Athena School

The Athena School is an independent, co-educational school for Preschool to Year 10 students located in Newtown, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The teaching approaches of the school are based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. The school is registered by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards and is a member of the NSW Association of Independent Schools.

Not to be confused with Athena High or Athena Middle.

Athena School
Location
Newtown
,
New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°53′44.04″S 151°10′28.10″E
Information
School typePrivate comprehensive coeducational school
MottoPersistence - Integrity - Understanding
GradesK-10
Websitewww.athena.nsw.edu.au

The school uses Study Tech.[1]

Athena School and The Church of Scientology

The school is affiliated with the Church of Scientology[2][3] with teachings based on L. Ron Hubbard's philosophy of education, centered on overcoming the fundamental barriers that prevent one from fully comprehending one's studies.[4] Per their website, the school states, "The Athena School is licensed under Applied Scholastics International to use the educational philosophy of author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. As he is also the founder of Scientology, there can be some assumption that The Athena School is a religious school when we are not. The Athena School does not promote any one religion. Our students learn tolerance and respect in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."[5]

Since 2007, all teachers are registered with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards.[6]

The Athena School follows the guidelines set out by the NSW Board of Studies in its curriculum.[6]

In March 2010 the Greens New South Wales party lodged an official complaint about the school to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission due to an advertising leaflet which fails to reveal the school's link to Scientology. The Principal of the school said the Applied Scholastics study method did not teach the Scientology religion, "We follow the Board of Studies curriculum. We use the study method of L. Ron Hubbard. It is a method of study, it is not teaching Scientology."[7]

Green School program with Street Coolers

In 2015 the school started a "green school" program with Street Coolers, a community-focused organisation with a mission to cool our urban areas. This involved the school utilising several machines capable of creating several kilograms of compost per day, a reverse-vending machine open to the public, which allows individuals to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans for coupons, as well as energy and weather monitoring to assess power usage and how the weather affects this.[8]

See also

References
  1. Archived 12 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Senate" (PDF). Official Hansard. Parliamentary Debates. 39 (16). Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia (published 10 November 2000). 2000. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  3. Burke, Kelly (24 June 2003). "Scientology class suits shy Hindu". The Sydney Morning Herald. Religion in Schools. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  4. "The Barriers to Study". Athena.nsw.edu.au. 8 August 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  5. "Is The Athena School a Scientology School?". Athena.nsw.edu.au. 24 December 2013. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  6. "Welcome to The Athena School | Private School in Sydney | Primary School | High School | Independent School". Athena.nsw.edu.au. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  7. "Greens refer Scientology school to consumer watchdog - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  8. "Paving The Way For Sustainable Schools | The Athena School". The Athena School. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.

Further reading
  • Seymour, Brian (9 December 2009). "Scientology lesson". Today Tonight. Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.


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