Melbourne High School (Victoria)

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Melbourne High School

Motto	Honour the work
Established	1905
Type	Single-sex state senior (Selective Entry)
Principal	Jeremy Ludowyke
Founder	Frank Tate
Students	~1,400
Grades	9-12
Location	Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Campus	Forrest Hill, South Yarra
Colours	Maroon, green and black
Mascot	Unicorn
Yearbook	'The Unicorn'
Newspaper	'Ours (weekly newsletter), The Sentinel (school magazine)
Website	www.mhs.vic.edu.au

Melbourne High School is a selective state school for boys in years 9 to 12 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its equivalent for girls is the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School.

The school was founded in 1905 as the first coeducational state school in Victoria, Melbourne High School was originally located in Spring Street in Melbourne. In 1927, the boys and girls split, with the boys moving to a new school at Forrest Hill in the inner city suburb of South Yarra which retained the name Melbourne High School^[1]. The school also has an outdoor education centre at Millgrove in the Warburton Ranges, east of Melbourne.

Enrolment for year 9 is determined by an Entrance Examination, held in June each year. In 2007, 308 Year 9s entered the school,^[2] out of over 1200 students who attended the examination.

Students have achieved very strong results in the VCE examinations, and placements at tertiary institutions at a rate well above Victoria's average.^[1] The school has a compulsory involvement programme, including involvement within school and within the broader community. Its ethos encourages investment of effort into academic, sporting, musical and political pursuits. It was the first school in Australia to organise a Student Representative Council.^[1]

In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked Melbourne High School third in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians).^[3][a]

Contents 1 Academics 2 History 3 Academics 3.1 Entrance 3.2 Junior school 3.2.1 Curriculum 3.3 Senior school 3.4 Victorian Certificate of Education 4 Student life 4.1 House competition 4.2 Music programme 4.3 Sport programme 4.4 Leadership programme 4.5 Involvement programme 5 Awards and badges 6 Brother and sister schools 6.1 Exchanges 6.2 Crawford Shield & Prefects Cup 7 School tradition 8 Mission and philosophy 9 School uniform 10 Principals 11 Notable alumni 12 Notes 13 References 14 See also 15 External links

[edit] Academics

VCE Highest Median Study Scores

Year	Top School	Second	Third
2007	MGHS	MHS	KAGS
2006	MGHS	MHS	BC
2005	MGHS	BC	MHS
2004	MGHS	MHS	BC
2003	MGHS	MHS	CGGS
2002	MGHS	MHS	BC
2001	MHS	MGHS	BC

Melbourne High School is the only state school for boys in Victoria which selects students solely on the basis of performance in an entrance examination. Every year, well over 1,000 boys try to obtain a place in Year 9 by undertaking the examination in the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton. In recent years, the school has been considering a state initiative to create two new selective entry schools, possibly extended Melbourne High School to a North Melbourne campus. ^[4]

Past students have achieved very strong results in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examinations, and the median ENTER for Melbourne High School in 2007 was 95.35^[5], tying with the previous year for its highest ever.^[6] Melbourne High School has been ranked second out of all state secondary schools in Victoria based on the median ENTER achieved by its students in past years, only coming second to Mac. Robertson Girls' High School.

[edit] History

Victoria's first state secondary school, the Melbourne Continuation School, was opened on February 15, 1905, with 135 girls and 68 boys. The school was established by Frank Tate, the first Director of Education, who wanted to provide an opportunity for students from state primary schools to continue their education. It was housed in the Old National Model School in Spring Street with Joseph Hocking, an inspector of schools, as the first principal. Hocking turned Frank Tate's vision into reality, and the school quickly produced students of high quality, including many who became teachers. By 1919, it had the greatest number of students at Melbourne University (the only university then) from any school.

