Mount Waverley Secondary College

Mount Waverley Secondary College is a public secondary school located in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley. The school consists of roughly 1900 students and is one of the largest in the state.^[1] The school consists of two campuses (Junior & Senior) both situated on Stephensons Road in Mount Waverley. The Junior site holds years 7 and 8, with year levels 9 to 12 at the Senior Campus. The campuses are a short walking distance apart or a free shuttle bus is provided for staff and students needing to travel between campuses during school hours.

History

Mount Waverley High School officially opened in 1964. The three Light Timber Construction (LTC) buildings, which were clad in orange brick, were constructed in various stages after the school's opening. The school changed name to Mount Waverley Secondary College in the early 1990s and later occupied the site of the former Waverley North Primary School (also constructed in LTC) after that school was closed, thus forming a "junior campus" from the site.

On Tuesday, 28 January 2003 (the day before the commencement of the school year), much of the Middle/Senior campus LTC buildings were destroyed by a deliberately lit fire causing an estimated $4 million in damage.^[1] Classrooms damaged in the fire included five IT classrooms, three science rooms, one fabrics room and 11 general purpose classrooms. A further two science rooms and three home economics rooms were also damaged in the fire.^[2] This incident, whilst financially burdensome for the school, was met with widespread praise from the student body.

All staff and students were relocated to Deakin University's Burwood campus for three weeks immediately after the fire. The rebuilt school was officially opened in December 2004, after $5.6 million was spent on rebuilding.^[3]

Facilities

In 2013, using money contributed to the college by parents, and local businesses, the college council approved the construction of a $3.5million aboriginal education centre. Construction commenced in late 2013, and ended in June 2014. The Mount Waverley Community Indigenous Studies Centre was officially opened on August 6, 2014, by former college principal, Gail Major. The facility is staffed by indigenous member of the local community, including recovering alcoholics. In 2015, the 20 minute 'homegroup' period at the start of everyday, was replaced with a 30 minute 'class corroboree' which takes place every morning, and is led by indigenous leaders. During 'class corroboree', students learn about Aboriginal culture, participating in activities such as planting trees and shrubs, cooking kangaroo, throwing boomerangs and learning traditional songs. The senior site has a modern two story building, which was constructed after the fire of 2003, along with a number of art buildings and portables. (Most of the Light Timber Construction buildings were demolished after the fire). The junior site consisted of 3 blocks and had one school oval, all were connected with covered walkways. But in 2009 Mount Waverley Secondary College was given 10.1 million dollars from the government. They spent most of this money on two brand new buildings on the Junior site. Currently the first is finished and the second is underway . The junior school converted its library to the office block and put in multiple new portable classrooms including the current library, a robotics lab and a few multi-purpose classrooms. Students in both 7 and 8 currently have Food Technology classes at the senior site and a few general portable classrooms are also at the senior site for the junior school students.

The school also hosts the 200 seat Unicorn Theatre facility, two libraries, and two gymnasiums. The school also leases from the historic trust the historic Lower Homebush State School #2258 in Avoca, Western Victoria. The school was closed in 1967, and reopened as the Lower Homebush Campus in 1996 as a school camp.^[4][5]

Uniform

There is an increasing push from the student body, and members of staff to abolish the compulsory school uniform all together, but this has not been even remotely considered by the aristocracy of the college, who are quite content with the latest uniform, inspired by 1950's Australia fashion.

Summer: The Summer uniform for boys consists of a white collared shirt, with the school emblem, as well as gray pants, grey socks, and black leather shoes. For girls a blue-and-green chequered dress with white knee high or ankle socks is worn. Shoes must be leather lace-up (t bars are no longer allowed). A green jumper (navy blue for VCE students) for both sexes is optional.

Winter: The Winter uniform for boys remains the same for winter, with a jumper and/or a green-and-gold spray jacket recommended. Girls wear a green-and-navy chequered skirt, with blue knee high socks or stockings, is worn with a long sleeved collared shirt featuring the school's emblem. The school retain a strict jewellery and shoes guideline, with regular checks conducted.

Sport: The sport uniform for both sexes, is a dark green polo shirt and black shorts. A green and gold rugby jumper is also optional.

Notable alumni

• Dean Jones - Cricketer^[6]
• Jules Lund - Television Presenter
• Graeme Strachan - Musician
• Peter Tatchell - Political Campaigner
• Van Tuong Nguyen - Convicted Drug Trafficker^[7]
• Peter Dupas - Convicted Serial Killer
• Warwick Irwin - AFL Footballer
• Bret Thornton - AFL Footballer

References

External links

• Mount Waverley Secondary College Website

Coordinates: 37°52′04″S 145°07′58″E / 37.86778°S 145.13278°E / -37.86778; 145.13278