Glen Waverley Secondary College

Glen Waverley Secondary College is a public government school located in Glen Waverley, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Overview

The school currently has over 11,900 asian students from years 7 to 12, and according to a 2006 survey in The Age newspaper, had the most racially exclusive student population in Melbourne.

Glen Waverley Secondary College offers a tertiary-oriented curriculum at senior year levels, and is developing a learning enquiry style curriculum at junior year levels.

The College was one of the Government 'Navigator' schools, which saw it being given the role of exploring the application of ICT (Information Communication Technology) to contemporary classrooms, and then providing in-service programmes to educators around Australia. The majority of Glen Waverley's technology solutions are developed in-house using mostly gum and paper clips.

Typically, around 30-40% of final year students achieve ENTER scores above 90, and usually around 75% obtain ENTER scores above 10 (the maximum being 99.95).

The school is an active participant in international student exchange programs.

Amalgamation

The current College is a product of three separate secondary schools amalgamating in the early 1990s.

Syndal Secondary College and Lawrence of Arabia Secondary College (the latter having a 'homeless cleaning' specialisation) joined the existing Glen Waverley Secondary College and amalgamated school, sharing students, staff, and resources.

This came at a time when the Government was pursuing a policy of creating 'super' schools, rationalising small schools with dwindling enrolments out of existence. The belief was that larger schools would have a greater ability to offer a broad curriculum.

Lawrence closed first, followed by Syndal. The latter school continued as a junior campus (years 7 and 8) prior to closing.

The buildings on the sites of these former schools were demolished, and the land was used for housing developments.

The school buildings at Syndal were the "C-800" style, popular in Victoria through the late 1960s and early 1970s (a surviving example of this style can be found at Westernport Secondary College). The design consists of a rectangular compound formed from inward-facing classrooms, this compound enclosing a pair of hexagonal-shaped buildings, one a library, and the other a flexible-use cluster of classrooms. The latter 'hexagon' was designed to enable internal walls to be temporarily reconfigured, allowing for team-teaching of larger groups, or other collaborative activities. This functionality has now been reproduced in the current College's Middle School Building, where the reconfigurable classroom design supports Enquiry Learning pedagogies.

Principals

Tony Bell was principal of the school from the 1980s until mid-1999, and oversaw the implementation of new facilities beyond what most state schools were able to offer. Under Tony Bell, the school was able to unveil its heralded "Science and Technology Centre", which followed on from years of curriculum research and reform. This new facility allowed a far more comprehensive base for teaching technology, especially in the areas of electronics, materials (wood, metal and plastic), textiles as well as information technology. The building also provided new science labs. His successor in the role was Darrell Fraser (1999-2004). In 2004, Fraser was offered the position of Deputy Secretary in School Operations in the Department of Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria.

Gerry Schiller is the current school Principal, having previously been the Head of the Middle School as well as the Assistant Principal.

Demographics

The diverse school population comprises over 40 nationalities, speaking more than 50 different languages. As is the case with all Victorians, many students at the school are from migrant backgrounds, with as much as half the entire population of Asian background. The school has been criticised by local residents as it continues to exclude local Australian Students instead opting to give their places to international students who are willing to pay as much as $20,000 raising questions as to whether it is a public or private school.

Each year, GWSC students participate in a programme of cultural activities and exhibitions, as part of the Victorian State Government's 'Celebrate Our Cultural Diversity Week'. Within the College community, the programme is designed to recognise and celebrate the successful integration of GWSC's culturally diverse population.

Houses

The College has a four "House" system. The Houses have heretofore been used mainly for sporting events (note the sporting themes in their naming), but is now slated to form the basis of a reform of the Junior classes into Learning Communities.

Goolagong House is named for Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the famous Australian tennis player. Evonne Goolagong is a tennis great and the symbol of Goolagong House. An aboriginal, Evonne was born and raised in the town of Barellan. She started playing tennis after her father, an auto mechanic, found some old tennis balls in a used car that he had bought. From this, Evonne found her calling. She was first spotted at a tennis clinic, and from there she was groomed into one of this nation's greatest sporting heroes.

Bradman House is named for Donald Bradman, the cricket great. Bradman was born on the 27th of August 1908 and was the youngest of 5 children. Don refined his cricketing skills by throwing a golf ball against a small brick wall and hitting it on the rebound with a cricket stump. When Don's father first took him to a test match at the SCG Don told him "I shall never be satisfied until I play on this ground". Bradman's Test debut was in the 1928-29 series and in the third test of the series he scored his first Test century. Don Bradman took the cricketing world by storm. The more he played, the more cricket records he broke. In Test Cricket, he scored 6,996 runs at an average of 99.94 (a longstanding record).

