With record enrolments and a Performing Arts Centre on the way, the future of Southern Hills Christian College (SHCC), the SCEA school in Bedfordale, is bright!
Today, we find out about their new leader, Mr Brett Costin, who will start in Term 2, 2025.
Tell us about your early years of life…
I was born in western Victorian and grew up on a dairy farm.
I loved horse-riding and playing AFL, I was a centre and wing player.
When I was 15, I played centre in the under-15s and then backed up to play on the wing in the reserves against 18- to 40-year-olds—if only I were that fit now!
Unfortunately, I hurt my knee and that ended my AFL career.
Summer holidays were spent between my grandmother’s houses at the beaches of Lorne and Apollo Bay, where each lived.
I was a bookworm, although mostly novels about cowboys and horses.
‘My Friend Flicka’ was my favourite book; later, spy novels, history and autobiographical novels captured my imagination.
I loved animals and art and often got in trouble for doodling on my school books until I learnt to take a sketch pad to school.
School Years
As a school student, my favourite teacher was my Year 6 teacher, who shared the wonder of God’s creation and nurtured my love of nature.
I was an academic student, topping the class in most maths and science subjects, although I had to work hard on my English.
In athletics, I was one of the fastest over 100m and 200m, which helped me in my role as a wing player.
However, I was terrible at swimming and cross-country running.
In senior school, my subjects included Specialist Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English, History, and Graphic Design.
I didn’t finish, as I was offered both a motor mechanic apprenticeship and a science research role.
My goal was to take over the family farm, so I believed the mechanics apprenticeship was the best option.
The deputy principal called me into his office and counselled me to consider continuing and becoming a teacher, but at the time, I thought that idea was silly.
Working Life (Including Critical Moments)
I completed my motor mechanic apprenticeship and became a senior motor mechanic at a Nissan dealership.
(Interestingly, my son now owns a 1970 Nissan 180SX, which I helped him rebuild.)
When my dad suddenly passed away at the age of 50, I took over the family dairy farm.
In God’s perfect timing, I was wonderfully saved after attending an outreach event by an Australian evangelist, Bill Newman, in Camperdown, Victoria.
Tragically, my mum passed away a few years later, and my family decided to sell the farm.
After that, I travelled before settling into a church in Mandurah, Western Australia, where I met my beautiful wife, Cheryl.
We married in Pinjarra.
Together, we travelled to Queensland to attend Bible College.
After returning to WA, we started pastoring a small church in Dwellingup for the Christian Family Centre.
I later assisted in a school that the main church had started in Fairbridge Village, and it was then that I realised my calling, as the deputy principal had suggested years earlier, was indeed teaching.
We returned to Queensland, where I completed a teaching degree at Christian Heritage College, which helped me to understand teaching from a Christian Worldview.
Since then, I have been teaching, as outlined in my résumé, and taking leadership and teaching roles such as Head of Primary School in Townsville and Caboolture, Head of Primary Pastoral Care in Nambour, and Science and English teaching in Qatar.
Head of Middle school in Caboolture, and Principal of a K-12 Christian College in Gympie and now Head of Campus of a Middle and Secondary School in Brisbane.
What do you know about Southern Hills, and what do you intend to do in your first year there?
In my first year at Southern Hills, my focus is to understand who our community is, identify our strengths, address areas for improvement, and discern God’s direction to shape our future.
For example, the outdoor education facility is a significant strength, as is the dedication of our incredible teaching and administrative staff, who are sharing and impacting the community with God’s love.
I recognise that the College continues to grow, and with growth comes both challenges and blessings.
My role is to support our staff in embracing the blessing of every child in our care, while confronting challenges with courage and grace.
At the same time, we will celebrate the victories we achieve every day.
As James Clear highlights in ‘Atomic Habits’, if we make a 1% improvement each day, the College will continue to create an environment where every child feels heard, experiences the love of Christ in their hearts, and is supported to grow into the community leaders we hope they will become.
Through evidence-based teaching, we can continuously improve outcomes for each child and model lifelong learning, which we also aspire to cultivate in our students.
The adage, “It takes a village to raise a child,” is truer today than ever before.
I am excited to be part of that village, supporting young people spiritually, academically, socially, and mentally to become all that God has called them to be.
We are living in an exciting time with this Alpha generation, who are innovative, hyper-connected, and independent visual learners.
Artificial intelligence is transforming how we support our students and teachers, making this an exhilarating time to be an educator.
Amidst these advancements, God’s purpose remains clear: we have good works to do, as the Bible reminds us:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
Working with SCEA’s Senior Leadership Team and the SCEA Board…goals?
I am deeply humbled to be working with the SCEA leadership team.
The quality of leadership within the seven schools and across SCEA is clearly reflected in their ongoing impact.
As I take on my role, I am eager to learn more about the organisation’s structure.
I greatly appreciate the clear strategic goals focused on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, strengthening leadership, and nurturing future leaders—something I am passionate about.
It is truly empowering to know that each school is not alone but part of a network of like-minded schools governed by a Christ-centred board with a vision for advancing His kingdom and reaching the next generation.
