Students from Years 7-12 are embracing the power of design thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation to create a brighter future, with the opening of a two-storey, state-of-the-art Infinity Centre at Matthew Flinders Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast in January 2024.
New College Principal Ms Michelle Carroll said Flinders was proud to launch a world-class learning facility, purposefully designed to challenge, inspire and support students to excel in a future workforce.
The Infinity Centre is the culminating project in a suite of new learning facilities developed through the College’s five-year Masterplan to enhance the Flinders campus for current and future learners.
Other completed Masterplan facilities include the Year 7 Precinct, the Flagship Centre for Years 5 and 6 students and the Wonderarium learning centre in the Primary School.
“There’s no doubt our new Infinity Centre is an awe-inspiring facility that is exciting to walk through, let alone to teach and learn in,” Ms Carroll said.
“It has been delightful to see our students’ excitement – for some, even disbelief – as they enter the Infinity Centre for the first time and comprehend that these wondrous spaces are their new classrooms, maker spaces, pitching rooms and exhibition spaces,” she said.
“Yet what is truly extraordinary about this facility is the value it places on supporting students through the design thinking process, so that they can grapple with and solve complex real-world problems.
“The Infinity Centre features dedicated spaces and technology with top quality resources, tools and equipment to enable enquiry and ideation, collaboration, prototyping and testing, as well as presentation.
“Future employers will expect employees to possess deep knowledge and skills as well as strong 21st century skills, so it’s important our students learn how to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems, collaborate and create innovative solutions to prototype and test.”
The Infinity Centre features one Infinity Gallery space, one pitching space, three collaborative spaces, one Infinity Studio and Whitebox Space, three art studios with kilns and pottery wheels, five design studios, one cleantech space, two food laboratories, two workshop spaces and multiple storerooms, a Digi Studio and a Digi Lab with 24 workstations, each with dual-screened PCs linked by the Crestron system.
There are also reading nooks with well-stocked bookshelves and comfy chairs overlooking the rainforest.
Outside, the beautifully landscaped gardens and seating zones are for students to gather and relax at break times, while the open stage and exhibition areas are an opportunity to present student creations, whether for art exhibitions, dramatic performances, music concerts, community events or fundraisers.
“Design thinking is woven throughout our Flinders curriculum because we want to equip students with the vital skills to solve problems, reflect, collaborate, adapt and innovate for a better world,” Head of Curriculum Mr Bill Hooper said.
“The Infinity Centre further supports and challenges our Flinders students to become confident creators and problem-solvers.”
Students work across a range of disciplines, including Visual Art, Design and Technologies, Digital Technologies and Business.
To book a personalised tour of Matthew Flinders Anglican College, contact the Admissions Team www.mfac.edu.au/admissions
