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Prep 2022 to Graduation 2034

Ready to Enrol in Prep? At Immanuel, we believe that the whole person is the whole point. Our strategies go well beyond meeting academic goals. Every child has a relationship with their teachers. Everyone knows your child’s name. We’re not just a school, we’re your child’s community, their village – because it’s true, it does take a village! Throughout your child’s time at ILC, we’ll help them to reach their full potential across all areas of child development. We believe in sending our graduates out into the world as well rounded, capable young adults. This is exactly how we go about it.

Meet Makayla – Class of 2034

Makayla, could be Taylor, or Jackson, or Keegan. Your child will unlock a world of opportunities where they can explore their interests and discover new passions. When you enrol in Prep, you’re enrolling in a journey for your child, aided by a school committed to helping every child to become the very best adult they can be.


Enrol in Prep at Immanuel 2022 – Find your place to belong

Age: 5

Career Aspirations: Dolphin trainer, wildlife carer or world-famous ballerina

Social and emotional development:
Makayla is a little bit shy but once you get her talking about animals, you cannot stop her. She’s slow to make new friends but is a great friend once you get to know her. 

Talents and Interests:
Makayla enjoys her dance classes, swimming and reading about her favourite animal, dolphins. 

Makayla’s Prep experience at Immanuel

Makayla was worried on her first day of Prep. There were so many kids and she didn’t know anyone! She was nervous and excited at the same time. Luckily, prior to starting, she met some other kids from her class at the Prep Orientation Day and she liked her new teacher right away. She has since thrived in her small class and her teacher, Mrs Mansfield, helped her to make a best friend, Kiera, in the very first week of school. Makayla’s favourite activities are her swimming lessons in the Immanuel pool, playing in the on site water park and exploring the new playground. She also won ‘student of the week’ for her wonderful reading under Immanuel’s InitiaLit literacy program, a whole-class literacy program that provides children with the core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. She and Kiera are inseparable.


Year 4 at Immanuel, 2026 – Discover your gifts and grow

Age: 9

Career Aspirations: SeaWorld employee, YouTuber

Social and emotional development: Since her first day enrolled in Prep, her teachers have known that Makayla is a little shy, and encouraged her to find her place. Now in Year 4, Makayla has a small group of friends and knows her classmates well. She is well liked but is also a little introverted when meeting new people. She is a natural worrier. Makayla has another best friend at the school, Connie, our Therapy Dog. Connie knows when Makayla is worried and lends a paw. 

Talents and interests: Makayla likes science classes and has begun learning violin (although getting her to practise isn’t always easy). She attends Science Club and the Beginner Strings Ensemble. She also loves YouTube and would love to have her own channel when she’s old enough. She enjoys swimming in summer at the Immanuel Swim School, plays netball with Immanuel Netball Club and has taken an interest in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. She likes to explore ideas about how to clean it up. This led her to attend a few meetings of ILC’s Primary ECO Club. She is a member of the Nippers at Maroochydore SLSC and is learning first aid.

Spiritual: Mikayla took The Great Escape Feast program and first communion with Pastor Doug. She was very nervous about going to confession and her First Communion Ceremony but also pretty happy that her mother let her get French Tips for the event. She also attended Kiera’s First Holy Communion at the local Catholic Church.

Makayla has achieved A grades in science and technology and Bs in HASS and English, and with a bit of extra help from her teacher, achieved a B+ in Maths too. Music and German… well, you know, her teachers are helping her push those Cs up to Bs. She LOVES dance and teaches the class moves she learnt in her after school dance class. She lists her favourite activity of the school year as the camp, although she’d been nervous to leave her parents at the start.

As students begin to experience more of the world, Immanuel encourages all children to take up new interests and to explore new concepts. Makayla’s teacher recognised that she liked to take action and felt that contributing to solving the problem was how she felt good about the world. Her teacher encouraged her to explore the many eco activities on campus. As part of ECO Club, Makayla is learning about the importance of recycling (and getting hands on experience) and has been learning about water technology, climate change and caring for our beaches from older students. She now counts a few Year 6s and even a Year 11 student amongst her friends. While she’s shown a natural aptitude for reading and violin, her passions lie elsewhere and she’s becoming a rising star in science. Her teacher encouraged her to try out for Sparkies Club. She coded her own video game which was awesome fun and she enjoyed making a 3D model on the 3D printer and laser etcher.

She is proudly the Centre on her netball team and takes squad training in the pool. She and her friends like to choreograph dance moves.


Year 10

During her Great Escape Feast Program she took an active interest in the idea of redemption and forgiveness, as well as developing an understanding of other denominations of the Christian Church, and of other faiths. She sought out Pastor Doug to discuss tolerance, forgiveness and service-learning opportunities. As a result, she participated in several fundraising drives for the College and Church’s next trip to visit ILC’s sister school and disability centre in Indonesia.

Year 10 at Immanuel, 2032 – Achieve your best self

Age: 15

Career Aspirations: Not sure. Maybe environmental scientist, ecologist, environmental engineer – something to do with protecting the beaches and oceans.

Social and emotional development: Like many kids around this age, Makayla had a difficult year socially and emotionally. Her parents reported some rebellion at home and her friendship groups changed several times over the Year 9 and 10 period. She showed a waning interest in school work and her volunteering activities. She quit her extracurricular dance classes and for the first time, did not audition for the College Musical. Like many children of this age, she found Year 9 and 10 to be the hardest years of school so far.

