The Victorian College for the Deaf (VCD), located on

St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, is Victoria's oldest deaf school, opening in 1860. The Victorian College for the Deaf is Australia's only Prep to Year 12 Specialist in Deaf Education. Education is provided using a bilingual philosophy of teaching through

Auslan Auslan () is the majority sign language of the Australian Deaf community. The term ''Auslan'' is a portmanteau of "Australian Sign Language", coined by Trevor Johnston in the 1980s, although the language itself is much older. Auslan is relate ...

, the language of the Australian

deaf community Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

, and English as the second language. It has a significant role in the history of Australian deaf culture.

History

On 16 February 1859, a letter appeared in the Melbourne Argus, appealing for help for the deaf children of the colony as there were no educational arrangements for these children. Frederick John Rose replied to the series of letters from his residency in Sandhurst (

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

) and formed a friendship with the writer Sarah Ann Lewis, whose daughter, Lucy Ann Lewis, became his first pupil. F.J. Rose was a well-educated deaf man who had come from England in 1852 and had been educated at the Old Kent Road School for the Deaf in London. Rose became deaf at the age of 6 after a bout of Scarlet Fever. On 12 November 1860 the 'Victorian Deaf and Dumb Institution' was opened by Rose at his residency in Peel Street.

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. The school numbers grew quickly within a few years and had to move three times. In 1861 to a cottage on Henry Street, Windsor, in 1862 to a house on Nelson Street, Windsor and thirdly in 1864 to Leal House on Commercial Road,

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City ...

. After the 3 moves and with numbers continuing to grow, the Committee realised that it was time for a permanent home and a specially designed building. In 1865 the Government made a grant of land on the corner of

and High Street, Prahran, and the iconic blue-stone building was built and opened in 1866. It is appropriate that the founder and first headmaster was an educated Deaf man, Rose a role model to many students. He proved that who you are never determines what you can achieve. If it wasn't for a man dreaming so boldly, thousands of Deaf Victorians would not be the better both academically and socially as the Victorian College for the Deaf continues to be the student hub of the Deaf community. Rose died on 1 December 1920 at the age of 89. He is buried in

St Kilda Cemetery St Kilda Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria. History St Kilda Cemetery covers a large block bordered by Dandenong Road, Hotham Street, Alma Road and Alexandra Street. It is bounded by a historic wall and conta ...

. Originally named Victorian Deaf and Dumb Institution, the Dumb was dropped from the name in 1949 and significantly was the first institution of its like in the world to drop the word Dumb from its title. From then onwards the school was the Victorian School for Deaf Children. Then in the year of 1995 that name was changed to Victorian College for the Deaf.

Names

* 1862 - Victorian Deaf and Dumb Institution * 1949 - Victorian School for Deaf Children (VSDC) * 1995 - Victorian College for the Deaf (VCD)

References

External links

VCD homepage
{{Authority control Schools for the deaf in Australia Educational institutions established in 1860 Public primary schools in Melbourne 1860 establishments in Australia Public high schools in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)

History

Names

See also

Further reading

References

External links