Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
Methodist Ladies' College (commonly referred to as MLC) is a non-selective Uniting Church private day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school has two additional outdoor education campuses known as "Marshmead" and "Banksia".
| Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
207 Barkers Road , , 3101 Australia | |
| Coordinates | 37°48′49″S 145°2′19″E / 37.81361°S 145.03861°E |
| Information | |
| Type | private school, single-sex, day and boarding school |
| Motto | Latin: Deo Domuique ("For God and for Home") |
| Denomination | Uniting |
| Established | 1882 |
| Principal | Julia Shea |
| Gender | Girls |
| Enrolment | ~2,200 (ELC–12)[2] |
| Colour(s) | Green & silver |
| Slogan | "MLC girls become world-ready women"[1] |
| Affiliation | Girls Sport Victoria |
| Website | mlc.vic.edu.au |
Established in 1882 on its current campus by the Methodist Church of Australasia, MLC caters for approximately 2200 students from the Early Learning Centre (MLC Kindle) to year 12, including more than 100 boarders.[3]
The college is a member of Girls Sport Victoria,[4] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association,[5] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),[6] the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[7] and the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia.[8]
MLC offers students both the Victorian Certificate of Education and the International Baccalaureate.[9]
Fees are up to $36,000 per student per year.[10]
History edit
William Henry Fitchett was secretary of a committee formed in 1879 to start a secondary school for girls.[11] MLC was founded on its current campus in Kew on 14 February 1882 as a modern school of the first order, with buildings that formed a collegiate institution for girls unsurpassed in the colonies.[citation needed] It was the first Australian girls' school established by the Wesleyan Methodists and Fitchett was the first principal. The goal of its founders was to provide a high-class Christian education for girls, comparable with that provided elsewhere for boys.[citation needed] As the first Australian girls' school established by the Wesleyan Methodists, MLC attracted boarders from all Australian colonies.[citation needed]
In 1990, MLC became the first school in the world to introduce laptop computers for all students from Year 5 to Year 12.[12] In 1991, MLC Marshmead opened, providing Year 9 students with an eight-week residential experience with a focus on outdoor education.[citation needed]
In 2001, The Sun-Herald reported a 1988 study which ranked MLC third in Australia's top ten girls' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians).[13][a] In 2002, MLC won the title of 'Australian School of the Year', as published in The Australian newspaper.[5]
Principals edit
There have been a total of nine principal or formerly headmaster’s of MLC since the school was founded in 1882.[14]
| Period | Principal |
|---|---|
| 1882–1928 | Rev. Dr William H. Fitchett |
| 1929–1938 | Rev. John W. Grove |
| 1939–1966 | Rev. Dr Harold A. Wood, OBE |
| 1967–1978 | Rev. Ron A.W. Woodgate |
| 1979–1996 | David Loader |
| 1997–2012 | Rosa Storelli |
| 2012–2013 | Debbie Dunwoody |
| 2014–2022 | Diana Vernon |
| 2023–present | Julia Shea |
House system edit
As with most Australian schools, MLC has a house system through which students partake in inter-house competitions and activities. The college currently has five houses:
- Berry – Colour: Purple, Mascot: Turtle.
- Cato – Colour: Blue, Mascot: Bear.
- Fitchett – Colour: Yellow, Mascot: Lion
- Krome – Colour: Green, Mascot: Frog
- Nevile – Colour: Pink, Mascot: Pink Panther
In the past, there was a Tiddeman house (colour red), which was specifically for boarders.
Curriculum edit
MLC offers an extensive range of VCE and Vocational Education Training (VET) courses, as well as the IB Diploma Programme. It has one of the largest VCE subject selections in the state. The school's success with the IB Programme is internationally renowned, with students consistently achieving in the top global percentile each year. Its physical education program includes a wide variety of summer and winter sports. It participates in the Girls Sport Victoria competition.
The music school features an auditorium, and a department for woodwind, strings, keyboard, percussion and brass, with multiple ensembles including a concert orchestra, senior strings, choirs and bands. The music school is known for its excellence. The state of the art auditorium is often used for external performances.
