Ballarat High School

Ballarat High School is a government secondary school located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The school was opened in 1907 as an agricultural college before transitioning to an academic focus in 1925.

History

The school moved from its initial location in the Ballarat central business district to its present site in Sturt Street West, Ballarat in 1910. As part of the agricultural focus of the school, students and staff undertook the building of sheds around a central three-storey red brick building. A large concrete silo was also built and remains next to the existing school grounds and is listed on Heritage Council of Victoria's register.

Of particular significance within the main building is Peacock Hall, named after Sir Alexander Peacock (a former Premier of Victoria). The hall is located on the second floor and features large stain glass windows across both ends of the hall. Honour boards listing students who served in World War I are mounted across the front of the hall, along with boards listing school captains, school council chairs, and school dux. A large mural dedicated to those who served in World War I is also within the hall. A major renovation of the original building was undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with its main role now being the housing of the school's administration with a limited number of classrooms.

Sports

Since 1996, the School has been a Specialist Sport School and is a member of the Ballarat Public Schools' Association. Students represent the school in a range of sports across all year levels including athetics, Australian rules football, rowing, tennis, basketball, netball, Field hockey, and cricket.

Music

Ballarat High School has a number of student bands, including the Concert Band and two stage bands; The Whizbang and BoB bands. Performances are frequently shown throughout the year to a range of audiences, with the BoB band performing at a Cabaret once every year and both stage bands performing at the quarterly whole school assemblies. Both the Concert and Whizbang bands release an annual CD made possible by Right Click Records, a local recording company. Ballarat High School has many successful artists come out of it such as Hunting Grounds, Neon Love, Dark Arts, Bel Air, HABIT and Good Wives.

Notable alumni

• Edgar James Bartrop,^[5] businessman and community leader
• Collis Birmingham, Australian representative to the 2012 Olympics in athletics^[6]
• Geoffrey Blainey, Professor of History at the University of Melbourne and Chair of Australian Studies, Harvard University
• Sir William Bridgeford, soldier, Royal Military College, Duntroon graduate and C.E.O. of the organising committee for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games
• Wilfred Burchett,^[7] journalist with the London Financial Times and the New York National Guardian and accused Soviet KGB spy
• James Stuart Campbell,^[8] actor
• Lieutenant Arthur Herbert Curwen-Walker,^[9] soldier, Royal Military College, Duntroon graduate and related to Ballarat law firm, Curwen-Walker, Solicitors
• Harry Leslie Ewen Dunkley,^[10] soldier, Military Cross recipient and schoolmaster at Geelong College
• Francis Gordon Elford,^[11] ornithologist at the National Museum of Victoria and deputy registrar of University of Melbourne
• The Hon. Tom Evans MLA,^[12] businessman and Member of Parliament
• Frank Lionel Fitzpatrick,^[13] soldier, businessman and president of the Australian Institute of Management
• William Charles Groves,^[14] anthropologist and educationist, Director of Education in Papua-New Guinea and fellow of the Australian National Research Council
• The Very Revd William Hewitson,^[15] Professor of English Bible and Practical Training, University of Otago and minister of the Presbyterian Church
• Surgeon Rear Admiral Lionel Lockwood CBE MVO DSC FRACP FACMA RAN,^[16] Medical Director-General to the RAN, Honorary Surgeon to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II and VFL footballer with the Melbourne University Football Club
• Sir Kenneth Luke, businessman and president of the Carlton Football Club and the Victorian Football League and inductee of the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996
• William Bowie MacDonald,^[17] medical practitioner and lecturer in paediatrics, Harvard Medical School
• Jared Tallent - Australian representative to the 2012 Olympics in athletics^[18]
• Wes Walters,^[19] artist and Archibald Prize winner
• Robert Norman Wardle,^[20] veterinarian and director of the Division of Veterinary Hygiene, Commonwealth Department of Health, Australia

See also

• List of schools in Ballarat
• List of schools in Victoria, Australia
• List of high schools in Victoria

References

External links

• Ballarat High School website