| University High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Parkville, Victoria, Australia | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public, Co-educational, Secondary, Day school |
| Established | 1910[1] |
| Principal | Robert Newton |
| Years | 7-12 |
| Enrolment | 1,187 |
| Colour(s) | Green, White & Tan |
| Website | www.unihigh.vic.edu.au |
The University High School (UHS or Uni High) is a public, co-educational high school, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville.
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Not to be confused with the private boarding school of the same name established by Thomas Palmer (1858–1927) in 1894 in the disused Teacher Training College, situated on the corner of Swanston and Grattan Streets, Carlton, in 1910, the "University Practising School" was opened in a former primary school on the corner of Lygon and Lyton Streets, Carlton. In 1913, it changed its name to "The University High School" after the closure of the older private school.
Since 1930, the University High School has occupied a site in Story Street, Parkville, adjacent to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and in close proximity to the Royal Children's Hospital, newly built Royal Women's Hospital, University of Melbourne and the Central Business District.
During World War II, the United States Army set up a camp on the school oval. Additionally, 240 extra students from MacRobertson Girls High School transported to UHS for schooling as their buildings were also seized by the military.
An A$8 million upgrade of the school facilities was completed in 1997. The school experienced major disruption and change during the previous years through dislocation of classes and staff. The completion of the works has given the school modern facilities with appropriate specialist rooms.
The University High School caters for 1,187 students, most of whom reside in the local area. A proportion of the school's enrolment comes from further afield, either to participate in special programs like music, the Acceleration Program or as a result of sibling claims. The population is socio-economically, culturally and ethnically diverse.
In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked University High tenth in Australia's top ten schools for the education of girls, based on the number of its female alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia.[2][a]
The school is structured within a 7 to 10 vertical sub-school framework and a VCE sub-school, consisting of Years 11 and 12. This vertical structure does not extend to the delivery of curriculum which is based on a horizontal year level program.
Years 7 to 10 have three sub-schools, Brookes (Red), Sharman (Blue) and Chapman (Green), named after previous Principals of the school. Students in Year 7 enter a sub-school and stay with this cohort for their management and pastoral care until year 10. Each of these units has a Head of sub-school and three sub-school Co-ordinators, responsible for approximately 250 students. The Sharman sub-school was named after Mr Matthew Stanton Sharman, the Brookes sub-school is named after Mr L. R. Brookes, and the Chapman sub-school is named after Mr R.E. Chapman. The Bryce sub-school is named after Mr P.D.A. Bryce, and consists of over 450 VCE students in years 11 & 12. The Head of the Bryce VCE sub-school works with a team of seven sub-school Co-ordinators and with the Work Education Co-ordinator. The sub-school's colour is yellow.
Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) is the state standard curriculum framework for students in Year 7 to Year 10 at the school. The School provides sequential curriculum across the eight Key Learning Areas: English, Mathematics, Art, Science, Foreign Languages, Technology Studies, Sociological and Environment studies and Health and Physical Education. After 10th year (and optionally as an elective in 10th year), the school offers classes to gain Victorian Certificate of Education credentials until they finish Year 12. The school offers a variety of VCE subjects including Specialist Maths, German, French and Latin and a number of Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects [3].
The University High School has in place a compulsory program for all year nine students in which one term of regular curriculum is replaced with a rich inquiry and community‐based curriculum. Students are given opportunities to personally and socially develop and are known and encouraged by a team of teachers who provide personalised feedback and support. The expectations within the program are high and students are encouraged to extend themselves as thinkers becoming lifelong learners, as well as confident and responsible global citizens.
The University High School offers a Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development-recognised Select Entry Acceleration Program for willing, academically able students which allows them to potentially complete their high schooling in 5 years (in earlier times students participating in the school's acceleration program could potentially complete their high schooling in 4 years). The curriculum of years 7-10 is completed in 3 years. In reality, different subjects are accelerated different amounts. In particular, almost all students complete the pre-VCE Mathematics curriculum in the first two years (normally completed in four). Acceleration Programme students are also the only students to take three years of Latin. For simplicity, they are considered to have completed years 7, 9, and 10. After their third year at UHS, they graduate into VCE and complete years 11 and 12 as part of the main stream. This intense Programme gives participating students a head start for VCE.
To participate in the Programme, a student must undertake a test in their final year of primary schooling (usually grade 6). The sub-schools chosen to house the Acceleration Programme students is rotated each year between Chapman, Sharman, and Brookes; once VCE is reached all students are housed in Bryce. Acceleration Programme students are better known as 'Taskies', even by the teachers, as the program was formerly called the 'Gifted Children Task Force Acceleration Programme'.
From 2006, the school began to take on two Acceleration Programme classes each year.
The school annually produces school musicals. Each musical usually begins in August of each year. The school chooses from a variety of musicals, as shown below.
The University High School is divided into 10 sectors: West, North, South, East, Music, Hall, Gymnasium, Quadrangle, Oval, and GTAC.
The North building was constructed in 1930 during the Great Depression. Because of this, no additional facilities were constructed and therefore assemblies were held in other venues. The north building has four levels, and contains the rooms numbered 108 through 401. The North building holds the main entrance to the school as well as most administrative facilities. Inside the main foyer one can see a collection of photographs commemorating pupils and teachers from the school who were killed in the First World War.
The South Building is the next largest building containing the Library and VCE centre. The East Building is primarily used for Art and Technology classes and is the third largest of the four buildings. The West Wing is the smallest of the buildings, but is conjoined with the Music Wing.
The Music Wing was developed, planned, constructed and funded by ex-students and ex-teachers, including Mrs. Stella Langford and Mr. J. Economo.
Early in 2004, a new Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC) was opened for use by staff and students from across the state. This allows students from throughout Victoria to have direct exposure to cutting edge research in the genetics field.
An extension of the canteen was completed in the last quarter of 2006 which connected it with the M.S. Sharman Hall.
A fourth level extension to the South Wing was completed early in 2007 and was named the VCE Centre. The extension was made for VCE students. It has classrooms specifically for VCE students and the Bryce Sub-school Offices are located in the centre.
In late 2009 the school unveiled a new bridge linking the North and South Buildings from the west-end of the 700s corridor (South Building) to the centre of the 300s corridor (North Building).
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^ Who's Who of girls' school rankings: 1.PLC Melbourne, 2.SCEGGS Darlinghurst, 3.MLC Melbourne, 4.PLC Sydney, 5.Melbourne Girls Grammar School, 6.Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, 7.North Sydney Girls High School, 8.Sydney Girls High School, 9.MLC Sydney, 10. University High School