A rich extracurricular life developed to complement the emphasis on academic performance. Students were encouraged to take part in sport, music, cadets, excursions, sporting exchanges with Adelaide High School and North Sydney Boys' High School, social events and a school magazine. World War I was an important hiatus for the school with over 500 students serving, and having a special association with Anzac Cove. Hocking spoke of the students as:

"...so many upstanding, fearless-eyed Australians, full of the joy of life, physically fit and with mind-power and heart-power, duly exercised under favourable conditions".^[7]

The School continued to grow until the 1920s when with the building literally falling down, the decision was made to split the School and move to alternative sites. The boys were the first to move, in October 1927 to their new home on Forrest Hill, South Yarra and renamed Melbourne Boys' High School. The girls (then renamed Melbourne Girls' High School) moved to Government House in 1931, then to King Street Central School the following year and finally to Albert Park in 1934, taking the name Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. Despite the Depression, Melbourne High School expanded in its new home. New traditions began, such as a house system, with competition in various sports, debating and with the strong music tradition of the school, house chorals. A Memorial Hall paid for by past students was a feature of the new school.^{[citation needed]}

The outbreak of World War II meant the school building was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy, and students were relocated to two sites: the new Camberwell High School and Tooronga Road State School. This period saw the creation of a tunnel connecting the school's Army Cadet Q-Store to the stormwater drain below it, that leads out into the Yarra River.^[8]

In 1944 the School returned to Forrest Hill, with a new Principal, Major-General (later Sir) Alan Ramsay, the first former student of the School to be Principal. Almost all of his successors have been former students. The 1950s under Principal Brigadier George Langley was a time of renewal, as the Tecoma camp was re-established and plans for a pool and new PE Centre developed. The 1960s saw the first expansion of the School's facilities since 1927. A Physical Education Centre and swimming pool opened in 1960, a new Library was opened in 1965, portable classrooms were installed in 1968, and a Junior Science Block was opened in 1970.

By the 1980s the School was in poor physical condition, and urgently in need of new facilities to meet the changes taking place in education, particularly relating to the increasing use of computers. Neville Drohan, principal from 1987 to 1991, was able to secure government funds, which together with donations, were used to construct a four level multipurpose facility housing a heated swimming and water polo pool, weight training centre, games hall and gymnasium, general purpose classrooms, science laboratories and a new library.

In 1992, Raymond Willis became the principal of the school. In 1995 the original 1927 building was refurbished and added a computer suite, dark room, new general office, improved classrooms, conference room, heritage room and an improved canteen and dining area. A synthetic hockey field replaced the old grass one. Two plexipave netball/basketball courts were also added. In 1999, the school oval was reconstructed, reshaped and provided with new drainage, new turf wickets, new watering system, improved lighting and new fencing. It was named the Woodfull-Miller Oval in honour of former student and principal Bill Woodfull and former student Keith Miller who were two of Australia's greatest Test cricketers. In 2000, a cardio room was constructed and four science classrooms were rebuilt with world standard science facilities. The expansion of facilities allowed the School to increase its enrollment to a new high of 1366.

In 2002, a building was constructed to house the Army and Air Force Cadets including orderly rooms, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, display areas, kitchen and toilets. That year also saw the construction of new changerooms in the Old Boys Pavilion and the construction of the Hockey Pavilion.

After making numerous innovative changes and advancements, Ray Willis died in July 2004 as the school's longest serving principal and the school went into a state of mourning. In January 2005, Jeremy Ludowyke was appointed principal.

The school has been distinguished for its remarkable academic success and can point to many famous "old boys". Whilst becoming more of an academic school over the last 30 years, the school has also retained its strong co-curricular traditions of music, with massed singing, formal assemblies and speech nights, the house sporting competition, house choral competition, Army and Air Force cadet corps, current affairs groups and school uniforms.

[edit] Academics

Melbourne High School places great emphasis on high academic performance throughout students' school career. Consequently MHS have produced men in society that are outstanding in their field.

[edit] Entrance

Every June around 1400 of boys in year 8 sit the entrance examination, and only the top 319 will receive a place. These placements are based on their raw results in the entrance exam. Those who were within 5 marks of the cut-off-score or did not receive a place due to the 3% rule are asked to participate in the Principals Discretionary Category. Usually 180 students are eligible to apply in this category and compete for just 17 allocated places. Students choosing to participate attend an interview with the staff and submit a portfolio containing prior school reports. They also respond to a questionnaire on why they wish to attend the school. Places are also available in year 10 but the competition is much more fierce - in 2007, 28 students were accepted into Year 10 after undergoing a similar process to the Principals Discretionary Category. Fewer places again are available at year 11 and 12. The school is very popular with Eastern and Southern Asian families, who form the bulk of students at the entrance exam. ^[9].

[edit] Junior school

The junior school comprises students in year 9 and 10. They are considered a school within a school, and have their own school captains, assemblies, and singing lessons. Students in the junior school are not subject to the pressures of VCE and are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities and broaden their education.

