Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School, is an independent
, Anglican, day school
for girls, located in Ivanhoe
, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria
, Australia
.
Established in 1903, the school
has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,025 students from the Early Learning Centre (ELC) to Year 12.
Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
(JSHAA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV), and is a founding member of Girls Sport Victoria
(GSV).
and Chinese
. Foreign exchanges are offered bi-annually, in addition to cultural trips with their sister school St. Agnes in Kyoto
, Japan
.
A bi-annual Art and Hospitality trip to Europe
was introduced in 2005. The itinerary included Paris
, London
, Venice
, Florence
and Rome
over a period of 17 days, where students visited various galleries and attended cooking
classes.
coming in close third.
. Students are divided into six houses, named after characters and places in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
.
The school awards points to each house, based on house-wide achievements in a number of fields including sports and debating. Individuals can also earn points for their house for their own individual achievements. These points are cumulated at the end of the year, and the winning house is announced at the School's "Celebration Night".
A formal complaint was lodged with the Victoria's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, though mediation processes associated with that complaint were unsuccessful and the case was dismissed, with no interventions put in place. Citing further stress to the student due to VCE studies the matter was not pursued further.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
, Anglican, day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
for girls, located in Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe, Victoria
Ivanhoe is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule. At the 2006 Census, Ivanhoe had a population of 10,600.-History:...
, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Established in 1903, the school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,025 students from the Early Learning Centre (ELC) to Year 12.
Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
Junior School Heads Association of Australia
The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia , is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia....
(JSHAA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV), and is a founding member of Girls Sport Victoria
Girls Sport Victoria
Girls' Sport Victoria was established in 2001, and is one of the largest independent school sporting association in Victoria, with 24 member schools from around Melbourne....
(GSV).
Campus
Classes are held in a number of different buildings. There is a senior library and canteen and many other facilities. The Performing Arts Center, visible from Upper Heidelberg Road, is used frequently both for school performances and external performances (including the local Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra).Languages and exchange
Languages taught include FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
. Foreign exchanges are offered bi-annually, in addition to cultural trips with their sister school St. Agnes in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
A bi-annual Art and Hospitality trip to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
was introduced in 2005. The itinerary included Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
over a period of 17 days, where students visited various galleries and attended cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
classes.
Sport
The school is a member of Girls’ Sport Victoria, alongside 24 other Victorian independent girls’ schools. Sport facilities include an all-weather, multi-purpose sports surface, including an athletics track and jumps strips, as well as an indoor swimming pool. The school is also actively involved in skiing and frequently participates in competitions at various levels.Music
The school has an extensive musical programme including on-campus private tuition and a wide range of musical ensembles. The Junior School offers the Junior Band, the Junior Flute Ensemble, Junior Choir, and Irwin Orchestra while the Senior School offers a wider range of choirs: Cantabile (years 7-9) and Concordia (years 10-12), both of which are non-auditioned, as well as the auditioned choirs Bel Canto (years 7-9) and Chamber Choir (years 10-12). Recently, the smaller Jazz Choir has been founded. Instrumental ensembles on the senior level include the Jazz Band, Bowie Orchestra, Boaden Orchestra, String Orchestra, Concert Band and Stage Band.Debating
Ivanhoe Girls' is actively involved in debating, regularly participating in the annual competition run by the Debating Association of Victoria. With regional Swannie Award winners in the DAV competitions each year, Ivanhoe Girls’ has a firm alumni base, members of whom go on to adjudication roles . The Greenway Cup, an annual debate against regional rival Ivanhoe Grammar Ridgeway School, takes a more light-hearted approach than conventional debating. This competition is contested by the senior class, with speakers often taking a less formal stance while competing to uphold the school's integrity.Student-driven philanthropy
Since 1998, the senior class raises funds for a humanitarian organisation of their choice via a charity concert held each year. The year level are given four weeks to prepare this much anticipated event in the School's calendar. The class of 2011 holds the current record of $47,675 AUD for a small humanitarian organisation based in Melbourne- Front Yard Youth Services. The Class of 2008 set the former record of over 47,000.00 AUD for the Australian charity organisation Kids Under Cover. The Class of 2010 who raised over $43,000 for The Alannah and Madeline FoundationWalter Mikac
Walter Mikac is an Australian pharmacist who became widely known in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre, where his wife Nanette Mikac and daughters, six-year-old Alannah Mikac and three-year-old Madeline Mikac were among 35 people killed by Martin Bryant on 28 April 1996.In the subsequent...
coming in close third.
House system
As with most Australian schools, Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School utilises a house systemHouse system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
. Students are divided into six houses, named after characters and places in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Sir Walter Scott in 1819, and set in 12th-century England. Ivanhoe is sometimes credited for increasing interest in Romanticism and Medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages," while...
.
- Rotherwood (Blue)
- Locksley (White)
- Rowena (Yellow)
- Ashby (Red)
- Oswald (Green)
- York (Purple)
The school awards points to each house, based on house-wide achievements in a number of fields including sports and debating. Individuals can also earn points for their house for their own individual achievements. These points are cumulated at the end of the year, and the winning house is announced at the School's "Celebration Night".
Uniform
There are three different uniforms: the summer uniform (worn in terms 1 and 4), the winter uniform (terms 2 and 3), and the sports uniform, for PE classes and other sporting activities. The winter uniform, as well as the blazer, was redesigned in 2005 by Jane Lamerton, a former student of the school, along with a committee of students and teachers. Redesigns of the summer uniform and sports uniform have also been undertaken and are currently available at the uniform shop on campus. Following the redesign of the winter uniform, blue has been added as a school colour, in addition to brown and replacing the yellow.Notable alumnae
- Cate BlanchettCate BlanchettCatherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
- Actress (also attended Methodist Ladies' CollegeMethodist Ladies' College, MelbourneMethodist Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
) - Marjory-Dore Martin - Honorary ProfessorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of the Faculty of ScienceScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and TechnologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
at Deakin UniversityDeakin UniversityDeakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
; Former Professor of Science Education and Head of the School of Scientific and Developmental Studies in Education at Deakin UniversityDeakin UniversityDeakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835... - Jenny MikakosJenny MikakosJenny Mikakos is an Australian politician for the Australian Labor Party. She is currently the Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, and a Member of the Legislative Council for Northern Metropolitan Region....
- Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Planning; Member of the Legislative CouncilMembers of the Victorian Legislative Council, 2006-2010This is a list of members of the Victorian Legislative Council, as elected at the 2006 state election....
(ALPAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
) for Northern Metropolitan Region; Former Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, and MLC (ALP) for Jika Jika Province (also attended Thornbury High School) - Dorothy Ruth Pizzey AMOrder of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
- Former Principal of St Catherine's School, ToorakSt Catherine's School, ToorakSt Catherine's School is an independent, non-denominational, Christian day and boarding school for girls, located in Toorak, an inner south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
(1977–97); Former Secretary of Council for the Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia etc.
2010 Allegation of discrimination
In November 2010 the Australian press reported on an allegation of discrimination against the school by a former student on the basis of her sexual orientation.A formal complaint was lodged with the Victoria's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, though mediation processes associated with that complaint were unsuccessful and the case was dismissed, with no interventions put in place. Citing further stress to the student due to VCE studies the matter was not pursued further.