| St Michael's Grammar School | |
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Latin: Pro Ecclesia Dei
For the Church of God
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| Location | |
| St Kilda, Victoria, Australia | |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent, Co-educational, Day school |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Established | 1895 |
| Chairman | Paul Orton |
| Principal | Simon Gipson |
| Staff | 202[1] |
| Enrolment | 1,211 (K–12)[1] |
| Colour(s) | Blue, red, white |
| Slogan | "Diversity Opens Minds" |
| Website | stmichaels.vic.edu.au |
St Michael's Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school located in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.
The school was founded in 1895 by the Community of the Sisters of the Church and is associated with the Anglican Church of Australia. St Michael's is located on a single campus, its original location, and covers all schooling years from Kindergarten to Year 12. The school is a member of the Association of Coeducational Schools (ACS).
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In 1870, Mother Emily Ayckbowm founded a new Anglican religious order in England - the Community of the Sisters of the Church. The order had been invited to Australia to further educational work for girls and St Michael's was one of six schools established in different parts of Australia. They also founded schools in England, New Zealand and Canada.
On 23 April 1895, the sisters opened St Michael's in a converted 1870s mansion. The school's first building, constructed in grey stone, faces Marlton Crescent and is now known as St Michael's House.
In 1972, the sisters transferred the management of St Michael's to a school council and the school was incorporated. In the early 1980s the school was close to bankruptcy. With the appointment of a new headmaster, Anthony Hewison, the decision was taken to admit boys to all levels of the school, thus making it fully coeducational, and to embark on "modernisation" of the school.
In 1985 the school became a company limited by guarantee. Since that date the sisters have retained their interest in the school but no longer play a part in its governance. The school is managed by the head of the school who is appointed by the board of directors.
St Michael's is one of the very few schools in Melbourne over 100 years old and still on its original site. It is possible to trace the history of the school, building by building, from Marlton Crescent to the modern senior school in Redan Street. Today, the school provides a comprehensive education for both boys and girls from kindergarten to the Victorian Certificate of Education.[2]
On 6 December 2007, St Michael's purchased The Astor Theatre building in St Kilda, to be renovated and restored. The theatre still operates as usual, with film showings though most afternoons and nights, but is often used by the School for assemblies and events, such as the House Singing festival.
St Michael's offers a wide range of subjects including core mathematics, science, English, IT, LOTEs (Languages Other Than English), arts and humanities courses. At primary level, students all study basic subjects including mathematics, English, science, history, Japanese, music and sport. A major focus of the school is drama.
All Year 12 students study for the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) as the IB Diploma Programme is not offered.
The pastoral care system is based on a house structure which deals with all matters relating to a student's wellbeing or curriculum needs. Each student is placed in a house tutorial group which is overseen by a house tutor. There are five houses and therefore five house tutorial groups at each year level. A house contains students from Years 7 to 12. Each house is led by two co-heads. The members of each house are led by co-house captains and co-vice-captains. The houses meet on a regular basis.
The house tutor and heads of house work as a team to monitor the academic and personal progress of each student in the house tutorial group and house. Generally, the house tutor is the first and main point of contact between the parent and the school. For more serious issues a head of house is usually contacted.[3]
| Breen House |
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| Hughes House |
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| Kilburn House |
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| Mitre House |
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| Sarum House |
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With the introduction of the new headmaster, Simon Gipson, the administration adopted new approaches to the functioning of the school. Many of these have been created to support the school's marketing campaigns. Changes include:
St Michael's has a community relations and admissions team of eight full-time staff members. Their responsibilities include raising awareness of the school, processing and monitoring student applications (local and international) and enriching educational programs by supporting community engagement and contributing citizenship programs. A decade ago, a key goal was to raise awareness of the school as it had capacity to enrol more students. More recently, the team's focus has been on supporting educational programs, facilitating major development projects for the school, and building community. Some recent achievements under Simon Gipson include the development of a scholarship fund to provide more opportunities for families who would otherwise not be able to afford a St Michael's education.
Drama has one of the highest voluntary participation numbers amongst students of any department of the school. St Michael's is well-known for its drama program. Each year, the school performs a large number of professional-standard productions, including Years 10 to 12 Senior Musical; the Years 7 to 9 musical and play; 'Dance Fusion' (a contemporary dance production); a student production; a house drama festival and three yearly senior plays. The school performed 'The Crucible' in 2009 and was the only school in Australia to legally have the performance rights. The 2010 Senior Musical, '13', was the Australian premiere of the musical and won Best Production at the Victorian Musical Theatre Guild awards (the fourth St Michael's musical to do so). The Senior Musical in 2011 was 'Parade'. 2011 also saw the performance of 'Venus and Adonis' by John Blow during the senior drama festival, while the year 7-9 drama festival during mid-October saw the performance of 'The Music Man Jr.' and an original play, 'The Sadness of Mr Saisson'. St Michael's also conducts an annual compulsory House Singing competition, in which all five of the school houses perform a musical item. The winner of this contest in 2011 was Mitre House. Many other musical ensembles perform regularly throughout the year, including the 7-12 Harrison Choir, which each year performs a large choral work, and the Grigoryan Orchestra (named for school alumnus, guitarist Slava Grigoryan).
