At St Andrews we celebrate and share the “Good News” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see each student as a unique creation of God, as a person whom he loves and with whom he desires a relationship. Through regular worship and our P-12 Christian Studies programme we aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of Biblical Christianity and trust that the Holy Spirit will work faith in their lives. Christian teaching at the College is based on the doctrines of the Lutheran Church of Australia, although students from a variety of church and non-church backgrounds are welcomed into the community.
St Andrews is known as a school where people matter. No-one is lost in the crowd at St Andrews. Most of our enrolments come about through word of mouth: we are recommended by parents and students who, quite simply, love the school. Each staff member makes a special effort to know and care for the individual students in their charge and the Student Services team (Counsellor, Chaplains, Learning Support teachers) offers specialist assistance to students with special needs. Staff do not follow a “one size fits all” approach but strive to develop individual pathways for students according to their particular interests and talents, especially in secondary school.
Because we believe that all useful knowledge and learning is a wonderful gift of God for our growth as human beings, we value academic excellence. We also recognise that each child has different but special gifts that need to be identified and developed to the fullest. Thus we provide a wide range of curricular and co-curricular activities at all levels and empower students to strive towards their own personal best in their chosen fields. In our classes, learning how to learn is emphasised so that young people have the skills to become lifelong learners.
We are Committed to and Value:
Centrality of the Gospel
We acknowledge God’s Word as the authority and guide for the community. In it Christ is revealed, providing the centre of all we do under God’s grace.
Worth of the Individual
We believe each person in the community is important, their worth attested by Christ and should be able to reach their potential: academically, spiritually, physically, culturally and socio-emotionally.
Excellence
Our aim is to strive for excellence in an education which is authentic, life-related and future-orientated.
Learning
We aim to help ALL students to learn and to continue to learn, setting specific targets which can be attained through collaborative effort by the student, other students, staff and parents. We believe challenging academic standards can be reached by most children if they are given sufficient time to master the concepts.
Importance of Relationships
We believe that in Christ all are equal, regardless of race, ability, gender or physical nature, and are committed to each other in caring, just, supporting, encouraging and forgiving relationships.
Service
We believe that we are to serve one another and the community.
Sense of Community
We believe that St Andrews is enriched as we develop a sense of belonging and connectedness to the College and each other and as we interact with the wider community.
More than a Good Education….An Education for Good.
At St Andrews we learn, not for ourselves alone, but for the good of others and the world. We also strive to develop skills and attitudes that will last.
College Motto
Semper Fidelis means ‘always faithful’. As Christ is always faithful to us, so we desire to be faithful to Him, to His Word in the Bible and each other as members in the St Andrews community.