# Matthew Flinders Anglican College

Matthew Flinders Anglican College (MFAC) is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school located in Buderim, approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Brisbane, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1990 and named in honour of Matthew Flinders, the college has grown from an enrolment of 160 students in its foundation year, to over 1,300 students in 2015.

## Overview

The school's Overall Position and NAPLAN results have seen Flinders named in local, state and national media as one of the top 100 schools in Australia, top 10 schools in Queensland and highest-achieving school in the Sunshine Coast.

### Music

The music department has two orchestral rehearsal rooms, a computer lab, eight solo to quartet practise rooms, a locker room, a lendable instrumental storage room and department office. There are five class music teachers and 24 private instrumental teachers. In year 3, students learn to play the recorder, and in year 4 are given a choice of violin, viola or cello. The annual school production alternates between a musical and series of age-segregated one-act plays, both of which are (as of 2012) staged in the college's 600-seat performance centre, as is the year 6 (formerly year 7) musical. The performance centre is also used to present concerts and recitals by touring artists. The school has ten musical groups, including three string orchestras, three choirs and four wind ensembles. Several independent, student-run ensembles also exist, including the saxophone, percussion, vocal quartets and flute ensemble.

## Houses

The students are divided into four (primary) and eight (secondary) houses, each named after a notable Australian person:

## Nicholas Campbell Investigation

As of March 2024 Music teacher Nicholas John Campbel employed at the college, will face court on historical child sex offence allegations, which police allege happened in 1996. The alleged offending did not occur at the college but was alleged to have happened in New South Wales. The Maroochydore Magistrates Court granted him bail after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Grafton. Mr Campbell's lawyers state he has no history of offending and has been aware of this specific complaint since 2020, Mr Campbell's lawyers also said that he has not had any other complaints of this nature ever. He is facing three counts of aggravated sexual assault where the victim was under the authority of the offender. Which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years of imprison as per according to section 352 of the Criminal Code Act 1899. As this is the second arrest of a teacher at the school in the last 5 years students and parents are questioning the effectiveness of the colleges student protection policies.

## Dean Carelse conviction

Dean Carelse was a South African national and water polo coach. Carelse was employed at MFAC from ~2019-2020, as a middle school science and mathematics teacher and a water polo coach. He was dismissed from the college after allegations of grooming after contacting students on social media such as Facebook, and allegedly taking inappropriate photographs of students. Maroochydore Police raided his Moololabah home in early 2021 and discovered child exploitation content, in 2022 he pleaded guilty to 20 charges consisting of possessing child exploitation material and distributing child exploitation material. Much of the child exploitation charges related to students at MFAC. Carelse was sentenced to 6 years in prison, but instead deported to South Africa. After an investigation conducted by the ABC, Carelse was discovered working at a water park in the United Kingdom and departed from there in 2024.
This controversy caused MFAC to implement more stringent and effective child protection policies, as well as the introduction of frequent school assemblies regarding child protection. School policies such as requiring teaching staff to maintain zero contact with students for at least 2 years after graduation were implemented to address the controversy and ensure child protection.