One hundred years ago, three anxious but excited primary-aged girls clambered their way to the top of the eleven steps of the Fairholme Homestead, and thus began their journey, and our journey, as a provider of quality girls’ education. Our College motto – ‘Ardens sed Virens’ – (burning yet flourishing) encapsulates the spirited heart of our College: spirit drawn from our Christian foundations. We are proudly a College of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland, an all-girls’ K – 12 day and boarding school with a co-educational kindergarten that seeks excellence for each and every student.
Perched on the edge of the Toowoomba escarpment, you just have to step into our beautiful grounds, and you know that Fairholme is not an ordinary school. It’s a school that celebrates its pursuit of excellence in academic, cultural and sporting fields whilst maintaining a clear commitment to active service – giving back at a local and international level.
Our school-leavers are invariably hopeful, determined young women who expect to do well in whatever field of study, or vocation that they choose. They understand perseverance, tenacity, and persistence and that choosing the hard over the easy often reaps the greatest rewards. Ultimately, they carry the legacy of all who have climbed the homestead stairs before them, and they remain inextricably linked to all with whom they have journeyed during their time at Fairholme.
A nurturing Christian school, committed to developing a vibrant learning community; one that challenges students to become confident and respectful contributors within our global society. Our Values
Fairholme’s Christian foundation pervades its whole life. The College upholds the principle of open entry to all students capable of conventional schooling.The College believes that students perform best only when set real challenges. This is genuine pastoral care and it provides a sense of achievement and self-respect.The College emphasises the traditional values of hard work, fair play and a pride in one’s appearance and behaviour. The special character of the College lies in its harmonious balance between boarders and day students. The College was founded to provide a boarding school for rural families and continues to place heavy emphasis on its role as a ‘home away from home’.
The Fairholme College Badge depicts the Cross of St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, surmounted by the burning bush described in Exodus Chapter 3, Verses 1-6, when God spoke to Moses. The Fairholme College motto, ‘Ardens sed Virens’, means ‘burning yet flourishing’ and refers to the burning bush on the College badge. Just as the bush burned brightly yet was not consumed, so too, our Christian faith should burn within us yet flourish, as we become a living witness to the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. The materials from which the summer uniform and the winter skirt are made have been designed from the tartan of the MacLarens. This is an ancient clan tracing its ancestry back to A.D. 503, and is in keeping with the Scottish origins of the College. It is understood that this was the favourite tartan of Mrs. Margaret Anne Cameron, the last private owner of ‘Fairholme Homestead’.
The Fairholme learning journey enables girls from Kindy to Year 12 to understand that intellectual ability is not necessarily pre-determined from when they join us; it can be developed through perseverance, enthusiasm and a willingness to discover and respond to feedback.
Our dedicated staff members value independent learning and encourage girls to be lateral in their thinking across academic, cultural, sporting and service-based sectors. Girls learn to stimulate and expand their intellectual curiosity through reading, asking and debating but also learn when to listen and absorb.
Through the myriad of opportunities offered at Fairholme College, your daughter’s learning journey will develop her academic wellbeing, her intellectual enthusiasm and her social confidence, giving her a set of skills to carry her through further education and beyond, towards a life fulfilled by work, relationships and service to their communities.
The curriculum program for students from Prep to Year 6 is developed based on the Australian Curriculum. The cross curricular priorities and general capabilities that are embedded within and across our curriculum are carefully developed to ensure that literacy, numeracy and interpersonal skills are developed across the range of subject areas. It is important for our girls continued standards of learning excellence that strong foundations in literacy and numeracy are embedded through meaningful and differentiated learning experiences across all curriculum areas.
A strong focus on academia, where the National Curriculum has been implemented in Years 7, 8 and 9 in English, Maths, Science, History and Geography, is well supported by our Pastoral Care and Life Skills programs. As the girls embark on a curriculum that is focused on literacy and numeracy, intellectually engaging, relevant to their lives and deliberately fun, our pastoral care and life skills programs work to enhance the emotional, social and spiritual development of each girl alongside her studies.
At a time when adolescent years can be challenging for many young people and particularly girls aged 11 to 14 years, the support offered by the Fairholme Middle School to each girl is invaluable and prepares them beautifully for the challenge and excitement of the Senior School.
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The quality of education at this school is remarkable; the dedicated staff truly empower students, and I've witnessed my daughter blossom both academically and personally.
By R.Y. (Sep, 2024) |