- Methodist Ladies' College, Perth
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For other schools of the same name, see Methodist Ladies' College (disambiguation).
Methodist Ladies' College, Perth 
Latin: Per Ardua Ad AltaStrive for the HighestLocation Claremont, WA, Australia Coordinates 31°59′12″S 115°46′30″E / 31.98667°S 115.775°ECoordinates: 31°59′12″S 115°46′30″E / 31.98667°S 115.775°E Information Type Independent, Single-sex, Day and Boarding Denomination Uniting Church Established 1907 Chairman Ann Zubrick Principal Rebecca Cody Enrollment ~1,000 (K–12)[1] Colour(s) Green and Gold Website www.mlc.wa.edu.au The Methodist Ladies' College, Perth (MLC Perth), is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for girls, located in Claremont, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Founded by the Methodist Church of Australia in 1907, MLC is a non-selective school, and currently caters for over 1,000 girls from Kindergarten to Year 12, including 70 boarders.[2]
The college was ranked as the number one TEE school in the state for 2006 and 2008[3] seeing 55.1 percent of students achieving a mark of seventy five percent or above in at least one subject.[4]
Contents
History
The foundation stone of the Methodist Ladies' College was laid, and building began in 1907, by the Methodist Church of Australia. Classes were first commenced in February 1908 with 31 day girls and 23 boarders.
The early traditions of the College were established by Maud Connell, Head Mistress from 1908 to 1913, who chose the colours of green and gold, and the school motto Per Ardua Ad Alta, which may be translated from Latin as "Strive for the Highest". In 1917, MLC's first university students graduated from the University of Western Australia, which had begun teaching in 1913.[5]
MLC became a school of the Uniting Church of Australia in the 1970s, as the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches came together to form the Uniting Church.
House system
As with most Australian schools, MLC utilises a house system through which girls participate in inter-house activities. When the house system first came into effect in June 1927, there were four houses: Athens, Rome, Sparta and Troy. In 1967, two more houses were added, Corinth and Olympia. Each house is named after a famous European city.
- Athens – Green
- Corinth – Purple
- Olympia – White
- Rome – Red
- Sparta – Gold
- Troy – Blue
Annual house events include:
- House Singing, Mime and Drama Day (HSMD), in which every girl competes in at least one activity for their house.
- A choir performance conducted by two Year 12 students. Each house performs one song chosen by the conductresses. Part of HSMD.
- A mime performance for students in Years 7, 8 and 9, directed by two Year 11 students. Part of HSMD.
- A drama performance for Years 10, 11 and 12 students, directed by two students from Year 12. Part of HSMD.
- Interhouse Sports – Throughout the year the students participate in many sporting activities for their house, such as swimming in term 1, and athletics in term 2.
A new initiative in 2010 is The Spirit Cape. In all house events, houses will also compete for the Spirit Cape with it being awarded to the house the shows the most spirit over the course of the day. At the end of the year, one house will be awarded the Spirit Cape for the showing the most year long house spirit. In 2010, Athens won the inaugural year long spirit cape.
Annual events
MLC holds a large number of events annually for sports and the arts, including:
- The Heather Lamont Festival, named after Heather Lamont, a boarder from 1958–1959, who was killed in an accident on her parent's farm during the Christmas holidays. It became a house competition featuring activities such as singing, dancing, music, Languages; French, German and Japanese, cooking, photography, visual art, debating, public speaking and drama.
- College Sunday, a church service held in late March for all students and their families. Attendants wear white and there are performances from different groups in the college.
Notable alumnae
Alumnae of MLC are known as Collegians.[6] Some notable Collegians include:
- Entertainment, media and the arts
- Jill Birt – Keyboard player for The Triffids
- Estelle Blackburn – Award-winning journalist
- Isla Fisher – Actress in television show Home and Away and film Wedding Crashers and Confessions of a Shopaholic. She married Sacha Baron Cohen on 15 March 2010, in Paris. Fisher and Baron Cohen have a daughter, Olive, born 19 October 2007, in Los Angeles.
- Trilby Glover – Actress in television show The Starter Wife
- Dorothy Hollingsworth – Creator and presenter (known as 'Miss Fleming') of ABC Radio series Let’s Join In from 1951–1989[7]
- Rose Skinner – Art-dealer[8]
- Medicine and science
- Freda Jacob – Founder of the Independent Living Centre of Western Australia[7]
- Marjorie Jean Lyon – Surgeon and Prisoner of war[9]
- Politics, public service and the law
- Chris McDiven – Federal President of the Liberal Party of Australia (also attended Penrhos College, Perth)[10]
- Lisa Scaffidi – Lord Mayor of Perth
- Sport
- Elise Rechichi – Olympic Sailor 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
- Allana Slater – Olympic Gymnast 2000 Sydney Olympic Games
See also
- List of schools in Perth, Western Australia
- List of boarding schools
References
- ^ "About Methodist Ladies' College". http://www.mlc.wa.edu.au/view/about-methodist-ladies-college/about-methodist-ladies-college/. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ "Welcome from Our Director of Boarding". http://www.mlc.wa.edu.au/view/boarding/. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Hiatt, Bethany (5 January 2007). "Girls win battle of the sexes 2006 TOP 20". The West Australian (West Australian Newspapers Limited): p. 11.
- ^ Staff writer (5 January 2007). "How your school performed in 2006". The West Australian (West Australian Newspapers Limited): p. 4 (League tables lift-out).
- ^ MLC 100- Timeline (accessed:27-05-2007)
- ^ MLC Perth- Collegians (accessed:27-05-2007)
- ^ a b MLC 100 Retrospective (accessed:27-05-2007)
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography (2002). [1].
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography (2000). [2].
- ^ Suzannah Pearce, ed (17 November 2006). "McDIVEN (Chris) Christine Ann". Who's Who in Business Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
External links
Members of the Independent Girls Schools Sports Association, Western Australia Iona · M.L.C · Penrhos · Perth College · P.L.C · Santa Maria · St Hilda's · St Mary's
Categories:- Girls' schools in Australia
- Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools in Western Australia
- Boarding schools in Western Australia
- Educational institutions established in 1907
- Methodist schools
- Uniting Church schools in Australia
- Methodism in Australia
- Private schools in Western Australia
- High schools in Western Australia
- Schools in Perth, Western Australia
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