Westbourne Grammar School

Westbourne Grammar School
Age Quod Agas (Latin for "That which you do, do well")
Location
Truganina, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°50′59″S 144°43′17″E
Information
Type	Independent, Co-educational, Day school
Denomination	Non-denominational
Established	1867
Principal	Meg Hansen
Enrolment	~1,390 (P-12)
Colour(s)	Navy blue, gold, white
Website	www.westbournegrammar.com

Westbourne Grammar School is an independent and 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 in 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, Maidstone, 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. She 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 1974. Hansen took over from Geoffrey Ryan, who served as principal of the Truganina campus from 1990 to his death in June 2010 (citation?).

The school has a co-curricular program that includes activities at lunchtime such as chess, maths debating, public speaking, karaoke, toast-masters, choirs, yoga, outdoor education, DOTA and various sports (running, walking, skipping, jumping, hopping, flying, swimming, table tennis, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, aerobics, tennis, football, cricket, rock climbing, rugby, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Thai Kick-boxing, etc.).

House system

The house system impacts most of school life. Classes in Year 7 and Year 8 are taken in house groups and, in the later years, form a group of two within houses. The students within each house group from Year 8 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 based on their performance throughout the year in these major carnival events as well as other minor events such as chess, debating and the "Brain Challenge".

The senior school houses are:

• Flinders House (In inter-house competition known as "The Flinders Falcons")Blue
• Hudson House (In inter-house competition - known as "The Hudson Dragons") Green
• Molland House (In inter-house competition - known as "The Molland Bulls") Red
• Pascoe House (In inter-house competition - known as "The Pascoe Pythons") Yellow
• Strathmore House (In inter-house competition - known as "The Strathmore Sharks") Purple
• Derrimut House (In inter-house competition - known as "The Derrimut Tigers") Orange

The Westbourne Grammar School Junior School houses are for Years 3 to 6. The inter-house sports that the junior school include 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 junior school houses are:

• Steedman House (In inter-house competition - "White")
• Miller House (In inter-house competition - "Green")
• Price House (In inter-house competition - "Red")
• Gerity House (In inter-house competition - "Blue")

School themes

Each year a different school theme is selected. Every seven years the school theme is replayed. The reason for this is that, when in Grade 7, a particular theme is used. When the once Grade 7s are in Grade 12 the same theme is selected again. The official school themes (not used for inter-house singing or selected as the others are):

• "I walk alone"
• "My Immortal"
• "Sing Hallelujah, Sing It (Sing Hallelujah)"
• "Here without you"
• "O come all ye faithful"
• "Jar of hearts"
• "Shackles (praise you)"
• "One day we're gonna get so High"

The 2011 song was "I walk alone"

See also

• List of schools in Victoria
• List of high schools in Victoria
• Victorian Certificate of Education

External links

• Westbourne Grammar School website