Immanuel College Prospectus

Immanuel College is a coeducational day and boarding school for students in Years 7–12.

We’re located in Novar Gardens, South Australia just five minutes from pristine beaches and ten minutes from Adelaide’s city centre.

Immanuel College is a school of the Lutheran Church of Australia and we accept students from across Australia and around the world. Our 10,000+ strong community has been built on a rich 125-year history of innovation.

Immanuel is a feeling, it’s an education, a destination, a community, a moment, an experience, an adventure, a home, a story, a generation, a history, a life.

It’s a place to start, to grow, to live, to learn and to discover. Come and be a part of something that becomes part of you.

At Immanuel, new ways of thinking are nothing new at all.

Immanuel is an award-winning school –we’ve been recognised for our innovative approach to education, our progressive learning environments, and our world class sporting, arts and learning facilities. But we’re much more than the sum of our parts. We’re a vibrant community that supports students to go beyond what they think is possible.

We challenge our students in a supportive, progressive environment and help them discover who they are, what they’re capable of and prepare them for life after school. We make sure that our students have the skills, knowledge, social and emotional capabilities they need to flourish now and throughout their adult life.

Immanuel has an engaging community where everyone can belong whilst ensuring each student finds their piece of sunshine, that individual talent that we all have, that they can build on. We tailor every child’s education to meet their needs and foster academic excellence, and also educate our young people to be good people – people

who reflect our Christian values and will make a difference in the world, whether on a global scale or within their local community. Plus Ultra – further beyond – challenges our students to reflect on their relationship with God, and the sense of connection to something bigger than themselves.

Parents often ask Why Immanuel? Put simply, we’re much more than a school – you can feel the difference as soon as you step on campus. We invite you to come and see for yourself – meet our community, tour our facilities and most importantly come and talk to our students and teachers. You’ll hear firsthand what it’s like to be a part of something that becomes part of you.

Richardson Principal

Kevin

At Immanuel College we live by our school motto, Plus Ultra – further, beyond. We aspire to be extraordinary in everything we do, and encourage others to push past their limits and go further than they ever thought possible.

2019 Australian Education Awards

finalist – Principal of the Year

We make sure that each student finds their piece of sunshine.

Our Teaching and Learning principles

Our team’s approach to teaching and learning helps students to thrive in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing environment. We have identified four main learning principles that help students flourish academically and in all other aspects of life:

CONNECT

Connecting enables students to learn from others, with others and for others.

CREATE

Creating enables students to develop new and innovative outcomes.

THINK

Thinking enables students to uncover complexity, consider different viewpoints, ask questions and reason with evidence.

UNDERSTAND

Understanding enables students to apply their learning independently.

These learning principles act as expectations for our students. We empower them to create, connect, think and understand, and challenge our students to continually extend and enrich themselves through these principles. They become second nature and help our students build healthy and happy lives through their youth and beyond.

Through this process we also create a culture of thinking – a place where a group’s collective thinking, as well as an individuals’, is valued, visible and actively promoted as part of the regular day-to-day experience of all group members. We believe this fosters happy and resilient students, a strong school, and a supportive community.

Immanuel College has been recognised as a school on the cutting edge of change and innovation in Australia by The Educator Australia, who’ve listed us amongst the most innovative schools in Australia on three occasions – a clear reflection of our successful teaching and learning principles.

Our curriculum in Middle School is based on the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) framework. In Senior School, students study the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) based on the Australian Curriculum.

We think about the whole person, not just test scores – what kind of adult do we want them to be?

Our teaching team

Exceptional educators choose to teach at Immanuel. All of our team are innovators and strive for continual improvement.

What it means to be a part of Immanuel

Immanuel is the place where students discover who they are and what they’re capable of – a place where everyone belongs, where they’re supported to find and follow their passions.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

All of our students are encouraged to explore and try new things, in fact, it’s compulsory. All Year 7s study music, art, fashion, technology, design, food technology, drama, outdoor education and languages.

For us, there’s nothing more satisfying than helping a child discover a new talent or interest, or making their impossible, possible. No matter where their passions take them, they’ll be supported by our expert team and facilities – with around 54 subjects offered in Year 12, no pathway is out of reach.

