How much God do you get? Advice for parents wondering how religious a private school really is
Aarav and Arjun are from a committed Hindu family but go to a Christian school. Many families cross faiths in choosing a school – here’s how to find one aligned to your principles.
Devout believer or devoted to a well-resourced, principled education – there’s a broad church of reasons for choosing a religious school.
Some parents want a school to help build their child’s faith. Others seek the benefits and discipline of a private school education and are keen to keep religious-based learnings to a minimum.
So how can parents tell the difference between a highly religious school that's focused on scripture, and one with a softer focus on values? We asked a range of experts and parents for their advice.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the number of students attending independent schools grew 18.5 per cent in the five years between 2019 and 2024, while Catholic schools rose 6.6 per cent.
Australian Christian College Marsden Park, an 18-year-old non-denominational private school on Sydney’s rapidly growing northwestern fringe, has more than tripled in the past four years, jumping from 420 students to 1460. Its distance education service has also boomed from 220 students to 1070.
Despite its conservative Christian beliefs, which include an openness to creationism and a traditional approach to gender, the school opens its doors to students of all faiths – and those with no religion at all – and has long waiting lists from kindergarten to year 11.
“As a faith-based school, we are delivering an experience that dignifies parents, that strengthens a sense of identity and purpose for our students, that gives them a strong foundation for making good decisions about their life, which we believe flow from our faith, but without mandating that for every student,” says ACC principal Brendan Corr.
“People have sought us out because there’s been a long tradition where Christianity has been seen to be for the common good ... and (helping to create) a functioning adult as a member of society. That there is a benefit by the practising of those Christian values that continue to be recognised.
“Christian schools are a point of connection with some of those historically valued ideas of treat others as you’d be treated, accepting responsibility and the fact that you’ve got to do things that you don’t necessarily want to do. Parents are looking for a Christian school to be able to carry that to their children.”
With so many private schools from so many religions and denominations – Catholic, Lutheran, Uniting Church, Christadelphian, Quaker, Jewish and Muslim – what should overwhelmed parents look for that will help them decide if a faith-based school is right for their family?
“I worked at an orthodox Jewish school and we had two hours devoted to religious study every day – that’s what you call taking it seriously,” says Paul O’Shannassy, founder of Melbourne-based Regent Consulting, which helps families choose the right private school.
“Many Catholic schools have three to five periods a week of RE (religious education) and then there’s the schools that are religious in name but might only have it once a week. There are lots of options available and, yes, there are things you can look for.”
TIME(TABLES) WILL TELL
A school’s timetable will “tell you what are its priorities”, says Mr O’Shannassy.
“How many periods are devoted to religion every week? The more periods, the more seriously religion is taken,” he says.
Also pay attention to whether a school insists that their students take religion in year 12 or stop studies at year 11, allowing for greater subject selection in their final year.
Mr Corr agrees that the way a school allocates “the very valuable resource of time” does illuminate their commitment to religion.
“We have dedicated time every day for building community and connection with our pastoral-care teachers,” he says.
“The allocation of some time to biblical studies also reflects our priority on that.
“We have had some families that have asked whether their child could be exempted from those studies for various reasons – some because they are adherent to other faiths, some because they see the need to focus on other studies.
“We believe that year 12 is among the most important times when students are wrestling with some of the biggest ideas about their future, about their fundamental beliefs that they will carry into adulthood. Year 12 is the very time to help them unpack for themselves what their perspective is and to make sure that they are hearing a well-developed, well-argued case for heading off into the world.”
DAILY HABITS
Does the school begin each day with a morning devotion or prayer or are religious celebrations reserved for special occasions?
“Find out how often they do their rituals,” says Mr O’Shannassy.
“Do they have mass every day or prayers? Some schools only have chapel once a week. Parents need to ask how often, how visible and how compulsory are the rituals.
“What happens on Ash Wednesday, for example, does the school close down to have a proper mass? I had to work on Anzac Day at one school because there were so many other religious days and we had to make up for it.”
Parents should also inquire about how a child who is not of the school’s faith is treated during religious rituals. For example, a student who is not baptised into the Catholic Church may be asked to cross their arms and bow their head while their Catholic classmates receive Holy Communion.
Mr Corr says ACC has “compulsory experiences” every day that include a morning prayer and Bible reading. There is also a weekly program of chapel or assembly that are taken by the school’s teaching staff, who are all Christians.
Students who are not religious must attend but can remain silent during prayers.
Mr Corr says other related daily habits that a Christian education encourages are also telling for parents.
“We have a phrase that we use with our students – little things matter. I would encourage families to ask some questions around what is the view on uniform and on punctuality and on showing manners and the way you treat people,” he says.
“For us, it does matter that students use kind words and treat people well and show manners and look people in the eye. For us, uniform does matter. We do worry about whether the shirts are tucked in, how our hair is presented, and that we don’t have makeup, because it is showing respect for the standards of our community.”
ON A MISSION
Clues can be found in a private school’s mission statement and philosophies, which should be visible on their websites.
“Go to a school and ask ‘who are you and see how quickly the word ‘Christian’ comes out,” Mr O’Shannassy says.
“That will tell you how seriously they approach the religious environment.”
On ACC’s website, which is an umbrella for its 16 schools across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, its statement of faith claims that school staff believe “the 66 books of the Bible are the Word of God, divinely inspired in all parts without error in its origin”, that the “one Triune God” created the universe “during the six days of creation” and that “Satan is a real personality and an evil presence in the world”.
But Mr Corr says those traditional beliefs are not compulsory for students and his school community embraces an eclectic mix of families – Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and people on no faith.
“About 55 to 60 per cent of our community would come from a Christian background but the rest ... don’t have any faith at all or come from a different faith tradition. They have sought the school for their own reasons,” he says.
“They respect that their students won’t be necessarily exposed to controversially unsettling ideas about identity before they’re ready and so a lot of our younger families from younger kids are looking for some assurance that we won’t addressing some of the controversial identity issues or sexuality issues ahead of time.”
He agrees a mission statement is a “good indicator of how essential issues of faith are” to the school’s community
His school has three important tenets in its mission statement – “to lay a biblical foundation in the thinking of every child, to pray that every child has a personal relationship with God, and to help every child become a success at whatever their future calls them to become, it’s just as simple as that”.
“I think that is a good indicator of how essential or how central issues of faith are to a community and that is a good question to ask” he says.
CHARITY BEGINS AT SCHOOL
The role a private school plays in its community – how it gives back and supports the most vulnerable – is another indicator of its religiousness, says Mr O’Shannassy.
“Are they involved in community service, do students help to feed the homeless?” he says.
“Look at what they do to action this faith. Students generally do more in the lower years than the higher years of school.”
Mr Corr says being an active community member is “important”.
“I think schools shouldn’t be insular, they shouldn’t be self-serving, and so the notions of how is the school present might be in acts of charity and service, it might be taking kids down to the local aged care home and being involved in those programs of connection. It might be Clean Up Australia campaigns. It might be presence in the local Anzac service.
“There’s different ways in which our school will demonstrate its outward community focus.”
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Originally published as How much God do you get? Advice for parents wondering how religious a private school really is
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