Beaconhills College

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Beaconhills College
Lux Luceat (Latin:"Let Your Light So Shine")
Established	1982
School Type	Independent, Co-educational, Day school
Denomination	Anglican, Uniting Church
Key People	Mr. Tony Sheumack (Principal) Dr. L.L Maghanoy (Chairperson)
School Fees	AU$3,824 - AU$6,372 p.a[1]
Location	Berwick & Pakenham, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	38°3′39″S 145°28′9″E / -38.06083, 145.46917Coordinates: 38°3′39″S 145°28′9″E / -38.06083, 145.46917
Enrolment	~2,400 (P-12)[2]
Colours	Navy Blue & Gold
Homepage	www.beaconhills.vic.edu.au

Beaconhills College is a co-educational, ecumenical, independent school providing education from preparatory to year 12. The college has two campuses. The Valley Campus is located in Pakenham and the Village Campus is situated in Berwick, Victoria, Australia.

Beaconhills was established in 1982 by the Anglican and Uniting Churches to serve the education needs of the Christian community in the greater Pakenham area. The College celebrated its silver jubilee in 2007.

Contents 1 College History 1.1 Inception 1.2 Village Campus 2 Academic Program 2.1 LOTE 3 Co-Curricular Activities 3.1 Sport 4 House System 4.1 The Houses 4.2 Inter-house Competition 5 Uniform 5.1 Summer Uniform 5.2 Winter Uniform 5.3 School Blazer 6 Future developments 7 Alumni 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] College History

[edit] Inception

The idea to establish a local, independent, Christian school was conceived by a group of parishioners at St. John's Anglican Church in Upper Beaconsfield in 1980. By March 1981 a Steering Committee had been established with Mr John McConchie appointed as Chairperson. The Steering Committee called a public meeting at the Pakenham Hall on 11 March, 1981 where the proposal to establish an ecumenical, co-educational, low-fee secondary school was ratified in the presence of some 250 people.

In 1981, as the Steering Committee continued to hold public meetings seeking support for the new school, a 13 acre site on Toomuc Valley Road, Pakenham was purchased and portable classrooms obtained from St. Catherine's School in Toorak, and Mr Frank Millet was appointed as founding principal. On 3 February 1982 Beaconhills Christian College opened with 34 students and five staff. A dedication service was held at St. James Church on 28 March 1982. Mr Frank Millet led the College as principal until 1988 by which time the College community had grown to include 388 students and a teaching staff of 30. Mr John McConchie, having led the Steering Committee, was Chairperson of the Board until 1986.

Today, Beaconhills College spans two campuses and has over 2400 students enrolled between preparatory and year 12.^[3]

[edit] Village Campus

The Village Campus, situated on a 15 hectare site in Kangan Drive, Berwick, opened in 2003 with 356 students and 38 staff members. The initial student cohort spanned preparatory to year 7 and has grown each year in line with the progress of the senior-most students of initial cohort. 2008 will mark the first year that the Village Campus offers a full preparatory to year 12 program, accommodating up to 1400 students.^[4]

[edit] Academic Program

[edit] LOTE

Beaconhills offers two LOTE (Languages other than English) subjects, French and Japanese. Students may continue study in either language to VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) level. The College provides an optional, two week exchange program for senior school LOTE students^[5].

[edit] Co-Curricular Activities

[edit] Sport

The Valley Campus competes in inter-school sports with other member schools of the GIS (Gippsland Independent Schools) and SIS (Southern Independent Schools) associations.

