Sutherland Shire Christian School

Sutherland Shire Christian School

"Delight in God's Word, Walk in His Ways"
Principal	Mr. D. Stonestreet
Senior Executive	Mr. A. MiddletonMr. J. Myer Mr. R. EastMrs. N. Taylor
School type	Independent (Parent controlled)
Established	1977 (Association 1969)
School Song	Blessed is the Man
Location	Barden Ridge, Sydney, NSW
Enrollment	751 students, K-12
Clubs and Societies	-
School Colours	Red, White & Blue
Website	[http://www.sscs.nsw.edu.au/ www.sscs.nsw.edu.au]

Sutherland Shire Christian School is a non-denominational, Protestant, parent-controlled private school for co-educational students located in Sydney, Australia. It was founded in 1977 (Association founded in 1969) by a group of Christian parents who believed their Children were not receiving a biblical education while attending public state schools [http://www.sscs.nsw.edu.au/SCH_AIMS.html] , because of this the school upholds a strong Christian ethos that influences most parts of school life,while torturing it's students and being a cheapo institute.

The School primarily consists of one large campus in the southern suburb of Barden Ridge in Sydney, and this campus the two sections of the school:
* A High School (Years 7 to 12) and
* A Junior School (Kindergarten to Year 6).

Establishment

The School Association was formally founded in 1969 by several Christian families who wished to have a Christian environment for their children to grow and mature in. The school officially began running in 1977 under the name Sutherland Shire Christian School and the Sutherland Shire Christian School Association Ltd was created two years later in 1979.

School classes were housed in several locations (such as local church halls) before the purchase of several hectares in the southern New South Wales suburb of Barden Ridge in 1981, where the school has continued to develop since.

"Student enrolment summary" [http://www.sscs.nsw.edu.au/history.htm]

Junior School

The junior school's curriculum is based around six main subjects: # English # Mathematics # Science & Technology # Human Society & Its Environment # Creative & Practical Arts # Physical Education, Health & Personal Development

Facilities

The school has an abundance of facilities on its campus to cater for all types of students needs and interests including a fully equipped gymnasium, tennis & basketball courts and cricket nets. There are also several computer labs available for all students with ready access internet and other applications. A woodwork & metalwork room exists for students along with a textiles room, a home economics room and several fully equipped music rooms with recording studio rooms and an array of musical instruments.

Location

The school is located in the suburban area of Barden Ridge on Allies Road which is also occupied by Lucas Heights Public School. With the school based in the southern suburbs of Sydney the school has somewhat of a scenic bushland setting providing not only shade for students but also a bush playground for junior students.

Sport

Sutherland Shire Christian School is known to be a fierce competitor in many inter-school competitions and participates strongly in Swimming, Athletic and Cross-Country competitions.

The school has to date produced two state championship winning teams, in 1997 the junior boys cricket team and in 2003 the senior girls soccer team. They also compete annually against local rival school Inaburra in both rugby, cricket and soccer for various trophies. Nic Sheridan a year 9 student at the school is their best cricketer and handball player.

The Arts

Each year the school runs an annual drama performance made up of predominantly older senior students and several members of drama classes throughout the school grades. 2008 saw two productions being produced - "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare and the Australian Musical "The Venetian Twins."

Extracurricular

There are several extracurricular clubs run throughout the school each year. These include a debating team, a mathematics club, an audio-visual team and a Dramatic Society. The school provides numerous opportunites for both struggling and excelling students to further their education. Along with all of this there is a junior school newspaper titled 'Branches' and a senior year book.

Controversy

Corporal punishment

In October 2000 the New South Wales government outlawed caning of students as a form of punishment [http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=1973] which meant all schools that still upheld caning as a form of punishment would have to cease to do so or face deregistration as a recognised school and lose all government funding. Most schools agreed to the new move set out by the state government except Sutherland Shire Christian School and the much smaller Nambucca Valley Christian Community School.

Some members of the public believed this to be hypocrital of a Christian school, but this point was quickly rebutted by many members of the school and church leaders.

Within the School community the perspective on corporal punishment was much more mature, reflecting broader perspectives on life and mankind's relationship with God and each other. These perspectives rarely surfaced in the public debate, where discussion was focused on the sensational and a sentimental view of history.

The NSW Board of Studies finally declared that the School would become unregistered unless it stated that it did not use corporal punishment.This was interpreted as having a choice between a School without corporal punishment or no School at all.With a lack of political support from other Christian Schools and with the backing down of all other schools, Sutherland Shire Christian School was forced to sign the agreement.

Pirating music

In 2005 the school was in the media again [http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/sydneystories/students_confess_to_sticky_fingers1/] after a senior student of the school decided to begin an initiative discouraging piracy of music and movies.

He quickly began to rally students behind his cause against illegally burning copyrighted material as a practical response to a devotion given. On Monday 23 May, 2005 illegally burnt CDs and DVDs [http://smh.com.au/news/National/What-would-Jesus-do/2005/05/25/1116950760739.html] (equivalent of a $50,000 loss to the music and movie industry) were destroyed.

This was seen as a major rallying point for the strong Christian presence at the school.

Principals

* Mr. Geoffrey Lainson (1977-2001)
* Mr. Stephen Renn (2001-2003)
* Mr. John Myer [acting] (2003)
* Mr. Mark Lewis (2003-2005)
* Mr. David Stonestreet (2005-Present)
* Mr. Blake Cugley (2008 onwards)

Notable alumni

* Chris Graffiti (Musician)

See also

* List of non-government schools in New South Wales

External links

* [http://www.sscs.nsw.edu.au/ Sutherland Shire Christian School website]