Kardinia International College

Kardinia is an International Baccalaureate World School. It offers the IB Primary Years Programme from Kindergarten to Year 6, a vertical curriculum based on the guidelines of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority in Years 7 to 10, and a choice between the IB Diploma Programme and the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in Years 11 and 12. The vertical curriculum lets students accelerate in areas where they are strong, consolidate where they need more time and specialise in their interests, with semester-based units of 200 minutes a week.

The College's mission is to empower students through an engaging, challenging and student-centred education that develops social, personal, intercultural, critical-thinking and ethical skills. In the Junior School, learning follows the inquiry approach of the IB PYP through six transdisciplinary units of inquiry, while the three- and four-year-old Kindergarten programmes at Highview are based on play-based learning.

The College motto is 'Wisdom leads to Respect and Friendship', and its core values are wisdom, respect and friendship. Its vision is to be a symbol of hope for the world by developing knowledgeable and compassionate, globally minded citizens who act as agents of positive and sustainable change.

Besides the main campus grounds with lawns, sporting ovals and gardens, the Lower Primary Centre (Foundation to Year 2) offers outdoor play spaces, gardens, basketball courts and an oval, and the Upper Primary Centre (Years 3 to 6) has specially designed learning spaces, dedicated sports facilities and play spaces. The Highview Kindergarten is a modern facility with indoor and outdoor areas for exploration and play, and the Kardinia Grove Year 5 campus is a farm-type environment based on permaculture principles.

The College operates a dedicated private bus service with McHarry's Buslines, exclusively for Kardinia students, with live tracking through RollCall. Outside School Hours Care, run by Camp Australia, is available from 4-year-old kinder upwards from 7:00 to 8:45 am and 3:20 to 6:00 pm. Overseas students aged 13 or older can live with approved homestay families, supported by a full-time Homestay Coordinator.

The Senior School co-curricular programme spans Creativity, Activity and Service. Clubs include chess, French, Japanese culture, photography, philosophy, writing, politics, science, Robocup, a mathematics academy, esports, linguistics and debating, plus the Duke of Ed programme. Sports include fencing, tennis, cricket, futsal, basketball, surfing, AFL, netball, soccer, badminton, table tennis, Gaelic football, triathlon, swimming and diving, golf, volleyball, iaido and a running club. Arts options include music ensembles, a symphony orchestra, the College production, the Wakakirri dance competition, taiko drumming, calligraphy, a media crew and Kardinia Sings, and service activities include sustainability, tutoring, Model UN and Cooking for the Community. The College also runs outdoor education expeditions and an optional Chiang Mai Experience for Year 9 students in Northern Thailand.