Radford College

Radford is an IB World School for the Primary Years Programme, which shapes inquiry-based learning from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6. The college does not offer the IB Diploma: senior students follow the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies, choosing tertiary packages leading to the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate and an ATAR, or accredited vocational packages. All Year 11 students take the ASPIRE programme to build critical thinking and prepare for the ACT Scaling Test. International perspective is reinforced through Round Square membership and language exchanges with schools in France, China and Japan.

English is the language of instruction. Secondary students can study Chinese, French, Japanese or Spanish from Year 7, and in Years 11 and 12 the college offers continuing courses in French, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish, advanced French and a beginners' Spanish course. Language tours visit partner schools in France, China and Japan with which Radford has exchange arrangements.

Radford runs as one school from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12. The Browning Early Learning Centre takes children who turn four by 30 April, using a Reggio Emilia approach within the IB PYP framework. The Mulford Junior School covers Kindergarten to Year 6 under the PYP. The Secondary School covers Years 7 to 10 with the Australian Curriculum and electives, and Years 11 and 12 with ACT Senior Secondary Certificate pathways. Main entry points are Pre-K, Year 3, Year 7 and Year 11.

Radford describes itself as a generous-spirited learning community grounded in the Christian faith in the Anglican tradition. Its three values, truth, compassion and wisdom, mean living with integrity, acting with kindness and responsibility, and seeking knowledge applied with good judgement. The college aims to form young people who serve the common good, and it welcomes families of all beliefs, expressing its faith through chapel, service and respect for diversity.

Radford offers more than 100 co-curricular activities. Sports include basketball, cricket, football, futsal, netball, Oztag and rowing, plus cross country, snowsports, swimming and tennis. The Radford Dance Academy teaches ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and contemporary dance from Pre-K to Year 12, and drama students stage a biennial musical and annual productions. More than 30 choirs, bands, orchestras and ensembles make up the music programme. Students also take part in debating and public speaking, academic competitions, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and a sequential outdoor education programme of camps and expeditions from Year 3 to Year 11.

The single campus beside Gossan Hill combines bushland with modern buildings. Sports facilities include the G. Wigg Sports Centre with a double gymnasium and weights room, the Collegians Centre, the Boorer Family Cricket Centre with eight indoor pitches, the Baker Family Sports Precinct with multisport and tennis courts, two ovals and a rowing boatshed at Black Mountain Peninsula. For the arts and gatherings there are the L.J. Willett Performing Arts Centre, R.A. Young Hall, T.B. Millar Hall and two lecture theatres. The 200-seat Chapel sits at the heart of the campus, and the Browning Early Learning Centre has play gardens, art workshops and a vegetable patch.

Pastoral care is built around Heads of Year, teacher mentors, counsellors, health services and quiet rooms, together with a whole-school house system linking students from Pre-K to Year 12. A Gifted and Talented programme offers extension and enrichment. The college runs its own Out of School Hours Care before and after school and during holidays for Pre-K to Year 6, and a dedicated bus service for Years 1 to 12 with routes from Gungahlin and the south side. Scholarships are available through the Radford Foundation.