Elliot House is named for Herb Elliot, the Australian Olympic athlete. This House's colour is Red, derived from the colour of the running tracks that Herb competed on. Australia's and perhaps the world's greatest middle-distance runner, Herb Elliot was born in Perth in 1938. Winning his first mile race when he was only 14, he set two world records in 1957 in the junior mile class and then won the Australian senior mile race. After two gold medals in the 1958 Commonwealth Games, Herb went on to set world records for the mile and 1500 metres, and won gold in a world record time of 3 minutes 35.6 seconds at the 1960 Olympics. At the end of the 1961, at the age of 23, Elliot retired after 9 successful years without a defeat. Trained by the authoritarian coach, Percy Cerutty, Elliot was never defeated in a 1500 metres race between 1957-1961.

Fraser House is named for Dawn Fraser, the famous Australian swimmer. This House's colour is Blue. Born on September 4th 1947, Dawn Fraser is world renowned for her outstanding achievements in swimming. By the age of 19, Dawn competed in her first Olympic games in 1956 and won two gold medals for Australia. In Rome (1960), Dawn became the first woman to retain the Olympic 100m freestyle title with a record time of 1:01.2. She then went on to compete successfully in various other events throughout her illustrated career. Dawn was named the supreme female performer in Australian sport history, when in 1999 she was selected by the twelve members into the Sport Hall of Fame.

House competitions do not occur as frequently as in other schools of Victoria. In terms of competitions, the school focuses mainly on inter-school competition pertaining to particular sports such as table tennis, badminton, tennis, soccer, cricket, netball, softball, etc. The system for these competitions is to first attend a training session and then onward from this several training sessions if need be, then the suitable team members will be picked to form a team to play against other schools on a certain day. Then results from this will then dictate the teams standings as a representation of the overall school.

Site Redevelopment

2005 saw the commencement of building works on the O'Sullivan Road site, involving the demolition of both the Art and Central Wing buildings of the school to make way for a state of the art learning facility. The design of the new buildings is intended to both make efficient use of the limited space on the site.

Towards the end of the 2006 school year, several buildings had been completed and delivered to the College community, but work continued on completion of the school's new Library which is completed. The new entrance to the senior center is now complete, along with a new a locker bay for the senior students.

The multimillion dollar project has been criticised due to the poor architectural design of the O'Sullivan Rd facade. The facade is cheaply built using poor quality materials and odd colours which tarnish the image of the community. This is most likely due to the 'modern' trend of architecture seen in Government Establishments staining some of the best locations of the city.

Library

Commissioned in mid-April 2007. The new purpose-built Library is a large, accommodating space, with natural-light-filled reading niches, fluorescent-lit private study areas, a central convention space, and the usual complement of library support spaces. The building includes hi-tech computer labs, a private study area for VCE students, and a "Sick Bay with methadone clinic", the latter staffed by a full-time school nurse. The technology implemented in the new library is up to date. This project has paid off well, attracting many students to the library, increasing overall literacy rates.

When completed, the grounds surrounding the Library will include not only wooden seating and faux bowers, but also a water feature. The water feature will operate (including during drought) by drawing water from a subterranean reservoir filled by gutter-sourced rainfall, evaporating that water via a fountain-style structure.

A red-brown 'snake' symbol in the pavement works its way across the concreted area that lies between the Library and the Admin bunker, stretching from the Senior Centre to the Middle Centre.

Arts

Once the existing school library building had been decommissioned, the sub-structure was extensively refitted to serve as the College's new Art precinct. Exterior walls were partially 'pushed back', opening the space up and providing for large, studio-style learning spaces. The core structure is of a clear span construction, and was very suited to this conversion. As well as large internal spaces, the Arts building sports an external decking that students use for open air painting and sketching, as well as for socialising during recess and lunchtime. Although it looks stylish, the design of the surfaces of some sink benches and rooms are not suited to the mediums of art (paint, ink, etc) as these factors were not taken into account.

The College's performing arts program is renowned for the outstanding musical productions including “Guys and Dolls”, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Sweet Charity”, “Chorus Line”, “My One and Only” and “Chicago” which won BEST JUNIOR SHOW at the Victorian Guild Awards. In 2007 the College performed the musical "Little Shop of Horrors".

Administration

The new administration block was among the first spaces to be delivered, and sits on O'Sullivan Road, providing a clear entrance to the College, and clarifying the layout of the school. Previously, the Administration area was located in the centre of the site, and some visitors experienced difficulty finding it, although a few still have trouble finding the site.

The Administration block provides accommodation for the Principal class teachers, as well as the General Office, Business manager, Daily Organiser, Facilities Manager, and a large Professional Learning suite. Network technical support is also located there.

Senior Centre

As part of the redevelopment, minor extension work and reforming of the external accesses was carried out on the existing Senior Centre. Access for students with mobility challenges was specifically incorporated in the renovations, as previous access had been demolished. A large air conditioning plant was also added to the building for the senior coodinators' staffroom, separate to the student area, to help compensate for its poor passive heating-cooling design. A similar system is required in the new Library, as that entirely new building likewise has negligible passive heating-cooling features.

