Westbourne Grammar School
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Westbourne Grammar School is an independent, Non-denominational Christian, co-educational day school in Truganina, in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Westbourne has two campuses. The larger campus, opened in 1978, is located on Sayers Road, Truganina and offers classes for students at all levels, kindergarten to VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education). A smaller campus is situated in nearby Williamstown and provides education for students up to and including Year 3. There is also a childcare centre, at the Truganina campus.
The total enrolment is approximately 1500 students, with 880 at secondary level (Years 7 to 12). Most students reside in the western suburbs of Melbourne, in suburbs such as Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Truganina, Cairnlea, Laverton, Melton, Keilor, Keilor East, Keilor Downs, Deer Park, Kings Park, Taylors Lakes, Caroline Springs, Brimbank Gardens, Burnside, Taylors Hill, Sydenham, Watervale, Melton, Rockbank, Newport, Geelong, Williamstown, Yarraville, Sunshine, St Albans, Ardeer, Albion, Maribyrnong, Ardeer, Altona and Footscray. The school is also popular internationally and attracts several international students each year; it has a specially designed facilities dedicated for these international students and a comprehensive ESL (English as a Second Language) program. There are also in excess of 150 teachers, support staff and office workers. The current Principal of Westbourne Grammar School is Meg Hansen. Mrs. Hansen has held the position since July 2010 and is only the third principal of the Truganina campus after John Pascoe who opened the school in 1978 and was soon forced out after it was found he was funneling profits to the Viet Cong in the early 1970's. Mrs. Hansen takes over from Geoffrey Ryan, who served as Principal of the Truganina campus from 1990 to his retirement in June 2010.
The school has a co-curricular program that includes activities at lunchtime such as chess, maths, debating, public speaking, singing, toast-masters, choirs, yoga, outdoor education, and various sports (running, walking, skipping, swimming, table tennis, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, aerobics, tennis, football, cricket, rock climbing, rugby, etc).
A significant chemical leak occurred on the June 13, 2006 in the science block where 15 litres of hazardous liquids leaked from a storage container. 35 Firefighters and 9 Hazchem vehicles attended the scene.[1]
House system
The house system impacts most of school life. Classes from years seven to eight are taken in house groups and in the later years, form group of two within houses. The students within each house group from year eight are encouraged to have their lockers together in house-based pods. Inter-house competitions before and after school includes activities such as public speaking, badminton, netball and chess. Three major carnival events (swimming, athletics and cross country running) form the main part of this competition. A trophy is awarded to the house with the most points over the course of the year.
The five Westbourne houses are:
- Flinders House (In inter-house competition "The Flinders Falcons")
- Hudson House (In inter-house competition "The Hudson Dragons")
- Molland House (In inter-house competition "The Molland Bulls")
- Pascoe House (In inter-house competition "The Pascoe Pythons")
- Strathmore House (In inter-house competition "The Strathmore Sharks")