It was David Spike the Pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran congregation in Palmerston and Pastor Dr Joe Strelan who was filling a temporary appointment, who injected the idea of a School out in the rapidly growing Palmerston area into both the congregations of St Andrew’s in Nightcliff and Good Shepherd in Palmerston.

And how did this happen? David Spike, who is now at Geelong Lutheran College writes this delightful piece about how this happened. As is often the case with sowing the seeds of a new Independent School, the story is about inspiration .

“Dr Joe Strelan was serving the Darwin Nightcliff congregation for about 6 months as part of a sabbatical from teaching at Luther Seminary in Adelaide. We were on the back deck of the Palmerston manse one evening nursing a cold beer and looking wistfully at the empty block as there was an improvement covenant attached to the land that was beyond our means to meet. Dr Joe said, “What about building a school there?” I replied along the lines of “How could we possibly afford to do that?” He spoke to the Director of Lutheran Education in Adelaide and a site visit and feasibility study was conducted. Conversations were held with NT Government Education Department representatives who confirmed they would endorse the development of another Lutheran School in Palmerston and had factored this into their long range planning. This support facilitated the application for land in Emery Avenue to be expedited and a planning group formed.”

What an exciting and inspirational story. It presents the enthusiasm the Lutheran Church had for education, their willingness to take on challenge and the intention of the Northern Territory Government to support the development of Independent Schools. The Government was keen that the Independent sector in the NT would grow to a similar proportion as the sectors in the bigger states, thus ensuring the population had choice.

The year was 1996 and David led this move with enthusiasm encouraging the congregations to be bold and take on this enormous challenge. The parishes were encouraged by the prospect of a Christian School which was Lutheran. St Andrew Lutheran Primary School had opened in 1982. It was a small, personal, school with real character but was inconveniently away from the developing areas of Palmerston and Howard Springs.

A local steering committee was appointed in 1996 with people from both congregations. Cor Kool, the architect used by Marrara, was engaged. Bill Dwyer a highly experienced, retired senior public servant, set about developing the various documents and submissions. He knew his way around the halls of Government well and in reasonably quick time the necessary government funding was obtained from both the Commonwealth and Territory governments and the opening date of 1998 became a reality. Dean Hayne, the principal of St Andrew’s who had been involved in developing a school previously was able to put his expert shoulder to the education wheel. Furthermore the committee of about 10 had a range of necessary skills but also the vital ingredients of faith and enthusiasm. The Lutheran Church with its philosophy of caring for people through all stages of life were skillful supporters of good education which they saw as part of their mission and mandate.

Good Shepherd was to be a low fee school and was therefore far from being flush with funds. The school would have to be careful with the stewardship of the funds. What was a great bonus was that the highly skilled builder Robbie Pattimore, from Darwin, was able to complete the first stage of the project under budget and before the stated completion date which was greatly appreciated and well acknowledged.

The first principal of a new school has a Herculean task and must be able to form, strong relationships with students and parents. The right person, who was to be the ideal fit for this school had to be found. The committee struck good fortune in Alice Springs at Yirara College, the Lutheran Aboriginal boarding school.

John Heffernan was vice-principal of Yirara but had spent many years working in the remote community of Papunya. He was a highly personable, fine educator and what is more, played the guitar, a very worthy skill for anyone wanting to be the principal of a new school. John came on deck before the school was ready to open, to ensure it could function effectively on day 1. Working Bees of dedicated parishioners, who were often not parents, worked tirelessly preparing the grounds by removing weeds and planting grass and trees. These working bees continued well into the school’s journey. To keep costs down two parishioners sewed all the school uniforms for which they did not want payment.

It was hoped that the school, when it opened in 1998, might have 50 students. Unfortunately, it commenced with a disappointing 17 in years 1-5. Life can be unsteady for a new school until it has “earnt its spurs” and begun to build a positive reputation. Not to be daunted, John and his small team of staff worked diligently and intelligently so that by mid - year the school’s population had risen to 56. What a great achievement. Being principal of a small school is no easy task. The same list of tasks, both teaching and administrative have to be done. I once visited a small Christian School in Hobart and was not surprised to see the Principal teaching with a shifting spanner in his back pocket. If there is no one else to do it, then the Principal must!

After 5 years as the Founding Head of Good Shepherd, John Heffernan decided to move to Queensland. The Board had made a fine choice in calling John to this really vital position. There is only ever one founding Principal and that is when the school is at its most fragile. Though the Principal carries a fine vision but unfortunately the school has no runs on the board and often the school population is barely economic. John was the right person for the job and after five great years had the school in a good position for someone to take over.

Peter Eckermann took over from John and led the school while the board searched for the next Head.

