Carinity Education to open new junior campus at Mount Chalmers
Carinity Education has purchased the former Mount Chalmers State School site and will open a junior campus next term. It will be the first time students will be at the school in 18 years after it closed in 2005 with just five students.
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Students will be back in the classroom at Mount Chalmers school next term for the first time in 18 years.
Carinity Education, a special assistance independent school, is opening a junior campus on the historic school grounds east of Rockhampton.
Carinity’s new independent school was approved by the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board on February 2, 2023 for Years 7 to 9 for classroom coeducation, non boarding and special assistance.
The first day for Years 7 and 8 will be April 17, 2023.
The school will focus on keeping just Years 7 and 8 at the Mount Chalmers campus and Years 9 to 12 will be at the “senior campus”, at the existing Carinity school at Glenlee.
The 34 current Year 7 and 8 students will move over next term with another six spots available, which will be allocated to some who are on the growing waiting list.
“We try to keep our class sizes smaller than average,” Principal Lyn Harland said.
The current site at Glenlee has grown from 10 staff and 35 students in 2017 to 35 staff and 130 students at the end of 2022.
The Glenlee school has little room to immediately grow as it is bordered by government land which involves a lengthy process to acquire.
The Mount Chalmers site offers the perfect serene and tranquil environment.
There are 238 independent schools in Queensland and 295 campuses with six new independent schools and nine new campuses approved for 2023 to open across southeast Queensland, Townsville and Far-North Queensland, and the Mount Chalmers one, classed as the Rockhampton region.
All new non-state schools must meet legislated accreditation criteria and must be not-for-profit before they are approved to operate.
Carinity Education is governed by The Baptist Union of Queensland and is for students who have found mainstream schooling unsuitable, such as those struggling with high anxiety and workload pressures.
They may have been affected by bullying, mental health issues, learning difficulties or other significant personal challenges.
Ms Harland said students could be referred from a mainstream school and then underwent an interview process to find out what wasn’t working for them in that environment.
“When we enrol the young person, it’s not just them, it’s the family as well,” she said.
“The young person must be accepting of support services, stepping up and engaging in that and it’s the same as parents.
“If they don’t have the willingness to come here and the want to accept supports, Carinity will not work for them.
“We also offer support with therapeutic workers, all of our staff, right down to our canteen worker and cleaner has therapeutic crisis intervention training.
“It’s really a way of working with young people to understand and hear their story
“It’s extremely relational the way we work in our schools, because relationships build trust and create a sense of safety for the young person, and when that person feels safe, that’s when they feel connected, then they have the capacity to learn.”
The school is fully funded by the Baptist Union and other independent schools funding, and there are no fees to parents.
“Our young people turn up with the clothes they are wearing, we provide everything else - breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, bus service; parents don’t need to provide resources, all outings are at no cost,” Ms Harland said.
History of Mt Chalmers schooling
The Mount Chalmers State School was opened in 1901 and closed at the end of the school year in 2005 as there were only five students at the school.
The township was once much bigger after gold mining began in 1869, then copper mining in 1899.
In 1911, the population was 1,181 and by 1914, mining ceased and the population dwindled to 95 people by 1921.
In the last recorded Census in 2021, Mount Chalmers had a population of 226.
The school site and buildings was purchased by the Livingstone Shire Council from Queensland Education in 2014 for $240,000 so the property would remain available for the community as a history centre is run out of the former principal’s residence.
The property was subdivided and Carinity purchased the remaining site with the classrooms and undercover areas for $220,000 in October 2021.
In the past 18 months, tradies have been hard at work, repainting and renovating the school buildings to bring it up to current standards.
“I’ve gone from having to pull my way through the bushes and overgrown grass here, opening doors that had dried toads and dead snakes and cobwebs everywhere, you needed a machete to get through the grass,” Ms Harland.
“To go from that to what we have here and to see bits and pieces … it’s amazing.”
The current site has a large room which will be used as a classroom, with smaller rooms at the back for support services and another room will be dedicated to Lego and sewing.
The upstairs building will be used as a staffroom and the existing tuckshop and amenities have been cleaned up.
The school oval is located over the creek via a bridge, and the wildlife and nature of the waterway will be incorporated into the curriculum.
Carinity has applied for funding for an expansion, to add more classrooms and a therapeutic-designed playground into the future.
With the expansion, the school will be able to support 60 students.
Sitting in the undercover area speaking to the principal, the only thing missing was the sound of children’s voices.
“In the area we are sitting here I can picture the kids playing army and climbing the trees,” Ms Harland said.
“Our cohort of 7s and 8s are very much high anxiety, on the spectrum, ASD, their ability to be in nature and see what’ around them, will just help them thrive.
“The birds and the trees, to be able to bring the young people into that environment...
“I can’t tell you how many times I have been here by myself and been in tears.”
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