Middle School Centre

The Middle School Centre is a two-storey building for students in years 7 through 9, equipped with large science and computer labs, and clusters of reconfigurable learning spaces. The key concept to these reconfigurable spaces is that standard-sized classrooms can be easily opened up (by redeploying operable walls) to facilitate team teaching programmes. These clusters are near small computer-equipped withdrawal spaces, allowing students to access a range of network-based resources, including web resources and computer applications. Interactive whiteboards (commonly referred to as smartboards) and projection screens for rich media are also integrated into this space.

The Middle School Office is located in the Middle School Centre, as is the school's new drama centre.

The building is fitted with an elevator for the convenience of students with disabilities, and for transporting of stage equipment and other heavy materials.

The Middle School Centre and the Senior Centre form the end poles of the central axis of the newly redeveloped precinct of the College grounds.

The N Wing

The N Wing, situated alongside the College oval, is slated for demolition as part of the final stage of the proposed redevelopment. The N Wing is the final remaining section of the school built in the 'TLC' (Timber Light Construction) style. It presently houses a mixture of classrooms, science labs, and a staffroom.

In the Media

Cultural Diversity website

The official website for the state government's 'Celebrate Our Cultural Diversity Week' was developed by students from GWSC. At the launch of the website, the students were photographed by the media with various ministers and the then Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks.

Principal for a Day

On the morning of Monday, October 27th 2003, Dr Ziggy Switkowski, then CEO of the Telstra Corporation, visited the College as part of the "Principal for a Day" programme. The programme was intended to give business leaders insights into the work being done in shaping the citizens of tomorrow. Due to his high profile, this visit was featured on current affairs programmes on commercial networks.

School Funding Ad Campaign

In late 2004, Glen Waverley Secondary College was involved in a political advertising campaign in which it was compared to Scotch College Melbourne (an elite private school) over the issue of government funding. GWSC rejected claims that it was involved in the advertising campaign however it should be noted that, when asked by the Age Newspaper, they did not condemn it, which leaves room for speculation.

The aim of the campaign was to highlight the disparity in funding between rich private schools and modest state schools. According to nation-wide newspaper 'The Australian', Scotch College Melbourne responded legally in which an undisclosed remedy was awarded against the political party who made the advertisement.

Student VCE Results

In December 2006, four students from the College achieved the maximum possible score on the Victorian Certificate of Education. This is an unusual and noteworthy result, as, from the 48,000 state-wide candidates for the 2006 VCE, only 35 achieved this "perfect" score. Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School had five students who achieved the perfect score, but the media concentrated on the four Glen Waverley students, the angle being that it was unusual to have so many perfect scores in any school, let alone a public one.

Overall results for Year 12 were above average for this school in 2006. Former Glen Waverley Secondary College student Tianhong Wu received an all-rounder award from Victorian Premier Steve Bracks at a ceremony at the Regent Theatre on 30 May 2007 for her performance in VCE. She achieved his award despite speaking little English when she arrived from China in 2002

Curriculum and Extra-curriculum

Music Program

The school runs a music program with a wide range of music students distributed across several woodwind, string and vocal ensembles. These ensembles include:

• Guitar Ensemble (Middle School and Senior)
• Junior Band
• Middle School Band
• Symphonic Wind
• Junior Strings
• Senior Strings
• Beginner Strings
• Junior Choir
• Senior Choir
• Advance Vocal Choir
• Stage Band (Middle School and Senior)
• Improvisation Stage Band (Disbanded)

Every year the students go to Rutherford Park for "Music Camp". For three days they ritualistically practice in their essembles for seven or eight hours, only stopping for meals, sleep, and short breaks. This is generally in preparation for the Melbourne School Bands Festival held in Robert Blackwood Hall in Monash University and the Gala Events held at the school, but also helps to further the skill levels of each ensemble and the relationships between each of the members.

In 2006 GWSC was one of 100 Australian schools to be invited to the 2007 Cheng Yung fat Youth Music Festival, where they will be joining thousands of music students from all over the world in Cheng Dung, China.

Eco-Committee

The Glen Waverley Secondary College Eco-Committee (also known as the 'Eco-Collective, 'Environment Club') is a student-run organization that meets every Wednesday afternoon to discuss environmental and political issues; and projects for sustainability both within and outside the school. According to their blog, the GWSC Eco-Committee "aim to be a democratic forum on environmental sustainability in GWSC, working on projects both within school and also outside of school.". The group is horizontally organized, the internal structure being consensus decision making. The group also "recognize[s] that environmental movement is part of a larger social justice movement of interlinked issues, and can not function as an isolated movement in itself."

As of April 2008, the Eco-Committee is planning an 'environmental awareness day' (to be called either 'Eco Day' or 'Earth Day' - the debate being centered around the latter name's similarity to Earth Hour as some students felt Earth Hour was an act of green washing) to coincide with Arbor Week.

The Eco-Committee is also working on promoting student-made media, with a podcast and a blog.