School Life
Students from Dubbo Christian Preschool right through to Year 12 at Dubbo Christian School are involved in a range of activities across the school day and year, including excursions, camps, workshops with visiting guest artists, musicals, sporting activities and community events. We welcome new families to our school community throughout the school year.
Primary
The K-6 department of DCS continues to strengthen and build upon a Biblical foundation of teaching and learning experiences in order to grow just and morally founded young Christian men and women. While it goes without saying the fundamentals of Literacy and Numeracy are taught explicitly by highly trained teachers, students are also carefully and intentionally nurtured in the ways that Jesus taught His followers. Central to academic learning is the notion of service and care of others in all levels of Primary school. ‘We’re all in this together’ instructs students to care for each other and walk beside those less fortunate than themselves.
With the exception of daily Mathematics lessons, classes are staged at Dubbo Christian School. Enhancement for students is offered via extra-curricular activities such as Musical tuition and also involvement in the Primary Band.
The concept of service is also nurtured in the Year 5/6 students through Sporting events and the Project Compassion program where all DCS Primary students support two young people in third world countries. Students hear and experience a little of what is like to be marginalised and the role of each individual in closing the gap for everyone.
Secondary
The DCS Mission Statement states that our purpose is to provide high quality schooling which is Bible based and Christ centred. The curriculum is taught from a Biblical perspective and students at DCS are encouraged by teachers to think critically and Biblically about all areas of life.
The secondary school has attractive, well cared for grounds and provides a pleasant environment for learning. The buildings and facilities are generous and comfortable. They include a modern gymnasium, auditorium, and specialist technical and science rooms.
In Years 7 to 10 there are three classes for most subjects, with a number of subjects split into four classes. Mathematics classes are streamed by ability levels while students mix widely in other classes. Practical classes are divided into smaller classes so as to allow for greater student – teacher interaction and skill development.
Stage Coordinators oversee student well-being. Pastoral Care Groups and Devotions are held daily and help students to have a greater understanding of Christianity. They also serve to underpin our support and care of students.
All teachers present a curriculum that is academically demanding and designed to cater for students with differing abilities. An After School Study Centre runs on a number of afternoons each week and operates out of our Library Resource Centre. It is staffed by teachers who provide academic support to those students who wish to take the opportunity to study after school.
The life of a student at DCS is not confined to the academic program. There are many opportunities for individuals to experience a wide range of co-curricular activities such as sport, musicals, camping, debating, service activities and a band. Opportunities to serve others both in the local community and also overseas via mission and cultural trips enrich a student’s life and make schooling at DCS a wonderful experience.
Senior Secondary
At Dubbo Christian School a senior education is much more than the subjects taught. In the senior school our Year 11 and 12 students are encouraged to expand their horizons academically, physically and spiritually. The academic expectations in senior high school are rigorous but this is balanced with ongoing programs of Community Service, Work Experience, Outdoor Education and Leadership. These opportunities place great value on the development of collaborative partnerships whilst fostering individual capacity and commitment to service.
Our curriculum is based on syllabus documents provided by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and tied to a Christian world view. Senior students at Dubbo Christian School enjoy smaller class sizes and a wide subject choice which means we give personalised attention to each of our students.
Our dedicated teachers strive to challenge the students with excellence in their learning experience that will prepare them for life as God’s person in God’s world.
Student Wellbeing
At Dubbo Christian School we recognise that the social, emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing of students is of key importance to their success at school. Students with a positive sense of wellbeing are happy, settled, responsible and resilient. They enjoy positive relationships with peers, staff and parents, and are engaged in all aspects of their schooling.
Such students are strongly placed to develop into well balanced adults who confidently know who they are with respect to Biblical truth, and are willing to take their place in the world based on a desire to seek and serve God and fulfill His purposes in their life. For this reason, DCS is committed to promoting, nurturing and developing each student’s sense of wellbeing.
In Preschool and Primary School, day-to-day responsibility for wellbeing lies with each student’s class teacher. These teachers know their students well and are in an excellent position to speak into their lives and identify any concerns regarding wellbeing. Class teachers are assisted in this role by the Primary Co-ordinators, the Head of Primary and other support staff.
In the Secondary School, our Pastoral Care Groups are integral to student wellbeing. Students meet in their Pastoral Care Groups for 25 minutes, four times per week. Pastoral Care teachers take primary responsibility for the wellbeing of each student in their group and are typically the first port of call when concerns develop. Each stage has a Stage Coordinator, who works closely with the Pastoral Care teachers and oversees student wellbeing for their cohort. The Head of Secondary also takes a keen interest in the wellbeing of students in the high school.
Students participate in a range of wellbeing initiatives at DCS that are coordinated across the school and are tailored in age-appropriate ways. The PeaceWise programs are taught from K-12 to enable students to learn skills in conflict resolution and resilience to enhance their relational wellbeing.
In addition to this, activities targeted at key developmental stages include Year 7 Orientation and year group camps. DCS employs a number of staff whose main role is promoting wellbeing, including a fulltime Psychologist to provide specialised support for a range of concerns, a School Chaplain 2 days per week to provide pastoral care to the school community and a part-time Director of Wellbeing to coordinate frameworks and programs across the school community that enhance wellbeing.
Spiritual Life
Dubbo Christian School offers an environment where students are invited into participation with the Biblical narrative through learning in Biblical literacy and involvement in the rhythms of community. We value the opportunity to partner with parents in the discipleship of their children and seek to help students discover God’s purpose for their lives and the ways in which they might live to glorify Him.
While today’s culture seeks to portray truth as relative and continuously changing, spiritual life at Dubbo Christian School challenges and empowers students to understand the culture they are immersed in, and to apply Kingdom principles to serve a Saviour who is Truth and a God who is unchanging.
The Bible is interwoven into the curriculum using the Transformation by Design curriculum framework, and prepares students to know, defend, and live out their faith by providing the opportunity to wrestle with what it means to hold a Christian world view. Weekly Assembly affords students the opportunity to gather together as an entire school, and praise Christ as a unified body of believers.
At Dubbo Christian School, we believe that rigorous academics and a vibrant spiritual life integrate together beautifully to create students who know who they are, and how they can meaningfully seek to take their place in the world to contribute using their minds, talents, and lives to bring glory to God.