EduCativ

Learning From birth, we are on a journey towards the fulfillment of our God-given purpose. We were designed to be relational beings (both socially and spiritually), interacting with the world that has been entrusted to our care and interacting with each other in the community. Learning is a result of our interaction with each other and our world. The more we embrace life, the more we seek to discover or create, the more we learn and the greater is our potential. View full school

Our Vision is to be a model school in human values education. Our Mission is to provide and model a safe environment, based on human values, which honors the uniqueness of all children, enabling them to realize their inner potential of character development and academic success. The values of Love, Truth, Peace, Right Conduct and Non-Violence form the pillars of Sathya Sai College. It is the pivot upon which the college’s professionalism and ethos revolve. To fulfill our mission, we aim to Work together with our wider college community to create an environment, culture, and ethos permeated by the active practice of the five inherent human values: Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love, Nonviolence in daily life. Select competent staff with good character and support them in being excellent team members and exemplars of the human values Maintain a student population that reflects local and national culture. Provide a curriculum that meets state registration requirements and integrates the philosophy of Sathya Sai Educare using the teaching method of Integral Education Maintain recognition by the Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation as a Sathya Sai School by ongoing review and renewal in line with the Sathya Sai Schools Guidelines. Provide the environment, resources, and opportunity for each child to achieve their best academic potential. Provide education that is experiential and transformational, in addition to imparting knowledge and skills. Encourage the unity of thought, word, and deed Develop an active social conscience in students and an inclination to provide service to others. In common with all the Sathya Sai Schools around the world, Australia’s Sathya Sai College combines the five Human Values without any compromise of the mainstream syllabus set by the Board of Studies. This “combined education” (also called ‘integral education’) prepares the child both for a rich inner life of joy and harmony with an outer capacity of action. The child develops a strong sense of personal responsibility grounded in an authentic self that is autonomous and yet strongly connected with the family, community, and culture of origin. Such a child is better able to chart an individual course through life with a well-developed inner compass. The training of the mind and heart that will make the right choices starts right in kindergarten. The college focuses on bringing out the character in children through the integration of human values into the school curriculum. We believe that education should not only promote academic excellence education needs to incorporate values that promote healthy relationships a vital component in the life of a child. We believe that the end product of education is a character, the most valuable asset a person can have. In an atmosphere of love and mutual respect, each child is encouraged to excel and aspire to achieve his or her full potential. View full school

