Lutheran Schooling IN AUSTRALIA
For more than 180 years, Lutheran schools in Australia have provided a co-educational faith-based education. Our teachers reflect the core values of Christian education in the Lutheran tradition, evident in and through the teaching and learning process.
The Lutheran Church of Australia owns and operates more than 80 schools nation-wide, as a service to the communities in which they are located.
Lutheran schools aim to empower students to identify their talents. They provide a culture of engagement that challenges students to pursue their passions and embrace an attitude of excellence, allowing them to be the best that they can be.
Lutheran schools present the Christian faith to students with the aim that graduating students are aware of the value and power of using their talents and wealth to live a fulfilling life, are willing to serve others and are aware of our loving God and his deep love for them.
As a part of this tradition, Grace Lutheran College seeks to provide an ongoing partnership with families that enables students to flourish as learners and citizens.
David
Spann College Council Chair
The Lutheran Church vests the governance of its schools, subject to certain reserved delegations, to locally based councils. Councillors are drawn from suitably qualified and experienced community members who are endorsed by the church. In broad scope, the role of the council is to recruit and appoint the Head of College, manage fiduciary duties and statutory compliance in accordance with relevant legislation, ensure strategic direction and be the custodian of the ethos as determined by the Lutheran Church Synod.
It is in this context that the council spends a lot of time in the strategic planning process and is pleased to present the culmination of 18 months’ work with the 2022–2026 Grace Lutheran College Strategic Plan. In reflecting on an overarching theme for this Plan, we have settled on “Thrive”, as it ably reflects its intent, not just for students, but for all of our Grace community however connected to the college.
Moreover, as a college founded in and giving expression to the Christian faith; we read in John’s Gospel the vivid testimony of the vine and the branches as an illustration of how Christ is the source of sustenance for all of our lives. I commend the 2022–2026 Grace Lutheran College Strategic Plan to you, so that together we may continue to thrive in the Grace way.
David Radke Head of College
Grace Lutheran College is celebrating almost 45 years of serving the educational needs of families in the Moreton Bay region, providing a caring learning environment focused on identifying and supporting the gifts and talents of its students. Grace College has maintained a teaching paradigm that has encouraged students to extend themselves through a learning pathway of their choice. To this end, Grace College has flourished at each of its three campuses.
Good and deliberate planning are vital strategies and processes to be able to exploit past successes, ensure ongoing quality and excellence, and deliberately access new ideas in order to thrive.
This Strategic Plan lays out an exciting vision that will ensure the hard work and past investments in quality education at Grace are assured, and include new facilities, improved facilities to house contemporary pedagogies and provide opportunities for new initiatives in curriculum, school-based programs and co-curricular activities.
The old yet valuable aspects of Grace will remain, the refreshed and the new will excite, and the aim to make Grace College the best that it can be will be unmissable.
MISSION STATEMENT
Grace Lutheran College is, by the grace of God, a Christian community. It aims to continue the preparation of young people for a life of faith and service so that God will be glorified in the world.
OUR VISION
Exceptional education, individual care, empowered for life
The 2022–2026 Strategic Plan will ensure that Grace Lutheran College remains true to its mission and aims while remaining relevant to the students of the future, contributing effectively to the changing landscape of the 21st century.
At the heart of this Plan is a focus to provide reinvigorated opportunities for our students to develop their minds, bodies, hearts and souls, and to understand, reflect upon and have a way to respond to the questions and circumstances they will encounter in the future.
This Strategic Plan guides the educational experience at Grace Lutheran College, encompassing all aspects of our students’ development. It ensures that the gifts, talents and qualities of each student can, and will, make a difference to the world in which they live, work and play.
STRATEGIC GOALS
GROW
and celebrate the Christ-centred Grace culture in the Lutheran tradition
EMPOWER
the delivery of exceptional, individualised, educational experiences
FOCUS
corporate governance by embedding resilience and continuous improvement
OPTIMISE
growth to provide both curriculum breadth and personalised care
INVEST
in enhanced contemporary learning environments
GROW
and celebrate the Christ-centred Grace culture in the Lutheran tradition
ACCOUNTABLE POSITION: HEAD OF COLLEGE
By affirming and celebrating who we are as a Christian school, we are aiming to strengthen our Christian teaching and culture of care to make a confident and meaningful educational contribution to society. This goal recognises the pivotal influence that Grace Lutheran College’s unique culture will have on driving all aspects of the Strategic Plan.
TO THRIVE GRACE WILL:
• Ensure that students have opportunities to engage with and thrive in the Christian faith if they are drawn to do so
• Inspire and equip staff to grow in their understanding of the Lutheran faith and Christian values and to live out their calling consistent with Lutheran practice
• Establish safe and authentic relationships that build trust and rapport, inspiring students to want to engage with the Grace community
• Support the social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of students and staff, to positively impact their capacity to teach, learn and serve
• Inspire students to develop a great vision and passion for their lives that will help to motivate them to excel at learning for life.
