Redeemer Lutheran College

Okay, so I'm here at Redeemer Lutheran College, and it’s pretty interesting. It's a co-educational primary and secondary school, founded back in 1980 by Robin Kleinschmidt and some other Lutherans. They teach kids from Prep all the way through to Year 12. Their motto is "Spes Nostra in Christo Est," which means "Our Hope is in Christ."

The principal, Darrin Schumacher, actually just started his role in January 2025, and he's the sixth principal the school has had.

This place is on the southern outskirts of Brisbane, right near Logan City. It used to be a bit more rural, but now it’s surrounded by housing developments. That's really made Rochedale grow a lot, with the population jumping over 140% between 2017 and 2021. Even with all that development, the campus still has a lot of leafy areas and open spaces. They even have a master plan, developed with architects Fulton Trotter in 2018, that keeps all the buildings to a maximum of two stories. A new master plan is expected in 2026, so it'll be interesting to see what that brings.

They've been putting a lot into new buildings lately. Since 2022, they've opened a hospitality training precinct with a commercial café and kitchen, and an Innovation Hub. That hub sounds really impressive, with dedicated labs for physics, biology, and chemistry, plus tech and engineering classrooms, a film and TV studio, and even a student café. It's all about giving students an education that promotes creativity and helps them succeed. There's also a new Junior School building for Years 5 and 6 opening in early 2027.

The school definitely has strong Lutheran values. While they welcome students from any or no faith background, the staff are expected to uphold the college ideals. They introduced new values in 2018 – Curious, Courageous, and Christ-led – and these were reinforced in their 2021 strategic plan. Service to others is a big part of life here, with students and staff volunteering on a "Helping Hands" van that delivers food to homeless communities. Students also have compulsory Christian Studies lessons twice a week, and there are morning devotions. They even have two professional counselors and a Dean of Faith and Community Service, Christine Bianchi, who started in 2023.

Academically, they seem to do really well. A good chunk of their senior students, about 20%, score really high on the ATAR, between 90 and 99. And in NAPLAN testing, they consistently perform well above the national average. In 2024, they were actually the top-performing school in the Logan area for NAPLAN results across all year levels. In 2023, 69% of their graduates went on to university, and the median ATAR in 2024 was 88.2%, which is quite a bit higher than the state average.

They're also big on co-curricular activities, from sports to music, robotics, and debating. They have over 25 choral, band, string, and jazz ensembles, and they've won a lot of music competitions. In sports, they compete in the Greater Brisbane Conference in things like AFL, basketball, and soccer. In 2025, a lot of students participated in both senior and primary GBC sports. They also have a strong reputation for cultural and academic activities like debating, esports, and their Elevate program.

The founder, Robin Kleinschmidt, served as headmaster from 1980 to 2001 and was responsible for building most