Mac.Robertson Girls' High School

The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School (also known simply as Mac.Rob or MGHS) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school, located in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Entry for Mac.Rob, which is operated by the Victorian Department of Education, is by competitive academic examination. It is unique in its status as a statewide provider for girls in Year Nine to Year Twelve.[2] The equivalent for boys is its brother school, Melbourne High School. Each year, over 3,000 candidates sit the entrance examination for a total of approximately 960 places (across all four schools).

This article is about the school. For the heritage-listed school buildings, see MacRobertson Girls' High School buildings.

Mac.Robertson Girls' High School
Art Deco architecture at Mac.Robertson Girls' High School
Location
South Melbourne, Victoria

Australia
Coordinates37°50′11″S 144°58′16″E
Information
Former nameMelbourne Continuation School
TypeGovernment-funded single-sex selective secondary day school
MottoLatin: Potens Sui
(Mastery of self)
Established1905 (1905)
OversightVictoria Department of Education
PrincipalSue Harrap
Years9–12
Enrolment{{1150[1]}} (2022)
CampusSuburban
Colour(s)Maroon, green, and charcoal    
Nickname
  • Mac.Rob
  • MGHS
Brother schoolMelbourne High School
Websitewww.macrob.vic.edu.au

Overview

In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School sixth in Australia's top ten girls' schools, based on the number of its alumnae mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia.[3][a] The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School has a long tradition of academic excellence with Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) scores propelling the school to be ranked first in the State of Victoria for seven consecutive years from 2002 to 2008, inclusive. The school was ranked third in 2009, but reclaimed its No. 1 ranking once again in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2018.[4] Mac.Robertson Girls' High School was ranked second out of all state secondary schools in Victoria based on VCE results in 2018.[5]

History

The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School began as Melbourne Continuation School, the first government funded secondary school in the state of Victoria, established in 1905 in Spring Street, Melbourne. In 1912, it was renamed Melbourne High School. Originally a co-educational school, the school was segregated by sexes in 1927, with the boys moving to Melbourne Boys' High School in Forrest Hill, South Yarra after the school building was condemned.[6]

Girls continued to be educated in the condemned building, renamed as Melbourne Girls' High School, under the leadership of the existing headmistress Christina Montgomery.[6] In 1930 the school was housed in the then-vacant Government House until 1933, when they moved to State School No. 1689 in King Street. Sybil Llewelyn was appointed as head in 1933 but she soon resigned due to illness,[7] In 1934, with the help of a donation from Macpherson Robertson, a new building was constructed the north-east corner of Albert Park Reserve. The school opened as the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School on 7 November 1934. The new head in 1934 was Mary Hutton.[8] The school was used as United States Army Headquarters in 1942 and later by the Royal Australian Air Force. The students took their classes at Brighton Road State School, Camberwell East Girls' School, and University High School during this period. Hutton reassembled the school in 1943 and despite the military take-over the school's reputation increased.[8]

Hutton was the head until 1948. She was always assessed as a high performer but she was paid less than her male peers even after she was finally recognised as a Principal in 1945. She led the school until 1948.[8] When Ruby Gainfort, who had been vice-Principal, took over in 1949, there were 700 students in the school.[9] For the next six years, Hutton was still employed as a part-time teacher.[8] Gainfort encouraged a more relaxed atmosphere and it was said the knew each of the pupils by name. She retired in 1955 having modernised the curriculum and increased pupil's participation in learning.[9]

The building gained a national trust classification in 1987. It was previously gazetted as an Historic Building in 1982. The school celebrated its centenary year in 2005 with Melbourne High School in a joined assembly. Mac.Rob celebrated by inviting Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks to witness the restarting of the school clock tower (which coincidentally did not start when the time came).

