Why choose Kooralbyn as a school?
Along with our high standards in dress, behaviour, work ethic and attitude, the other major reasons for choosing Kooralbyn involve the four somewhat unique programs that this school offers, namely:
- Our Prep-Primary School program with its old-fashioned 'back to basics' curriculum and its warm 'village' atmosphere where teachers who are passionate about their students deliver the core foundations of literacy and numeracy within a happy, friendly country-school environment designed to allow every student to 'believe in themselves and be the best that they can be'.
- Our Secondary School program with its high academic standards, its small class sizes, its growing technological specialisations which allow the school to capitalise on its innovations in timetabling and class-structure design which collectively provide personalised and individual work programs that allow students to learn at their own pace and 'believe in themselves and be the best that they can be'.
- Our Well-Being program that ensures every student is treated with respect and embodies the notion that at Kooralbyn, 'Our Superpower is Kindess'.
- Our world-class Mastery programs for high school that dedicate one full day a week to each student's chosen area of mastery...whether it be a sporting, artitistic, academic or vocational one.
On-Campus Boarding Accommodation: The school's boarding facilities are open to students from Grades 7 to 12 and offer safe, healthy and economic pastoral care for students of the school.
Vocational Education: Though Kooralbyn does not currently offer a specialised Vocational Education program within our High School, we ARE perfectly set up to support School-Based Apprenticeships through our Mastery programs and offer non-university pathways which are enjoyed by about 10% of senior students.
For more information about each of these quality programs, please use the navigation links above or on this page. Also, please refer to information about the school's Ethos or Philosophy.
Why NOT to choose Kooralbyn?
There are also many good reasons to NOT choose Kooralbyn...We have probably the highest standards in uniform, behaviour and work expectations of any school in the region. This does not necessarily suit all children (or their parents, for that matter). If a student comes to Kooralbyn, they must have their hair cut conservatively, they must NOT wear make-up or jewellery and they must adhere to our strict uniform and behaviour code. We believe that demonstrating a student's respect for authority, pride in their uniform and attitude to their work are far more important qualities to develop at school than an ability to impress their peers with their fashion sense.
Being a small school with small class sizes, students can't slip through the cracks and hide unnoticed in our classrooms as much as they can in larger schools. This means that if they come here, students must be prepared to work hard. (Again, this does not appeal to all students.)
Kooralbyn is a small school with an academic and masteries focus (see Why Choose Kooralbyn as a School)
- We do NOT have a brilliant Vocational Education program (though we can assist our Senior School students with obtaining School-Based Traineeships and Apprenticeships).
- We do NOT have a large instrumental music program (though we DO offer Choral Music as a subject from the early years of our Primary School and a full Music Mastery all day Friday for our high school students).
- Though we are rightly proud of our sporting achievements (an incredible number of our students represent the state in various sports for example), we are too small a school to offer many team sports opportunities like Rugby, Cricket, Soccer, etc. Our sports focus tends to be on 'solo or small group sports' (like golf, swimming, athletics, equestrian and tennis) which don't require large teams.
- The bottom line, is that as a school, we place very high expectations regarding dress, behaviour and work ethic on our students. We do our best to help all students meet those standards and expectations, but if they can't, then a school that places less stringent demands might prove a better option.
