Redeemer Lutheran College
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| Redeemer Lutheran College | |
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| Spes nostra in Christo est "Our hope is in Christ" |
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| Established | 1981 |
| School type | Lutheran |
| Principal/ Headmaster |
Richard Hauser |
| Location | Brisbane, QLD, Australia |
| Campus | Semi-rural (Rochedale) |
| Enrollment | Approx 950 |
| School colours | Varying shades of blue |
| Homepage | www.redeemer.com.au |
Redeemer Lutheran College is a Lutheran secondary school in Rochedale, Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in the early 1980s by Robin Kleinschmidt and other leading Lutherans in the south of Brisbane, the College currently educates students from years 1 to 12, with years 1-5 currently without permanent buildings pending council approval to commence construction. The current head of college is Richard Hauser, who has been in this position since 2002.
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[edit] Location and grounds
Redeemer College (abbreviated as RLC) is located on border of Brisbane and Logan Cities in a semi-rural environment. The College is notable for its use of open space - with no building currently exceeding two stories in height and a network of paths crossing the grounds. Considerable effort is expended on landscaping the grounds as well.
[edit] Doctrinal emphasis
As the name implies, RLC focuses on the promotion of the Lutheran denomination of the Christian faith, however adherents of any belief - as well as those who have no religious faith - are welcomed. Religious instruction is provided via 150 minutes of "Christian Studies" every week from year 6 to 12, as well as morning devotions in the chapel and in home rooms. Staff are expected to uphold a Christian lifestyle and most staff members are practising Christians. RLC also has a chaplaincy service which is responsible for devotions and other expressions of religious life.
[edit] Educational standards
RLC is generally a high-achieving school, with most senior school-leavers scoring strongly in the Overall Position (OP) score. The ethos of the school, however, is on participation rather than a striving for excellence.
[edit] Extra-curricular
RLC participates in a wide range of extra-curricular activities, ranging from sport in the TAS (The Associated Schools) competition through to musical competitions and debating under the auspices of the Queensland Debating Union. The school has not achieved a reputation for consistent success in any extra-curricular endeavour, however some alumni have achieved individual success. These include:
- Helen Darville (infamous Australian literary hoaxer)
- David Giffin (former Wallabies vice-captain)
[edit] Robin Kleinschmidt
L. Robin Kleinschmidt is an Australian Lutheran educationalist. He served as headmaster of St Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane and was responsible - in part - for encouraging the theatrical talents of a young Sigrid Thornton.
Kleinschmidt served as headmaster of Redeemer College from foundation to 2001 and was responsible for the construction of most of the modern campus. His influence on the school can still be seen, particularly in the field of Debating, where the Inter-House Debating Trophy is known as the Robin Kleinschmidt Trophy. In honour of his endeavour and enterprise, the school's music centre, which was erected in 1999, was renamed the Robin Kleinschmidt centre.
[edit] Controversy
The school has been involved (peripherally) in two controversial incidents during its existence to date.
The first of these dealt with claims made by Helen Darville in interviews regarding her background. Among these claims were remarks that she had been looked down upon for being at the school on a scholarship and also that she had befriended a Croatian girl who had been bullied by other students. The College refuted both claims, demonstrating that it had never had a scholarship program (although limited bursaries existed and continue to exist for already-enrolled students in need) and that there were no students of Croatian ethnicity enrolled at the time of Darville's enrollment. Then-headmaster L. Robin Kleinschmidt still views these claims with contempt many years after the fact, as is shown in his memoir of the school. [1]
The second and more recent event dealt with the prosecution and later conviction of teacher Warren Schneider for paedophilia-related activities. Schneider, a former student of the school, was stood down immediately the allegations first surfaced and the College assisted police with their inquiries at all junctures. The events took place on a school camp in 2002, with Schneider giving female students alcohol and playing sexually-charged games of truth or dare with them. Schneider was jailed for 15 months, suspended after 5 months [2].
[edit] References
- ^ Kleinschmidt, L. Robin (2005). River of Hope: Reminiscences of the first years of Redeemer Lutheran College. Underwoood, Queensland: Kingswood, 79-80. ISBN 0-646-45014-X.
- ^ "Naked, cartwheeling teacher jailed", AAP, The Age, February 9, 2006, retrieved September 20, 2006
