With student numbers jumping from 110 to 148 in just 12 months, one Benalla school is hitting every target it sets.
“We’ve got new kids in most year levels this year,” Australian Christian College principal Sam Woods said.
The school, which only moved into its new campus in 2023, has seen a big increase in enrolments as it continues to add new year levels.
With Year 10 added this year, it is only a couple of years away from offering a full Prep to Year 12 curriculum.
Mr Woods said the new campus, formerly the Benalla campus of Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE, had definitely played a part in the rapid growth.
“It’s a better-looking facility and has more space for students, more space for specialist classrooms and provides lots of opportunities,” he said.
“We’re an independent school, and being able to offer Prep to Year 12 seems to be what families want.
“They want an opportunity for their children to be in a consistent community for a long period of time, making that transition to high school smoother.
“Our plan is to try to be that one-stop education shop for families in Benalla.”
As the school grows, it opens up roles for new teachers and a host of other staff.
“We seem to be getting more and more people expressing interest in coming to work here,” Mr Woods said.
“But there is a teacher shortage around Australia. However, we have been creative and innovative in the way we tackle that, making sure that we can offer our kids really good opportunities.
“With our network of schools around Australia, we’ve got online schools in many states.
“We’re really hoping that we’ll be able to open our online school in Victoria in 2025.
“We’ve got lots of content from really good, up-to-date online courses taught by actual teachers that we’re able to share among our schools.
“For example, we’ll have great opportunities for the kids to study languages, even if we’re not able to get a staff member here.
“We can hybridise their learning a little bit so their opportunities are not limited by not being able to find a French teacher in Benalla, for example.
“We’ve been working really hard on that to make sure the teacher shortage is not limiting what our kids can do by making the most of the online world.”