MELBOURNE HIGH SCHOOL (VICTORIA)

'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. 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. 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 in the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Carlton. High academic expectations continue throughout the students' school career.
Students have achieved very strong results in the VCE examinations and placements at tertiary institutions at a rate well above Victoria's average. 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.^[3] Thus the school bears the slogan ''More than Just Marks''.
The median ENTER for Melbourne High School in 2006 was 95.35, its highest ever^[4]. That is, over half of the graduating students of 2006 were placed in the top 4.65% of those in the same age group in the state. 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.

Academic exclusiveness

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 heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton. The basic tenet of a selective entry school is that potentially high achieving students will perform best in the presence of peers who also have high levels of ability.
Past students have achieved very strong results in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examinations and placements at tertiary institutions at a rate well above Victoria's average. The school is commonly ranked second in the state in terms of the median ENTER score achieved by its students, behind Mac. Robertson Girls' High School. Melbourne High School encourages students to achieve high levels of performance and offers scholarships, academic awards and the chance to have their names added to the school's honour boards.
The median ''ENTER'' for Melbourne High School in 2006 was 95.35^[4]

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 extra-curricular 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:

Melbourne High School. Used during World War II as a military base.

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 The 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.
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.^[6]
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 Pavillion and the construction of the Hockey Pavillion.
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.

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.

Entrance

Every June around 1400 of the state's brightest boys in year 8 sit the 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 didn't 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 this prestigious 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.
^[7].

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 extra-curricular 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.

Junior School Curriculum

Students in both year 9 and 10 must do the following subjects of which covers the eight KLA (Key Learning Areas).

★ Health and PE

★ The Arts

★ Technology

★ History

★ Geography

★ Science

★ Maths

★ English

★ LOTE

Senior School

The Senior School comprises students in Year 11 and Year 12.

VCE

At VCE level, Melbourne High School offers the following subjects.

★ Accounting

★ 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

★ Music performance

★ Music performance- Solo

★ Music performance- Group

★ Music styles

★ Physical education

★ Physics

★ Philosophy

★ Psychology

★ Theatre studies

★ Visual arts

★ VET (Sport, Hospitality, etc.)

Intranet & internet

The Melbourne High Intranet contains academic and educational related information and links.
'Internet access' at the school is fast broadband. It is restricted by filters, including the Department of Education filters (SINA). Additionally, all traffic is monitored, and there is a data limit whereby the students receive an amount of money for their account and every time data is downloaded the money deplenishes this is in place to prevent abuse and excess usage.

Extra-curricular

The school encourages its students to participate in numerous academic competitions. These include the Australian National Chemistry Quiz, Science Talent Search, Math Talent Quest, Rio Tinto Big-Science Competition, BHP Billiton Awards, Westpac Mathematics Competition and other competitions carried out by the University of New South Wales relating to geography, science, maths and English.
The school also allows entrance into the official Science Olympiad and Math Olympiad, out of which the winners can represent Australia at the International Olympiad.

Student life

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.
The houses compete in four major competitions:

★ Athletics

★ Swimming

★ Cross Country

★ Chorals
They also compete in minor competitions:

★ 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.

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, Film Music and Music Composition, to name a few. 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 world famous ''MHS Chorale'', Davis Band, Symphony Orchestra, Tattam Band, Singers, Stage Band, Big Band, String Orchestra, Camerata, and Composition Ensemble.

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: football, rugby, tennis, golf, squash, cross country running, lacrosse, ten-pin bowling, badminton, lawn bowls, yoga, fencing and Taekwondo. This extensive sporting program emphasises the importance of physical fitness at MHS. The school also has a burgeoning rowing program. The new direction to establish a sculling school is making a distinctive mark on the environment of school rowing programs in Victoria and for the rest of the country.

Leadership programme

Melbourne High School places great emphasis on developing the leaders of tomorrow. As such, there are a multitude of leadership opportunities, such as School Captain, Executive and Representative positions. All are recognised in various ways, such as badges or colours (distinguishment).

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 or Rowing. All other involvements are considered 'B Level'. Some of these include the Astronomy club, the Chess club and the PIG (political interest group). The most significant is their establishment of Captain Chorale - a dynamic ambassador for the school to extol its ethos and vision around Australia and overseas.

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.

School uniform

Students are required to wear school uniform, which consists of a black blazer, green pullover (maroon for year 12), white shirt, school tie (standard maroon, centenary black or colours), grey trousers or shorts (summer), long grey (summer) or dark coloured socks, black lace-up leather shoes and the MHS maroon backpack. The blazer is expected to be worn when traveling to and from school, in between periods and when in the Memorial Hall. In class, the jumper may be worn as the outer garment.
The Physical Education/Sport uniform consists of a maroon shirt with reversible house colours, bottle green shorts, black track pants, MHS sports socks, appropriate footwear and the MHS maroon sports bag. Extras include the black school cap, school rugby top and school spray jacket.

Brother and sister schools

Melbourne High continues to maintain close ties with its counterpart The Mac. Robertson Girls' High School. Each year the schools join together for a winter concert and a musical and drama production.
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. Melbourne High competes against North Sydney in rowing and junior cricket for the Crawford Shield, and against Adelaide High in football and other sports for the Prefects' Cup.
Sister school relationships have been established internationally with high schools in Japan (Kasukabe High School), Germany (Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium Gundelfingen), Indonesia and France (Lycée Edouard Branly, Amiens). 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.

Notable alumni

Main articles: List of Melbourne High School alumni

Those that 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.

Notes

1. Should be 1372 students in 2007
2. ''Melbourne High School Attendance Rolls'' 11 classes of 28 students in Year 9
3. Melbourne High School Student Planner: About the School Preface, Melbourne High School staff, , , Melbourne High School, 2007,
4. Ours ''The Melbourne High School Newsletter''
5. Ours ''The Melbourne High School Newsletter''
6. ''''The Sentinel'' student magazine 2006 edition 1
7. Year Nine and Ten Entry into Melbourne High

References

★ More Than Just Marks, , Susan, Bell, Melbourne High School, 2005,

★ Strong Like Its Pillars - Melbourne High School 1905-2005, , Alan, Gregory, Matheson Library, 2005,

External links

★ Official website

★ Melbourne High School Old Boy's Association

★ Map of Melbourne High School

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