The school offers a speech and drama program from early years and theatre arts and drama at VCE level, as well as a variety of studio arts subjects.
Sport edit
MLC is a member of Girls Sport Victoria (GSV).
GSV premierships edit
MLC has won the following GSV premierships.[15]
- Athletics – 2010
- Badminton (2) – 2011, 2016
- Basketball (6) – 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2017, 2019
- Cricket (4) – 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017
- Diving (2) – 2001, 2002, 2022
- Football (8) – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
- Hockey (11) – 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
- Indoor Cricket (2) – 2009, 2010
- Netball – 2002
- Soccer – 2005
- Softball (3) – 2001, 2008, 2009
- Swimming (18) – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
- Tennis (4) – 2005, 2006, 2010, 2018
- Volleyball (5) – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019
- Water Polo (3) – 2016, 2017, 2018
Indigenous programmes edit
MLC works with the Yalari scholarship programme to support Indigenous girls from regional, rural and remote communities to study and board at MLC. Yalari is a not-for-profit organisation that offers secondary education scholarships at leading Australian boarding schools.[16][17] MLC includes Indigenous issues in its mainstream curriculum, maintains a student Aboriginal Reconciliation Committee, grows an Indigenous garden, and appoints a senior Year 12 prefect to an Indigenous portfolio. MLC holds annual sporting and cultural exchanges with Worowa Aboriginal College at Healesville, Victoria.[18][19]
Notable alumnae edit
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (September 2018) |
Alumnae of the Methodist Ladies' College are known as 'Old Collegians' and automatically become members of the 'MLC Old Collegians' Club' upon graduation. The club was established on 29 October 1904 for the purpose of providing an ongoing relationship between the college and its alumnae.[20]
Some notable "Old Collegians" include:
- Entertainment, media and the arts
- Alice Marian Ellen Bale – artist[21]
- Katie Bender Wynn – filmmaker[22]
- Cate Blanchett, AC – Academy Award-winning actress, director, (also attended Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School)
- Zoe Caldwell, OBE – Tony Award-winning actress[citation needed]
- Margaret Dredge, painter and printmaker[23]
- Roma Egan – child TV actress, ballet dancer and teacher
- Ada Lorna Forbes – actress[24]
- Deborra-Lee Furness – actress
- Marzena Godecki – actress
- Libbi Gorr – entertainer (also once commonly known as "Elle McFeast" working as a comedian on the major media network the Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- Tessa James – actress
- Nene King − magazine publisher, former editor and editor-in-chief of Women's Weekly and Woman's Day[25]
- Karen Knowles – singer, producer and director[25]
- Joyce Nicholson – author, political philanthropist
- Yumi Stynes – television presenter (also attended Melbourne Girls' Grammar School)
- Dora Lynnell Wilson – artist[26]
- Elizabeth Wood-Ellem – editor and biographer
- Medicine and science
- Isabel Clifton Cookson – botanist and palaeobotanist[27]
- Mary Clementina De Garis – obstetrician, second woman in Victoria to take out a Doctorate of Medicine[28]
- Hilda Estelle Kincaid – medical practitioner[29]
- Adrienne Clarke AC – botanist, Chancellor of La Trobe University, Lieutenant Governor of Victoria
- Politics and the law
- Millie Peacock – first woman elected to the Parliament of Victoria
- Nicola Roxon – Labor, federal Minister for Health, Attorney-General of Australia
- Fiona Richardson – State Labor Minister for Northcote, Minister for women and Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence
- Mary Wooldridge – State Liberal member for Doncaster, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Women's Affairs and Minister for Community Services, 2010–14
- Judith Troeth – Liberal Senator for Victoria
- Lara Giddings – Labor Premier of Tasmania
- Julia Riley – barrister, cellist
- Sport
- Alisa Camplin – aerial skier, Winter Olympiad gold medallist
- Lydia Ierodiaconou – freestyle skier, Winter Olympiad gold medallist
- Marina Cade – lightweight rower (world champion)
- Rebecca Adam – sports administrator (President of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf)[citation needed]
- Elizabeth Patrick – rowing coxswain (national champion, world champion and a dual Olympian)
- Meg Hutchins – AFLW footballer
- Mimi Hill – AFLW
- Daisy Bateman – AFLW
- Other
- Frances Gertrude Kumm (8 April 1886 – 4 June 1966) – women's activist and philanthropist