In year 9, students select two electives for the year while in year 10, students select four electives. These electives range from CAD to VCE Accounting.

[edit] Curriculum

Year 9 students study the following core subjects:

• Art
• English
• Geography
• History
• LOTE - Languages Other Than English (French, Japanese, Indonesian or German)
• Mathematics
• Music
• Physical Education
• Science
• Chorales (Singing)

The junior school curriculum covers the eight Key Learning Areas (KLA):

• Health and PE
• The Arts
• Technology
• History
• Geography
• Science
• Maths
• English
• LOTE

[edit] Senior school

The senior school comprises students in Year 11 and Year 12.

[edit] Victorian Certificate of Education

At Victorian Certificate of Education level, Melbourne High School offers the following subjects.

• Accounting
• Art
• Biology
• Business management
• Chemistry
• Economics
• English
• English as a second language (ESL)
• English literature
• Geography
• Health and Human development
• History: 20th century history
• History: Australian History
• History: Revolutions
• Information technology
• International and national politics
• IT: Software development
• IT: Information technology applications
• Legal studies
• LOTE: French
• LOTE: German
• LOTE: Japanese (First and second)
• LOTE: Indonesian (First and second)
• LOTE: outside MHS (eg. Hebrew, Indian)
• Mathematics: General
• Mathematics: Methods
• Mathematics: Specialists
• Media
• Music performance
• Music performance- Solo
• Music performance- Group
• Music styles
• Physical education
• Physics
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Studio Arts
• Theatre studies
• Visual Communications
• VET (Community Services, Sport, Hospitality, etc.)

[edit] Student life

[edit] House competition

Interhouse competitions remain an integral part of the school's ethos. The four Houses with their associated colours are:

• Como (Yellow)
• Forrest (Blue)
• Waterloo (Green)
• Yarra (Red)

The names for the houses were derived from the local history of the area. The hill upon which the school is situated was first settled by captain John Forrest, who built his house, Waterloo cottage, in Como estate, alongside the river Yarra.^[1] The house's histories are well documented, with records of victories in major competitions as well as individual school records are kept. Over the history of the competition, Yarra has been the house with the largest number of victories, greatly owing to a long winning streak lasting almost the entirety of the 1990s and early 2000s. Waterloo has recently been successful, winning the last three Cockhouses, but overall they are the least successful house.^[1]

The house competition has its controversial aspects, including the adjudication process in the house choral competition, which was recently improved by adding three adjudicators as opposed to one. This change was made the year after Waterloo won its first competition in 20 years despite Yarra's standout performance of Nessun dorma. After the adjudication was expanded to three judges Yarra won with their rendition of Sweeney Todd, although controversy remained after Forrest came last despite receiving heavy applause from the audience for Anthem.

The houses compete in four major competitions:^[1]

• Athletics
• Swimming
• Cross Country
• Chorals

They also compete in minor competitions:^[1]

• Australian Football (Junior and Senior)
• Basketball (Junior and Senior)
• Debating
• Hockey
• Football
• Chess
• Theatre Sports
• Volleyball
• Water Polo
• Instrumentals
• Year 9 Cockhouse Round Robin - in which the new Year 9s can pick to play a particular sport out of a wide array of sports for their house and participate in round-robin against the other houses.

[edit] Music programme

Melbourne High School offers students a diverse range of options to express themselves through music. The school has a compulsory massed singing program for students in Year 9 and Year 10. Year 9 students also complete a semester of classroom music. The Music Department also offers a number of electives at Year 10 level in Music Craft, Music Technology, Film Music and Music Composition. At VCE level, the department currently offers VCE Music: Group Performance and VCE Music: Solo Performance.

There is also an extensive co-curricular ensemble program, which allows students of all abilities to participate in making music. Some of these ensembles include: The 'MHS Chorale', Davis Band, Symphony Orchestra, Tattam Band, Singers, Stage Band, Big Band, String Orchestra, Camerata, and Composition Ensemble.

[edit] Sport programme

Each term, students choose a sport to play during a double period once a week. There are various sports to choose from, including: rowing, sailing, cricket, football, rugby, tennis, golf, squash, cross country running, lacrosse, ten-pin bowling, badminton, lawn bowls, yoga, fencing and Taekwondo. The school also has a burgeoning rowing program, recently establishing a sculling school.

