Shrouded by the natural beauty of lush, green rolling hills, Harkaway Hills College punches well above its weight for a school that only opened five years ago.
This year’s student highlights include winning the interschool cross country carnival, taking out a state-wide poetry competition and coming out on top in a local short story competition.
The school’s bumper NAPLAN results were also a highlight following more than a year of remote education.
College parents Damien and Tatiana Burger said the key to the school’s success laid in supporting the parents.
“By focussing on developing and supporting the confidence of parents, we end up helping the students in the best way that we can,” Damien said.
The Burgers, who were among the founding parents of Harkaway Hills College, were drawn to the PARED model of education because of the encouragement it provided parents as the first educators of their children.
“There were families in Melbourne who wanted the same support, so we got together, and here we are today, the first PARED school in Victoria,” Tatiana said.
The couple said friendship was a vital aspect of PARED schools because friendship made for a beautiful community.
“Parents can gather in our dedicated parent room anytime for a coffee and a chat,” Tatiana said.
“It is also a wonderful benefit for parents to get to know the parents of their children’s friends because it becomes such a wonderful support for them as they raise their children.”
