St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock will hold an Open Day on May 18.
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It will be an opportunity for the public to have a “no-obligation look” at the school, how it runs and discuss its ethos.
There will be two sessions: 8.45am-10am and 3.30pm-5.30pm.
“Our school leaders will be running tours during these sessions, and afterwards morning or afternoon tea will be available where people can chat with me or the deputy principal in a relaxed and informal setting,” school principal Darren Cox said.
St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock is the first christian school in the Cessnock area.
The school was established in 2005 and in that first year had 28 students.
Next year there will be four kindergarten classes and over 1000 students enrolled across junior, middle and senior school, indicating a massive endorsement.
“St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock provides a strength-based education where the fundamental belief is that everyone has individual strengths and the challenge is to identify those strengths, and then see how those enable us to work in teams to enhance learning and effectiveness across the whole College,” Mr Cox said.
To identify those strengths, each year every student from years 6 to 12 have two individual consultations with experts from Sydney who make assessments then report findings back to staff.
“The first tenet of effective teaching is to know the student and how they learn. It has to be deeper than just knowing their name,” Mr Cox said.
“The consultations ensure school staff are aware of individual student levels across the board.”
In 2016, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) identified St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock as one of five Hunter schools that had made “substantially above average gains.”
“We work hard to set students up academically and this type of recognition proves we’re achieving it,” Mr Cox said.
St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock also has a large Vocational Education and Training (VET) proram.
“We believe students should leave school with a clear idea of where they’re heading vocationally,” Mr Cox said. “We offer 10 VET courses, including groundbreaking courses like aviation.
Students also have the option on a number of overseas trips each year.
“We go to India, Cambodia and France, and next year we’re looking at the USA,” Mr Cox said. “Yes, we might be part of Cessnock but we are also part of a larger world.”
Mr Cox was appointed principal in 2014 after serving four years as deputy. He grew up in Sydney and attended the University of NSW, graduating with a Masters in Educational Leadership.
His passion and energy for strength-based education has been recognised at a national level with invites to speak at several prestigious conferences in the last 12 months.
In September last year, Mr Cox presented at the Australian Council for Educational Leaders Conference in Melbourne.
St Philip's was also chosen as one of 12 schools across the entire spectrum of Government, Catholic and Independent Schools to present at the 2016 Education Symposium: Future Reform Directions for NSW event in Sydney.
“I jumped at the chance to move to Cessnock because I’m looking to change the narrative around education in this area and give people that quality, affordable option,” Mr Cox said.