Grace Lutheran College
Encyclopedia
Grace Lutheran College (GLC), founded in 1978, is a co-educational, private high school
based in Rothwell
and Caboolture
in Queensland
, Australia
. Grace Lutheran Primary School is located in Clontarf
, approximately a 10 minute drive from the main Grace College Campus at Rothwell. The current Principal is Mrs Ruth Butler, who took up the post in 2010 after the founding Principal, Mr Fred Stoltz, retired. The college's enrolment at the start of the 2011 school year was over 1800.
Grace Lutheran College is a school belonging to the Lutheran denomination of the Christian faith.
Each year, the college pays the entry fees for every one of its students to participate in the University of New South Wales academic competitions in Mathematics, Science, and English; each year the college manages to record a high number of awards for these. Subsequently, various departments allow students to enter academic competitions voluntarily, with the school paying the entry fees for the students to do so.
The college has a Performing Arts department. Each year, Performing Arts students have a variety of plays and productions as part of their course, usually, but not always, including junior and doing senior productions every second year. Every second year, the college also hosts a musical production, which is very popular within the community. Almost all of the production cast and crew are made up of students, with directing taken up by Performing Arts teachers.
Grace Lutheran College has an observatory consisting of a Celestron
14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
attached to its science block. A 13 m radio telescope
for monitoring solar activity is also at the Rothwell campus.
The sports uniform of Grace Lutheran College is varied. The normal sports uniform consists of brown shorts and a polo shirt that is mostly yellow with other colours. However, the uniform can change with seniority and sport. In Years 9–12, students participating in interschool sport have the opportunity to purchase a diamond-patterned sport shirt to indicate that they are a part of an interschool team. Students that do not wish to participate in interschool sport or have failed to make an interschool team play interhouse sport. The interhouse teams wear their house colours, either white (Pegasus
), blue (Phoenix
), green (Orion
) or red (Antares
). Year 12 students also have the opportunity to wear their senior jerseys during their sport day.
Seniors (Years 10-12) have sport on Wednesday and Juniors (Years 8 and 9) on Thursday. Also, Year 7s have their sport on Friday, in order to play interschool sport with primary schools in the area. Approximately half of the school will be wearing day uniform and the other half will be wearing sports uniform, adding to the different uniforms already on display.
Due to the camp only being capable of holding 48 students at any one time, students attend the camp in their house groups or join one of two combined groups, one of which attends in the last month of Year 9, and the other during the Easter
school holidays. Googa was originally a forestry camp before being purchased by the school. The camp consists of four dormitories capable of holding 12 students each, as well as one other dormitory equipped for disabled students and other scenarios. It also has two composting toilet blocks and housing for staff that live on the camp. Googa has recently purchased an adjacent avocado farm, increasing the total area of the camp to more than 150 acre (0.607029 km²). On this new farm it is planned for another campus to be built, almost identical to the current one, allowing for twice as many classes per year.
Cooking and cleaning is done by the students, with cooking done on wood fires. During the camp, students go on hikes and pioneering exercises. During pioneering students must build a shelter, toilet, chapel and other things required to live comfortably in the bush, out of only rope and wooden poles. The pioneering experience lasts for three to four days and the hike is typically three days long. Early in the last week of the camp, the students experience a 24-hour solo, where they spend a day and night on their own, reflecting on their time at the camp.
Various activities are also observed, such as a daily run through one of three running tracks, various team building exercises, orienteering, tree climbing, and a high ropes course.
The School has quality IT facilities including extensive on-line services and is currently undergoing considerable expansion in the area of ICT and the integration of ICT's across the curriculum. The College is looking at a revised ICT Strategic Plan in readiness towards a 1:1 student computer ratio (Years 9 - 12) by 2011.
The College participates in the Moreton Bay
and Caboolture district where it wins a large majority of competitions. After winning the district or zone final, the school has the chance to compete in Metropolitan finals, where it is the most successful school in QSS recorded history.
Grace Lutheran College is the current metropolitan champion in:
The school has no excellence or scholarship program in place but has a history of succeeding in district and metropolitan finals and co-curricular competitions such as ISSA, Uhlsport Cup and Bill Turner Cup. Soccer achievements include for the girls the Uhlsport Cup in 2006, the ISSA Cup in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2006 and the final 8 of the 2007 Bill Turner Cup. The boys have also made the semi-finals in both the Uhlsport Cup in 2008 and Bill Turner Cup in 2007. In 2007, student Robbie Buhmann was also named star player of the 2007 Bill Turner Cup, a nationwide competition.
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
based in Rothwell
Rothwell, Queensland
Rothwell is a residential suburb of the Moreton Bay Region in the west of the Redcliffe peninsula, approximately north-northeast of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia...
and Caboolture
Caboolture, Queensland
Caboolture is an urban centre approximately north of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. Caboolture is considered to be the northernmost urban area of the greater Brisbane metropolitan region within South East Queensland, and it marks the end of the Brisbane suburban commuter...
