Principal's Report

Open Day and Information Night

Thank you to our Girls’ Leadership Leader, Bridget Tellefson and our fantastic Public Relations Captains, Ella Jackson, Ashleigh Hammond, Mia Sherman and Junior Ambassadors for their wonderful work guiding hundreds of visitors on Open Day. Our staff and students showcased learning in action in the true MGC way of welcoming all.

Principal’s Information Night Address

"Diversity, Excellence, Teamwork, Leadership - key values the college was founded upon 22 years ago. The female President of Harvard University, Drew Faust said, “We educate women because it is smart. We educate women because it changes the world” This is was at the heart of establishing MGC 22 years ago and it stands today.

Welcome to Melbourne Girls’ College, a unique school where young women from diverse backgrounds thrive in a true community of learning. We are committed to a positive growth mindset approach to learning and look for the qualities of persistence and kindness in all of our girls. In our Wellbeing program- leadership, creativity, curiosity, problem solving, resilience and collaboration are central.

Every decision is made with a philosophy based on respect and high expectations. All members of the MGC Learning community are leaders of learning- parents, staff and our girls.

As Jennifer Westacott the Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, said in February, 2015.

“We are moving to a world where the capacity of individuals to create and innovate will be the difference between success and failure – for companies, for governments and for the individuals themselves. How we educate, train and retrain is going to be the absolute game changer in keeping countries, and the people within them productive, competitive and prosperous.’

Our STEAM leaders and teachers in the disciplines of Science, Technology, Art and Mathematics are exploring new research in their subject areas. Coding and a cute little robot called Pao purchased by our wonderful Parents’ Association will assist our girls to develop their coding skills. STEAM is really about problem based learning and using the interaction of the disciplines to teach deeper more complex learning skills.

Our commitment for girls to Lead and Achieve is very real. Many of you here tonight are exploring the possibilities and options for your daughters, seeing if Melbourne Girls’ is the right place. We see young girls arrive full of hope, promise, and a sense of the unknown at times to Year 7. Very quickly through their learning and the wealth of our programs they flourish and become true Melbourne College girls.

A short six years later we see these same girls emerge young women still full of hope and promise but equipped to take on the world in whichever sphere they choose to follow.

As educators we do not take your trust in us for granted, it is a privilege for us to work with your daughters. The school community takes pride in innovation to meet the challenges constantly emerging in our complex world and in the ethical understandings to ensure our young women gain a sense of stewardship for the environment, the future and being a positive influence on others.

We have a strong academic focus with a consistent median study score of 33, almost 34 last year - the average median for all schools is 30 / 50.

We also pride ourselves on the breadth of opportunities we provide in programs such as girls’ leadership, philanthropy, philosophy, sustainability and the environment, aerobics, rowing, dance, instrumental music, performing arts, Australian Air Force Cadets and the many international learning expeditions to China, France and New York. Not to mention the International exchange programs we auspice.

We welcome parent involvement. Sonia will speak in more detail from a parent perspective but if your family does become a part of our community we welcome your involvement on College Council, the Parents Association and our Sustainability Collective.

At Melbourne Girls’ we provide an innovative curriculum including Wellbeing, S.T.E.A.M., English, Humanities, the Arts and sport but we are a traditional school in terms of High expectations for respect, pride in the uniform, work ethic and commitment.

We see you as leaders of these expectations with us if you choose M.G.C. for your daughter.

I refer you to the pink sheet that lists all the dates of our enrolment process, for local families please list MGC as your first preference.

Enrolment in the college is:

AS ALWAYS Girls for whom we are the closest State school
The Sisters of girls who are currently here
In terms of selection of girls who are not in our designated local enrolment area we provide 50% of remaining places after local enrolment area and sisters of existing students to those who will take advantage of our STEAM programs, Science, Technology, Art and Mathematics and the remaining 50% of places to students closest to our local designated enrolment area.

For families coming from outside our designated local enrolment area we need additional information to prioritise these applications transparently and fairly. The Additional Information session will be held on Saturday 11th June. Your daughter will answer 4 questions based on her interest in science, technology, art and mathematics.

We will know true success as we see our students lead and achieve on the world stage, practising the values of teamwork and conscious of the unique lessons attending Melbourne Girls’ can bring. I look forward to the future of Melbourne Girls and to being a part of this inquiring, innovative community.

Malala Yousafzai the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner and youngest recipient of the award said, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen, can change the world."

Thank you.”

Year 7 2017 Enrolment Policy

We have been in discussions with the Department of Education and Training (D.E.T.) about enrolment policy to ensure clarity and transparency on the process for everyone. To this end the policy clarified with the Department is detailed below. I appreciate all assistance from Minister Merlino and the Department during this process.

The 2017 Melbourne Girls’ College Year 7 Enrolment Policy Please note aspects of this policy are an interim measure until the new Richmond High School opens in 2017.

Melbourne Girls’ College is committed to:

providing a clear and transparent enrolment policy for all out of area students.
providing an efficient process of enrolment that satisfies the needs of students, parents and guardians.
ensuring that every enrolling student enjoys a smooth transition, thus becoming a member of our school community with a minimum of disruption and maximum support.

It must be noted however, that all placements are subject to the availability of accommodation.

Please see: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/secondary/Pages/enrol.aspx

Students applying for placement at Melbourne Girls’ College will be enrolled in the following priority order:

Students for whom the school is the designated neighborhood government school.
Students with a sibling at the same permanent residence who are attending the school at the same time.
50% of places remaining after criteria 1 and 2 will be allocated to students seeking enrolment on specific curriculum grounds which are the study of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics – S.T.E.A.M.
Remaining places will be allocated to students in order of closeness of their permanent residence to Melbourne Girls’ College.
In exceptional circumstances, compassionate grounds

Why is S.T.E.A.M. important in a high performing State girls’ school

Creativity, problem solving and innovative thinking are essentials to future life skills. Nurturing future female leaders in S.T.E.A.M. is at the core of this curriculum. As a high performing State girls’ school we need to ensure we lead solutions to issues such as the world-wide decline in girls’ participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and the declining trend in Australian 15 year old girls’ interest and confidence in Information Technolo