Collingwood College, Victoria

For schools of similar names, see Collingwood#Educational institutions.

Collingwood College is an internationally accredited government school located in the inner-city suburb of Collingwood, close to the Melbourne CBD. The school's main campus is near Hoddle Street, on the corner of Cromwell Street and McCutcheon Way. The College has two annexes, the Alternative school in Collingwood, and The Island which provide VET programs and alternative education for students who may not ordinarily complete their high school education.

The College teaches students from Prep to Year 12 living in the surrounding suburbs, and from many other areas of the city, and provides excellent educational facilities and a safe and friendly learning environment.

Progressive, student-centred teaching and learning approaches at primary and secondary level are offered, including VCE and Design options for senior students. The College is well-known as the pioneer school for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program.

Alternative education streams

In 1999, Collingwood College took on a free Steiner stream of education in addition to the normal Victorian state school stream. The Steiner stream is offered from Prep to Year 10, after which all students take the standard Year 11 and 12 for the Victorian Certificate of Education. The College also runs a Reggio Emilia inspired program for Prep to Year 5. In January 2006, the College had a student body of 550 pupils.

The school received mentions in local newspaper The Melbourne Times for being the home of the first Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, and began to offer the Hands On Learning program to students in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Teaching structure

Although all of the students share the same facilities, the main campus of the Collingwood College is divided for teaching purposes into a Junior school for Prep to Year 5, a Middle school for Years 6 to 8 and a Senior school for Years 9 to 12.

The school has good enrolments in the Junior school and lower enrolment levels in some Middle and Senior classes. In the Senior school there are generally two classes at each year level, one mainstream and one Steiner. These combine in a 'Steiner-friendly' VCE, which is also shared with Fitzroy High School to provide a wide selection of subjects. In 2007 and 2008 the median Year 12 subject score of students at Collingwood College was 9% above that expected for the socio-economic background of each group.

History

A school was first built on the Collingwood College site in 1882. In 1915 a girls domestic arts school was incorporated into Collingwood Vere Street No 2462 as it was then known. The current manifestation of Collingwood College came about in the 1970s when the school was transformed into a prep–12 campus and rebuilt to accommodate the shift. At the time it was considered "leading edge" in-terms-of revolutionary state schooling in Victoria. A history of Collingwood College is currently^[when?] being written with the aim of completion by September 2007 to coincide with the 125 anniversary celebrations of the school's opening in October of the same year.

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program

First established in 2001, each week 180 children in Grades 3 to 6 spend forty minutes in the large organic vegetable garden which they helped to design and build, and now maintain, on the school grounds.

The children also spend one and a half hours each week in the College kitchen preparing and sharing a meals created from their produce. The program operates with two part-time staff, a gardener and a cook, and many dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers.

In the kitchen and garden the children work in small groups with the support of volunteers and under the supervision of a specialist and a classroom teacher.

Many schools have established gardens in their grounds. At Collingwood the emphasis is on learning about food and about eating it.

The garden grows food that is then harvested, cooked, served and enjoyed by the children.

Future of Collingwood College

In 2007 Collingwood College and Fitzroy High School will share some VCE and Year 10 subjects across both campuses. It is estimated that the combined Year 10–12 student body from both schools will comprise 300 students in 2009. The Schools will specialise in teaching design and multimedia. Victorian Education Minister Lynne Kosky promised "substantial funding for the two schools" for construction of new class rooms and facilities for the senior students when she announced the partnership in a media release on 15 December 2005.[1]

See also

• Education in Australia

External links

• Collingwood College website

Coordinates: 37°47′59″S 144°59′11″E / 37.79972°S 144.98639°E / -37.79972; 144.98639