- Janet McCalman AC – social historian at University of Melbourne
- Jessie Vasey – founder, War Widows' Guild of Australia (also attended Lauriston Girls' School)[30]
- List of people on the postage stamps of Australia – Cate Blanchett, Lydia Ierodiaconou, Alisa Camplin
Controversy edit
In September 2012 the school board sacked the then principal of 15 years, Rosa Storelli, leading to calls by Storelli plus many parents and Old Collegians for the board's dismissal.[31] There were also protests outside the school by parents and students. The action by the board was made possible by changes to the school's constitution. This became a cautionary tale for other independent schools in Australia about the relationship between principals and the boards of those schools and the power-sharing relationships among the various stakeholders.[citation needed] Rosa Storelli is currently a senior academic at La Trobe University.[32]
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ Who's Who of girls' school rankings: 1.PLC Melbourne, 2.SCEGGS Darlinghurst, 3.MLC Melbourne, 4.PLC Sydney, 5.Melbourne Girls Grammar School, 6.Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, 7.North Sydney Girls High School, 8.Sydney Girls High School, 9.MLC Sydney, 10.University High School, Melbourne
References edit
- ^ MLC Vision and Mission 12 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ^ Methodist Ladies' College: Position brief 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:04-09-2007)
- ^ School Choice Victoria: Methodist Ladies' College (accessed:14-08-2007) 30 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Girls Sport Victoria: Member Schools (accessed:14-08-2007) 20 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Australian Boarding Schools' Association: Methodist Ladies College (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Junior School Heads Association of Australia (accessed:14-08-2007) 22 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (accessed:14-08-2007) 17 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:15-06-2007)
- ^ Studies in Australia: Methodist Ladies' College 29 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:04-09-2007)
- ^ "Private girls' school students and parents push to oust principal". News.com.au. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ Percival Serle (1949). "Fitchett, Henry William (1842–1928)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
- ^ Methodist Ladies' College: History 8 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:15-06-2007)
- ^ Walker, Frank (22 July 2001). "The ties that bind". Sunday Life. The Sun-Herald. p. 16. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ Methodist Ladies’ College. “History | Methodist Ladies’ College Melbourne,” 2012. https://www.mlc.vic.edu.au/about-us/history/.
- ^ "Archives » Girls Sport Victoria". Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ https://www.mlc.vic.edu.au/About-MLC/Affiliations-Partnerships
- ^ https://www.yalari.org/
- ^ "News | Methodist Ladies' College Melbourne".
- ^ "Sports Academy".
- ^ Methodist Ladies' College: Old Collegians' Club 30 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: Bale, Alice Marian Ellen (1875 - 1955) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Hall, Sandra (29 February 2016). "The Will to Fly review: inside the elite world of aerial skiing". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ^ "Margaret Dredge :: biography at :: at Design and Art Australia Online". www.daao.org.au. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: Forbes, Ada Lorna (1890 - 1976) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ a b Crikey.com.au: "Famous alumni on Latham's hit list" 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:26-04-2006)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: Wilson, Dora Lynnell (1883 - 1946) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: Cookson, Isabel Clifton (1893 - 1973) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: De Garis, Mary Clementina (1881 - 1963) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: Kincaid, Hilda Estelle (1886 - 1967) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography: Vasey, Jessie Mary (1897 - 1966) (accessed:14-08-2007)
- ^ The Australian: Sacked MLC school principal Rosa Storelli calls for school board's dismissal:Stuart Rintoul (accessed:19-09-2012)
- ^ https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/rstorelli
Further reading edit
- Zainu'ddin, A. 1982. They Dreamt of a School: a Centenary History of the Methodist Ladies' College Kew, 1882-1982. Hyland House, Melbourne. ISBN 0-908090-47-1.
External links edit
- Official website