Northcote High School
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| Motto | Meliora Sequamur (Let us follow the better things) |
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| Established | 1926 |
| Type | Government Secondary School |
| Principal | Gail Davidson |
| Students | ~1,250 |
| Grades | 7-12 |
| Location | St. Georges Road, Northcote 3070,, Melbourne, Victoria,, Australia |
| Colours | Purple, Green, Gold, Navy Blue and White |
| Yearbook | Ripples |
| Assistant Principal(s) | Kate Morris Nick Murphy Wayne Roberts |
| Website | http://www.nhs.vic.edu.au |
Northcote High School is a co-educational, state high school in Northcote, Victoria, Australia. It is situated at the southern end of the City of Darebin, on St. George's Road.
Teaching from Year 7 through 12, the school has a population of over 1,200 students. Northcote has a large music and science program, and has been recognised as a significant leader in the use of learning technologies in the classroom.
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[edit] History of the school
Northcote High School was established in 1926 as a co-educational secondary school, one of the first six to be established in Melbourne by the Victorian Government. The school owes its establishment almost entirely to agitation led by John Cain (senior), Northcote City Councillor and later Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Jika Jika, with support from the Principals of nearby Wales Street Primary School and Northcote Primary School. Cain's repeated efforts to establish a school to provide secondary education for the predominantly working class suburb of Northcote were finally successful, despite an environment of opposition from conservative politicians and independent (religious) principals. John Cain (senior) took some pride in sending his own son John to the school for much of his schooling.[1]
Although Northcote High School was established as a coeducational school, it became a boy's school after 1928 when Preston Girls High School was established. In the 1980s Northcote High School again began to enrol girls in response to community pressure, officially moving to coeducation in 1989. In 2007 there are approximately 720 boys in the school and 580 girls. The numbers of boys has remained stable at around 700-740 since 1969.
The school has a strong connection to the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy North, Brunswick East, Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield, Preston and Reservoir with many of its students attending the school as their parents once did. A feature of Northcote High School is the numbers of staff who are former students (including two former School Captains) and others who have their own children at the school.
Northcote High School first offered a limited Maths and Science Matriculation (final year certificate) in the 1940s. Principal Alex Sutherland expanded Matriculation in the 1950s to include most subjects on the curriculum. The school continues this tradition today with a very broad range of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects on offer.
Northcote High School celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2006. It remains one of very few Victorian government secondary schools that has not significantly changed its identity through closure, reorganisation or amalgamation.
[edit] Enrolment
Applications for enrolment have always been high, the last time a significant dip occurred being 1933. Since 1999 Northcote High School has received significantly more applications for enrolment than it can accommodate. (290 for Yr 7 entry in 2008 for example) The school selects students based on the following priority order of criteria.
- Location
Students for whom NHS is "clearly the closest government secondary college to the permanent place of residence of the custodial parent or guardian". School "zones" have not existed in Victoria since 1984, however schools like NHS speak of a "neighbourhood area" which means the area closer to the school than any other.
- Siblings
Students who live outside such areas but who have siblings who are currently enrolled in the school.
- Curriculum Claims
Students who need to access the specialist curriculum at Northcote High School because their closest school does not offer a particular subject. Common claims are a particular musical instrument or a language.
[edit] Principals
- Mr.J.S.Kitson 1926 - 1927
- Mr.F.W.Johnson 1927 - 1941
- Mr.W.J.Bishop 1942 - 1946
- Mr.L.B.Garson 1947 - 1948
- Mr.H.J.Moody 1949 - 1951
- Mr.A.Sutherland 1952 - 1959
- Mr.J.D.McGregor 1960 - 1969
- Mr.A.D.Perry 1969
- Mr.S.A.Seabrook 1970 - 1974
- Mr.K.Yon 1975 - 1980
- Mr.E.R.Nelson 1980 - 1986
- Mr.G.L.Israel 1985 - 2004
- Ms.G.Davidson 2004 - current
[edit] Boho School Camp
Northcote High School acquired the Boho South Primary School site in 1979, for use as a country outdoor education camp. It is situated in the Strathbogie Ranges, approximately 200 kilometres from Melbourne. Most students spend 4 days there in Year 7 and 8, doing activities such as: hiking, visiting farms, canoeing, horse riding, swimming and bush camping. Boho camps are often run for Land Care projects with older students. NHS remains one of only a handful of Melbourne Government secondary schools to retain an off-site campsite into the 21st century.
[edit] Interstate and overseas tours
The school regularly arranges interstate camps, which in recent years have included Tasmania, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Canberra and Central Australia. There is usually one interstate trip per year in addition to end of year walking tours to Wilsons Promontory National Park
In addition the school also plans overseas trips through language and music subjects. Countries visited include Italy (every second year), China (every year), New Caledonia and France (every alternative year). At other times trips to the Greece have been arranged. In 2007-2008, the school has trips to the USA, Italy, France and China planned.
[edit] International links
Northcote High School has a long tradition of developing ties with schools overseas. In the 1930s students at Northcote High School corresponded with a school in Poland, and in the early 1950s the school began the practice of enrolling and hosting students from overseas, partly under the auspices of the Colombo plan. [2] In 1999, a sister school agreement was made with Huaibei Number One High School in Anhui province, China. Staff and student exchanges are conducted with this school every year. A second sister school agreement was made in 2002 with the Romanazzi Institute in Bari, Italy.
In 2007, there are approximately 75 International students studying at Northcote High School, all in the post compulsory Years 10 -12. The students come from 14 different countries, including China, Vietnam, Korea, Germany, Thailand and Italy.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Major-General D.S.Baldwin
- Richard Bennetts, Journalist, Intelligence Officer and Public Servant
- John Cain, Former ALP MLA, Victorian State Premier[3]
- Jim Cairns, Former ALP MHR, Federal Minister and Deputy Prime Minister[3]
- Don Chipp, A.O., Former Liberal MHR, Federal Minister, and Founder Australian Democrats[3]
- Sir William Cole
- Bruce Dawe, Poet and writer
- Noel Ferrier, Entertainer[3]
- Dr. Peter Harcourt, OAM, Chief Medical Officer Melbourne Commonwealth Games
- Professor Ken Inglis
- Professor Max Lay, A.M., Engineer, Head of Vic-Roads
- Colin Lovitt, Queen's Counsel notable for defending 150 alleged murderers (also attended Melbourne High School)[4][3]
- Walter McVitty, Publisher
- Jack Nassar, A.O., Former Director Ford Australia[3]
- Professor John Ritchie, A.O, Historian
- Henry Rosenbloom, Australian academic and publisher
- Normie Rowe, Entertainer[3]
- Graeme Weideman, Former Liberal MLA, State Minister
- Sir Frederick Wiltshire
- Mark McGough, AFL footballer
[edit] References
- ^ Israel,G. Unpublished Manuscript A History of Northcote High School. 2007. John Cain Junior completed his schooling at Scotch College, Melbourne, when most high schools including Northcote, did not offer a broad Matriculation
- ^ See NLA reference [1]
- ^ a b c d e f g Crikey.com.au: Famous alumni on Latham's hit list (accessed:17-08-2007)
- ^ Melb PC Personality Profile: Colin Lovitt (accessed:17-08-2007)
