Education Week: Open day every day

Like many schools in the region, Christian College Geelong schedules specific days in the year for interested prospective parents and others to tour one or more of the five campuses, but visitors are also encouraged to regard every day as open day.

Principal Glen McKeeman said that on days where visitors can attend a campus and take a tour without booking, the emphasis is on seeing how classes and learning activities function on any day of the year.

“We don’t schedule any special activities or presentations on open days – it’s about visitors seeing how we run every day. Each family is offered a tour and the opportunity to ask questions about learning programs, school policies, enrolment – whatever they want to know,” he said.

“So we also proudly regard any school day as an open day where parents can book a personalised tour at a time that suits them, take a tour to catch a glimpse of a day in the life of Christian College and find out exactly what they want to know.”

With five campuses – Junior School in Belmont, Middle School in Highton, Senior School in Waurn Ponds, Bellarine Campus in Drysdale and Surf Coast Campus in Torquay – and two Early Learning Centres, Christian College offers a rich learning program at all levels.

In Junior Primary years (Prep to 4), the College delivers an unparalleled learning program with a strong focus on literacy, numeracy and core learning areas, together with Music, Art, Digital Technologies, Japanese, Library and Phys Ed, each of which are taught by specialist teachers.

The Early Learning Centres – Williams House in Belmont and Butterfield House in Torquay are immediately adjacent to Junior School and Surf Coast Campus respectively, meaning children are able at that level also to engage with specialist teachers in areas such as Music, Library and Japanese.

In Middle School years (5 to 9), students undertake a range of core learning areas, specialist and elective subjects.

Year 9 students also undertake one term of the Transformation program, which involves half a term residing at the College’s Back Creek Farm in Scotsburn and half a term engaged in a self-designed and implemented community-based passion project.

At Senior School (years 10 to 12), students are offered many options to help them discover and develop their passions, purpose and pathways.

Learning programs include VCE with a diverse and wide selection of subjects on offer, as well as VCAL and VET programs.

“The best way to appreciate the depth and breadth of what Christian College Geelong offers is to see what we do and feel the atmosphere around the place first-hand,” Mr McKeeman said.

“We encourage any interested parents, families and others to get in touch, book a tour online or by calling a campus. Come and visit us – every day is open day.”