Saint Stephen’s College staff, parents outraged at new logo

A top Gold Coast private school’s decision to dump its crest and replace it with a modern logo has upset staff, parents and students, with one staffer saying it accompanied an exodus of up to 70 staff in fewer than three years.

Staff, parents and students at a prestigious Gold Coast school have furiously protested against the proposed “audacious” removal of the college crest, which they say was done without consultation.

Members of the Saint Stephen’s College community in Coomera are outraged that the “sacred” crest was to be scrapped in favour of a modern logo designed by an external agency and approved by principal Kim Cohen.

They are also angry at what they describe as a “complete lack of consultation until after the fact”.

It comes as the school has lost a large number of staff since Ms Cohen’s appointment in 2020.

Saint Stephen’s College’s old crest

Saint Stephen’s College’s new logo

The Courier-Mail understands teachers were shown the new logo at the end of a staff meeting on July 21 and when concerns were raised, subsequently also by parents and students, a survey was sent to the school community on August 5.

The results revealed overwhelming support to keep the crest that has been with the prep-to-year 12 school since its inception in 1996.

In a letter to staff on Thursday, Ms Cohen, appointed principal in 2020, said the board had decided that “for now, we will leave the crest as it is and then over the next year or two some small tweaks will be made as mentioned in a survey question”.

Those tweaks concern sharpening the images in the crest and correcting the Latin, which is meant to read “God our strength; excellence our pursuit”, but one word is wrong.

She also sent a video message to parents on Friday, outlining the survey outcome.

In a statement to The Courier-Mail, Ms Cohen said the school was “committed to continuing to be a leading independent school that meets the changing educational needs of students and attracts the best staff”.

“To help achieve this, we recently undertook a review of our market position,” she said.

Saint Stephen’s College principal Kim Cohen.

“While we initially thought this may include a refreshed crest, based on feedback from the school community, we have decided to maintain the original college crest.”

One staffer said the crest controversy had been a “distraction from our core business of education” and “a most unforgivable thing”.

Another called it “a hornet’s nest” and said it accompanied a “mass staff exodus”.

“Up to 70 people have left in less than three years, where previously we might have lost only three a year due to normal attrition,” the staffer said.

“It is very sad to see the talent that has gone – we’ve lost hundreds of years of collective experience.”

A Saint Stephen’s parent said her children were “disgusted” by the moves to ditch the crest.

“This is sacred; it means something to the kids,” the parent said.

“It tells the story of our forefathers who started the spirit of this very special place, and the kids are all talking about it and asking who has the right to change it.

“It’s audacious and completely unnecessary.”

The proposed new logo, which already appears on the school’s Facebook page, does not contain all original elements of the crest such as the lamp, which represents the lamp of knowledge, or the stones, in memory of St Stephen’s death by stoning.

The Courier-Mail understands the school engaged the services of Gold Coast web design agency 7th Vision, at a cost of up to $30,000, to design the logo and overhaul the college’s website.

Ms Cohen, previously head of The Glennie School in Toowoomba and former deputy of St Margaret’s Anglican Girls’ School in Ascot, has been contacted for comment.