Home away at Concordia

By Director of Enrolment and Marketing Belinda Sanders

Boarding is a decision than many parents deliberate and worry about for years.

It’s not just the decision on which school to choose, but added complexities of will your child fit in, will they be homesick, will they make friends to talk to?

At Concordia Lutheran College every student is valued as an individual and our teachers and staff are very much of the belief that everyone can make a special contribution to the larger Concordia College ‘family’.

Things have changed over the past 30 years and today’s boarding has a strong focus on meeting every student’s individual needs.

At Concordia we seek out staff who are empathetic and appropriately trained to work in our boarding houses and there is a big emphasis on the importance of family involvement in how we cater to our children’s needs.

When asked our boarders identified two key areas that they believe their ‘second home’ gives them a unique opportunity for development and growth.

One of these is the additional peer and staff interaction compared to non-boarding students. They believe access to tutoring, development of self-care skills, routine, and structure will benefit them immensely in the future.

The boarding environment also gives them an extra sense of belonging to our school ‘family’ which is important for our young people as a sense of belonging improves learning and produces happier, more relaxed, and adaptable people.

Our boarding staff encourage this by providing an environment where they can feel connected to the school, their friends and peers. It is also an environment where they know they are listened to, valued, and supported.

We also know that we can’t get it right all the time and boarders have their ups and down, but our current cohort report that they have very close and supportive friendships in the boarding house.

At Concordia Lutheran College our curriculum and activities are always evolving to fit the needs of our students and our changing Australian society.

One of the new courses is Agricultural Practices, which are being offered to the Year 9 and 10 students at the college this year.

Each year this will be expanding until Years 7-12 will have the opportunity to engage in learning through agriculture.

The Year 9 students have been exploring many sectors of the agricultural industry in a unit entitled “The Australian Hamburger”.

This unit encompasses the grain sector, protein and horticultural industries with students involved in practical experiences at the college, as well as hands on excursions across a range of industries.

The students have designed and planted their own vegetables gardens, started up the chicken coop after researching heritage breeds and been involved in tagging and weighing cattle, visiting large scale lettuce farms and regenerative soil farmers as part of their course work.

As part of a Preferred Futures unit some Year 10 students have initiated a startup business called RAW Agriculture. These students have worked with the technology department to build hay feeders from repurposed materials.

You will find these students out and about in the community at shows and other industry meetings displaying their work and generating interest in their products.

Concordia Lutheran College offers co-educational boarding for Years 7 to 12 and these students enrich our school in many ways.

Their presence creates a fabric of community, of diverse culture and their experiences enhances the experience for day students.

We hope our students will learn social skills in an atmosphere that fosters both independence and cooperation and develop life-long friendships.

Weekends are busy with a diverse range of supervised and structured activities such as beach trips, theme parks visits, and a variety of recreational activities.

With a heated pool, weights room, gym, and spacious grounds, our boarders have one of the best backyards in the country.

We also believe independent living sets these students up for the challenges of University life following graduation as they go into the next stage of their life with the skills and talents they have developed at the College.

Students at the College’s purpose-built boarding houses have access to kitchens, common rooms, study rooms, music practice areas, comfortable age-appropriate dormitories, and en-suite bedrooms for the oldest boarding students.

Contact Concordia on 4688 2700 for more information.