In addition the school participates in VSSSA competitions and also has its own football and cricket clubs, both for students and old boys. The 1st XI cricket team has in the past played matches against the Victorian Governers XI which included Merv Hughes.

[edit] Leadership programme

Melbourne High School has a number of leadership opportunities, such as School Captain, Executive and Representative positions. All are recognised in various ways, such as badges or colours (distinguishment). In every form, one student is elected as Form Captain and serves administerial duties while another student is elected SRC Representative, who represents the form in the Student Representative Council meetings. Two members of each year level enter an SRC Executive election. In addition to this, several Year 12s form the SRC Cabinet, which includes the roles of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and Secretary. The SRC organizes socials, formals and inter-form competitions in games such as dodgeball or soccer.

Many involvements, including such as the Philosophy Society and Food Interest Group, have presidents or captains and most sporting teams also have captains. Within the Cadet Corps, there are a series of leadership positions offered to students who completed particular promotion courses over the holidays.

[edit] Involvement programme

The school has an extensive program of student-run clubs, societies and special interest groups. It is compulsory for Year 9 students to be involved in some of these groups. It is compulsory for each student to pick an 'A Level involvement' and a 'B Level involvement'. 'A Level involvements' are Army Cadets, Air Force Cadets, Chorale, Instrumental Ensemble or Rowing. All other involvements are considered 'B Level'. These includes educational ones such as the Astronomy club, IT Programming Club and Heritage Society as well as the recreational ones such as the Bush-walking club, PIG (political interest group), The Sentinel (student magazine) BizE (Business Interest Group) and FIG (Food Interest Group) whilst also consisting of the more competitional based involvements such as debating, competition writing group and chess club. In addition, students pursuing similar interests may gather together and form a new group of their own, subject to the approval of the school's administration. The administration's flexibility in this regard has seen the recent emergence of the Strategy Club (Warhammer figurine games, and TCG card games), Jewish Student Network, Student Alive (Christian Religious Group), Baka Anime, Victory Club (supporting the Melbourne Victory), The Barbershop Club and the Latin Club.

[edit] Awards and badges

There are School Colours for both Service and Sport. Both are in the form of ties, with a design consisting of the standard MHS tie's stripes and a unicorn at the bottom for Half Colours; and the tie stripe alternating with unicorns for Full Colours. The Unicorns on Sport Colours ties are coloured gold; the ones on Service Colours are silver.

In addition to the tie, Full Colours recipients as well as holders of some leadership positions can have their blazer emblazoned with their award or position. Position titles are emblazoned above the school emblem on the blazer pocket whilst award titles are emblazoned below. A system of badges is also employed at Melbourne High School.

[edit] Brother and sister schools

Melbourne High maintains close ties with its counterpart Mac. Robertson Girls' High School. Each year the schools join together for a winter concert and a musical and drama production. Recently a fairly light-hearted Melbourne High vs MacRob Cup has began to take place and includes events such as debating, soccer and theatre sports.

[edit] Exchanges

Sister school relationships have been established internationally with high schools in Japan (Kasukabe High School), Germany (Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium Gundelfingen), Indonesia and France (Lycée du Val Durance, Pertuis). Annual exchanges occur with each of the sister schools, giving students the opportunity to experience both the culture and education systems of another country. Each year Melbourne High either sends a group of students overseas to these schools, or hosts students from these schools. There are also opportunities for individual students to go on a longer term exchange overseas.

[edit] Crawford Shield & Prefects Cup

Melbourne High has annual sporting contests against North Sydney Boys High School and Adelaide High School during which boys from the visiting school are billeted with host families. Annual exchanges with Sydney Boys High School are held for rowing. Melbourne High competes against North Sydney Boys High School cricket as well as other sports for the Crawford Shield, and against Adelaide High in football and other sports for the Prefects' Cup. Melbourne High School currently hold both Prefects Cup and Crawford Shield.^[10]

[edit] School tradition

The school motto is "Honour the work". The School motto was derived spontaneously from an eloquent address given to the assembled school by the late Mr Frank Tate ISO, MA, a former Director of Education. In the course of his speech, he quoted the words of Edward Thring: "Honour the work and the work will honour you", and it is recorded that these inspiring words were at once recognised as the most appropriate for the School motto.

The school song is entitled Honour the Work. The song is sung at the start of all school assemblies and other school gatherings such as speech nights. On normal occasions only the first 2 verses are sung, however on special days such as Remembrance Day the 4th verse is also sung.

