Based on Faith, Chosen by Families

Some of the oldest church-schools in Australia were founded in the 1800s, but low-fee, independent Christian schools like this one are not ancient in Australia. The earliest independent Christian schools like ours began in Australia in the 1970’s.

The usual way these schools began was that a group of parents got together because they were not satisfied that their children would receive a Christian faith-founded education in their local government school. So, they started their own school. That was impressive determination of those pioneering parents. Starting a school is not an easy task. Those pioneers had stamina just to get through the fundraising and red-tape required to get a school started.

The reason for starting independent Christian schools was to create choice.

Parents who were involved in starting a Christian school wanted to be able to choose Christian education. What they wanted was not merely a private school alternative to government schooling. Those parents did not start schools simply to have a less expensive private school for their children. They did all that work to start schools that explicitly taught the Christian faith to their children. These families taught the Christian faith in their homes, they celebrated the Christian faith with their church-communities on Sundays and through the week, and they wanted the third, stabilising element in the life of their family to be Christian schooling. That’s why they starting a school.

In all cases, other families, not necessarily Christian families were watching.

Neighbours and locals were watching Christian schools grow in their areas, and they liked what they saw. It did not take long and the Christian schools around greater Melbourne had other parents knocking on the door seeking to enrol their children. You see, people saw the good teaching and learning that was happening in these Christian schools, and people are smart…. they know that successful schooling is about a whole lot more than mere academic learning. Parents throughout greater Melbourne saw value in Christian schooling. People know that learning is about all-of-life, not merely about scholastic studies.

This is still true today. This is still happening today. Here at Melton Christian College, a school that was started specifically to provide choice for parents in greater Melton, we are seeing parents from all religious backgrounds coming to us seeking to enrol their children.

This school provides schooling that centres on the good teachings of Jesus Christ. What is wonderful is that MCC remains faithful to the foundational teachings of Christ, and local families of all sorts continue seeking places for their children to learn those good, all-of-life lessons.

David Gleeson, Principal