EMPOWER
the delivery of exceptional, individualised, educational experiences
ACCOUNTABLE POSITION: HEAD OF COLLEGE
Grow Empower Learn (GEL) provides every student with opportunities to receive pastoral care and curriculum monitoring through a partnership between school and home, in which the student’s own planning is central. The GEL initiative is motivated by Grace’s appreciation of the uniqueness of each student. Grace plans to utilise the strong foundations of GEL and its teaching and learning programs to enhance the college’s delivery of exceptional education through personalised pathways.
TO THRIVE GRACE WILL:
• Provide students with the broadest pathway choices in the Moreton Bay region, allowing the pursuit of their own learning directions to achieve their individual potential
• Invest in the attraction, retention and professional growth of Grace Lutheran College staff through both internal and external lifelong learning opportunities
• Engage with and invest in the use of effective pedagogies – from past practice, contemporary teaching and learning, and emerging pedagogies that prepare students for the future
• Develop support for individual student learner profiles through an intentional advisory program covering academic, VET (Vocational Education and Training), and co-curricular pathways
• Foster and strengthen co-curricular offerings across sport, the performing arts and digital technologies, involving external partnerships and tertiary relationships.
OPTIMISE
growth to provide both curriculum breadth and personalised care
ACCOUNTABLE POSITION: HEAD OF COLLEGE
The concept of ‘optimal growth’ seeks to guide Grace Lutheran College towards sustainable growth. At Grace Rothwell this will be actioned through careful planning, allowing for continuing breadth and quality, and at Grace Caboolture growth will focus on increased subject choices and co-curricular offerings.
TO THRIVE GRACE WILL:
• Grow enrolments in response to demographic changes, responding with sustainable planning that will allow Grace to thrive
• Develop collaborative support for families in Lutheran partner primary schools committed to a K–12 Lutheran education journey
• Investigate targeted scholarship offerings to support students to attend Grace Lutheran College.
INVEST
in enhanced contemporary learning environments
ACCOUNTABLE POSITION: HEAD OF COLLEGE
This strategic goal recognises the importance of master planning in supporting the first three strategic goals. The master plans for the Rothwell and Caboolture campuses, embedded within this Strategic Plan, reflect recent Grace College research into parental, student and teacher expectations for innovative and inspiring learning environments that provide opportunities to engage with contemporary teaching and learning practices, and emerging pedagogies.
TO THRIVE GRACE WILL:
Implement master planned projects for each campus in this strategic period (2022–2026).
At Rothwell:
Re-scape the Anzac Avenue vista with the relocation of the Property Department; removal of modular and non-essential buildings; build new Science facilities; and consolidate the Performing Arts and Technology departments into precincts.
At Caboolture:
Complete the FLEX (Flexible Learning through Exceptional Education) building via relocation of the CAVE (Centre for Academic Vision and Excellence) and Campus Administration to the FLEX Centre undercroft; provide new Middle Years Science rooms upstairs in C Block; build new permanent facilities to cater for growth and replace modular buildings.
At Googa:
Complete the second campsite, allowing for the Googa program to thrive as Grace Lutheran College grows at both campuses. The second campsite will provide a worship centre and facilities with the capability to provide for conferences.
FOCUS
corporate governance by embedding resilience and continuous improvement
ACCOUNTABLE POSITION: COUNCIL CHAIR
The Grace Lutheran College Council has oversight and monitoring roles for all aspects of the Strategic Plan. For this goal, however, it has specific accountability.
Grace Lutheran College operates across two secondary campuses and an outdoor education facility, which are at different phases of their respective development cycles.
In this context Grace Lutheran College will work to assure all stakeholders, especially parents, that they can have high confidence that students’ interests are being well served by this Strategic Plan.
TO THRIVE GRACE WILL:
• Commission a comprehensive future-focused structural review of Grace Lutheran College with particular emphasis on optimal governance, leadership and educational delivery
• Enhance engagement with the college community, ensuring the effectiveness of communication and marketing strategies
• Demonstrate with best financial management practices to enable agility and surety in the resourcing of Grace Lutheran College
• Continually monitor and develop the college’s master plan to enable timely development across all campuses.
Anzac Ave Rothwell Qld 4022
PO Box 3181 Clontarf DC Qld 4019
General: 07 3203 0066 grace@glc.qld.edu.au | glc.qld.edu.au
129 Toohey St Caboolture Qld 4510
PO Box 1424 Caboolture Qld 4510
General: 07 5495 2444 enquiries_cc@glc.qld.edu.au
571 Nukku Rd, Googa Creek Qld 4314
General: 07 3203 0066