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History of ICS
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ILLAWARRA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL HISTORY
BEGINNINGS
In the 1950’s Dutch Christians who migrated to Australia were disappointed to find that there was no Christian school movement in Australia.
As early as 1954, a Christian School Association was formed in Wollongong by members of the Dutch Reformed Church and a Christian School Fund was established.
These early pioneers believed that the education of children is primarily a parental responsibility and not the responsibility of the State. They took seriously God’s mandate for parents to train their children in God’s ways and viewed the Christian school as an extension of the home where parents and teachers worked in partnership in teaching, training and equipping children to become God’s person in the world.
Our Dutch forefathers continued to investigate the possibility of starting a Christian school by lobbying Governments and raising funds through street stalls and donations. They never lost sight of their vision and whilst their own children did not have the privilege of attending a Christian school these visionaries continued to inspire others to join them in their task of providing a biblically based education for children of Christian parents.
In 1979 the Illawarra Association for Christian Parent Controlled Education (IACPCE) was formed to work towards the opening of a school in the area.
In 1982 the Illawarra Christian School opened in the hall of the Woonona Presbyterian Church. There was 1 teacher and 10 children. Within 2 years the school had increased to 39 with additional demountable buildings being purchased. Parents and friends generously supported the school by donations of funds, equipment and materials and in practical help in the classrooms.
In 1985 the Board took a step of faith and purchased the Cordeaux site. The Chairman’s Report of 1985 comments that:- one of the great strengths of the school community is “our unity of purpose, to educate our children in the knowledge of and obedience to the Word of God…..we have a very diverse community, with people from all walks of life, numerous denominational backgrounds and yet a very real unity in Christ.”
In 1987 after much campaigning ICS moved from Woonona to Cordeaux Heights and the first Year 7 class commenced. The school had grown from 1 to 184 students with 8 teachers. Families were drawn from 13 different denominations.
By 1988 Geoff Hewitt was appointed as Principal. Student numbers had increased to 263 with a single stream of classes Kindergarten to Year 8.
In 1989 Tongarra Christian School commenced at All Saints Albion Park
In 1992 the first Year 12 students graduated from Cordeaux Campus. The school was a Kindergarten to Year 12 school serving over 300 children.
In 1994 Tongarra Christian School amalgamated with Illawarra Christian School to form one Association with two campuses.
In 1995 the first Year 7 for Tongarra commenced at Cordeaux.
In 1996 Tongarra Campus moved to the Woolshed site at Albion Park.
In 2000 our first Year 12 Tongarra students graduated. God continued to bless the school. with double streaming at Tongarra and 1.5 streaming of Year 7 at Cordeaux.
In 2005 there were approximately 839 students enrolled at Illawarra Christian school.
In 2008 Illawarra Christian School commenced its first Prep class at Cordeaux and Tongarra Campus. We are now providing education to 918 students across both Campuses.
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