EVERYDAY ACTIONS HAVE IMPACT

Students are encouraged to explore and learn their place in the world through service. They discover how small acts of service or kindness can make a big difference to others. Service is embedded in all year levels across the Middle and Senior Schools and our students serve others in a variety of ways, from revegetating the Flinders Ranges and working with the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul to prepare and serve meals, to packing backpacks for KidsSA and walking a mile for hutt St Centre.

A TAILORED PATHWAY TO SUCCESS

We believe that all students can experience success. We actively identify any barriers that may be holding students back and work to remove them. We also recognise that our students’ levels of understanding, strengths and interests will vary and so we design engaging and curriculum-based individual learning programs. We value the differences between individuals within our community and ensure that every student is included, accepted, understood and valued. Our Student diversity team lifts students to help them become extraordinary, whether they’re gifted and talented, need learning support, or speak English as an additional language.

TALENTS ARE NURTURED

It’s no secret that generations of elite athletes have called Immanuel home – just visit our Sports hall of Fame to see for yourself. But there’s more to our story and our community. We help every single student to discover their passions, whether they’re trying a new sport or challenging themselves in our elite athlete development program; learning how to communicate clearly or leading a stage production at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre; or trying to master an instrument with one of our 40 staff musicians or jamming with an internationally-renowned musician on stage. Every student can develop their talents at Immanuel, whatever they may be, and still make their education a priority.

ENTREPRENEURS ARE ENCOURAGED

Immanuel is a Centre for Educational Enterprise (CEE) School – a school that supports and educates emerging global citizens who are ready to explore opportunities for personal and community growth and development. We learn with and from each other by sharing ideas, research and innovation with other CEE schools to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

THE WORLD IS AT YOUR DOORSTEP

Travel has enormous power to change how we see the world, how we learn about ourselves and each other. That’s why we offer unique overseas learning opportunities for students through study tours, language exchange programs, service programs, and sporting and music tours. We teach our students how to embrace their options and think big, knowing that we’ll support and encourage them whatever their interests.

I belong here. And I’m supported and challenged with every new step I take.

INDIGENOUS CULTURE IS VALUED, RESPECTED AND CELEBRATED

Immanuel College is an Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP) provider and recognised as a high performance school for Indigenous students. The IYLP provides scholarships and leadership opportunities for young Indigenous Australians at Immanuel and across the nation.

We work to make sure that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have equal and equitable opportunities and create a school environment that clearly values Indigenous Australians and their cultures.

Immanuel College values and respects Kaurna people as the traditional custodians and acknowledge that their spiritual beliefs and cultural connections to this country are as important today, as they were in the past.

LOVE AND KINDNESS ARE CELEBRATED

Immanuel is not just about academic, sporting and artistic excellence. Our students are surrounded by an atmosphere of care from the minute they join our community and we encourage them to take their place in it as caring, compassionate and responsible young people. Pastoral care, caring for every individual according to their needs, is a crucial part of the school’s culture. We draw from the latest research in sociology, psychology, anthropology, spirituality, education, theology and learning theories to make sure we look after everyone within our community, and expect everyone – students, teachers, parents, staff – to care for each other. We also introduce our students to mindfulness through the Smiling Mind Curriculum, to give them the skills they need to care for themselves and build a healthy mind.

2019 Innovative School –The Educator Magazine

NEW TECHNOLOGY BRINGS

THE FUTURE CLOSER

STEM at Immanuel is not just a series of subjects or the latest 3d printers and CAd design systems (although we have those too), it’s integrated within every subject so that all of our students build STEM skills, regardless of their subject choices. New technology is intertwined with traditional learning units so that it becomes an everyday learning experience for our students and teachers.

PROGRESSIVE OUTDOOR EDUCATION

Outdoor Education Programs at Immanuel help students develop relationships with others and nature. Students curate skills from Middle School through to Year 10, and electively in Years 11 and 12, to become informed and courageous individuals.

PATHWAYS THROUGH SENIOR SCHOOL AND BEYOND

We prepare students for life beyond school and spend time with each student and their family to plan their subject choices. We offer the highest number of SACE subjects in South Australia and students can explore additional subjects off campus through our flexible learning programs. Students can also incorporate vocational education and training (VET) into their learning plans. These students graduate with the internationally-recognised SACE certification and VET qualifications. Vocational guidance is provided through personalised learning plans, dedicated pathways counsellors, vocational training, career education and the Great Futures program.

