“One of the things I enjoyed the most about SAMS was the close relationships I got the opportunity to have. The teachers and students were really non-judgmental; it really helped to define the culture of the school and made me feel like I was a part of a big community who looked out for one another. Before SAMS I was very sheltered, very quiet– I didn’t want to talk to people. But because we were in such small classes, I was pretty much forced to! We had the opportunity to open up to each other, and I am so grateful for that. I’m happy I was able to have really close relationships with my classmates at SAMS, and also with my teachers. If I had a problem with anything, or needed help with my assignments, I was able to email my teachers and ask ‘can you check that I’m on the right track?’ Before SAMS I wouldn’t ask questions, I’d just do what I was told without question even though I didn’t understand. But at SAMS they’d help me to understand what I was doing.”
“The teachers at SAMS really helped me to focus on taking risks in my learning, but they also encouraged nurturing the skills I already do have. I didn’t really embrace music and art until I got into SAMS. When I started to get into it more, the teachers and students responded really well to my work and gave me feedback, and it was mind-blowing to see that people actually really liked the things I was creating! So when I got into high school, I carried my love for art with me. I also grew in my interest in science too. I never really liked it because it was hard to wrap my head around, but my teacher at SAMS was so passionate about science that made me wonder “Why is science so amazing to her?” It made me curious, and then when I did science in high school, I realised “Wow it’s actually a really interesting subject!” SAMS really helped me to take interest in things I was not really interested in before and lead to me achieving some great results at high school. I worked hard and achieved Excellence endorsements in Level 1, 2 and 3. I am now living in Australia and planning to do a Bachelor of Music!”
“I think what I appreciated most about the teachers at SAMS was that I knew them, and they knew me. Not only did I see them as my teachers, but I came to see them as friends as well. The care that they extended when my mum was ill was incredible– they checked up on me and helped with my workload where they could. They’d give me more time if I needed it to get my projects done or reduce the number of tasks, so I had less on my plate. It was just really nice knowing people cared so much about my wellbeing when things got hard. SAMS just felt like home– there was no distinction between ‘home’ life and school life, we were all just one big family.”
– Adam King, SAMS Class of 2015