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Grace Lutheran Primary School is located in Clontarf
Clontarf, Queensland
Clontarf is a residential and light industrial suburb of the Moreton Bay Region in the south-west of the Redcliffe peninsula, approximately north-northeast of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia.-Attractions and features:...
, approximately a 10 minute drive from the main Grace College Campus at Rothwell. The current Principal is Mrs Ruth Butler, who took up the post in 2010 after the founding Principal, Mr Fred Stoltz, retired. The college's enrolment at the start of the 2011 school year was over 1800.
Grace Lutheran College is a school belonging to the Lutheran denomination of the Christian faith.
Academic
Grace Lutheran College currently enrols students in Years 7–12. Previous of 2008, the school only enrolled from year 8-12, however Year 7s were incorporated in 2008. This leaves years 7–9 as the middle school and 10–12 as the senior school. 2008 saw the completion of the Caboolture campus of Grace Lutheran College, currently enrolling year 7 to 11 students and was officially opened on the 23rd May 2008.Each year, the college pays the entry fees for every one of its students to participate in the University of New South Wales academic competitions in Mathematics, Science, and English; each year the college manages to record a high number of awards for these. Subsequently, various departments allow students to enter academic competitions voluntarily, with the school paying the entry fees for the students to do so.
The college has a Performing Arts department. Each year, Performing Arts students have a variety of plays and productions as part of their course, usually, but not always, including junior and doing senior productions every second year. Every second year, the college also hosts a musical production, which is very popular within the community. Almost all of the production cast and crew are made up of students, with directing taken up by Performing Arts teachers.
Grace Lutheran College has an observatory consisting of a Celestron
Celestron
Celestron is a company that manufactures and imports telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, and accessories for their products.-Origins and History:...
14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
The Schmidt–Cassegrain is a catadioptric telescope that combines a cassegrain reflector's optical path with a Schmidt corrector plate to make a compact astronomical instrument that uses simple spherical surfaces.-Invention and design:...
attached to its science block. A 13 m radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
for monitoring solar activity is also at the Rothwell campus.
Uniform
Grace Lutheran College's uniforms fall under three main categories: formal, day and sports. The day or regular uniform is the uniform worn most days if a student does not have sport or requires to go on an excursion. For males, the uniform consists of long brown pants in winter, shorts in summer, with a white shirt with fine brown vertical stripes, with brown socks in winter, and cream socks with coloured striped at the top in summer, and polishable brown shoes. The female day uniform is a white dress with brown and green vertical stripes, with a four pronged 2 layered brown tie, with brown shoes and white socks. The girls also have the option of wearing their formal shirt with a white shirt with fine brown stripes for their day uniform, although not many do so. the Formal uniform for boys is a white shirt, with long brown pants, a brown tie, and for seniors a brown blazer. For girls, a brown skirt, a white shirt with the day uniform tie, light brown stockings and brown shoes are the formal uniform, with seniors able to wear a blazer also.The sports uniform of Grace Lutheran College is varied. The normal sports uniform consists of brown shorts and a polo shirt that is mostly yellow with other colours. However, the uniform can change with seniority and sport. In Years 9–12, students participating in interschool sport have the opportunity to purchase a diamond-patterned sport shirt to indicate that they are a part of an interschool team. Students that do not wish to participate in interschool sport or have failed to make an interschool team play interhouse sport. The interhouse teams wear their house colours, either white (Pegasus
Pegasus (constellation)
Pegasus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations.-Stars:...
), blue (Phoenix
Phoenix (constellation)
Phoenix is a minor constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the Phoenix, a mythical bird. It is faint: there are only two stars in the whole constellation which are brighter than magnitude 5.0...
), green (Orion
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
) or red (Antares
Antares
Antares is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky . Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic...
). Year 12 students also have the opportunity to wear their senior jerseys during their sport day.
Seniors (Years 10-12) have sport on Wednesday and Juniors (Years 8 and 9) on Thursday. Also, Year 7s have their sport on Friday, in order to play interschool sport with primary schools in the area. Approximately half of the school will be wearing day uniform and the other half will be wearing sports uniform, adding to the different uniforms already on display.
