Billanook College is an independent co-ed school with an early learning program through to Year 12, located in

Mooroolbark Mooroolbark is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Mooroolbark recorded a population of 23,059 at the . Moo ...

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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It operates in association with the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

(but is not governed or managed by the Church) and is a member of

Round Square Round Square is an international network of schools, based on the educational concepts of Kurt Hahn, and named after a distinctive building at Gordonstoun. Founded by a group of seven schools in the late 1960s, by 1996 it had grown to 20 member ...

. It was founded in 1980 by the founding principal Peter Harris. The college's current principal is Roger Oates. Billanook College is named after the name the local Wurundjeri people called the area, on which the college now stands. Billanook College is a member of the

Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne The Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne (EISM or EIS) are a group of twenty two independent secondary schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The schools compete against one another in sporting competitions. History The first instance o ...

. EISM member schools in the same area regularly play each other in sporting activities ranging from

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Field Hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

and

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

and

Table Tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

. Billanook College hosts the local VET Media and Music course as it has since 2004.

Facilities

The college has recently begun an ambitious building program and since 2009 have constructed several new buildings, including The Alan Ross Centre (The ARC), a 475-seat auditorium named after the college's long-serving former principal, Alan Ross, who served from 1997 to 2009. The new Junior Early Learning Centre was opened in 2010 and four new fully equipped science laboratories were also opened in mid 2010. On 28 January 2016, Billanook College opened its $1.8 million Discovery Centre building. About a year later Billanook opened the Mastery Centre for students from Year 7 to 9. They're now looking into refurbishing Senior School, and then the Performing Arts Section of the college.

Grounds

Billanook College has expansive grounds including two full sized ovals, one half size oval, a large gym, three basketball courts and a volleyball court. In conjunction with Yarra Valley winemakers Billanook College has developed its own working vineyard and Viticulture Skills Centre on the school property, which first produced 68 bottles of their first vintage in 2004.

Sport

Billanook is a member of the

(EISM).

EISM Premierships

Billanook has won the following EISM senior premierships. Combined: * Swimming (2) - 1998, 2000 Boys: * Badminton - 2013 * Basketball (4) - 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006 * Football (3) - 1998, 1999, 2003 * Handball - 2004 * Hockey - 2019 * Indoor Soccer - 2005 * Swimming (3) - 1999, 2000, 2001 * Table Tennis - 2000 * Tennis - 2005 * Volleyball (16) - 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 Girls: * Basketball (4) - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 * Cricket (2) - 2000, 2006 * Cross Country - 1999 * Football (5) - 2004, 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016 * Hockey (3) - 1998, 1999, 2000 * Indoor Cricket (6) - 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021 * Soccer (2) - 1998, 2009 * Softball (6) - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2019 * Volleyball (10) - 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020

Notable alumni

* Simon Clarke - Professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

Tony D'Alberto Antonio 'Tony' D'Alberto (born 9 December 1985) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently drives the No.11 Ford Mustang GT for Dick Johnson Racing as a co-driver in the Bathurst 1000. Racing career Formula Ford D'Alberto began ...

- Professional race car driver * Julian de Stoop - Fox Sports News AFL Correspondent *

Daniel Hargraves Daniel Hargraves (born 6 December 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and Fremantle in the Australian Football League. He was originally drafted by the Bulldogs from the Eastern Under 18 side in ...

- former AFL player for the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

and the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...

* Trent Lowe - Professional

Daniel Merriweather Daniel Paul Merriweather (born 17 February 1982) is an Australian R&B recording artist. Merriweather's debut solo album, '' Love & War'', was released in June 2009. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two. It was preceded by two sing ...

- 2005 ARIA Winner (Best Urban Release) - R&B artist - 2009 ARIA Winner (Best Male Artist) *

Damian Monkhorst Damian Monkhorst (born 21 August 1969) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Collingwood Football Club and St Kilda Football Club. During his playing career with Collingwood, Monkhorst was known as one of the league's ...

- former AFL player for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

and the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

, and current assistant coach for the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

* Stephanie Payne - Writer, blogger,

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, charity fundraiser and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

* Paul Sanderson - Australian Men's Professional Volleyball Player *

Brodie Young ''Big Brother 2002'', also known as ''Big Brother 2'', was the second season of the Australian reality television series '' Big Brother''. The season started on 8 April 2002, and ended on 1 July 2002, lasting 86 days. Big Brother 2002 was similar ...

- ''

Big Brother Australia ''Big Brother Australia'' (also known simply as ''Big Brother'') is an Australian reality show based on the international '' Big Brother'' format created by John de Mol. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show feature ...

'' contestant / Channel 9 Quizmania host, Ground Announcer at Olympic Park Stadium

References

External links

* Round Square schools Educational institutions established in 1980 Private schools in Victoria (Australia) Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools Uniting Church schools in Australia Private schools in Melbourne 1980 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the Shire of Yarra Ranges {{VictoriaAU-school-stub