College Leadership

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Sean

Sean Morrison

Principal

Brisbane Christian College has a long and successful tradition in developing graduates with self-discipline, a zest for life and a strong moral compass.

Brisbane Christian College is a wonderfully diverse community with a range of cultures, Christian denominations and other faith backgrounds represented. Our families select Brisbane Christian College because of our holistic, student-focused approach to learning, strong family values, nurturing environment and the outstanding behaviour of our students.

Jesus is the reason for our College. He is the driving force in our staff members’ lives and gives a clear sense of calling to each staff member to be within our community. Brisbane Christian College’s nurturing staff work in close partnership with parents and caregivers to ensure that students reach their spiritual, academic, emotional and physical potential.

In an era when many schools are large and can appear impersonal, Brisbane Christian College is small enough for students to be known by name, yet large enough to provide high-tech facilities and robust academic and co-curricular programs.

The result is a tight-knit community in which our students thrive academically, psycho-socially and spiritually, secure in the knowledge of God’s love.

As the leader of Brisbane Christian College, I look forward to working collaboratively with you as your child flourishes within our community.

Richest blessings,
Mr Sean G Morrison

ross

Ross Eggins

Deputy Principal

The Middle and Secondary team have a pastoral framework that ensures each child is cared for. Our Heads of Year, working closely with our Heads of House, bolster learning by ensuring that all teaching practices are constantly being improved. There is a burgeoning culture of peer mentoring and support and staff use available data to ensure children are studying subjects that both challenge them and suit their capacity. There is constant collaboration in planning and teaching across all subjects. We continue to strengthen associations with other learning institutions and industries outside of our College, to provide broader curriculum choices for our children. These include both Universities and Registered Training Organisations.

Nathan Cox

Nathan Cox

Head of Secondary School

Secondary School at Brisbane Christian College builds upon the knowledge, understandings and skills that are developed and nurtured through our Primary and Middle School year levels.
At Brisbane Christian College, we recognise the need to provide suitable pathways for all children throughout the Senior Phase of Learning. To that end we offer two Pathways of Excellence, one Academic and one Apprenticeship. Your child remains the focal point in all that we do and our aim is to provide each child with many options to meet their individual education goals.

Our curriculum is designed with a strong academic focus to meet the needs of graduates considering further studies following Year 12. Our flexible timetabling allows children to complete a range of qualifications whilst remaining at Brisbane College; from Apprenticeship programs, Certificate courses through to University subjects.

Our Pathways of Excellence programs aim to produce young men and women of excellence in whatever career path they choose. Since 2013, our teaching staff are proud to have guided all graduates to successfully pass every Senior Subject. In 2016, 70% of Pathways of Excellence: Apprenticeship graduates, graduated with a confirmed School-based Apprenticeship or Traineeship. 100% of Pathway of Excellence: Academic graduates who applied for University admission received offers of placement.
Our commitment is to the individual child, not to our programmes. In partnership with Christ, our children and parents, we work to develop the whole child, transitioning them from adolescence to adulthood and preparing them to make an impact in our world.

Vicky Jones

Vicky Jones

Head of Middle School

Middle School teachers are committed to researching and devising strategies, in consultation with parents and students for identifying the most effective methods to engage our Year 6 to Year 8 students in active learning. The result of the investigations show that students want to be engaged in hands-on activities that are intriguing, exciting and challenging. These findings are in line with the theory that people learn when they seek answers to questions that matter to them (Pendergast D, 2005).

The Middle School Curriculum focuses heavily on building our students’ literacy and numeracy skills, and has a broad base of subjects that includes the Core areas of English, Mathematics, History, Science and Geography. Students also study Information and Communication Technology and explore self-expression through Visual Art, Drama and Music. Such subjects not only develop the students’ lateral thinking and problem solving techniques, but also ensure that they are constantly engaged in experiential tasks that are fun, meaningful and relevant.

On a daily basis Middle School students are presented with many opportunities to enable the construction of knowledge and the acquisition of new skills, through active engagement in tasks, inside and outside of the classroom. Through our Enrichment Learning programs students have experienced a myriad of activities including individual Noble Laureate projects and BRAINways EDUCATION, programs that provide learning experiences that are advanced in content and process. They have also participated in the ISQ Days of Excellence, ICAS competitions and International GreenHeart Science Competition.
Our learning program assists students in becoming independent and engaged learners, with a passion for learning that lasts a life time.

matthew-nicholson

Matthew Nicholson

Head of Primary School

The Primary School curriculum has been guided by the College’s strong belief in providing a focused, practical and seamless curriculum, which is relevant to the children of our College, and which is based on current educational research and philosophy.