Our Places

Immanuel has been designed to bring people together. Our campus is made up of a series of community spaces. The Middle and Senior School, Boarding, Sport and Arts Centre are places where students come together and grow. It won’t take long for our place to become your place.

Chapel

The Immanuel Chapel is the heart of the campus, where students, parents and staff regularly attend worship at the Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Margaret Ames Centre

The Margaret Ames Centre is a stateof-the-art and national award-winning academic hub for senior students. With studio spaces, an open plan learning hub, conference facility, 200-seat lecture theatre and more, the centre complements our approach to learning and prepares our students for the future.

Middle School

Our Middle School precinct incorporates a village-like learning environment to support the growth and development of our students during these critical years. A key feature of the architecturallydesigned space is the Mall which draws inspiration from markets and universities, further encouraging student independence.

Boarding House

Located within the heart of the school campus, the Boarding House provides a home away from home to 170 students. Boarding students have access to facilities such as the fitness centre, pool, fields, courts as well as common areas within their respective living quarters where a strong sense of community is evident.

Visual Arts Centre

Traditional art genres and art technology blend seamlessly together in our Visual Arts Centre, where students have all the latest equipment and technology to help them create.

Sports facilities

Our state-of-the-art sport facilities include three ovals, outdoor netball and tennis courts, hard wicket and turf cricket pitches, two swimming pools, three indoor courts, dance studio, and a fully equipped fitness centre with personal trainers.

This is where we come together, where we learn, play and grow.

Century Theatre

The professional and fully-equipped Century Theatre is the pride of our drama department – the 230-seat theatre serves as one of Immanuel’s many performance venues as well as our drama students’ classroom.

Music Centre

With over 50 public performances a year, there’s no shortage of opportunities for our musicians to perform, including at the Rock Farm – our London-style performance venue. Our students have access to a full music recording studio, rehearsal studio and Apple Music Technical Suite as well as Immanuel’s own record label, 32records.

Boarding

There’s just nothing like living with your friends. This is one of the lasting legacies we give our Boarders, the chance to create a large extended family and form close, real friendships.

We provide a family-style environment for 170 Boarders each year in Australia’s third oldest co-educational boarding house. Younger students live in individual rooms within the main Boarding House, graduating to units during senior years and finally shared houses in Year 12, where students can access their own kitchen and lounge facilities.

We believe that co-ed boarding encourages young people to develop healthy relationships and good social skills – skills that will serve them well into the future. Gender exclusive zones in the Boarding House support this process and our caring and experienced staff guide Boarders as they grow in confidence with their increasing independence. A local GP with experience in adolescent mental health is also regularly available to support Boarders, both formally and informally on campus. Boarder wellbeing is our first priority.

Specialist tutors are on-hand to support Boarders in their studies and they have easy, everyday access to our world-class facilities.

I love living with the mates I’ve made since coming here.

2019 Australian Education Awards

finalist – Boarding School of the Year

Middle School

The huge emotional, physical and social changes our students experience in Middle School make teaching and guiding middle schoolers incredibly complex. That’s why we’ve invested in the right people and the right facilities to make sure we meet and exceed the specialised social and academic needs of our adolescent learners.

Our distinct Middle School provides a secure, village-like learning environment that helps our youngest students to become active, dynamic and creative learners and grow toward independence. Our new outdoor learning and social environment – the Middle School Mall – is a key feature we’ve developed with award-winning architects to encourage community, student ownership of spaces and experiential learning.

Students study across eight key learning areas within the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (MYP) framework. The curriculum provides challenging internationallyreferenced standards, skills, creativity and flexibility to help students grow towards self-reliance and responsible participation in Australian society. Our Middle School teachers are innovative, responsive, supportive and among the best in the country.

2019 Australian Education Awards finalist – Innovation in Learning Environment Design

The Imagination Studio

Imagine if learning was like play – this is the gift our Imagination Studio gives our Middle School students. The first of its kind in Australia, it is a place where students can explore a wide range of activities and test out the latest technology. Students use creativity and critical thinking to solve problems through experiential learning. They can use 3d printing, virtual reality cameras and robotics to create new worlds and take mini-courses on special interest subjects. The Imagination Studio is not just about trying out new technology, but helping young students find what they’re good at and what they love.

