Viewbank College
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Viewbank College is a Victorian public secondary school located in Viewbank, Victoria, Australia.
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[edit] History
Viewbank College was founded on the site of Rosanna East High School in 1994. It was the result of a merger between Rosanna East High School and Banyule High School because of decreasing enrolments in both schools. In 1993 talks were held between the schools about a merger and in January 1994 the Viewbank College as a school had begun. Later on November the 6th in 1996, the opening was made official by Honourable Richard McGarvie who was the Governor of Victoria at the time. The school celebrated the 10th anniversary of Viewbank College in 2004.
[edit] Academic Focus
Viewbank College has a high reputation for academic success in the Heidelberg area and an increasing amount of enrolments has led to the school having much stricter guidelines for entrance. Unlike many other schools Viewbank College has a large focus on the arts. Approximately one in four students are involved in the music program offered and the school's art facilities are renowned for the resources available to all students. The LOTE (Language Other Than English) program is also one of significance. When the two schools merged the two languages chosen to be available to the students were German and Japanese, because of the two schools' prior use of them. Recently the entire school's facilities were renovated.
The school's VCE results have also reflected the school's respect in the community. In 2005 50% of the VCE results were in the top 30% of the state.
[edit] Controversy
In 2006, the school attracted media attention after a policy was imposed to discourage hugging among students as it was deemed to be 'inappropriate'.
In truth though, the 'ban' was only a message from the principal during an assembly regarding personal space issues that some students were experiencing. It was given only after several complaints of some students' use of the Free Hugs Campaign as an excuse to hug them inappropriately that the principal, Peter Gannon, decided to give a talk about discouraging hugging among students who did not want to participate.
