About

 

Connected Schools

A Christ-centred community of K-12 Lutheran schools.

Our commitment to partner, dream, and passionately engage across our sites of learning in support of students and families is based on evidence that schools are capable of much more working in partnership, than they could ever imagine or achieve individually.

 

The importance of collaboration

It’s a rare occurrence to witness genuine collaboration across school sites for the benefit of all learners. For collaboration to be effective, it requires a commitment to shared ideals and ‘big picture’ thinking. Connected Schools value and understand inter-dependence to be as important as independence.

In classrooms around the world, creativity, connectivity and collaboration are reshaping student learning.

Our students happily and comfortably take their place in the ‘global classroom’ utilising a range of tools to connect and learn with others. Similarly, our vision to be a future focused, vibrant community of schools rather than a simple collection of independent learning sites, is our commitment to you and your child.

In Ecclesiastes Chapter 4, King Solomon talks of watching men working and toiling under the sun, and as one man is working, King Solomon notices that he is all alone. He has no brothers or sons or family. This is why Solomon begins to ponder and explain the importance of not being alone – allowing ourselves to develop friendships, where friends are even closer than a brother or a sister.

By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped. (verse 12)

These are exciting times. The Connected Schools partnership has been evolving over more than 15 years and we acknowledge that over this period we have been richly blessed. We anticipate and expect that we have only had a glimpse of the limitless possibilities that lie before us.

The educational landscape in Australia has entered an unprecedented phase of national cooperation. The impact of emerging technologies, the Australian Curriculum, national testing, new funding models and teachers with a greater understanding than ever before of the way students learn, equates to real potential for improved student outcomes. Inherent in the national initiatives is the assumption that Year 7 students are located in secondary environments. The research data supports this position. From 2015 South Australia will be the only state where some Year 7s are still located in stand-alone primary schools. As Lutheran schools, we are called to serve our communities by providing excellent education. Our Connected Schools recognise that best practice in Year 7 education is now assisted by the secondary school environment.

 

History

Lutheran education commenced in Adelaide’s north when St Paul Lutheran School was established in 1973. Good Shepherd Lutheran School Para Vista, Golden Grove Lutheran Primary, and Salisbury Lutheran Kindergarten soon followed. A secondary school completed the kindergarten to year 12 offering in 1998 when Endeavour College opened its doors in the heart of Mawson Lakes.

Lutheran schools have a reputation for excellence in education and care and support of students and families that is second to none. It was natural that strong partnerships would emerge across our learning communities. Today the links we share are deliberate, planned and purposeful.

Distinctive and unique

At a time when the trend in education is towards larger Reception to Year 12 campuses, often referred to as ‘super-schools’, Connected Schools deliberately and proudly remain medium sized learning communities. We strongly believe that this structure ensures:

• all students develop and maintain an identity;
• high standards of behavior and consistent, effective behavioral support is offered;
• staff and the wider community are able to maximise individual attention and take a personal interest in each child’s journey; and
• effort is celebrated and individual potential is maximized.

Whilst we acknowledge the enormous benefits of small to medium sized schools, we passionately strive for the provision of a seamless Kindergarten – Year 12 educational pathway where consistent values and expectations are promoted across the primary and secondary years. School leaders, staff, and students mix across the campuses, planning, interacting and developing engaging student experiences and opportunities.