At Covenant, our Mission statement says that we aim to be Christ-centred, biblically grounded, culturally engaging and academically rigorous. But what do these words actually mean? Our Junior School was visited by Independent MP, Dr Sophie Scamps, who was keen to learn about what our students considered important about their school. As Dr Scamps moved throughout the Junior School, she heard our students stating their love for Jesus and his word over and over again. A passionate young man in…

I read an article recently that quoted a 2007 Australian educational forum and its goals for 2020. A statement made within the forum made quite an impression, “Essentially, education is about increasing our national productivity”. Such was my concern, that the statement has remained prominent in my mind. Implicit in this statement is a concerning world view asserting that the primary purpose of education is to prepare individuals to contribute to national economic productivity. While…

Recently, I have been struck by the concept of 'Culturally Engaging'. This is a phrase that is embedded in our school’s Mission statement. It begs the question, do we want our students to be engaged with culture? The answer may be “well yes – but not all parts”. In student enrolment interviews the question of “What makes Covenant different from other schools?” comes up regularly. The concepts of parent partnership and a Christ-centred, biblically grounded and academically vigorous education are…