Santa Maria College is a Years 5 – 12 Catholic school for girls, both day and residential, offering a quality education inspired by Jesus Christ and the vision of Catherine McAuley, with a commitment to living out the Mercy values of: Hospitality: To show hospitality is to respect the dignity of each person valuing them for who they are. We do this by welcoming the stranger and creating a friendly space where everyone is included. Compassion: To be compassionate is to feel for others. We do this by keeping our hearts open to the cause of all people and reaching out to them in a spirit of mercy. Justice: To be just is to be concerned about achieving fairness for all. We do this by promoting the dignity of all people and upholding their rights as human beings. Service: To give service is to want to make a positive difference or contribution to the lives of others. We do this by being open, sensitive, and responsive to the needs of all people. Excellence: To excel is to strive to do everything to the highest possible standard to which we are capable. We do this by using our gifts and talents to their fullest at all times. The College’s Mercy heritage and history go back to the arrival of seven Sisters of Mercy in Perth in 1846. They were led by Mother Ursula Frayne and proved themselves to be resourceful, resilient, and strong women. The Sisters opened their first school on St George’s Terrace in February 1846. As enrolments increased, school buildings, including a boarding school, were built on the grounds of the present Mercedes College. As the demand for boarding places increased from country families, the Mercy Superior at the time, Mother Brigid McDonald, and her Council resolved to build a new ladies’ college for boarding and day students in the bushland in Attadale. Santa Maria College opened its doors in 1938. The post-war period brought with it a rapid expansion in residential development around the College. As a result, there was a growth in student numbers and the student population at Santa Maria College changed from primary borders to a majority of day students. Today Santa Maria College is a vibrant community of over 1200 students from Years 5 to 12. We enjoy beautiful, modern facilities and lead in the areas of technology and innovative education. However, we retain the vision of those early Sisters of Mercy and strive to provide a nurturing environment for a holistic, values-laden, education. At Santa Maria College, all that we do is underpinned by a deep commitment to our Catholic faith. We believe that each individual, every lived experience, and a broad range of perspectives should be respected and cherished. This spirit of inclusion and our commitment to understanding drive the Santa Maria approach to educate and nurture the women of the future. The vision of Sister Catherine McAuley led to the founding of the College in 1938. Since then, the traditions of her order, the Sisters of Mercy, have enabled Santa Maria girls to thrive at school and beyond. Hospitality, Compassion, Justice, Service, and Excellence are our guiding principles at Santa Maria College. We believe that our values reflect not only the principles of our faith, but the values wider society holds dear. A practical partner to Religious Education, the Service Program teaches girls the value – to themselves and others – of making a positive difference in the lives of others. Throughout their school journey, students are required to serve their families, their school, and the broader community. Girls are asked to chronicle their service to create insights into the spiritual and psychological dimensions of making a positive difference in the lives of others. A range of volunteering activities and groups enable our girls to become, as a reflection of their faith, well-rounded, caring, and productive members of the community. Wherever an individual’s path might lead, the values instilled by engagement with this program never lose their relevance. A sense of self-respect and an instinct for empathy are crucial to the development of resilient, capable, generous, productive people. Woven into the student experience at Santa Maria is a well-resourced approach to pastoral care, the Mercy Wellbeing Program. The Mercy Wellbeing Program is integrated with our academic work, with our Service Program, and with our faith. We understand that people who value themselves understand the value of others. We support our girls throughout their school years to ensure they enter the wider world with self-confidence balanced by a sense of respect and concern for others. View full school

Character and leadership development View full school

To foster a positive school atmosphere, characterized by enthusiasm and a happy work environment. To develop a balanced, comprehensive, and innovative curriculum that provides for individual learning promotes educational excellence, and is responsive to students’ needs. To encourage a positive relationship between students, staff, and the home so that children feel confident and excited about coming to school. To nurture a strong community spirit and involvement in the life of the school. To work towards improving the school’s facilities and environment to enhance the image of the school. To increase the resources available to implement the curriculum. To maintain a high profile in the local community to encourage future enrolments. To build a collaborative team of staff who promote the ethos and philosophy of the school. To encourage and support staff to update their qualifications and to further their educational knowledge and skills. To provide effective communication within the school and seek feedback on the school’s performance from its community. To promote public confidence in Montessori education. View full school

Rissalah in Arabic means “message”. The College strives to deliver the message of holistic education, coupled with universal human values, to create the best possible learning atmosphere for its students. Rissalah College’s vision is to provide the best comprehensive education program of all six Key Learning Areas as stipulated by the Board of Studies NSW. We are committed to providing a supportive environment that enables students to attain their full potential through appropriate and diverse learning opportunities. At Rissalah College, we are committed to promoting values that foster genuine acceptance of difference and diversity. We believe that all humans must be treated with dignity, equity, respect, and compassion irrespective of their race, ethnicity, belief, or gender. Particular attention is given to instilling devotion to promoting peace and harmony as life principles. At Rissalah College we are committed to, and strive to engage, participate, build and nurture relationships within our community, working in harmony with parents, government and private educational institutions as well as the wider community in our program of activities, to produce students who embody the universal values of our faith. That is, functioning effectively as responsible, compassionate, and balanced individual global citizens, cherishing diversity and actively contributing to Australia’s development and the global community. Rissalah College was born in January 1997. During that time the school operated on two campuses: one at Greenacre and the other at Miller which was leased for one year. In January 1998, both campuses merged into one and became operational at Westbridge Centre, Villawood. On the 13th of May 1999, we relocated Rissalah College to 291 Haldon St, Lakemba where it was based for the next 11 and a half years. Today the college occupies the premises at 54-72 Hampden Road, Lakemba which it moved into at the beginning of 2011. The college today has 453 students which is a great feat considering its humble beginnings in 1997 with only 64 students. The school commemorated its new premises with the Official Opening Ceremony held on September 7th, 2011. We believe that each innocent, tender soul that comes to us is gifted in a particular way and we must help the child by imparting skills to assist him/her to discover his/her special talents. Character training and development are made by the environment we create, the opportunities we offer, and the encouragement and support we provide. Our firm belief is that all students are not only equal but also unique and must be brought up to make their mark within the community. The young lives in our care are encouraged to explore, experiment, employ and expand their imagination creatively and constructively. To be able to successfully achieve this, we at Rissalah College look at this development as a partnership between the students, parents, educators, and the community. The Management provides a positive educational environment and leaves no stone unturned in providing these academic facilities and in ensuring high-quality teaching and learning. We sincerely request all the parents to participate in all activities to enhance the overall growth of our wonderful College. Let us join together to induct happy, healthy, responsible, and good Global Citizens into our Australian society. I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with one and all to build further on our achievements and to ensure that every student is given the opportunities to achieve their full potential in a safe and nurturing environment where anything is possible. View full school

Actively seeking and participating in professional development activities to further knowledge and current trends, especially in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). View full school

The first phase (the willing phase) from birth to age 7, sees the formation of the child’s physical body and the development of the will are paramount. This is the stage at which children live through their hands and the Kindergarten child learns by doing. The children learn about themselves, each other, and the world around them by engaging in creative play, music, dance, art craft, and domestic crafts such as baking and cleaning. The routine and repetition help the children to develop self-discipline in a nurturing environment. Soft colors and natural materials surround the children with beauty and inspire their creativity.The second phase (the feeling phase) 7-14 years is when the heart and lungs harmonize. The rhythmic system is developing in conjunction with the feeling of life. Subjects are delivered in a creative and integrated way through the teacher's imaginative life. The children develop a sense of everything being connected to the whole. A belief in truth, beauty, and goodness, and a connection to the world is paramount. The third phase (the thinking phase) from adolescence to adulthood, sees the young person developing their intellect. The emphasis is now on developing powers of reasoning and judgment. The focus lies with developing their abstract thinking and artistic sensitivity. At the core of Steiner’s principles is the belief that true education must encompass the whole child within the context of human development. It is aimed at their spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical development in a harmonious and balanced way. View full school

Learning is underpinned by Inquiry and Critical & Creative Thinking View full school

We wish to provide our students with experiences that shape their perceptions and inspire them to actively love and care for those less fortunate than themselves. Through education and service, we equip our students to fight poverty and injustice and encourage them to participate and raise awareness of these challenges both global and local. View full school