BUILDING NEW RELATIONSHIPS

We know it can be challenging for students entering secondary school – we’ve been welcoming Year 7s into our Middle School for more than 20 years. That’s why we have a strong orientation program to help our students build relationships as well as gain academic skills. Each class has a core tutor that stays with them through the year and in their first few weeks, the class heads off to camp. When they return, it’s like they’ve been here forever.

Year 7

Year 7 is an exciting time of transition and new experiences for young students as they begin adolescence. Our Year 7 classrooms look like the familiar primary school learning environment, but incorporate significant advancements to help students begin their journey to adulthood and acclimatise to a bigger community.

Students are challenged and given more freedom to develop their independence through specialist lessons, greater scope to ask and answer their own questions, and more individual learning choices. But they always know that there’s a safe space for them to come back to, a community and a core teacher to guide them and help them learn from challenges. Our village-style learning environment helps students to quickly feel at home, make new friends, and build a strong relationship with their core teacher.

This is my place, I love being a part of it.

GENIUS HOUR

In the Genius Hour Project, students are in complete control. They can choose what they study, how they study it and what they do, produce or create. In Genius Hour, students are given set aside time to explore, analyse and create projects that have unique meaning to them. By giving students true autonomy, we find that they become more motivated and engaged across all areas of study and not just their favourite project.

Year 8

Year 8 is a year of change and challenge. Social groups begin to evolve, as do adolescent friendships, and the academic program becomes more challenging. Year 8 students are given more responsibility and have a greater choice in their education through specialised learning and electives. Their core teacher and tutors help them to balance their teenage physical, emotional and intellectual changes with their academic program. We know our students well, so we’re able to meet them where they’re at and provide tailored support. We help our students to discover who they are and guide them as they build their character, giving them the skills and confidence to take on the challenges that lay ahead. Our students become confident, capable and self-reliant learners as they develop skills like organisation and time management, critical thinking, personal learning, positive relationships, and cyber safety.

There’s just nothing better. Every day I get to try something new.

Year 9

In Year 9 students are given more opportunities to spread their wings and challenge themselves as part of our Immanuel Journey Program.

Our Journey Program provides a healthy challenge for our students. We use carefully constructed spiritual, emotional and physical challenges to build our students’ resilience, independence and self-confidence and prepare them for Senior School. One of our challenges – a nine day camp in the Flinders Ranges – helps them develop group management, team building, and camping skills while also fostering physical, spiritual and emotional growth.

As part of the Year 9 community project, students identify a need in the community, propose a solution or action, implement their plan, and then share the results with the school and the community, building resilience, self-confidence and independence along the way. Our students have created everything from care packs to distribute to abused teens to fundraising events for the CWA and drought assistance raising over $10,000.

Our Year 9 students are given more opportunities to develop leadership skills as they set the example and mentor younger students within the Middle School. At the end of Year 9, students are prepared and ready to step up into Senior School with confidence.

I’m much stronger than I thought, I’ve got the courage to get out of my comfort zone.

BUILDING A SUPPORT NETWORK

Year 9 is a time of transition for our students and so we encourage them to begin building their support networks. We ask them to think of the significant adults in their life, aside from parents and teachers, who could mentor them as they work through the Journey program and develop their community project as well as support them on their path to adulthood.

I would try to appreciate the moment that I was in, and not take the opportunity for granted.

Senior School

Our Senior School facility, the Margaret Ames Centre, was co-designed by our students and it has fundamentally changed the way our young people learn. The state-of the-art Centre has set the benchmark for progressive learning environments and complements our approach to treating senior students as young adults.

The Centre includes studio spaces, an open plan learning hub, a café, senior school administration, a conference facility and a 200-seat lecture theatre. Customised furniture allows the environment to be varied day-to-day and almost every surface becomes a ‘writable’ wall or desk. Technology is integrated but not intrusive.

Striking a balance

It can be easy to get swept up in all things academic once Senior School begins, but we make sure that our students learn and develop in all types of environments, not just the classroom. Throughout their school life, students are encouraged to play in one (or more) of our 150 sporting teams, join one of our 16 clubs and perform with our many music groups – 10 at last count.

I can create my own path, anything is possible.

Year 10 The Discovery Year

Year 10 is a milestone year for students at Immanuel as they transition from Middle to Senior School and begin to lay the foundations for their final years at school and beyond. The key feature of Year 10 is the Discovery Program; designed to be a year of discovery, where students explore options, test out new ideas and develop agency in their learning as well as voice about their future. Developing leadership and entrepreneurial skills, students are encouraged to both follow their passions and to undertake new challenges.

