Al-Faisal College (abbreviated as AFC) is currently the largest Islamic school in Australia with 2800 students. It is also a dual-campus

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, with campuses in

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

and Campbelltown, both suburbs of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. Operated by Al-Faisal College Ltd, the college was established in 1998 at the Auburn campus, later expanded to the Campbelltown campus in 2013 and Liverpool campus in 2015. The college announced in 2020 that they will be opening up a fourth campus in Lakemba, with construction to start late November 2020.

History

The Auburn campus opened on 27 April 1998 with 200 students from Kindergarten to Year 2. In 2007 the first cohort of Year 12 students, completing the Higher School Certificate graduated from the college. Between 2008 and 2018 the school more than tripled in size, from approximately 860 students in 2008 to 2800 students in 2018. Al-Faisal College took over Iqra Grammar College at

Minto Minto may refer to: Places Antarctica *Mount Minto (Antarctica) Australia *Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Minto railway station * Minto County, Western Australia * Parish of Minto, New South Wales Canada * Minto City, British Col ...

, Campbelltown in 2013 with 440 students and 28 teaching staff bring the total number of enrolments to 1,660. In July 2013, Al-Faisal College bought a property in Minto where it planned to open a campus for 600–1,500 students by 28 April 2014. In August 2013 the college's deputy principal for Years 7 to 12, Peter Rompies, said that school will likely not be able to cater for the 200 to 300 students on the "huge waiting lists" for Kindergarten 2014 applications. Al-Faisal College Liverpool opened its doors in Term 2 on 27 April 2015 with two classrooms operating out of demountable classrooms. In 2016 the school received a $750,000 grant from the state government to improve the facilities.

Campuses

Auburn

The Auburn campus serves as the headquarters for the school and is the largest campus by number of students and staff. The campus has five buildings, denoted as Building A, B, C, D and E. Building A is for the primary school, while Buildings B and C are shared between and primary and secondary students. Buildings D and E are used for secondary students. The campus also has two main playgrounds, one on the main ground level, which is covered and shaded. The second is located on the rooftops of all buildings, except Building A. The rooftop playground is fully netted and secured. The campus only has one main multipurpose hall, known as the "Upper Hall" among the school community, and as the "Grand Hall" formally. The Hall has an open stage, with backstage spacing, a comprehensive sound system and a projector system set up on stage. The Hall is used for sporting, prayers and school functions such as graduations, formals and awards night. File:AFC Upper Hall.jpg, The Upper Hall at AFC, Auburn

Campbelltown

The Campbelltown campus started operating under Al-Faisal College management in 2013, previously being operated by Iqra Grammar School since 2006. The campus went through a revamp under Al-Faisal College and hence has expanded its facilities to include a multipurpose hall, a library and multiple computer and scientific labs.

Liverpool

Al-Faisal College opened its doors to their third campus in Minto, the campus is good. Currently, the campus only operates from K-11 and is expecting its first HSC examinations to take place for its first graduating cohort in 2022. In 2020, Al-Faisal College announced their master plan for their Liverpool campus, which includes extending the existing campus and also creating another site for the school across the existing one, at 80 Gurner Avenue. This plan will create new facilities such as multipurpose halls, new play fields, extended library, new classrooms among other expansion projects. The plan will cater for over 5500 students and 200 staff and will cost more than $300 million to construct. The master plan is said to go hand in hand with the overall transformation of the Liverpool area, which is slowly becoming a CBD in Western Sydney.

Lakemba

Al-Faisal College announced in early 2020 that a fourth campus will be constructed at 65 Croydon St, Lakemba. The campus will cater for 350 students from K-6 spread over a 2 level building, with associated car parking and play areas. The campus is due to open in 2022.

Curriculum

Al-Faisal College teaches according to the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards mandated syllabuses. Students from Kindergarten to Year 12 study

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

as a Language Other Than English and study the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and complete Islamic studies. Students completing the Higher School Certificate at the college study Arabic and Islamic Studies, along with the compulsory subject

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and other subjects of their choosing. In the three years to 2019, Al-Faisal College increased its rank in the Higher School Certificate from 54th in 2017 to 23rd in 2020. Primary students are offered compulsory courses of English, Maths, Science, HSIE, Technology, PDHPE, Creative Arts (includes Music and Visual Arts). The college offers various co-curricular activities for Primary students such as

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

, programming. coding classes and clubs hosting

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...

and

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

practise etc.

Funding

The

Muslim World League The Muslim World League (MWL; ar, رابطة العالم الاسلامي, Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami, ) is an International Islamic NGO based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate v ...

(MWL), founded by Saudi Crown Prince Faisal, is closely linked to Sheikh Shafiq Khan, the managing director of the al-Faisal College. The MWL provided funding to assist in the establishment of the college. While it has been reported that Khan's power rests on his close relationship with the Saudi Government and its Islamic Affairs Ministry, which uses the kingdom's wealth to promote its conservative

Wahhabi Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...

view of Islam, in response Khan has said the Saudi funding of the school does not mean Saudis have control or influence on the college's curriculum. In 2003, Shafiq Khan was involved in a court case where he was accused of diverting more than $1 million derived from

halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with ''haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification kno ...

certification to charities including the Al-Faisal College. Khan negotiated a settlement and agreed to return the money.

References

{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1998 Private secondary schools in Sydney Private primary schools in Sydney Auburn, New South Wales Campbelltown, New South Wales Islamic schools in Sydney 1998 establishments in Australia