As the designated college for Years 11 and 12 scholarship holders at the Australian Institute of Sport, the college provides a range of programs enabling the athletes to complete their secondary education and still meet the demands of training and competition.
Facilities: Situated on the shores of Lake Ginninderra, the college enjoys excellent facilities including five computing labs, seven science labs, gym, cafeteria, climbing wall, theatre, drama studio, dance studio, TV studio, and editing booths with a four-track audio-recording facility. The library has a CD-ROM network plus access to the internet and two online newspaper databases. Computing facilities include four computing laboratories, and a lab dedicated to computer-aided drafting. Computers are used in physics experiments and the science faculty has a video microscope 1 atomic absorption, 1 IR and 4 UV visible spectrophotometers. Two satellite dishes receive signals from Optus 1 and Palappa C1 (Indonesia), accessing source material for media and foreign languages courses.
Curriculum: The college offers more than 70 courses at a variety of levels suitable for university entrance, TAFE, or directly into employment. Traditional, challenging academic courses are well catered for. Some courses, such as Business and Computing Science, offer students advanced standing at the Canberra Institute of Technology. The college is a Registered Training Organisation and offers 11 vocational courses such as Tourism and Hospitality, Automotive Technology, Furniture Construction, Retail, Community Services, and Information and Office Studies. All these courses offer nationally recognised certification. Outdoor education (including abseiling, scuba diving, bushwalking and skiing) develops self-esteem and confidence as well as skill in navigation, first aid and survival.
Sport: The college features an active and successful sports program. Sport is encouraged for recreation and fitness, but elite athletes are also well catered for in the elite sports program and sports specific units, namely volleyball, basketball and indoor soccer. The college has had great success in inter-college teams in 25 sports and at national and international level, including a basketball tour of Canada and the USA. Interstate sporting exchanges are regular events. The Sports Studies course prepares students for careers in sport or the fitness/recreation industry.
Extracurricular activities: The college offers a wide enrichment program of registered units. Activities include debating, driver education, Rock Eisteddfod, dance festival, Young Achievers, Amnesty International, CSIRO Student Research Scheme, aerobics, rock climbing, drama production, and electronic communication.
Welfare and personal development: Each student is assigned to a support group with a teacher who meets them every week and monitors progress, attendance and the curriculum package. An executive teacher heads a student services team comprising a counsellor, Years 11 and 12 co-ordinators, two work-experience co-ordinators, and two careers advisers. The team advises students on course choices, provides guidance and support, and liaises frequently with other staff and with parents.
Special features: A special program of distance education operates for students whose sport requires them to travel extensively interstate or overseas.