Warrnambool College is a government high school (years 7–12) in the regional town of Warrnambool in south-west Victoria, Australia.
The school now known as Warrnambool College started out in 1907 as Warrnambool Agricultural High School. After a number of changes, the school opened as Warrnambool College in 1995 after the merger of Warrnambool Secondary College and Warrnambool North Secondary College.
Warrnambool College consists of two campuses. The main campus, which comprises the majority of the school community, is located in an extensive set of school buildings on Grafton Road, near the Warrnambool racecourse. The second campus, called the WAVE school, is an alternative educational setting for students who have had difficulty fitting into mainstream education. It is located in East Warrnambool.
Houses
In 2011 Warrnambool College introduced a pastoral care system through six houses: Belfast, Childers, Flagstaff, Hopkins, Logans and Merri. These houses are named after local colonial named landmarks in the region, including the Merri and Hopkins Rivers Every year, a "celebration day" is held for each house, at different times of the year, in order to raise money for each house's charity, which are as follows:
Hopkins: Francis Foundation
Merri: Loved and Shared
Childers: Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Network
Belfast: Gillin Boys Foundation
Flagstaff: Leila Rose Foundation
Logans: Warrnambool & District Food Share
School profile
Warrnambool College hosts a campus of the Clontarf Football Academy for male indigenous students. The staffing profile for the school (as at 2014) was – principal and two assistant principals, 85 full-time-equivalent teachers and 30 full-time-equivalent education support staff.
School colours
The Warrnambool College school colours are navy blue, white and green, as displayed in the school uniform The houses that all staff and students are placed in as part of the pastoral care program have the following colours:
Belfast – Green
Childers – Yellow
Flagstaff – Red
Hopkins – Blue
Logans – Purple
Merri – Orange
Controversy
In 2024, the school was brought before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal regarding student abuse towards teachers. VCAT has found that staff at the school at the time faced up to 20 violent and sexist attacks per day and that 70 have been responsible for these incidents. The school has additionally been criticised for displaying quotes by far-right racist politician Winston Churchill and anti-semitic nationalist thinker Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Notable alumni
- Sir John Eccles, Nobel Prize–winning scientist
- Ronald Mack, politician
- Hugh McCluggage, AFL Footballer
- Joe O'Connell, AFL Footballer
- Alicia Oshlack, bioinformatician
- Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, AFL Footballer
- Jay Rantall, AFL Footballer
References
