Northcote High School
Encyclopedia
Northcote High School is a co-educational, state high school
in Northcote, Victoria
, Australia
. It is situated at the southern end of the City of Darebin
, on St Georges Road.
Teaching from Year 7 through 12, the school has a population of around 1,450 students. Northcote has a large music and science program, and has been recognised as a significant leader in the use of learning technologies in the classroom.
, one of the first six to be established in Melbourne by the Victorian Government. The school owes its establishment largely to agitation led by John Cain (senior)
, Northcote
City Councillor and later Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
for Jika Jika, with support from the Principals of nearby Wales Street Primary School and Northcote Primary School. Cain's
repeated efforts to establish a school to provide secondary education for the predominantly working class suburb of Northcote were finally successful, despite an environment of opposition from conservative politicians and independent principals.
Although Northcote High School was established as a coeducational school, it became a boy's school after 1928 when Preston Girls High School was established. In the 1980s Northcote High School again began to enrol girls in response to community pressure, officially moving to coeducation in 1989. In 2010 there are approximately 750 boys in the school and 640 girls enrolled.
The school has a strong connection to the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy North, Clifton Hill, Brunswick East, Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield, Preston and Reservoir with many of its students attending the school as their parents once did. A feature of Northcote High School is the numbers of staff who are former students (including two former School Captains) and others who have their own children at the school.
Northcote High School first offered a limited Maths and Science Matriculation (final year certificate) in the 1940s. Principal Alex Sutherland expanded Matriculation in the 1950s to include most subjects on the curriculum. The school continues this tradition today with a very broad range of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects on offer.
Northcote High School celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2006. It remains one of very few Victorian government secondary schools that has not significantly changed its identity through closure, reorganisation or amalgamation.
Most students spend 4 days there in Year 7 and 8, doing activities such as: hiking, visiting farms, canoeing, horse riding, swimming and bush camping. Boho camps are often run for Land Care projects with older students. NHS remains one of only a handful of Melbourne Government secondary schools to retain an off-site campsite into the 21st century.
, and in the early 1950s the school began the practice of enrolling and hosting students from overseas, partly under the auspices of the Colombo plan
. In 1999, a sister school agreement was made with Huaibei Number One High School in Anhui province, China. Staff and student exchanges are conducted with this school every year.
A second sister school agreement was made in 2002 with the Romanazzi Institute in Bari
, Italy.
In 2010, there are approximately 80 International students studying at Northcote High School, all in the post compulsory Years 10 -12. The students come from 14 different countries, including China
, Vietnam
, Korea
, Germany
, Thailand
and Italy
.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Northcote, Victoria
Northcote, Victoria
Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...
, 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...
. It is situated at the southern end of the City of Darebin
City of Darebin
The City of Darebin is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of , and as of 2009, has a population of 139,608...
, on St Georges Road.
Teaching from Year 7 through 12, the school has a population of around 1,450 students. Northcote has a large music and science program, and has been recognised as a significant leader in the use of learning technologies in the classroom.
History of the school
Northcote High School was established in 1926 as a co-educational secondary schoolSecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
, one of the first six to be established in Melbourne by the Victorian Government. The school owes its establishment largely to agitation led by John Cain (senior)
John Cain (senior)
John Cain was an Australian politician, who became the 34th premier of Victoria, and was the first Australian Labor Party leader to win a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was the only premier of Victoria whose son also served as premier.-Early life:Cain was born, one of 18...
, Northcote
Northcote, Victoria
Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...
City Councillor and later Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
for Jika Jika, with support from the Principals of nearby Wales Street Primary School and Northcote Primary School. Cain's
John Cain (senior)
John Cain was an Australian politician, who became the 34th premier of Victoria, and was the first Australian Labor Party leader to win a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was the only premier of Victoria whose son also served as premier.-Early life:Cain was born, one of 18...
repeated efforts to establish a school to provide secondary education for the predominantly working class suburb of Northcote were finally successful, despite an environment of opposition from conservative politicians and independent principals.
Although Northcote High School was established as a coeducational school, it became a boy's school after 1928 when Preston Girls High School was established. In the 1980s Northcote High School again began to enrol girls in response to community pressure, officially moving to coeducation in 1989. In 2010 there are approximately 750 boys in the school and 640 girls enrolled.
The school has a strong connection to the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy North, Clifton Hill, Brunswick East, Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield, Preston and Reservoir with many of its students attending the school as their parents once did. A feature of Northcote High School is the numbers of staff who are former students (including two former School Captains) and others who have their own children at the school.
Northcote High School first offered a limited Maths and Science Matriculation (final year certificate) in the 1940s. Principal Alex Sutherland expanded Matriculation in the 1950s to include most subjects on the curriculum. The school continues this tradition today with a very broad range of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects on offer.
Northcote High School celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2006. It remains one of very few Victorian government secondary schools that has not significantly changed its identity through closure, reorganisation or amalgamation.
Principals
- Mr J.S. Kitson 1926 - 1927
- Mr F.W. Johnson 1927 - 1941
- Mr W.J. Bishop 1942 - 1946
- Mr L.B. Garson 1947 - 1948
- Mr H.J. Moody 1949 - 1951
- Mr A. Sutherland 1952 - 1959
- Mr J.D. McGregor 1960 - 1969
- Mr A.D. Perry 1969
- Mr S.A. Seabrook 1970 - 1974
- Mr K. Yon 1975 - 1980
- Mr E.R. Nelson 1980 - 1985
- Mr G.L. Israel 1985 - 2004
- Ms G. Davidson 2004 - 2009
- Ms K. Morris 2009 -
Boho School Camp
Northcote High School acquired the Boho South Primary School site in 1979, for use as a country outdoor education camp. It is situated in the Strathbogie Ranges, approximately 200 kilometres from Melbourne.Most students spend 4 days there in Year 7 and 8, doing activities such as: hiking, visiting farms, canoeing, horse riding, swimming and bush camping. Boho camps are often run for Land Care projects with older students. NHS remains one of only a handful of Melbourne Government secondary schools to retain an off-site campsite into the 21st century.