In 2006 another good decision was made with the calling of a relatively young but very experienced Head, Julian Denholm, who had been Foundation Head of Living Waters Lutheran College Perth which opened in 1997. He was the youngest Lutheran Head in Australia. In 2003 he became head of Concordia College, a sizeable traditional Lutheran school in Adelaide and in 2006 he accepted the call to be head of Good Shepherd. He remained as Head until the end of 2014, except for a period when he moved for a short time to Tasmania, for family reasons and the College was run by Brian Eckermann, who had retired from Faith Lutheran College after a long innings.

Julian was a capable dynamic person, a “mover and shaker.” He had great belief in people and was a wonderful encourager. He had a real capacity to raise people’s confidence and they in turn had faith in his ability to know what was needed. Good Shepherd was a primary school when he took over but in January 2007 Good Shepherd added year 8, thus moving into Secondary schooling. The school was then formed into two sub-schools Primary and Middle. A new head of the primary school was appointed. She had been in Papua New Guinea, and this was clearly a wise appointment.

The establishment of the Middle School meant there was insufficient room on the Palmerston site. In fact in 2007 years 7 and 8 had to be taught in the basketball stadium. A delightful area of land was obtained in Howard Springs and new buildings constructed enabling the Middle School to move to the new campus there in 2008 and on June 20, 2008 the opening and dedication of the Howard Springs Campus was held. 

Julien was a great believer in the International Baccalaureate and introduced the primary (PYP) program and middle years program (MYP). Julien’s wife was a brilliant teacher and an expert in PYP and MYP and helped to provide strong leadership in establishing these programs.

The Lutheran Church really believes in engaging in education and this opening was testimony to the expansion of this dream. The facility was dedicated by Pastor Lester Reinbott and opened by Barry Karl, Director of Lutheran Schools Association SA, NT and WA. On the dedication plaque are written the following words from Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

The school continued to progress adding a Senior School at Howard Springs in 2010. Building continued to ensure modern facilities were provided for future expansion. The buildings were well designed and colourfully presented and what was once raw bush land appeared as a modern, cheerful and inviting campus.

Julien moved from Good Shepherd to Unity College at Murray Bridge as Head in 2015. Following his time there he was appointed as the Executive Director of Lutheran Education for Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

In January 2015 Good Shepherd merged with St Andrew Lutheran School, Leanyer, forming the Good Shepherd Lutheran College

NT Inc, which is managed under the auspices of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church congregation of Howard Springs / Palmerston.

Rachel Boyce was appointed Head. Rachel is an experienced NT educator having worked at Yirarra College in Alice Springs and then as head at St Andrew in Darwin.

The College has now grown to 1300 students situated on three campuses and is the largest school in the Northern Territory. Though the College has become an International Baccalaureate World School offering both Primary Years and Middle Years Programs the Senior School offers the Northern Territory Certificate of Education.

Under the leadership of Rachel Boyce, Good Shepherd continued to move forward successfully. Rachel was a strong believer in the philosophy of Visible Wellbeing and she set about implementing this with attention paid to thorough staff training. She established a two year partnership with Professor Lea Waters of Melbourne University to integrate the latest research and practice in Positive Psychology and approaches to education in all aspects of the College. To progress, schools needed a powerful commitment to staff training which has been undertaken and continues, ensuring the true reality of an ongoing commitment to a holistic approach to the learning and wellbeing of Good Shepherd as a community.

One of a Principal’s really important tasks is strategic planning that is dynamic and is not allowed to go “stale”. Rachel adopted a contemporary approach to this, using Appreciative Inquiry Summits, involving parents, students, staff and Board Members.

The International Baccalaureate organisation is keen that its members maintain the highest standards. It is a great achievement that Good Shepherd, after a rigorous 14-month journey, achieved an outstanding assessment from the IB with both the Howard Springs and Leanyer Early Learning Centres attaining “Exceeding National Quality Standard”. Rachel’s leadership in this was outstanding.

There is no denying the great importance of the Junior and Middle Years of schooling has set strong foundations for the senior years and life ahead. Under Rachel, Good Shepherd embraced 21st Century learning approaches in these important years, ensuring units of work provided students with opportunities to be creative, collaborative, adaptable and autonomous. It is therefore no wonder that Good Shepherd has had a 100% completion rate for year 12 over the past 5 years.

The Good Shepherd Campus is very impressive. The buildings are interesting, thoughtfully positioned and the colour scheme appealing, something a student coming to school each day would appreciate. The campus design has taken into consideration the daily traffic, something which can be easily forgotten.

Principals, when they leave, want to pass on to the new Head a well-considered going concern which can give them a flying start as the new person with their hand on the tiller. Rachel certainly did that.

Matthew Qualischefski is the new permanent Principal taking over from Rachel Boyce. Matthew had an extensive education and wide experience suiting him well for his principalship at Good Shepherd Lutheran College.

Written by Chris Tudor