Mentone Grammar School
Template:Infobox Aust school private
Mentone Grammar School (formerly known as simply The Boys' Grammar in the local community) is an independent, Anglican co-educational grammar school in Mentone, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
History
Founded in 1923, Mentone Grammar remained a boys only school until 2006. Prior to this the school hierarchy announced in July 2005 its co-educational intent after a merger proposal put forth by a the Board of Management but this was rejected by nearby Mentone Girls' Grammar School, its sister school.[citation needed]
The School has adopted a parallel learning approach, where boys and girls are placed together from Kindergarten-Grade 4 and from Grade 5-Year 9 the two are separate, and in the VCE years, Years 10-12, there are mixed classes again.[citation needed]
In 2006 Mentone Grammar had 161 female students, out of a total of 977 students.[citation needed]
Cadet Unit
The Mentone Grammar School Cadet Unit is an Australian Army Cadets Unit based in the school, founded in 1943. It once had a strength of nearly 400, due to the compulsory nature of service from halfway through Year Eight to halfway through Year Eleven. This made it one of the biggest Cadet units in Australia.[citation needed] However the emphasis once placed on the cadet unit is no longer fostered. The AAC Training Management Package (TMP) is not completed within the training sessions.[citation needed] This is due to time shortages with reduced time made available and frequency of sessions. Participation remains compulsory for Year Nine, but this is insufficient for TMP completion.[citation needed]
Criticism
The school Board of Management has recently come under a lot of criticism for its excessive spending and venture into "financing capital works: the swimming pool, library, a big sports centre"[1][2]. The school, for the first time, has plunged into substantial debt despite increasing fees and receiving huge government surpluses.
Sport
The Year 2008 has seen Mentone lure past star sportsmen back to the school to coach winter sports teams. An initiative developed by new sportsmaster Andrew Hayes, the idea has already led to success in the winter sport teams, an are where Mentone have struggled against the traditionally stronger PEGS, Assumption (soccer and Aussie Rules) and Camberwell (hockey). Recent school sportmen including Daniel Hull, Matthew Beau Appleby and Adam Ong have improved the younger year levels' soccer teams, and Mentone are now showing greater competitiveness towards the powerhouses"[3]
Notable Students, Teachers & Alumni
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- Gary Colling, former Australian rules football player for St. Kilda Football Club
- Shane Warne, former Australian cricketer
- Mal Walden, co-anchor of Melbourne's Channel 10 News at 5
- Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun columnist
- Bill Granger, restaurateur and food writer
- Simon Storey, soccer player for Melbourne Victory and Partick Thistle
- Russell Hitchcock, lead singer of soft rock duo Air Supply
- Dav Whatmore, former Australian cricketer
- Andrew Ilie, former Australian tennis player
- Peter Russo, former Australian rules football for Hawthorn Football Club
- Leigh Fisher, Australian rules football player for St. Kilda Football Club
- Rod Owen, former Australian rules football player for Melbourne Football Club, Brisbane Bears Football Club and St. Kilda Football Club
- Craig Mottram, world champion middle/long distance athlete
- Robert Gillman Allen Jackson, former United Nations administrator
References
See also
External links
- Anglican schools in Australia
- Private schools in Victoria (Australia)
- Schools in Melbourne
- High schools in Victoria (Australia)
- Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV)
- Educational institutions established in 1923
- Members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
- Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools