At Covenant Christian School, we strive to provide a comprehensive education that's deeply rooted in our Christian faith. Our approach is built upon four foundational pillars: being Christ-centred, biblically grounded, academically rigorous, and culturally engaging. We're a co-educational school, catering to students from Prep right through to Year 12, and we see ourselves as one unified school, all on a single campus.
So, what exactly do Christian schools like ours teach? Well, it's quite a detailed picture:
• Integration of a Christian Worldview with the NESA Curriculum:
We teach the entire New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) curriculum, but it's all done through a Christian worldview. This means our students are taught to engage critically with different perspectives and evaluate them through a biblical lens. For example, in science, including topics like evolution, we cover the NESA syllabus, but we also encourage students to grapple with these big questions and understand how the Bible, as a literary text, informs their understanding of creation, appreciating its poetic nature where appropriate.
The idea is to equip them to think deeply and critically, with the belief that everything in the world, including scientific concepts, can point back to God. Similarly, in English, when our students study works like Shakespeare's Macbeth, they're encouraged to immerse themselves in the cultural context of the work, and then analyse these texts through a biblical lens. This allows them to appreciate the work as "dramatic excellence" while also discerning and respectfully disagreeing with certain aspects from a Christian standpoint, ensuring they engage with the world rather than isolating themselves from it.
• 100% Christian Staff as Disciple Makers:
A significant distinctive at Covenant is that all our staff and teachers are Christians. This means every staff member acts as a "disciple maker," walking alongside our students daily. They impart crucial character traits such as dependability, faithfulness, generosity, hospitality, patience, and humility, often more effectively through their lived example than from a textbook. Teachers have the freedom to openly discuss faith, pray with students, and integrate biblical verses into their teaching, which helps deepen children's faith and provides a rich layer of spiritual contribution. We believe in investing in our staff, ensuring we have highly qualified Christian professionals who are the best in their field.
• Nurturing Relationships and Support Structures:
We place a high value on the relationship between students and teachers, recognising its critical and potentially long-lasting impact. In our Junior School, class teachers lead daily devotions and songs that build an understanding of God's love. For Secondary School students, we have a unique "home class" structure where a couple of students from each year group (Years 7-12) meet daily with one consistent teacher. This teacher remains with them throughout their entire schooling journey, fostering a "mini-family" support network for positive discipleship and mentorship. We also have a dedicated Learning Support team that collaborates closely with parents to develop individual plans (IPs) for students requiring additional assistance, ensuring they receive personalised support and attention.
• Comprehensive Co-curricular Activities:
Our wide range of co-curricular activities are not just add-ons; they are an integral part of our educational strategy, designed to strengthen classroom learning and develop well-rounded students. These activities span sports, academics, performing arts, and outdoor education, offering ample opportunities for students to explore their God-given gifts and passions. All our coaches are Christians and are specifically trained to instill vital character traits such as good sportsmanship, resilience, and humility, skills that are transferable to real-world interactions and future careers.
◦ Through programmes like the Micah Project, our students participate in community service, such as engaging with elderly individuals in nursing homes. These experiences are often profoundly transformative, helping students develop crucial relational skills and broadening their perspectives.
◦ We also offer mission trips to places like Cairns and Japan. The Yarrabah Mission, for instance, provides our students with a fantastic opportunity to leave the Northern Beaches and see God at work in the wider world. For our Year 10 students, the Japan Mission is a cracking opportunity to grow in their faith, connect with local churches, and spend time with missionaries. These experiences directly equip them to be a "light" in their local communities and to serve others in various contexts.
◦ The Mustard Leaders Christian group is another valuable co-curricular avenue, where our secondary students learn to lead programmes and explain the gospel, especially on mission trips.
We work closely with parents and students to help them balance their co-curricular commitments with academic studies, particularly for our older students preparing for their Higher School Certificate (HSC). Our careers advisors and heads of faculty/year are readily available to discuss workloads and course demands, ensuring students make informed choices for a well-rounded experience. Participation in these activities is optional, and there might be associated payments.
• Funding, Fees, and Affordability:
We are not linked to a particular church or denomination, so our funding comes from student fees and government funding, much like other schools in New South Wales. We offer a bursary programme instead of scholarships. This is because we believe in making Christian education accessible and affordable for as many families as possible, rather than prioritising individuals based on achievements or talents, as all skills are considered God-given. Our fees are generally on the cheaper end compared to other Christian schools in the area, and we offer strong sibling discounts, with the fourth child attending for free. We aim to provide "exceptional value" for a family's investment in their child's future. The amount of a bursary is confidential and is assessed annually based on financial need.
• Long-Term Outcomes and Alumni Pathways:
Ultimately, our deepest hope is to see all our students nurtured, educated, and equipped to live lives that bring glory to God. We aim to develop resilient, passionate, and faithful followers of Jesus who are prepared to be a "light" in their communities and serve others in various contexts. We have a "graduate profile" outlining 12 attributes across our four key pillars.
Our alumni have gone on to study at excellent universities such as the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Sydney (USYD), the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Macquarie University (MQU), Australian Catholic University (ACU), and Sydney Missionary & Bible College (SMBC).