Outdoor education (Googa)
At Grace Lutheran College, students participate in a Christian Outdoor camp lasting four weeks. At Googa Outdoor Education Centre (Generally shortened to "Googa"), students are to live without electricity (with few exceptions), to make their own night time meals, to clean the cabins and live without technology. To achieve this aim, students are not allowed to have any electronic devices at the camp, such as mobile phones, iPods and other MP3 players, and other such devices, and learn many life survival skills by the experienced leaders.Due to the camp only being capable of holding 48 students at any one time, students attend the camp in their house groups or join one of two combined groups, one of which attends in the last month of Year 9, and the other during the Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
school holidays. Googa was originally a forestry camp before being purchased by the school. The camp consists of four dormitories capable of holding 12 students each, as well as one other dormitory equipped for disabled students and other scenarios. It also has two composting toilet blocks and housing for staff that live on the camp. Googa has recently purchased an adjacent avocado farm, increasing the total area of the camp to more than 150 acre (0.607029 km²). On this new farm it is planned for another campus to be built, almost identical to the current one, allowing for twice as many classes per year.
Cooking and cleaning is done by the students, with cooking done on wood fires. During the camp, students go on hikes and pioneering exercises. During pioneering students must build a shelter, toilet, chapel and other things required to live comfortably in the bush, out of only rope and wooden poles. The pioneering experience lasts for three to four days and the hike is typically three days long. Early in the last week of the camp, the students experience a 24-hour solo, where they spend a day and night on their own, reflecting on their time at the camp.
Various activities are also observed, such as a daily run through one of three running tracks, various team building exercises, orienteering, tree climbing, and a high ropes course.
Current developments
Grace Lutheran College is almost continually being expanded in order to accommodate the rising number of students. A large chapel has recently been completed, with the school spending nearly $4 million. The building features a large worship hall, cafe, fully functional media room. The chapel has been a long-term goal of the college since its opening, and began construction in October 2006 after a number of years of delays.The School has quality IT facilities including extensive on-line services and is currently undergoing considerable expansion in the area of ICT and the integration of ICT's across the curriculum. The College is looking at a revised ICT Strategic Plan in readiness towards a 1:1 student computer ratio (Years 9 - 12) by 2011.
Sport
The College promotes a variety of sports which includes Aussie Rules, Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Futsal, Gaelic Football, Hockey, Netball, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Softball, Squash, Tennis, Touch, Volleyball and Water Polo.The College participates in the Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
and Caboolture district where it wins a large majority of competitions. After winning the district or zone final, the school has the chance to compete in Metropolitan finals, where it is the most successful school in QSS recorded history.
Grace Lutheran College is the current metropolitan champion in:
- Open Girls Softball
- Open Boys Soccer
- Open Girls Soccer
- Open Boys Australian Rules Football
- Open Girls Golf (Ellen Davies-Graham)
- Open Boys Futsal
- Year 10 Girls Softball
- Year 10 Baseball
- Year 10 Boys Tennis
- Year 10 Girls Basketball
- Year 10 Girls Netball
- Year 9 Girls Soccer
- Year 8 Girls Netball
- Vicki Wilson Girls Netball (Winner of Sunshine Coast)
- Independent Schools Australia Rules Football
The school has no excellence or scholarship program in place but has a history of succeeding in district and metropolitan finals and co-curricular competitions such as ISSA, Uhlsport Cup and Bill Turner Cup. Soccer achievements include for the girls the Uhlsport Cup in 2006, the ISSA Cup in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2006 and the final 8 of the 2007 Bill Turner Cup. The boys have also made the semi-finals in both the Uhlsport Cup in 2008 and Bill Turner Cup in 2007. In 2007, student Robbie Buhmann was also named star player of the 2007 Bill Turner Cup, a nationwide competition.
Notable sporting alumni
- Kylie PalmerKylie PalmerKylie Jayne Palmer OAM , is an Australian distance freestyle swimmer.She attended Grace Lutheran College, Rothwell...
- 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist - Jodie BoweringJodie BoweringJodie Bowering is a Softball player from Australia, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She started her career as a pitcher but these days plays first base. She also attended Grace Lutheran College secondary school where softball is held in high regard, having its own floodlit and...
- 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist - Joel NaughtonJoel NaughtonJoel Matthew Naughton is an Australian catcher for the Brisbane Bandits.-Philadelphia Phillies:...
- Philadelphia PhilliesPhiladelphia PhilliesThe Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
and national teamAustralia national baseball teamThe Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. They are ranked as the top team in Oceania, and are the Oceanian Champions, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand withdrew from the Oceania Baseball Championship. They...
catcher - Andrew Hagen - NASCARNASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver. - Paul AitonPaul AitonPaul Aiton is a Papua New Guinean rugby league player who plays for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and previously for the Penrith Panthers in the Australian National Rugby League competition. He primarily plays at hooker.With his family, Aiton relocated to Caboolture, Queensland in the early 1990s...
- Cronulla SharksCronulla SharksThe Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...
and Papua New Guinea national rugby league teamPapua New Guinea national rugby league teamThe Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea internationally in the sport of rugby league football.In Papua New Guinea, Rugby league is highly popular and is regarded as the country’s national sport. The national side are known as the Kumuls...
hooker