| Monterey Secondary College | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Silvertop Street , Australia | |
| Coordinates | 38°7′38″S145°8′49″E / 38.12722°S 145.14694°E /-38.12722; 145.14694 |
| Information | |
| Type | publicsecondary school |
| Motto | Strive |
| Established | 1994 |
| Principal | Peter Langham[1] |
| Gender | co-educational |
| Enrolment | 325 (approx) |
| Campus | urban and parkland |
| Colour(s) | cherry, black, white and gold |
| Website | monterey.vic.edu.au |
Monterey Secondary College is an Australianpublic,co-educational,secondary school, located in theCity of Frankston suburb ofFrankston North inMelbourne,Victoria.
Established in 1994, following the merger of Monterey High School and Monterey Technical School, the College has an enrolment of approximately 325 students and is known for itsarts,sports and studentleadership programs.[2][3][4]
The campus of the College is located in agreen belt area near to the northern boundary of the suburb ofFrankston and on the southern boundary of the suburb ofFrankston North. It is bordered to the south-east by the Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club, west by the Long Island Country Golf Club, and north-west by the Eric Bell Sports Reserve. The main entrance to the campus is to the north on Silvertop Street in Frankston North.
In addition to its four main classroom wings, the campus also has centres fordance anddrama,[2]music,[5] andscience,[6] as well as a largemulti-purpose gymnasium.[2] Its grounds are approximately 75,000 square metres (810,000 sq ft) and encompass a number ofsports pitches as well as ahobby farm.[2]
Of the two antecedent schools that merged to establish the College, Monterey High School was established in 1966 and Monterey Technical School in 1967. The schools served a growing demand forsecondary education in the suburbs ofFrankston North,Carrum Downs andSeaford. During this time, anAustralian Defence Force/Victorian Governmenthousing estate was being expanded in Frankston North,[7] a post-World War IIBrotherhood of St Laurencefarming settlement was being redeveloped in Carrum Downs,[8] and new home construction was progressing in the suburb of Seaford.
In its foundation year, 1966, the original students of Monterey High School were housed in four portable classroom buildings located at the Monterey State School in Monterey Boulevard. The campus of the High School on Forest Drive was completed in late-1966, with its students moving in at the commencement of 1967. The Technical School operated out ofportable buildings at the High School for a year while its own campus was being completed on Silvertop Street. The buildings at each school were constructed ofmixed brick andbreeze block and were connected via covered and uncovered pathways.Multi-purpose gymnasiums were constructed at each campus andbasketball andtennis courts andfootball andsoccer fields were laid on their respective grounds. Amusic centre was also constructed on the campus of the Technical School and continues to be used by the College today.[5]
By the early-1990s, attendance attechnical schools in the state ofVictoria had declined dramatically as students began to strive for academic achievement rather than for learning atrade.[9] Due to this decline, and to reduce administrative costs, theDepartment of Education decided to merge the High School and Technical School.
Following a series of consultativeparent-teacher meetings, the process of merging the schools was announced to take place between 1993 and 1995. College records state that the main concern voiced by both parents and teachers was that the merger may "incite violence" between the traditionally competitive High School and Technical School students. Some "tension" was reported between students during the merger years of the College, however, a reputation for "unruliness" was short-lived.
The new name of "Monterey Secondary College" was adopted in 1993 and was officially used from 1994. The former Technical School became the main campus (years 7–10) of the College in 1994, while the former High School was retained as a campus for senior students (years 11–12) completing theVictorian Certificate of Education during the merger years. The latter was eventually closed at the end of 1995 and has since been redeveloped into the Monterey Community Park—with acycling andwalkingtrail,playground,skate park andsports pitches now in place.[10]
In 1997, apetition was presented to theLegislative Assembly of Victoria signed by 1,879 residents ofCarrum Downs which sought action for the"construction of suitable facilities in Carrum Downs with the view of relocating Monterey Secondary College from its present location in Frankston North".[11] The petition was unsuccessful.[11] During the 2000s, thepublicCarrum Downs Secondary College and a campus of theindependent Flinders Christian Community College were eventually established in Carrum Downs to ease enrolments at Monterey Secondary College.
In the 1990s, a newmulti-purpose gymnasium was constructed with the former gymnasium then redeveloped into adance anddrama centre.[2] Its existingart studios,science labs,technology workshops andtheatrette rooms were also upgraded and ahobby farm was added to the grounds.[2] In the 2000s, eight newcomputer labs were added and itscanteen was upgraded.[3] During these decades, the College established its reputation for innovation and success inperforming andvisual arts.[3]
In the 2010s, a newA$2 millionscience centre was constructed and all its existing classroom wings were modernised in a A$4 million refurbishment.[6][12] In 2020, it established the Silvertop Sports Science Academy forelite sports training.[13]
The Monterey Art Exhibition is the College's annual studentart exhibition, which is held at theFrankston Arts Centre. A notable artist is invited to open the exhibition each year—such as Robyn Bounds andJeff Hook among others.[14][15] Since 2015, the winning artwork of the exhibition has been selected for the permanent collection oflaw firmGilbert + Tobin and displayed in their Melbourne offices.[16]
The College has a number ofschool bands, including junior and senior school bands and ajazz band, as well as other smallerinstrumental ensembles.[5] Its jazz band is considered to be one of the finest in the state ofVictoria and receives regular invitations for public performances—such asFederation Square in 2004.[5]
The College first entered in theRock Eisteddfod Challenge in 1994 with an original production based on thehistory of the car. It won the 1996Victorian Premier Division competition with a production based on theBatman comic book andmedia franchise. Controversy ensued in 1996 whenNine Network broadcast the production ofSt. Columba's College, based on the 1990s television seriesThe X-Files, instead of the winning production of Monterey Secondary College. It won the 2000 Victorian Premier Division competition with an original production based on the life of theSiberian Ice Maiden. It also produced productions based on the 1960s television seriesThe Thunderbirds and the rise of theRoman Empire before the cancellation of the Challenge in 2010.
The College has foursports houses that compete in annual whole-Collegeathletics,swimming andcross countrysports carnivals as well as other smaller inter-house competitions.[2] Its houses are named after successful College sportingalumni and are: "Bryant" (afterbadminton playerLisa Campbell (née Bryant); house colour: yellow), "Burke" (afterfootball playerNathan Burke; house colour: green), "Foster" (aftertriathleteStephen Foster; house colour: red), and "King" (aftercyclist Simon King; house colour: blue). As part of its sportsleadership program, each house is led and managed by students.[17]
The Silvertop Sport Science Academy is the College'selite sports training program.[13] The Academy develops the sporting ability andhealth sciences knowledge of students through its access to elite-levelcoaches, sportspeople and facilities.[13] Its Sports and Industry Connect program also lets students utilise partner organisations as vehicles for instruction that include: theAustralian Football League,Football Federation Victoria and theNational Rugby League.[18][19]
The College has a strong studentleadership system that has a number of internal and external programs.[3]College captains, junior and seniorschool prefects,performing arts andsportsleadership and itsstudents' representative council are internal programs focused on leadership of the College community and student life.[2][17] Its external programs include the Advance Youth Development andHigh Resolves Global Citizenship and Leadership programs which are focused on leadership at a state, national and international level.[3][4] As a Beacon Model school, it also provides leadership opportunities to students who choose to undertake theVictorian Certificate of Applied Learning through partner organisations that include:Chisholm Institute andCIMIC Group.[20]
The College established its first international exchange relationship in 2017.[29]