Talents and interests: Makayla, while unsure of which career path she will take, has a definite interest in the sciences. She was excited to be nominated MVP of her netball team and represented the College at a state level at Netball Queensland’s Vicki Wilson Championships. She does volunteer surf patrolling once a month at a local surf lifesaving club and began to volunteer at Nambour Soup Kitchen as part of a commitment to helping those in need with other students in Years 9 to 12.

Makayla’s Year 10 experience at Immanuel

Makayla’s challenges are pretty typical of kids this age. At Immanuel, we know a thing or two about this difficult time. Makayla’s teachers, the year level co-ordinator and our school counsellor are all watching for signs that this age is getting too much for our students, and their parents. Makayla’s teacher contacted her parents after noticing her enthusiasm waning and Makayla not being ‘herself’.    

Together they discussed options for keeping Makayla focused, which included visiting the school counsellor, Tarnya, to talk through her worries, social challenges and her upcoming journey into ATAR. Our team helped Makayla and her parents put coping and study strategies in place to help Makayla feel more in control. 

Makalya, like all her cohort, participated in The Rite Journey in Year 9, discussing her place in the world, and the adult she would like to become. Makayla was able to determine who she wanted to be and then find simple ways to become that person. This included better communication with her parents. 

In Year 10, Makayla joined her peers on a month long ‘express journey to adulthood’ at our Mt Binga campus. She learnt just what was involved in looking after herself, from needing to develop emotional resilience to doing her own laundry. For a month, she left the distractions and worries of school behind and focused on her own personal development and growth. Building on the lessons she learnt during The Rite Journey, Makayla returned from Mt Binga with new resolve and focus.

Our counsellor and year level co-ordinator determined that Makayla’s slipping grades weren’t due to a lack of interest or dedication, but rather her tendency towards anxiety. She was struggling (although unable to articulate it) with the idea of ATAR coming, and not yet having a clear career path in mind. She worried quietly that she wasn’t good enough to pursue some of her goals.

We put a study plan in place for Makayla to take control of her learning and be ready for what comes next. Our counsellor advised Makayla that she didn’t need to know EXACTLY what she wanted to do in order to pick the ATAR subjects that would give her entry to a course that suited her. She encouraged Makalya to stick with dance, as her passions bring joy to her life, even if they’re not strictly her career. She helped Makalya to plan her extracurricular activities around her study plan so that she could continue to do the things that were important to her, while preparing for university. Makayla, armed with a plan and newly refreshed outlook on life, finished Year 10 excited for the future that lay ahead. Our team is carefully trained to help kids stay on track, even when the track gets bumpy. As a parent, you’ll know, it can feel like you have no idea what to try with your teen at this age. We do. And as your community, we’re here to help.


Year 12 at Immanuel, 2034 – Become the best version of you

Age: 17

Career aspirations:  First preference: Bachelor of Ecology, UQ. Second preference: Bachelor of Animal Ecology, USC. Third preference: Bachelor of Marine Biology, James Cook University.

Social and emotional development: Makalya’s heavy work load left little time for a social life. However, midway through Year 11, she did meet… a boy. While the relationship is severely limited by her study and extracurricular activities, she has needed to carve out extra time for a social life.

Talents and interests: Makayla’s academic talents lie in Biology and Chemistry, her natural talents for swimming and dance are also very important to her. One of her favourite Immanuel experiences was attending the National Ballet’s performance of Swan Lake at QPAC as part of her Dance curriculum. 

Makayla’s Year 12 experience at Immanuel

Makayla met with one of our seven ATAR Certifier qualified teachers to help her to prepare for ATAR. Having that ‘insider knowledge’ helped boost her confidence and relieve the stress of studying for exams. Together they decided that Makayla’s weakest subject was maths and they developed a plan for keeping her grades up in conjunction with her teacher. Makayla adhered to a study schedule that gave her time for a social life and to pursue her interests as well. The Year 12 Year Level Coordinator and College Counsellor assisted in helping her find the work-life balance that would keep her happy and feeling in control throughout her senior years.

Makayla, like just about every ATAR or QCE student, experienced stress in her senior school years. Her teachers, counsellor, chaplain and, of course, Connie, ILC’s Therapy Dog, were all on hand to help keep her calm, focused and happy in her final years with us. By Year 12, her parents knew everyone at the College and was overjoyed at the support Makalya, and the family, had received over her years there.

In her final year, she continued to volunteer once a month at both the surf lifesaving club and Nambour Soup Kitchen. And, she still loved to dance! She values her friendships. And her faith. She proudly watched her lifelong ‘bestie’ Kiera graduate with her QCE and Certificate II in Tourism, and celebrated Kiera’s job offer from Queensland’s premiere tourism organisation. 

So, how does Makayla’s journey at ILC end? It ends with the start of a new one. This will be the journey of a young woman who received an offer to her first choice of university. She is a young woman with healthy friendships and relationships. She is a young woman who knows the confidence that comes from belonging to a community that cares. This young woman has a passion for the arts and a stock of healthy hobbies and interests. She has the strength of character to know who she is and what she can achieve. This will be the journey of a young woman with world changing career goals.

Our graduates aren’t just academic achievers. They’re well rounded, lifelong learners with passions and interests that set them up for a rich and interesting life, no matter where that life takes them.