The Great Barrier Reef project, known commonly to the students as 'Barrier', involves year 10 students studying Units 1&2 Biology in Far North Queensland, participating in a month of research on the Great Barrier Reef. Activities include daily snorkeling from St Michael's Orpheus Island Research Campus.
Originally the program ran for a duration of one month, but has since been extended to include days in Townsville, Paluma, and Tully, to study Australian aboriginal culture. Palm Island, nearby Orpheus Island, has been removed from the itinerary after riots by the local aboriginal population in 2004.
When St Michael's student body was much smaller, the entire Senior School went on school camp together; this was the first "Exodus". As of 2005, "Exodus" camps have been split up between year and house groups for students in Years 7 to 11. Most groups are visited by one of the School Chaplains to celebrate the Eucharist at camp. Each student from Year 7 to Year 11 experiences a minimum of five days of Outdoor Education each year, with the programs run by the Outdoor Education Group. Junior School programs mainly involve staying in cabins (although part of the year 6 Exodus involves sleeping in tents) and participating in various activities. Senior School programs are quite diverse, ranging from bush walking in year 7 to choices including rafting, kayaking, rock-climbing, tree-planting or cycling in year 11. Year 10 students may also have great choice in their Exoduses, including Hattah Solo, a popular program involving students spending 24 hours out of the week-long program alone (albeit in close proximity to other students and supervisors) for the purposes of reflection and learning self-sufficiency. Exodus for each year level is slightly more challenging than the last, and there is a different theme for each year level.
In 2004 the school announced the removal of the annual Year 12 Exodus, where students were given the opportunity to design their own camp, with the school suggesting students required this time to study for VCE exams.
The European Touring Choir consists of boys and girls in Years 8-12, and the group travels to Europe to compete in international choir competitions and perform on world stages biannually. Students participating in the European Tour Choir will also receive masterclasses with professionals. The most recent "Euro Choir" travelled to France, Germany, Denmark and Iceland, performing at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, Notre Dame de Paris and at locations all around Europe, to great popularity and recognition. The next Euro Choir leaves in 2012. Locations the choir has visited include Rome, Carrara, Pisa, Venice, Vicenza, Nördlingen, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Berlin, Leipzig, Hagen, Cologne, Voorburg, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Florence, York, Croissy, Munich, & Vienna.
Every year St Michael's students in year 11 have to option to take part in the Kosciuszko to the Coast program in lieu of the year 11 Exodus (School camp). This is a challenging 21 day expedition where students travel (through various methods including hiking, kayaking and biking) from Mount Kosciuszko to the coast of New South Wales, camping along the way. The trip has become an extremely popular program, with the 2011 group, leaving in September, consisting of almost 30 students.
Currently, St Michael's have three student exchange programs, with schools in Japan, France and Italy.
The Japanese exchange with Keio Shonan-Fujisawa Junior & Senior High School in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture has been operating for 10 years. As of 2006 it is to be run in January, before the commencement of the school year.
The French exchange began in 1999 and takes place every two years, with Le Bon Sauveur in Paris. The St Michael's students usually go to France for five to six weeks, during their summer holiday (December–January). The return trip to Australia by the students of Le Bon Sauveur usually happens in July-August of the following year.
The Italian exchange is with the Liceo Scientifico G. Marconi in Carrara, Tuscany.
The school is heavily involved in social service, working all year to raise money for various charities. Once or twice a term a "Community Action Day" (previously called "Casual Clothes Day") is held, organised by the social service captains of each house, to raise money for a diverse number of charities, ranging from the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (Sarum House) to a sponsor village in Bali (Mitre House). Every year in May, a prefect-organised program, entitled the "Merry Month of May", is held to raise money for social service. Activities such as a "Battle of the Bands", barbecues, dress-up days, movie viewings, novelty races, great bebates and theatresport contests are held each day. Also in conjunction with the Merry Month of May, the school participates in the "World's Greatest Shave" for the Leukaemia Foundation, in which participants shave their heads to show solidarity for leukaemia sufferers, raising money through collecting donations. In 2011, the Merry Month of May raised a record sum of $13 200. The school leadership teams in both the senior and junior schools in 2011 also raised money for relief for the Christchurch earthquake, Japanese tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster and the bushfires in Victoria and Queensland.
St Michael's Grammar School, like most other private schools in Australia, requires students to wear school uniforms.
The uniform for male and female students is different and there are two varieties - both summer (Terms 1 and 4) and winter or formal (Terms 2 and 3, but required to be worn on all formal occasions). The female school summer uniform consists of a dress to be worn with white socks, while the winter uniform is a red and navy skirt, white shirt, red and navy tie, navy woollen sweater and navy blazer, all to be worn with navy tights or white socks. The boys' uniform consists of navy pants, white shirt, red and navy tie, navy sweater and red and navy striped blazer, with an optional red and navy checked shirt for summer. School prefects (school captains, school vice-captains and house captains) wear a tie with the school logo printed on. The school captains and school vice-captains also wear a different blazer pocket with the school logo embroidered in gold and also gold embroidered writing to indicate their leadership position. All leaders in the school also wear relevant badges on their blazer lapels. The school sports uniform consists of a number of different parts relevant to the sport being played, all in the school colours of red and navy. Jewellery and makeup are strictly forbidden at the school, with the exception of appropriate religious necklaces (usually crucifixes) and charity wristbands.
Students who perform well in extracurricular activities may be awarded colours, pockets and certificates.
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