Cross on the Hill

Who knows what the wider world will think, but it is a visible reminder to us of whom we serve and therefore what underpins all we do.
Steve Venour, Head of Secondary School

What began as a dream several years ago finally became reality on Friday 14 June 2019, as nearly 100 people – staff, students, parents and guests – shared in a simple yet profound ceremony to dedicate the Cross on the Hill.

Our director of Christian Foundations, Viv Stapleton, summed up its purpose. “It’s like a bookend,” she said, “because as you enter the College you see a mosaic cross; then you see the cross on every school uniform; and finally, at the highest point of the College grounds, here again is the cross of Christ - visible to all.”

But the hill on which the cross stands is more than just the highest point of the College. As he closed the ceremony, Executive Principal Tim Argall held a sprig of leptospermum next to his Bible, taken from a bush just a few paces from where we all stood.

“This grows on high points across the country,” he said, “places where indigenous peoples would meet in peace, to work through differences to be in unity. Now God has entrusted this space to us, as tenants of his creation, to be used in the same way for his good purposes.”

We are profoundly thankful for all those who laboured – through foul weather as well as fair – in the construction of this cross, as well as for those who had the vision years ago.