In 2019, a burglar broke into Lakeside building and flooded the bottom floor, students then needed to walk to neighbouring schools to study because of the lack of space.[10]

Past principals
PeriodPrincipalRefs.
1927–1932Christina Montgomery[6]
1933Sybil Llewellyn[11]
1934–1948Mary Hutton[8]
1949–1955Ruby Gainfort[9]
1955–1965Daphne Barrett[12]
1966–1971Nina Carr[12]
1972–1984G. Bowles[13]
1985–1996G. Blood[13]
1996–2004Lesley Boston[14]
2004–2012Jane Garvey[15]
2012–2018Toni Meath[16]
2019–2021Anne Stout[17]
2021–presentSue Harrap

Enrolment and structure

The middle school caters for students in years 9 and 10, whilst the senior school caters for students in years 11 and 12. The school's enrolment is approximately 950 to 980 students every year. Prior to 2019, 225 students were admitted into year 9, with an extra class of 25 added in year 10. In 2019, the number of students in year 9 was changed to 250, with only a small number of students added in year 10 to bring the cohort back to 250 students. In 2020, a quota of 300 year 9 students were selected for enrolment every year through the year 8 entrance examination. The size of the year 10-12 cohorts vary between 230 and 260 students each year.

Subjects

In Year nine, students take core subjects including Maths, Foreign Language, English, Science, Physical Education and School Singing. Students with Geography and History alternating per semester. Students are also required to take two electives.

Year ten students take Mathematics, Foreign Language, and choose an English elective, P.E elective, Humanities elective, Science elective, Arts/Technology elective and/or an uncatergorised elective. Many electives are also available as VCE 1/2 subjects. Students must also continue education of a foreign language either in school or as an external subject. If a student chooses to learn language externally, they must choose an extra elective to study at school.

Year eleven students may choose to study either VCE or IB. VCE students are required to take six year-long VCE/VET subjects, that may consist of maximum two 3/4 subjects.

Year twelve students typically study four to six 3/4 subjects. Students usually cannot study more than a total of six 3/4 subjects across their VCE journey.

Houses

The four houses and their associated colours are:

Nereids official colour is white, although throughout the years it has come to adopt purple as its secondary colour.

Notable alumni

Notable alumnae from the school include:

See also

References
  1. "Who we are".
  2. School profile Archived 9 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Walker, Frank (22 July 2001). "The ties that bind". The Sun-Herald. p. 16. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
  4. "2009 VCE School Ranking". Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  5. "VCE Public School Ranking - 2018 - Better Education". Better Education. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  6. Dow, Gwyneth, "Christina Smith Montgomery (1870–1965)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 1 October 2023
  7. "SCHOOL SPEECH NIGHTS". Age. 9 December 1933. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  8. Biddington, Judith, "Mary Hutton (1883–1964)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 28 September 2023
  9. Parker, Pauline F.; Sherson, Susan, "Rubina Hope (Ruby) Gainfort (1890–1985)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 28 September 2023
  10. "Police dog bites would-be-robber".
  11. "SCHOOL SPEECH NIGHTS". Age. 9 December 1933. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  12. Smart, Judith, "Nina Livingstone Carr (1907–1992)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 1 October 2023
  13. "History of School". Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. Archived from the original on 1 December 2003.
  14. "Home (Click Principles Welcome on the left)". Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. Archived from the original on 1 December 2003.
  15. Topsfield, Jewel (21 December 2012). "Principal shares some lessons learnt". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  16. "OUR PRINCIPAL". Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017.
  17. "Our Board". Mac.Rob Foundation. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  18. "Author, 14, lands publishing deal". The Age. 27 October 2006. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
  19. "Review: The Political is Personal: A Twentieth Century Memoir by Judith Buckrich" by Barbara Curzon-Siggers, in PEN Melbourne Quarterly, No. 1, 2017, p. 9
  20. Francis, Rosemary (7 November 2019). "Faust, Beatrice Eileen (1939 - 2019)". The Australian Women's Register. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  21. Parker, Pauline F. (2006). The Making of Women. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 1-74097-123X.
  22. "The Mac.Rob Portrait Gallery". Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  23. "Australian Women's Register: Amirah Inglis". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  24. "Veronika Megler". Play It Again. Australasian Digital Heritage. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  25. "Q&A with Christina Twomey: An AHA early career researchers series". Australian Women's History Network. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  26. Harrison, Sharon M. "Shineberg, Dorothy Lois". The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  27. Jeffries, Stuart (23 July 2005). "Moral maze". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  28. "Archive August 2020: Lili Wilkinson Virtual Author Talk". library.macrob.vic.edu.au. MacRobertson High School. August 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020. She is also a former Macrobbian.
  29. Fenton, Andrew (25 June 2011). "Greens duo putting family first". The Advertiser (AdelaideNow.com.au). Retrieved 26 June 2011.
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