The Primary School curriculum incorporates the elements of the Australian Curriculum. Essential skills in literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT), thinking, creativity, teamwork and communication are integral to the Australian Curriculum and fit well with the Brisbane Christian College approach.

Similarly, it describes individuals who can manage their own wellbeing, relate well to others, make informed decisions about their lives, become citizens who behave with ethical integrity, relate to and communicate across cultures, work for the common good and act with responsibility at local, regional and global levels. These all relate well within the Christian ethos of the College.

Education at Brisbane Christian College acknowledges that learning is both developmental and socially constructed and provides for the child’s spiritual, physical, social, emotional, intellectual and cultural development. Each student is recognised as an observant, capable and productive individual with skills, abilities and a sense of wonder about the world around them.

Our learning programs consider that students have a variety of learning styles and the classroom environment encourages students to enjoy their learning and develop personal, achievable goals. A strong commitment to the development of essential literacy and numeracy skills allows students to grow in knowledge and understanding through the authentic learning opportunities they are presented with every day.

Hayley

Hayley Kopittke

Head of Pastoral Care and Administration

Romans 12:4-6 (NIV) For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

God has created us in His image and it is our desire as a College to encourage our children to be all that God has called them to be, using their unique, individual gifts and talents. We want every child to be known by name and supported in their educational journey. Proverbs 22:6 calls us to train a child in the way that they should go so that when they are old they will not depart from it. The pastoral care of our students is a collective responsibility. Teachers, College chaplains, counsellors, bus drivers, as well as administration and support staff all work together to raise and support our children. Pastoral care includes all areas of our children’s well-being: spiritual, social, emotional, psychological, intellectual and physical. We desire to work together and build relationships between families, staff and students, to support our students to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, to make positive choices and to help them see that they can make a difference in the world.

We encourage our students to be independent, critical thinkers, problem solvers and valued friends to those around them. The College values underpin who we are as followers of Christ and we use these to guide student’s choices, in order for them to reflect on and to be able to self-regulate their behaviour. We desire to teach children resilience, how to manage conflict and to recognise that every situation provides a learning or growth opportunity. College students understand that they have rights as well as responsibilities and that it is always important to appreciate the differences in others.

John 13:34-35 (NIV) A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. It is our desire that our children be able to show love and grace to everyone and to be shining lights for Jesus; that they may be holistic individuals who are confident, resilient and contributing members of society as well as disciples for Jesus.

Mrs Dionne Juillard

Dionne Juillard

Head of Curriculum/Teaching and Learning

At Brisbane Christian College Primary, we look to the Australian Curriculum to form the foundation of all our teaching and learning. We incorporate various elements, such as essential skills in literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT), thinking, creativity, teamwork and communication. In addition to these, we believe in ensuring our learners focus on basic competencies to promote understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving twenty-first century interdisciplinary themes into our curriculum. We ensure our teaching allows our learners to develop global awareness, financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy through real-life learning.

The curriculum also influences how we assess what students know and can do. This is done in meaningful and authentic ways to allow our students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Feedback is provided to students throughout the process to inspire them to monitor their own progress, as well as continually strive to reach their full, God-given potential by enhancing their strengths and achieving growth.

Our students are critical and creative thinkers who continually seek pathways for future learning by being grounded in our College values. Our positive learning environments ensure that all of our learners are considered in meaningful ways that encourage various learning styles, as well as integrating technology in ways that build and encourage positive digital citizens.

A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential within our framework as we prepare our students for the future. We want all our children to develop thinking skills, content knowledge, and social and emotional competencies to navigate complex life and work environments. Some core skills include ensuring our students learn to be flexible and maintain adaptability, demonstrating initiative and self-direction, encouraging social and cross-cultural skills, displaying productivity and accountability, as well as providing opportunities to develop leadership and responsibility.

Our teaching and learning supports the professional learning classroom that enables our learners to collaborate, share best practices and integrate twenty-first century skills into their everyday learning. We want our students to learn in relevant, real-world contexts through project-based or other applied work experiences that allow equitable access to quality learning tools, technologies and resources.

Zilea Simpson

Zilea Simpson

Head of Pre-Prep

At Brisbane Christian College Pre-Prep our vision for the children’s education is for them to experience learning in a Christian environment that is engaging and builds success for life.

We aim for them to experience the joy of childhood by promoting learning through play, as well as through emergent and planned learning and interactions. Play is an important learning instrument. It is intrinsically motivating, promotes learning and enables children to gain further skills that will assist their overall development.

We believe each child is a unique individual who is loved by God and that their special abilities, interests and cultural backgrounds should be the basis of our curriculum. We work with families to provide high quality education and care within a warm, caring, secure environment which promotes diversity and inclusion.
Our Kindergarten Approved Program offers an environment in which children can build confidence, broaden their skills and have fun whilst learning.

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