School Structure
- Overview
- Southern Highlands Christian School offers a distinctive education in the Southern Highlands. The school is a strong Christ-centred community of staff, students, parents and friends who work together to make the school a place of teaching and learning excellence, based firmly on biblical beliefs, principles and behaviours.
- School Structure
- The school is divided into four departments:
Infants (Prep - Year 2)
Primary (Year 3 - Year 6)
Junior Secondary (Year 7 - Year 10)
Senior Secondary (Year 11 - Year 12)
Each department has its own team of teachers lead by a department coordinator. Some specialist teachers work across the entire school, such as Special Education, Library, and PE.
- Continuity of Education
- Southern Highlands Christian School is the only school in the area offering a continuous education from Prep/Kindergarten to year 12. This makes the transitions into different stages of schooling stress free and academically smooth for students and their parents.
We purposefully make each stage of student development complement each other, therefore each section of the school builds on the foundation laid in the previous year levels. It is important wherever possible, for students to enter in the earlier grades, providing solid foundations where students reap the full benefits of the careful progression from stage to stage.
The design of the school site also allows for safe and secure play in each area. Where shared play areas occur across departments, students are expected to modify their behaviour to care for the younger ones. This helps to ensure the younger children are cared for while the older students are provided with an environment appropriate to their maturity level. This environment fosters the development of multi-age relationships, reflecting everyday life.
- Moral Development
- We desire for all students to be equipped for life as a Christian or a person with solid Christian morals and principles.
This is achieved through:
* Intensive instruction in accordance with the Board of Studies curriculum requirements with a Biblical perspective.
* Encouragement to all students to develop their individual God-given talents and strengths.
* Positive safe environments that allow all students to enjoy their schooling in an accepting peer group.
* Development of the whole student, educationally, spiritually, and socially as part of the curriculum offering.
* Providing Christian teachers. Each teacher at the school is an active Christian, with an undoubtable commitment to the students entrusted to their care. They believe in a partnership in education with parents, and their dedication to their class goes well beyond a normal expectation.
* Bible Studies and Daily Devotions. Students participate in classroom devotions each morning with a pastoral care and spiritual focus. This may vary in format in different stages of the school, but generally involves prayer, Bible reading and pastoral care of each other.
- Discipline
- We are committed to moulding a responsible and mature student in our approach to discipline, and working with our young people to ensure they adopt for themselves high standards of behaviour and work ethics.
We also understand the important role parents have, and we endeavour to keep parents informed regarding the behaviour of their child so they can support the discipline efforts of the school.
- Small Classes
- We are proud of the class sizes we provide to maximise learning, with one benefit of these small classes being reflected in our excellent, across the student body Higher School Certificate results.
Kindergarten classes have a maximum of twenty to ensure the best possible start from infants children. Classes in the Junior School fluctuate due to the variation in enrollments and the opportunity at times to have composite classes.
In the High School our classes are generally smaller than average, and in the Senior High School the majority of subjects have class sizes less than ten, with some of only three or four.
- Service and Mission
- At SHCS we are committed to the development of the whole child, mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally. Part of this commitment is to help them achieve an outward focus.
Our school has developed a strong history of overseas mission trips, to countries such as Fiji, the Soloman Islands and Vanuatu as well as trips within Australia to Bourke and Darwin.
We want to challenge all students to not only respond to Christ but to share His love and the offer of salvation that He freely makes.
Without a doubt, mission trips are the highlight for many students, and they see the unique opportunity provided to them in serving others.