Rudolf Steiner’s indications for educational renewal are part of a general ‘cultural evolution. They provide the impulse upon which the school is based. Interpreting our times, our geographical location, and the individualities of our students is an ongoing process. It is a continually evolving union of our various cultural heritages with the elemental and natural forces of our place on the continent. It is a search for true identity as local, national, and global citizens. Fundamentally, all our educational practices are directed towards this end. The Newcastle Waldorf School strives to be true to the human condition and archetypes represented in the natural world, whilst consciously marrying this with the demands of our modern society. In 1980 the school registered with the N.S.W. Education Department as Newcastle Rudolf Steiner School and opened its doors for eighteen pupils and two teachers in rented premises at Adamstown. When a child is ready to move on from Kindergarten they begin their primary journey with their Class Teacher. This dedicated person guides them through their main lessons through the next 7 years of their education. The Class Teacher takes two-year groups together (Class 1 & 2 who are then Class 2 & 3 the following year, and so on) through until they reach high school. As they approach high school the influences widen to include a little more time with other teachers in the subjects of Music, Art, and Woodwork. In high school itself they will have a broad range of specialist teachers while still being guided by their Class Guardian (often, but not always, the same person as their Class Teacher). This gradual widening of influences is, ideally, providing the child with a gentle awakening into adulthood and society. Before the age of six or seven, education proceeds by example and imitation. The kindergarten teacher acts and the children naturally and spontaneously imitate – all activities ideally derive from this source, which is the primal will and sympathy of the small child with the moral guidance of the teacher. From the magic of nature’s household, the rhythm of the day, and the great cycles of the moon and sun, arise impressions which transmute into the story, song, poetry, play-acting, creative movement, drawing, painting, craft, and play. Flowing into these impressions, merges the great stream of myth and fairy-tale, our original cultural heritage. The child is encouraged to participate in the great world which is at once good, natural, cosmic, and human. The ‘golden years of childhood extend from around the age of seven to about thirteen. Ideally, these are the years of ‘picture consciousness’, in which the beauty and wisdom of the world can be grasped through the most powerful of human emotions: respect for authority, and reverence for the great powers of the Universe. The class teacher becomes a spokesperson for the mighty powers of Nature and an advocate for the great deeds of humanity. In the lessons, nature and identification with the land provide the impressions or backdrop for the play of life, which is the transition from myth and legend to history, from the distant past to the present. All subjects partake of this whole. English evolves the wisdom of speech and image from story to creative expression, literary appreciation, and cultural awareness. History, concentrating on significant biographies, is in these years, essentially the story of humanity. Science and Geography classes give a truly sympathetic understanding of mankind and the earth. Number and Mathematics, in the lessons, describe the rigor and order of the world and the ever-changing parts of the whole they are the most important training in disciplined thought which is a necessary human resource in this modern world. Artistic and cultural activities - singing, recorder, and lyre playing, individual instrument lessons, languages, painting, drawing, modeling, form drawing, drama, eurythmy, sewing, knitting, woodwork, and crafts, evolve and develop throughout the primary years, yet are inseparable from the universal theme: Nature and humankind. From the age of fourteen or fifteen to about seventeen, the first flowering and fruition of thought arise from the careful nurturing and guidance of the previous period. What was subconsciously grasped as picture consciousness, through the faculty of respect, now miraculously metamorphoses, through sexual maturity and the birth of the individual spirit, into the freedom of creative expression and self-motivated curiosity about the secrets of the world. The teacher has now more of a specialist role, from subject to subject, to encourage and inspire this awakening. From this period onwards evolves the quest for universal wisdom. The overriding theme of Nature and humankind is unaltered but the pupils emerge increasingly as free-thinking, discerning and responsible individuals in relationship to the Universe, of which Earth and its history is the focus. View full school

This is a Board directive, which we must adhere to. MECS began as a dream in the mid-1950s! Christian parents dreamed of education with a Christian perspective for their children – and grandchildren. In the 1960s, they organized themselves and were very active in raising funds. In 1964, the pioneers formed their Association of Parents for Christian Education, Mount Evelyn, and accelerated the pace of work to establish a Christian school. With daring and vision in 1970, they purchased our wonderful six-hectare school property. Their dreams were realized when they opened Mount Evelyn, Christian Primary School on the 3rd of February 1973 – a full 19 years after the very first fundraising effort. The school opened with three teachers teaching 80 children in Years Foundation to 6 in three composite groups. We have two main motives for operating as a Christian school. The first is that we believe that Jesus Christ is to be Lord over every single part of life, including the education of our children. The second is that God has given parents, the responsibility of nurturing their children. Their education is a major part of that. MECS sees its primary task as unfolding God’s world with children in the educational domain (families and church also do this but in other domains of life). This involves students understanding that they are God’s creative handiwork, unique, precious, and loved, made in God’s image, and gifted in many ways. They also learn how to work and play within the world, and what God asks of them. As students understand themselves, their world, and have a healthy view of the calling God has for them, they are well equipped and positioned to engage as active participants in society and as disciples of the Lord. Such a holistic understanding stands in stark contrast to the broad Australian view that schools exist to provide students with basic skills and the where-with-all to get a good job at the end of the process. One is a view of God’s kingdom and the call to serve, the other, the material world in which one needs to work. Two very different views about education. View full school