As students return for a new school year this week, it will be new beginnings for Mernda Hills Christian College who are now an official standalone education institution.
The college, previously known as the Mernda campus of Gilson College, is a Christian school providing education for foundation to year 12.
Gilson College will remain at Taylors Hill.
The Mernda campus will now operate on its own, following approval from the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, VRQA, effective January 1, 2024.
Both schools will remain within the Adventist Schools Victoria system, which oversees the provision of teaching in Victorian Seventh-Day Adventist schools, with the new Mernda college adopting a fresh logo to accompany its new name.
Principal Kristin Hankins said the logo and name were the only visible changes, while the school’s programs, events, and governance would continue as normal.
“All of the great things that we are already doing stay the same. The nice thing about being part of a system of schools is there’s really very few changes that are impacting our students and our families,” she said.
“Our staff teams are staying the same, we’re at the same place, we’ve got the same programs, we’ve got the same school values, we’ve got the same Adventist and Christian identity for us as a school.”
Ms Hankins said the new school status meant stronger local ownership with the community for students who lived in the area.
“As part of the growth plan and the strategic plan for the Mernda campus … the plan has always been for the two campuses to be standalone schools,” she said.
“At this point in our journey … it’s a really exciting point that we can actually fulfil that step of our strategic direction and be able to be a standalone school within the advent of the school system.
“We can make decisions based on our students and our families here within the Mernda region, which is great for us because it gives us that community connection, which we love and want to continue developing as we grow.”
Ms Hankins said she was excited to welcome students back for 2024 as Mernda Hills Christian College.
“There’s so many opportunities for us to support our students, not just academically, but as they develop as whole individuals, we want to see them develop in all areas of their life,” she said.
“This next stage of our journey really helps to support our students with that, gives us that identity that’s locally central, that’s exciting and fresh, but also keeps all the really great things that we were doing beforehand – it’s kind of the best of both worlds.”
For more information, visit the school’s new website merndahills.vic.edu.au.
