliberate gradation of colour and vibrancy from the highly saturated entry to the more neutral larger teaching settings which provides choice for students and staff whilst maintaining a sense of vibrancy and joy,” Mr Vielle said.

“In each stage they can gather large groups of 150, or seventy-five students in the bleacher arrangement that connects the two levels, six classes of twenty-five are accommodated simultaneously, and they can break out into much smaller groups. Prior to this the primary school were in a traditional cellular classrooms (in pairs) using the co-teaching method. The new building has allowed them to realise the full potential of the co-teaching model. The model promotes equality amongst students, catering for neurodiverse students, and students who require extension or additional support, who are able to learn in the same space as their peers without stigma.”

The reduction in stigma of ability groups is wonderful and is not obvious, “The building is about allowing us to truly work together as a team to meet the needs of students,” Mr Mattiske says.