[edit] Mission and philosophy

The school's official mission statement is:

As a selective entry statewide provider of broad, stimulating and challenging education of the highest quality, Melbourne High School is in a unique position to enhance the vast and varied talents of its diverse body of students, preparing them for academic, civic and vocational leadership, whilst encouraging individual happiness and satisfaction^[1]

The school's official philosophy statement is:

Melbourne High School is an academic secondary college aiming to provide an environment conducive to learning and the pursuit of excellence, and in which students develop self-discipline and learn to take responsibility for their own actions. It recognises that, in the pursuit of excellence, all students are individuals, entitled to equal opportunity, a positive learning environment and on-going support to enable them to realise their fullest potential - intellectual, personal, physical, creative, social and vocational. Such an environment can be developed when based on the values of mutual respect, shared responsibility and cooperation between staff, students and parents.^[1]

[edit] School uniform

Students are required to wear school uniform, which consists of a black college blazer, green pullover (maroon for year 12), school tie, white business shirt, grey college trousers and/or grey college shorts, grey or dark coloured socks, black polished shoes, and the MHS maroon backpack. The blazer is woolen and is black in colour. It features a maroon and green trim which extends to the collar-region. On the left-chest-pocket the school logo (the unicorn) is emblazoned. This is also the region where student leadership positions are stitched into the blazer so the students can be recognized by their peers within the school. The school blazer is expected be worn when traveling to and from school, in between periods, when in the Memorial Hall and when representing the school. In the classroom, the blazer may be removed and the jumper or shirt may be worn as the outer garment. The tie features maroon and green stripes, however, students can also receive half colours and full colours, which are differently coloured ties awarded for various school achievements. Some students also received the black centenary tie in 2005, featuring both the crests of Melbourne High School and the MacRobertson Girls' High School.

Students also have seperature sports uniforms which cater for different sports and events. However, there is a particular set of sports uniform which is required by all students. In years 9 and 10, this sports uniform must be worn to Physical Education, and in Years 9 - 12, the sports uniform must be worn to most weekly sport sessions, depending upon the sport which the students choose to participate in. The compulsory sports uniform consists of a maroon shirt with trimmings based on house colours, green sports shorts, MHS sports socks, and the appropriate runners. Extras include the black school cap, maroon school spray jacket and maroon school rugby top. Other sports and involvement items are bought separately, such as cricket whites, military uniforms or other guernseys.

[edit] Principals

• Mr Joseph Hocking (1912–1923)
• Mr Claude Searby (1923–1934)
• Mr James Hill (1934–1943)
• Major-General Alan Ramsay (1943–1949)
• Brigadier George Langley (1949–1956)
• Mr William Woodfull (1956–1962)
• Mr Frederic Wells (1963)
• Mr Edward Thompson (1964–1969)
• Mr Laurence Collins (1970–1975)
• Mr Lou Barberis (1975–1986)
• Mr Neville Drohan (1987–1991)
• Mr Raymond Winston George Willis (1992–2004)
• Mr Jeremy Ludowyke (2005–present)

[edit] Notable alumni

Main article: List of Melbourne High School alumni

Those who have left the school are known as 'Old Boys' and many join the 'Melbourne High School Old Boys Association'. The Association organises sport participation after Year 12 and also organises reunions which occur every 5 years. Many 'Old Boys' have gone on to achieve distinguished posts in society.

[edit] Notes

• ^{^}  Who's Who of boys' school rankings: 1.Scotch College, Melbourne, 2.Melbourne Grammar School, 3.Melbourne High School, 4.Geelong Grammar School, 5.Sydney Boys High School, 6.Wesley College, 7.Shore, 8.Fort Street Boys' High, 9.North Sydney Boys High School, 10.Sydney Grammar School

[edit] References

• Bell, Susan (2005). in Janet Prideaux: More Than Just Marks. Melbourne High School. 
• Gregory, Alan (2005). Strong Like Its Pillars - Melbourne High School 1905-2005. Matheson Library. 

[edit] See also

• List of schools in Victoria
• Victorian Certificate of Education
• List of schools in Victoria, Australia according to 2006 VCE results
• Selective schools

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Melbourne High School Old Boy's Association
• Map of Melbourne High School

v • d • e Selective schools in Victoria, Australia Mac.Robertson Girls' High School • Melbourne High School • Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School