Mount Clear College, formerly known as Mount Clear Secondary College and Mount Clear Technical High School, is a public high school in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

, Victoria, Australia. It was established after two secondary colleges, Ballarat Boys' Technical School and Ballarat Girls' High School amalgamated in 1981. The college is located in Mount Clear, from Ballarat's central business district.

History

Ballarat Technical School was founded as a boys' school in 1913, and was officially opened in July 1915 by Sir Alexander Peacock. In 1976, following the successful amalgamation of the Ballarat Technical School and the Ballarat Girls' High School (est. 1951), Mount Clear Technical High School opened as a school for years 7 to 10 students. Both of those schools had a rich tradition that started in 1874. The Technical school, known as ”Central Tech", was located in Lydiard St South in the CBD and the High School, known as the "Girls School", was located in Barkly Street, Ballarat East. In 1977 four mini schools were established. One was for students at the Lydiard Street campus. It was known as Lalor Mini School. Students at the old Girls High site were part of the Barkly Mini School. In that year all new year 7 students were based at the Mount Clear campus. Two new mini schools, Canadian and Currawong were also added. In October 1981, a new building designed around the concept of the mini schools was completed. Students from Lalor Mini School were the first to move into the new building. By the end of that year all students had moved to the new site which was immediately to the east of the Mount Clear Recreation Reserve and just north of the former Mount Clear Railway Station. In the mid-1980s, in response to school community concerns, year 11 and 12 began to be taught at the school. The names of the mini schools have been retained in the forms of the house names, and on the logo. In 2002 the official name of Mount Clear College was adopted.

Curriculum

The school focuses on the eight Key Learning Areas: English, Creative and Performing Arts, Health and Physical Education, Languages, Science, Mathematics, Studies of Society & Environment, and Technology. The college offers Japanese or Chinese to students from Year 7 to 12. In the final years students complete VCE, VET or

VCAL The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a 'hands-on' option for students in Years 10, 11, and 12 and is a credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian State of Victoria s ...

. Students in Year 6 can apply for the

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

Program (Select Entry Accelerated Learning).

Houses

* Barkly – named for Barkly Street, the former site of Ballarat Girls' School, now a campus of

Ballarat Secondary College Ballarat Secondary College is a multi-campus college, formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of three existing secondary colleges. The college now comprises two campuses, Woodman's Hill and Mount Rowan, each having different uniforms, crests and adm ...

* Canadian – named for the Ballarat suburb of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

* Currawong – named for the

Currawong Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Strepera'' in the family Artamidae native to Australia. These are the grey currawong (''Strepera versicolor''), pied currawong (''S. graculina''), and black ...

, an Australian bird * Lalor – named for Australian outlaw and politician

Peter Lalor Peter Fintan Lalor (; 5 February 1827 – 9 February 1889) was an Irish-Australian rebel and, later, politician who rose to fame for his leading role in the Eureka Rebellion, an event identified with the "birth of democracy" in Australia. ...

Sport

MCC is a member of the Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS).

BAS premierships

MCC has won the following BAS premierships. Boys: * Badminton (2) - 2016, 2017 Girls: * Badminton - 2015 * Basketball - 1977 * Volleyball (2) - 1976, 1977

Alumni

Darren Cheeseman Darren Leicester Cheeseman (born 8 June 1976) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2018, representing the seat of South Barwon. He previously held the federal seat of ...

, former Member of the Australian Parliament for the

Division of Corangamite The Division of Corangamite is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for Lake Co ...

* Jamie McDonald, Australian media personality *

Dan Golding Daniel "Dan" Golding is an Australian writer, composer, broadcaster, and academic. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and is currently a lecturer in media and communication at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Austral ...

, writer, composer, broadcaster, and academic

External links

Mount Clear College website

References

{{BAS Schools Public high schools in Victoria (Australia) Educational institutions established in 1981 Ballarat Associated Schools Schools in Ballarat 1981 establishments in Australia