International links
Northcote High School has a long tradition of developing ties with schools overseas. In the 1930s students at Northcote High School corresponded with a school in PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and in the early 1950s the school began the practice of enrolling and hosting students from overseas, partly under the auspices of the Colombo plan
Colombo Plan
The Colombo Plan is a regional organization that embodies the concept of collective inter-governmental effort to strengthen economic and social development of member countries in the Asia-Pacific Region...
. In 1999, a sister school agreement was made with Huaibei Number One High School in Anhui province, China. Staff and student exchanges are conducted with this school every year.
A second sister school agreement was made in 2002 with the Romanazzi Institute in Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Italy.
In 2010, there are approximately 80 International students studying at Northcote High School, all in the post compulsory Years 10 -12. The students come from 14 different countries, including China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Notable alumni
- Keith Allan, murdered lawyer.
- Gil Brealey, Film Director and Producer.
- Lloyd Bott, Senior Australian Public Servant.
- The Honourable John CainJohn Cain IIJohn Cain , Australian Labor Party politician, was the 41st Premier of Victoria, holding office from 1982 to 1990.-Biography:...
, Former 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...
MLA, Victorian State Premier. - The Honourable James Ford CairnsJim CairnsJames Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...
, Former ALP MHR, Federal Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. - Senator the Honourable Don ChippDon ChippDonald Leslie Chipp, AO was an Australian politician, and the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats.-Early life:...
, AO, Former LiberalLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
MHR, Federal Minister, and Founder Australian DemocratsAustralian DemocratsThe Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
. - Professor Bruce DaweBruce DaweDonald Bruce Dawe AO is an Australian poet, and is considered by many as one of the most influential Australian poets of all time.-Early life:...
, poet and writer. Winner of the Patrick White Literary Award. - Les Farren, first Victorian conscript to be killed in action in Vietnam, 1966.
- Noel FerrierNoel FerrierNoel Ferrier AM was an Australian television personality, stage and film actor, raconteur and theatrical producer. He had an extensive theatre career which spanned over fifty years.-Biography:...
, entertainer. - His Honour, Graham Fricke, County Court judge, Liquor Control Commission member and author.
- Jack HamiltonJack Hamilton (footballer)Jack Hamilton was an Australian rules football player in the Victorian Football League before becoming a prominent administrator....
, AM, Former VFL Commissioner and Collingwood footballer. - The Honourable Vernon HauserVernon HauserVernon Thomas Hauser , Australian politician, was a Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Boronia Province from 1970–76 and for Nunawading Province from 1976-82 representing the [Liberal Party of Australia]...
, former Liberal MLC. - Professor Ken InglisKen InglisKenneth Stanley Inglis is an Australian historian.Inglis completed his Master's degree at the University of Melbourne and his doctorate at the University of Oxford. In 1956 he was appointed as a lecturer to the University of Adelaide...
, historian. - The Honourable Trevor KaineTrevor KaineTrevor Thomas Kaine , an Australian politician, was Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 1989 to 1991, and was elected a multi-member single electorate first unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, from 1989 to 2001, initially as a member of the Liberal...
, former Liberal ACT Chief Minister. - Professor Max Lay, Engineer and later Director of Vic Roads.
- Colin LovittColin LovittColin Lovitt is a Queen's Counsel in Australia. He is known for defending Greg Domaszewicz and for getting in trouble for calling magistrate Bruce Zahner a 'cretin'...
, Queen's CounselQueen's CounselQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
Barrister. - Geoff McComas, Australian Broadcaster.
- James MollisonJames MollisonJames Mollison, AO, was Acting Director of the National Gallery of Australia from 1971 to 1977 and Director from 1977 – 1990. He was Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1989 to 1995....
A.O., Director National Gallery of Australia, Director National Gallery of Victoria. - Phoebe Montague, Fashion Designer and award winning writer.
- Jac NasserJacques NasserJacques Nasser is a leading global business executive who currently serves as Chairman of the Board of BHP Billiton. After serving as a Director of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc since 2006, Mr. Nasser was appointed Chairman of both companies effective 31 March 2010...
, A.O., chairman of BHP Billiton, former CEO Ford Motor Company. - Professor John Ritchie, Historian.
- Henry Rosenbloom, Author and Publisher.
- Normie RoweNormie RoweNorman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...
, entertainer. - Dr. Colin Sach, Senior Defence Researcher.
- Professor Dick TelfordDick TelfordDick Telford is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League during the 1960s....
, Australia Sports Medicine. - The Honourable Graeme WeidemanGraeme WeidemanGeorge "Graeme" Weideman was a Victorian politician representing Frankston for the Liberal Party of Australia from 1976 to 1982 and 1992 to 1996. He served as Minister for Tourism and Assistant Minister for Health from 1981 until the fall of the Liberal Government in 1982.-References:...
, former Liberal MLA, State Minister. - Sir Frederick Wiltshire, Industrialist.
Further Reading
- Gary Israel, Itiel Bereson, Robert Bridges and Hector Gallagher, (2010). The Green, The Purple and the Gold. A History of Northcote High School. Published by Northcote High School, Northcote, Victoria, Australia. ISBN 978-0-64654341-3