In the 1840s, early settlers with an eye for the future began educating their children in the church building on the dry flood plains at Hoffnungstal.  Even then, the community of early settlers knew the importance of nurture and vision, educating the children in life skills and the Christian faith using their native German language.  In the 1860s, after the flooding of Hoffnungstal, the church and school moved to its current location; 2 kilometres from the Lyndoch township. When the new St Jakobi church was built in the early 1900s, the old church became a dedicated one-teacher, multi-grade campus, known as ‘St Jakobi Lutheran School’.

St Jakobi was closed for a short period around the time of World War II due to its German connections and heritage. 2010 marked the 75th anniversary of the re-opening of St Jakobi after the war.

In 2008, the Childcare Centre was opened as a combined vision of the Lyndoch Lutheran Parish and St Jakobi Lutheran School as a 50-place centre. It was built as a separate, stand-alone business to fulfil an identified need in the Southern Barossa community. 

In 2012, the Campus Councils from both the Childcare Centre and the School combined to ensure the needs of both sites were able to be met. 

2016 saw the vision of one campus, which included the Childcare Centre and St Jakobi Lutheran School, begin to come to life. Both sites began to work together to build the Early Learning Centre which opened mid-2017. With the ELC, the Campus was able to come together to provide a whole Birth to Year 6 approach to education.

St Jakobi Lutheran Campus now boasts facilities and programs that capture the vision of its early forebearers. It is a place for the whole community, committed to a holistic approach to education - a proud learning community, with good reasons to be so.

St Jakobi is, was and always will be a learning community that is constantly lifting its eyes to see and meet new possibilities; a campus that you can be proud to be a part of.

St Jakobi Official Church opening on September 18th, 1913.

The class of 1906 with Teacher Miss H Starick. Photos kindly donated by Mrs Una Harris, Lyndoch. 

The original house block, known as "Mattner House" that is now the Childcare Centre, c.2005