Gleeson College
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| Gleeson College | |
|---|---|
| With One Heart | |
| Established | 1989 |
| School type | Catholic Co-educational |
| Principal/ Headmaster |
Phil Lewis |
| Location | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Campus | Urban |
| Enrolment | {{{enrolment}}} |
| School colours | Maroon and White |
| Homepage | http://www.gleeson.adl.catholic.edu.au |
Gleeson College is a Catholic secondary school in Golden Grove in the northern eastern suburbs of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The college is named after the late Emeritus Archbishop of Adelaide, the very Reverend James Gleeson and the motto "with one heart" derives from his serving for 10 years (1971-1981) on the Pontifical Council Cor Unum (that is "One Heart").
The campus comprises 3 secondary schools, Gleeson, Golden Grove High School (State) and Pedare Christian College (Anglican / Uniting Church) linked by a central common resource area. Year 11 and 12 students are able to study at the other schools. This campus was visited by Federal Labor Leader Kevin Rudd immediately after his announcement of the current Labor education policy of creating shared facilities at close-together state, Catholic, and/or independent schools. This policy may have been encouraged by the success of the Golden Grove Secondary Campus.
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[edit] Foundation and Construction
Gleeson College was established in 1989 with 32 students in Years 8 and 9 and is named after the late Emeritus Archbishop of Adelaide, the Very Reverend James Gleeson. The founding principal is honoured by the Thomas Library and the Junior school library. Four of the most important people in the founding of the College, The Parish Priest of St. David's War Memorial Church, Tea Tree Gully; The Religious Education Coordinator of St. Francis Xavier's Primary School; the head of the Catholic Education Office at the time of Gleeson's founding; and the families, from which the first Chairman of the Board came. These people are commemorated by the four school houses, coloured Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue respectively.
Initially the College shared rooms with Golden Grove High School in what is now the Shared Facilities complex (in the area which has now become the Thiele Library and the Psychology lab), while construction work took place. Students used the Pedare Christian College oval for recreational activities during recess and lunch.
The first main building (Stage 1) was completed in 1990 and consisted of a staff-room (now called G4, G5, G6), 3 classrooms (G1, G2, G3) and 2 Science Laboratories (G8, G9). The transportable classrooms (T1 - T12) were built at this stage.
Stage 1 now houses the original 3 classrooms plus a fourth classroom (G4), Senior Common Room (G5, G6), the original Science Laboratories and the Home Economics Centre (which was an open 'breezeway' with just the pylons in 1990).
During 1991, Stage 2 (now the Thomas Library, Computer Rooms, Chapel and Religious Education/Chaplin's office) were completed and the Home Economics Centre in Stage 1 was 'filled in'.
Stage 3 was completed in 1992. This originally included three art rooms, some office and storage space, and a large and somewhat strange area used as an AV room. This last room is now used as the main administrator's office while 1993 saw the construction of what is now the Administration Building.
No more building work took place for a number of years, until 1998 when Stage 5 (G25 - G32) was started. The latest building (the Study Hall (officially the Learning Centre), 2 classrooms, and the English Office) was occupied in Term 3, 2000.
Concurrently, the Dame Roma Mitchell Performing Arts Centre, Golden Grove, opened as the Multi Purpose facility. This building was built with a large contribution from the South Australian state government.
Another recreational feature involves the water feature located behind the home economic rooms in the courtyard. This has become a very significant feature in the college since its introduction in late 2006. However, students from Year 10 that same year, placed deturgent in the feature, resulting in it having to be cleaned.
[edit] Rebuilding
In the year 2004 considerable building work took place, enlarging the Thomas Library into the former administrator's office (which was moved to its current location as mentioned above), enlarging the Multimedia room (which is now just an ordinary computer room), and adding a room used for lectures and presentations.
It was intended that from the Year 2000, Gleeson would be an 8-12 school that maintained an enrolment close to 650 students. As of 2006, the enrolment number is close to 700 students, a limit imposed by the Catholic Education Office, which limits the size of schools to prevent excessive competition between neighbouring schools.
The College has 3 computer rooms in the school itself, as well as access to approximately seven rooms in Shared Facilities, and many computers in ordinary classrooms.
[edit] Student Leadership
The student leadership is divided into several overlapping categories. These are the:
- Student Representative Council: Homerooms in years eight and nine elect one member per class, two per class for years ten and eleven, and eight total for year twelve (there are currently five year twelve homerooms). The SRC meets weekly, and is responsible for the discussion of all student's interests. There are four main committees of the SRC, the chair of which can meet with the Principal to discuss directly issues within that committee's areas of responsibility:
- Fundraising Committee: is responsible for all charitable fundraising done by the SRC, and also keeps track of other charitable work done by others in order to reduce the chances of a clash.
- Environment Committee: is responsible for advising on student opinions and ideas relating to the upkeep of the school environment, and will be involved in the Trees for Life programme.
- Events Committee: is responsible for school events and assemblies, and works especially closely with the Fundraising Committee.
- Student Issues Committee: is responsible for other student issues in the school, and is currently tasked with improvements to the main courtyard, including the fundraising necessary for this and any other work required.
- The House Captains: two captains and a vice captain for each house are elected by the year twelve members of the house and some staff, and have responsibility for Sports Equipment and organising the Athletics and Swimming carnivals. House captains and vice captains attend meetings of the SRC, and some are heads of SRC committees.
- The SRC Executive: in addition to the eight year twelve SRC members, four Executive members are also elected. Their role is to run meetings, and to meet with the principal weekly to discuss matters raised at SRC meetings.
- The Student Forum: all the year twelve SRC members, the House Captains and Vice-Captains, and the SRC Executive are members of the Student Forum, who have the added responsibility of coordinating the weekly year twelve assembly.
Other student bodies also exist outside the SRC:
- Social Action Committee: acts to generate awareness and action against social justice issues in the community.
- Common Room Committee: is responsible for the supervision of the Common Room, in order to ensure that the condition of the room is maintained.
- Jumper Committee: Each year a committee of year eleven student meets to design the next year's Year Twelve Jumper.
These committees are independent of the SRC, but there is some overlap of membership. Other areas of student leadership include student Eucharistic Ministers.
[edit] Community Interaction
Gleeson has strong ties to the local parish of St. David's, the former assistant Parish Priest visited the school at least once per week, and sometimes attended classes, either as an observer or to participate.