[edit] House System

[edit] The Houses

The eight houses are named after individuals who have made significant contributions to Beaconhills College.^[6]

Beaconhills College Senior School Houses

Clark House	House Colour:       Maroon House Mascot: Clark Crocodile History: Clark House is named after Mrs Carol and Mr Neville Clark. Mr and Mrs Clark were actively involved in the early development of the college.
Creese House	House Colour:       Royal Blue House Mascot: Creese Coyote History: Creese House is named after Mr Nigel Creese. Mr Creese was the second Headmaster of Beaconhills College.
Leaver House	House Colour:       Yellow House Mascot: Leaver Lion History: Leaver House is named after The Reverend John Leaver. Rev Leaver greatly inspired and led the early planners of Beaconhills College.
McConchie House	House Colour:       Purple House Mascot: McConchie Maniac History: McConchie House is named after Mr John McConchie. Mr McConchie was appointed Chairman of the Steering Committee in 1980 and became the first Chairman of the College Board of Directors after the College became incorporated.
Millett House	House Colour:       Sky Blue House Mascot: Millett Moose History: Millett House is named after Mr Frank Millet. Mr Millett was the Foundation Principal of the College.
Rich House	House Colour:       Orange House Mascot: Rich Road Runner History: Rich House is named after The Rev Roger Rich. Rev Rich was the incumbent of the parishes of St John's Upper Beaconsfield and St James, Pakenham during the planning phases and the early years of the College.
Tregoning House	House Colour:       Red House Mascot: Tregoning Knight History: Tregoning House is named after Major Edward Tregoning. Major Tregoning was the College's principal benefactor.
Woods House	House Colour:       Green House Mascot: Woods Warrior History: Woods House is named after Archbishop Sir Frank Woods. Archbishop Woods was the Patron of the College.

[edit] Inter-house Competition

The eight houses participate in inter-house competitions throughout the year. Inter-house activities include:^[7]

• Athletics
• Cross Country
• Debating
• Performing Arts
• Swimming

[edit] Uniform

[edit] Summer Uniform

The summer uniform is worn in the first and fourth terms. The summer uniform consists of a short sleeve white shirt, and grey pants or shorts for boys or the summer dress for girls.

[edit] Winter Uniform

The winter uniform is worn in the second and third terms. The winter uniform consists of a long sleeve white shirt and tie, with grey pants for boys or grey kilt with navy blue stockings for girls.

[edit] School Blazer

The Beaconhills blazer is navy blue with the College Crest embroidered in gold on the chest pocket. While the blazer may be worn all year, it is an explicit requirement on formal occasions or when students represent the College in public, including travel to and from the College.^[8]

[edit] Future developments

Beaconhills has plans to continue development of the Village and Valley campuses over the next five years^[9]:

Valley Campus - Planned Developments

2008	Planned Works: Construction of new Year 10 and Year 12 Centres and renovation of existing Year 12 Centre.
2009	Planned Works: Construction of Administrative Headquarters and redevelopment of Performing Arts Centre.
2009	Planned Works: Conversion of existing Administrative Offices for Middle School and Uniform Shop.
2010	Planned Works: Relocation and removal of portable classrooms and construction of new Middle School building.

Village Campus - Planned Developments

2007	Stage 5: Construction of VCE Centre and Science Building including 12 classrooms, 4 science rooms, multi-media centre, coffee shop and staff/student facilities.
2008	Stage 6: Construction of Visual Arts Centre and classrooms.
2009	Stage 7: Construction of Year 9 Centre.
Mid 2009	Stage 7a: Construction of Human Movement Centre.

[edit] Alumni

Notable Old Collegians include:

• Bill Granger, cook, restaurateur and food writer
• Pippa Black, actress in Australian soap opera Neighbours

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of schools in Victoria
• List of high schools in Victoria
• Victorian Certificate of Education

[edit] External links

• Beaconhills College website

v • d • e Members of the Gippsland Independent Schools, Victoria, Australia Beaconhills | Chairo | Gippsland Grammar | Marist-Sion | Mary MacKillop | Newhaven | Presentation | St Paul's

v • d • e Members of the Southern Independent Schools, Victoria, Australia Beaconhills | Flinders | John Paul | Maranatha | Nazareth | Padua | St Francis Xavier | St James | St John’s | St Leonard’s | St Peter's | Woodleigh