McKinnon Secondary College

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McKinnon Secondary College (Originally "McKinnon High School")
"Wisdom & Service"
Established 1954
School type Public
Principal/
Headmaster		 Pitsa Binnion
Location Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Campus McKinnon
Enrolment {{{enrolment}}}
School colours Navy and Red
Homepage mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au

McKinnon Secondary College is a state secondary college located on McKinnon Road in the suburb of McKinnon in south eastern Melbourne, Australia. it is a year 7 to 12 co-educational school with a student population of approximately 1400. The school is well known for its high VCE results, being one of the highest performing non-selective state schools in Melbourne.[1] McKinnon is also known for its large music faculty.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

McKinnon Secondary College opened in 1954. In 2006 a suspicious fire caused $700,000 damage to the school, the second arson attack in six months. The previous attack caused $200,000 damage.[3]

[edit] Entry

It is Victorian State Government policy to grant first priority entry to the state school which is closest to the enrolling student's residence. This means that if there is a high demand for enrolments, the students who live outside a "school zone" are not guaranteed entry.[4] Some students may, however, be granted enrolment based on "curriculum grounds", or having a sibling already enrolled. This is the case at McKinnon Secondary, and other sought after schools in Victoria. In the same year 400 applications for entry were made for about 225 places, and 10 to 20 spot checks were carried out on families to ensure applicants actually lived in the zone.[5]

Press reports have indicated that parents will relocate their residence to within a popular State school's "zone" to ensure entry for their children, with the potential effect of increasing the value of real estate within that zone.[6][7] In order to cope with the rising student numbers at McKinnon, the college has had to shrink the "school zone", allowing fewer students to enter the school.[8] The college offers a few places to international students, who pay higher fees. However the vast majority of places are given to McKinnon zone residents. In 2004 the school received a total of $980,000 in voluntary fees from parents.[9][4]

[edit] Facilities

  • Assembly hall
  • Gymnasium and weights room
  • Music auditorium with five music studios
  • Seven computer laboratories
  • Year 12 Centre with private study area
  • 250 seat lecture theatre, named the Alan Lawrence Lecture Theatre after a long-serving ex-principal
  • Art/science/technology wing
  • Korean Garden
  • MERC (McKinnon Education Resource Centre)
  • Library
  • School canteen

[edit] Curriculum

[edit] VCE Results

McKinnon secondary College receives consistent high results in the Victorian Certificate of Education, finishing in the top three of all the non-selective government schools in Victoria for the last decade, and in 2005 was the state system's top non-selective-entry VCE school.[8] The college's results are far higher than its "like schools" - schools where the students come from similar social and economic backgrounds. McKinnon's VCE achievements have contributed greatly to the rising house prices in McKinnon.

[edit] Music

McKinnon Secondary has many instrumental groups that cater for people of different ability, instrument and music style preference. Some of the college's bands practice during school-time, lunch or out of school. Some ensembles perform at different competitions around Australia; in early 2007 the college's Senior Stage Band, along with other high-performing music students, played at a music festival in China.

The colleges music ensembles include:

  • Years 7 to 9 bands
  • Years 7 and 8 strings
  • Symphonic wind band
  • Little Mac Big Band
  • Senior stage band
  • Orchestra
  • Wind quartet
  • String quartet
  • Percussion ensemble
  • Choir
  • Senior singers

The music faculty at McKinnon holds many performances such as the Spring and junior concerts. The most prestigious of all McKinnon's concerts, however, is the Winter concert, held annually at Robert Blackwood Hall, in Monash University. The college also produces a musical every second year. The most recent musical to be performed by the college was Grease.

[edit] Languages

McKinnon Secondary offers 2 languages, German and French. The school previously taught Korean.

It is compulsory for students in years 7 and 8 to learn a language. However in year 9 it may be dropped for other elective subjects. The college also hosts the Victorian School of Languages, which which allows students to learn a language out of school in their own time as a subject for VCE. This enables students to learn another language, or their native language, as part of their VCE. Year 10 students have the opportunity to go on exchange trips to either Germany or France and have an exchange student live with them for a period of time.

The school offers a range of excursions for students learning a language. Some of these excursions include trips to restaurants, such as the German Buffet; The Cuckoo. French students have the opportunity to see films at the Melbourne French Film Festival.

[edit] Enhancement program

The college offers an enhanced maths and science program for selected students.[10]

[edit] Sports carnivals

McKinnon Secondary holds several different sports carnivals throughout the year where students can compete for their houses (Chisholm, Monash, Gilmore and Flynn). The three carnivals are; swimming, athletics and cross-country. Students who win, or do well in these competitions, go on to represent McKinnon at inter-school sporting events. At a district competition level, McKinnon regularly claims the Bayside District Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics titles.

[edit] Extra curricular activities

McKinnon Secondary offers a range of extra curricular activities. These activities include; Tournament of the Minds, HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) and interschool debating.

[edit] Uniform

Students in the senior school (years 10 to 12) are permitted to wear the senior school bomber jacket or the school blazer. Students in the junior school (years 7 to 9) may wear the waterproof jacket outside of class. McKinnon Secondary also has special sports uniforms, which they lend to students participating in high-level sporting competitions. There is no dress-code for most teachers, however the physical education teachers are required to wear a special uniform.

[edit] Alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chalk and fees - National - www.theage.com.au. The Age. www.theage.com.au (August 1, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  2. ^ Broadway dreaming - Education News - theage.com.au. The Age. www.theage.com.au (June 18, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  3. ^ Classrooms up in flames. Herald Sun. www.news.com.au (December 15, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  4. ^ a b Free education costs us $56m. Herald Sun. www.news.com.au (October 10, 2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  5. ^ The new class struggle. The Age. www.theage.com.au (June 7, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  6. ^ Demand for top school zones helps beat winter blues. The Age. www.theage.com.au (June 20, 2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  7. ^ Average income, private school. The Age. www.theage.com.au (July 24, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  8. ^ a b Have kids, must move out. The Age. www.theage.com.au (February 26, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  9. ^ Highest voluntary-fee schools. Herald Sun. www.news.com.au. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  10. ^ In a class of their own. The Age. www.theage.com.au (May 8, 2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  11. ^ No Mother Teresa, says Henry Kaye. The Age. www.theage.com.au (August 12, 2003). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.

[edit] External links