Shire Christian School is an

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 ...

non-denominational Christian Nondenominational Christianity (or non-denominational Christianity) consists of churches which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligning with a specific Christian d ...

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, located in

Barden Ridge Barden Ridge is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Barden Ridge is located 29 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. Barden Ridge is ...

, a suburb in the Sutherland Shire area 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. The school was founded as Sutherland Shire Christian School in 1977 by a group of local parents who felt a calling to provide their children with an environment in which to gain an education taught from a Christian perspective. They believed that these features were not to be seen in a public

state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

; because of this the school upholds a strong Christian ethos that influences most parts of school life. In 2015 the school jumped nearly 200 places and ranked 65th in the State in NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) results.

Overview

The school consists of one large

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

in the southern suburb of Barden Ridge, and this campus facilitates the two sections of the school: * A

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

(Years 7 to 12) and * A junior school (Preschool to Year 6). In 2016, the school's name was changed to Shire Christian School.

Establishment

The School Association was formally founded in 1969 by several Christian families who wished to have a Christian environment for their children to grow and mature in. The school officially began in 1977 under the name Sutherland Shire Christian School and the Sutherland Shire Christian School Association Ltd was created two years later in 1979. School classes were originally housed in several locations (such as local church halls) before the purchase of several hectares of farm land in the southern Sydney suburb of Barden Ridge, in 1981, where the school has continued to develop since.

Junior School

The Junior School's curriculum is based around six main subject areas: # English # Mathematics # Science and Technology # Human Society & Its Environment # Creative & Practical Arts # Physical Education, Health & Personal Development

High school

Electives

The school offers a wide range of electives at Stage 5 (Yrs 9 and 10) and Stage 6 (Yrs 11 and 12), including extension classes depending upon demand. Students are also able to participate in courses through external providers such as

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

. The school offers German as an elective and provides additional language courses through the NSW School of Languages.

HSC Results

In 2015 the school moved nearly 200 places and ranked 65th in the State in HSC results, making it one of the highest ranking schools in the area in that year. In recent years many final year students have been nominated and selected for the various HSC showcase events.Sutherland Shire Christian School, ''Annual Report 2014'' (2015)

Facilities and grounds

Location

The school is located in the suburban area of Barden Ridge on Allies Road near Lucas Heights Public School. The school has a scenic bushland setting providing not only shade for students but also a bush

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

for junior students.

Facilities

The school has an abundance of facilities on its campus. These include a gymnasium,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...

s and

cricket net Cricket nets are used by batters and bowlers to practice their cricketing techniques. They consist of a cricket pitch (natural or artificial) enclosed by netting on either side, behind, and optionally above. The bowling end is left open. Net ...

s to cater for all types of students needs and interests. Woodwork and metalwork rooms exist for students, along with a

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

room, a home economics room and several music rooms with

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

rooms and an array of musical instruments. Two large libraries cater to both the Primary and Secondary schools. A more recent addition is the Tiered Learning Centre (TLC) and refurbished science laboratories.

Extracurricular

There are several extracurricular clubs which run throughout the school each year. These include a sound and lighting team, debating team, a public speaking team, a concert band, junior and senior choirs, junior and senior guitar ensembles and the VIBE string ensemble.

The arts

The school runs an annual drama performance made up of predominantly senior students and several members of drama classes throughout the school grades. These productions are supported by the entire school community through involvement in costuming, lighting, set design and direction. Recent productions have involved students from the junior school. * 2007: Shakespeare's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' * 2008: Shakespeare's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'' and Nick Enright's '' The Venetian Twins: The Musical'' * 2009: '' Annie: The Musical'' * 2011: '' Oliver: The Musical'' * 2014: ''The Wizard of Oz'' * 2015: Stephen Sondheim's ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story ...

'' The Music Department also stages several smaller performance evenings as part of the peripatetic program alongside the two major musical evenings, the ''Primary Infants Performance Evening'' (PIPE) and ''For One Night Only'' (High School).

Sport

The Shire Christian School is a competitor in many inter-school competitions and participates strongly in Swimming, Athletic and Cross-Country competitions.

Principals

Notable alumni

* Kalani Ballprofessional surfer *

Rebecca Breeds Rebecca Elizabeth Breeds (born 17 June 1987) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ''Blue Water High'', as series regular Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ''Home and Away,'' Aurora de Martel in '' ...

actress

References

External links

Shire Christian School website
{{Nondenominational Christian schools in Australia, state=autocollapse Educational institutions established in 1977 Nondenominational Christian schools in Sydney 1977 establishments in Australia Private primary schools in Sydney Private secondary schools in Sydney Sutherland Shire