Earlier this week on Monday evening around 750 people gathered at Regents Park Christian College to share about the positive impact Christian schools like Green Point Christian College have in the lives of generations of students. This event has been part of an advocacy effort to inform the Federal Government as to the strength, character and impact of Christian schools and encourage them to ensure that the right to preference staff that align to the values and belief’s of our Christian schools remains.

GPCC was well represented on the evening as a number travelled to participate and we also had two speakers share during the evening. Jill McKay our Head of English and Millie M a current Year 9 student. They represented Christian schools, and Green Point amazingly well and I thank them for their willingness to share their stories.

Jill has kindly shared her speech and the transcript follows;

"I’ve been in Christian education for 40 years. My parents – Jenni and Steve Spies – started Berowra Christian Community School. I’ve spotted two of my ex-students in the front row, now working in Christian schools and with their own children attending. I’ve been teaching in and working with Christian schools for 20 years. And my three daughters all attend a Christian school. This is the heart of the story of Christian education.

The purpose of adolescence is not to achieve academic success. The purpose of adolescence is to discover who you are and to determine what future that will lead you to pursue. This is a demanding and often rocky reality I’ve walked with many students - at times daily - through pastoral conversations, hospital visits, ambulance trips, check ins, catch ups in corridors and on playground duty. With students who are angry and frightened and anxious and grieving and sick and desperate. The freedom to pray with and for students who request that, to offer comfort and reassurance through scripture and testimony, to provide spiritual hope and encouragement in times of trial and tragedy is of far more value to me than academic achievement.

Most adults with positive education experiences can quickly name a key teacher, librarian, office lady or groundsman who made a difference. Who saw them. Cared for them. Encouraged and even inspired them. Teachers are inevitably role models - for better or for worse. I suspect that the teacher you remember from school is not memorable because of their knowledge of Shakespeare or their mastery of calculus. But because of their mentoring, their modelling of life, their alignment with your goals and hopes and dreams in a way that resonated as you were becoming.

The best employees in any organisation are those that believe in the company’s purpose and vision. A school is not a Christian school because it has a church building or a chapel service. A school is a Christian school because its staff - all of them - have a common vision for an education experience that will impact students well beyond their HSC results and into eternity. That shared goal is one that requires unity of faith and purpose.

The faith-based schooling sector is the fastest growing in education in Australia. And has been over a number of years. Australian parents are choosing this option for their children in full knowledge of what is being offered. It is not a claim of superiority nor a demand for dominance. It is a plea for freedom to employ staff that can genuinely align their teaching, their mentoring and their worldview with those openly stated in their school mottos and visions and purpose statements. This is the only way that Christian schools can and will, in fact, remain Christian schools."                                                                        

Joel van Bentum
Principal