Finish school without giving up the training.
For a child with a serious commitment to their sport or their art, the training calendar and the school day are always in tension, and too often it is the child who gives. At the VLC, they do not have to choose. Every lesson is live and recorded, so training can lead the day and school keeps pace, and the Queensland Certificate of Education and ATAR at the end of it are real.
A campus day expects your child in a classroom from half past eight to three. Training expects them at the pool, the track, the court or the studio for the same hours. When the two are forced together, term after term, it is usually the child who gives in, missing training to sit exams, missing school to compete.
The Virtual Learning Community is built for children who live outside the school timetable. It is a full, accredited Queensland school, delivered live and recorded, so the training calendar can lead, and the education keeps its full value. Your child does not choose between the sport and the ATAR. They keep both.
Every class is taught live by qualified teachers on Microsoft Teams, so your child learns in real time with their teacher and their classmates. Lessons are timetabled through the week, and every one is also recorded, which is what makes the difference for an athlete.
When training, a competition or travel falls across a lesson, your child watches it back at a time that suits, without falling behind and without a special arrangement to negotiate each week.
The timetable itself is set, the way a regular school day is. What flexes around it is your child: the recordings, the independent learning time built into each week, and a teaching team who understand that the athletes they teach do not live on a nine-to-three clock.
It means the training that your child has built their life around can stay where it belongs, at the front of the day.
In the Senior years, your child has a qualified subject teacher for each subject, a Maths teacher for Maths, a Science teacher for Science, an English teacher for English, so the teaching has real depth where the ATAR is decided. With several specialist teachers rather than one class teacher, there is one person whose job is to keep the whole child in view: the Life Group teacher.
The Life Group is the VLC's pastoral home. The Life Group teacher knows your child, knows their competition calendar, and is the point of contact who helps the teaching team keep the academic side moving through a heavy training or travel period.
Alongside it, each child has their own Individual Learning Profile, the living plan that fits the learning to your child's strengths, goals and the shape of their sport, reviewed through the year as the season changes.
A real Queensland pathway, not a conditional one
Through Student Driven Pathways, students in Years 11 and 12 choose from a range of QCAA General and Applied subjects, plus optional VET qualifications, that count towards their Queensland Certificate of Education and, if they want it, an ATAR. The VLC is a Queensland school accredited by the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board, following the QCAA syllabi. The qualification is not conditional or provisional. It is the same QCE and ATAR your child would earn at any accredited Queensland school.
None of it rests on the athlete carrying the load alone. The Pathways team sits with each family to map the road, whether that is university, further training, an apprenticeship or straight into a sporting career, and free tutoring and daily Help Desk tutorials are there to close any gap a heavy competition block opens up. Where a student is ready, they can accelerate into a subject at a higher year level. See the full senior pathway in the Senior Virtual Learning Community.
Visit one of our dedicated Learning Communities for each developmental stage.
EDUCATED EQUIPPED EMPOWERED ENERGISED
Tell us where your family is and where your child is up to. We will talk you through whether VLC is the right fit.
See the live lessons and how VLC learning works, and ask the questions that matter for your child.
When you are ready, we will guide you through enrolment, including mid-year entry.
Please find additional information and frequently asked questions.
Yes, Hillcrest Christian College is an evolution of more traditional Distance education.
Distance education programs have traditionally catered to students with limited access to mainstream schooling, such as students living in regional or remote locations. Our VLC has adapted the benefits of distance education to offer all families a world-class, independent school education that can be completed at home.
Unlike homeschooling, where parents need to source, plan and assess student lessons, your family will have access to dedicated and trained staff to engage them in daily online classes, working through an innovative and future-focused curriculum.
The VLC mirrors our on-campus communities with stages of age-appropriate learning.
Junior VLC (Prep – Year 4): Focuses on foundational literacy and numeracy through our I Love Reading program, integrated projects, and core Australian Curriculum subjects. Students also participate in Life Groups, Christian Living, online Gathering (Chapel), and Assemblies.
Middle VLC (Years 5 – 8): Supports students through Design-Centred Learning (DCL) projects, SECRET Skills development, and micro-credentialing, integrating core subjects and elective learning. Yearly camps foster personal growth.
Senior VLC (Years 9 – 12): Prepares students for post-school pathways with QCE, ATAR and non-ATAR options, plus access to VET courses. Core subjects and electives align with career and tertiary goals, complemented by leadership development, camps, and faith-based engagement.
Junior VLC (Prep – Year 4): Focuses on foundational literacy and numeracy through our I Love Reading program, integrated projects, and core Australian Curriculum subjects. Students also participate in Life Groups, Christian Living, online Gathering (Chapel), and Assemblies.
Middle VLC (Years 5 – 8): Supports students through Design-Centred Learning (DCL) projects, SECRET Skills development, and micro-credentialing, integrating core subjects and elective learning. Yearly camps foster personal growth.
Senior VLC (Years 9 – 12): Prepares students for post-school pathways with QCE, ATAR and non-ATAR options, plus access to VET courses. Core subjects and electives align with career and tertiary goals, complemented by leadership development, camps, and faith-based engagement.
Students in Years 11-12: choose five subjects from the following: English OR Essential English (compulsory); General Mathematics, Essential Mathematics OR Mathematical Methods (compulsory); Modern History; Legal Studies; Biology; Psychology; and Business. VET and other courses are also available in ATAR and non-ATAR pathways. As the VLC continues to grow, further options will become available. Please contact our enrolments team if you have any questions.
Students in the VLC also build a portfolio of SECRET Skills (Self-Manager, Effective Participator, Creative Thinker, Reflective Learner, Enquirer, Team Worker) as a key component of Hillcrest’s mission to develop the whole child. As a Christian College, units are taught from a biblical world view.
Students participate in live, daily online sessions with their teacher between 1-2 hours in total, depending on the year level. If they can’t attend the online sessions, students will be expected to watch these back in their own time throughout the week.
They will also have individual learning activities to complete each week in their own time. Students and families can structure the learning week to suit their circumstances. In general, students can expect their weekly workload to be a lot faster compared to a mainstream schooling setting.
NAPLAN testing is compulsory for all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students across Australia, whether in a mainstream or Distance Education setting. However, parents may withdraw their child because of philosophical or religious reasons.
NAPLAN testing takes place in Term 1 each year. More information will be sent to parents about the testing (and process for withdrawals, if applicable) at the beginning of each school year. If you cannot arrange for your child to attend the Hillcrest Christian College Home Campus (Reedy Creek), arrangements can be made with your local school to complete the testing.
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