Principal

One College, Two Campuses

Why have a new campus?

We know that we are blessed to be part of such a wonderful community of students, families, and staff. Our dream is to increase the reach of our educational programs which are rich in Lutheran culture and so deeply respected by our community. What is most valued by our families is our ability to care for and grow each individual student. When a college gets “too” big, the ability to have a personal connection is challenged. Rather than extend our offerings by bringing more students onto the current site, we chose to broaden our community through another campus. This will allow both sites learning spaces and the sense of connection that comes with a community that is able to know and appreciates each other because the size is just right!

We will be offering the Good News values-based learning experience for more students while maintaining the more intimate learning communities that we know benefit our student development. With the number of students on our Tarneit campus, teachers can form close relationships with the students and provide a more personalised and supportive learning environment. This results in higher levels of student engagement and success and is the reason for our strong sense of community and belonging.

The planning for a second campus has always had the needs of both our current and future students at the centre. We have kept a focus on the Lutheran Church of Australia’s vision and mission, particularly: 

• To see God’s love come to life in people
  ... so that people everywhere may know Christ and his love
• To minister to a diverse community

Over the last two years, there has been much planning in the background as we have prepared for an Early Learning Centre and a second campus. While this work has been done, you will have noticed that we have also increased our focus on improvement of our academic outcomes. Our commitment to striving for excellence has not and will not change.

What happens when one school becomes two campuses?

Nothing changes for our current students, each campus will have the same focus on Lutheran values, the same educational philosophy, and the same International Baccalaureate framework. However, just like the way we tailor the delivery of a lesson to the students in front of the teacher, the delivery in each campus will also reflect the subtle differences of each community. Each campus will be able to make use of the local council facilities unique to each area. For the Tarneit campus, it will feel like proudly watching a younger sister grow. We know we don’t always get things at the same time as our siblings and there are times when we might feel tempted toward jealousy, but we are always protective and proud of our brothers and sisters.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27

….so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.