While continuing to build knowledge and skills in the core learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education and History, students also have choice over much of their learning program with over 40 exciting and innovative options on offer. Key to the experience is ‘Discover Me’, a subject focussed on exploration of self; building skills in self-reflection, self-management and self-efficacy. Discover Me incorporates the SACE subject PLP (Personal Learning Plan), Christianity and Life as well as Immanuel’s dynamic wellbeing programme.

KITCHEN TAKEOVER

Home economics is not what it used to be – now it’s a place where science, design, art, technology and critical thinking intersect. Our Senior School students research menus, design world class dishes and have the rare opportunity to learn from renowned chef Chris Jarmer. Under his guidance, they take over Jarmer’s restaurant and run a full kitchen service.

Every student prepares a Personal Learning Plan, where they explore personal and career goals and identify possible career choices. We guide them through this process and help them select subjects, courses, or other training that will support their

I don’t need to wait to get started, I can start chasing my dreams right now.

Years 11 and 12

In the final years of Senior School our students are supported to achieve beyond their expectations. Every student will face challenges as they work to complete SACE and we make sure they’re supported to overcome them, with an emphasis on life beyond school. We help our students develop strategies to live, learn, work, and participate successfully in an ever-changing society, whether they are headed for further education, training, an apprenticeship or straight into the workforce.

Our Senior School students use the same office and study spaces as the teachers, chaplains, student counsellors and career advisors, and get a taste of what it’s like to work in corporate and university environments. Students are surrounded by supportive professionals they can get to know over morning smoothie in the café and call on informally for advice. The Centre is also open for longer hours – to 7pm, four nights a week – to give students their own space to study and work one-onone with our specialist tutors.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE ON A GLOBAL SCALE

Innovation and design technology go hand-in-hand at Immanuel, but it’s not just about having access to the latest CAD software or 3D printers, it’s about creating real-life opportunities for students to use them. We partnered with AusOcean in the Network Blue project to help find a low-cost way for citizens to perform ocean science and share data globally. A team of our students successfully designed, built and trialled a floating device that collected ocean water quality data – all on a $500 budget – learnt new team-work skills and extended their STEM, outdoor education, community engagement, and entrepreneurship skills. The project has been so successful we’re working to establish a global network of schools engaged in ocean research.

Image: AAP/Messenger Community News/Roy Vandervegt

Life beyond Year 12

At Immanuel, we provide an environment where all students, regardless of their background, aspirations and ability, can find ‘their bit of sunshine’.

We offer our students the widest breadth of opportunities and options and this is reflected in the diverse range of careers our students pursue after graduation – everything from medicine, engineering, music, and law to midwifery, disability studies, accident forensics, and entrepreneurship. About 80% of our students receive their first university preference through SATAC and hundreds of our students also graduate with VET qualifications in addition to their SACE certification. Our surveys show that Immanuel graduates transition well into the independent and self-directed university life, while employers tell us that Immanuel graduates can be recognised by their strong communication skills and leadership qualities. Many of our Old Scholars volunteer their time to support current students whether it be in sport coaching, music, or tutoring. Whatever path our students take and wherever they travel around the world, they will always be home at Immanuel.

ADJUSTING TO UNIVERSITY LIFE

Many of our Boarders share houses together in their first year at university. Aside from wanting to continue living with their friends, they often find they’re more independent and skilled than their peers after years of sharing spaces, negotiating social relationships and increasingly independent living. Plus, there’s even informal Immanuel groups at South Australian universities, places where our young people know they can go and catch up with other Immanuel students. It really is a community that never leaves you.

STAYING CONNECTED

The Immanuel College Old Scholars’ Association (ICOSA) strengthens ties between past students and the Immanuel community, whether it’s been a year since graduation or fifty. The ICOSA website incorporates a business directory, where past students can support each other. We also share school news and events through a biannual magazine (ICOSA Community News) and our Facebook page, including notices of our ever-popular class reunions. Each year we hold an Old Scholars Week that includes a Senior Old Scholars Assembly. At the assembly, Old Scholars who started 60 or more years ago are invited back to the school and introduced to our current students – one of their favourite days of the year.

I’ll always be part of Immanuel and Immanuel will always be part of me.