In 2016 the school's name was changed to Shire Christian School.
Establishment
The School Association was formally founded in 1969 by several Christian families who wished to have a Christian environment for their children to grow and mature in. The school officially began in 1977 under the name Sutherland Shire Christian School and the Sutherland Shire Christian School Association Ltd was created two years later in 1979. School classes were originally housed in several locations before the purchase of several hectares of farm land in the southern Sydney suburb of Barden Ridge, in 1981, where the school has continued to develop since.
Year
No. of students
1977
11
1982
263
1987
564
1992
722
1997
752
2005
804
2019
841
Junior School
The Junior School's curriculum is based around six main subject areas:
The school offers a wide range of electives at Stage 5 and Stage 6, including extension classes depending upon demand. Students are also able to participate in courses through external providers such as TAFE and language courses offered by the Open High School.
In 2015 the school moved nearly 200 places and ranked 65th in the State in HSC results, making it one of the highest ranking schools in the area in that year. In recent years many final year students have been nominated and selected for the various HSC showcase events.
Facilities and grounds
Location
The school is located in the suburban area of Barden Ridge on Allies Road near Lucas Heights Public School. The school has a scenic bushland setting providing not only shade for students but also a bush playground for junior students.
Facilities
The school has an abundance of facilities on its campus. These include a gymnasium, tennis and basketball courts and cricket nets to cater for all types of students needs and interests. Woodwork and metalwork rooms exist for students, along with a textiles room, a home economics room and several music rooms with recording studio rooms and an array of musical instruments. Two large libraries cater to both the Primary and Secondary schools. A more recent addition is the Tiered Learning Centre and refurbished science laboratories.
Extracurricular
There are several extracurricular clubs which run throughout the school each year. These include a sound and lighting team, debating team, a public speaking team, a concert band, junior and senior choirs, junior and senior guitar ensembles and the VIBE string ensemble.
The arts
The school runs an annual drama performance made up of predominantly senior students and several members of drama classes throughout the school grades. These productions are supported by the entire school community through involvement in costuming, lighting, set design and direction. Recent productions have involved students from the junior school.
The Music Department also stages several smaller performance evenings as part of the peripatetic program alongside the two major musical evenings, the Primary Infants Performance Evening and For One Night Only.
Sport
The Shire Christian School is a competitor in many inter-school competitions and participates strongly in Swimming, Athletic and Cross-Country competitions.
