Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), is a government-funded

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

selective and specialist secondary

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compa ...

, with speciality in the performing and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

, located within the

Melbourne Arts Precinct The Melbourne Arts Precinct is home to a series of galleries, performing arts venues and spaces located in the Southbank district of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. It includes such publicly-funded venues as Arts Centre Melbourne, National ...

in Southbank,

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. Founded in 1978, VCASS teaches students from

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

to Year 12; and has an enrolment of 370 students. Students are accepted after annual auditions and interviews. All students share academic subjects, but follow either a specialised dance, music, theatre arts or visual arts training program for half the day. The school also provides academic classes to secondary students from other institutions including the Australian Ballet School, and Gymnastics Victoria.

History

Instigated by the former tertiary institution

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

(VCA), as a separate and complementary institution, VCASS was founded in 1978 by

Lenton Parr Thomas Lenton Parr AM (11 September 1924 – 8 August 2003) was an Australian sculptor and teacher . Sculptor Born in East Coburg, Victoria, Lenton Parr spent eight years in the Royal Australian Air Force (Svc No. A33223) before enrolling to st ...

and Jack Pitt (as the Victorian College of the Arts Technical School - VCATS). This was the same year that the tertiary VCA commenced its dance faculty, and VCATS was conceived as a preparatory school for the tertiary dance and music courses. In 1981 the name was changed to VCASS. For most of its history VCASS shared its campus and buildings with the tertiary VCA at 234 St Kilda Road, but in June 2009 moved to new purpose built premises at 57 Miles Street, Southbank. The Dance and Music specialist programs run in parallel from Year 7 to 12. In 2013 the school added a Year 11 intake for its Visual Arts program. In 2016 a new Theatre Arts program commenced with a Year 11 intake.

Academics

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (often abbreviated VCE) is one credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria. The VCE is the predominant choice for students ...

(VCE) studies offered by the school:
Art, Biology, Chemistry, Dance, Drama, English, English (EAL), French, Further Mathematics, General Mathematics, Health and Human Development, History: 20th Century (1900-1945), History: 20th Century (since 1945), History: Revolutions, Literature, Mathematical Methods (CAS), Media, Music Investigation, Music Performance, Music Style and Composition, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Studio Arts and Theatre Arts. Some students study additional languages via Distance Education Victoria, such as Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, German or Spanish. In 2011, the VCE median study score was 34, and 27 percent of students achieved a study score above 40.

Notable alumni

Zoë Black Zoë Black is an Australian violin player. She plays with Australian Chamber Orchestra and is a recitalist and soloist. Black has worked extensively with pianist and composer Joe Chindamo. Together they were nominated for the 2014 and 2016 ARI ...

violinist *

Rebecca Chambers is a character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was first introduced as a supporting character in the original ''Resident Evil'' (1996) and became pla ...

pianist, 1995 Young Australian of the Year * Aaron Choulaipianist, composer *

Natalie Gauci Natalie Rose Gauci (born 26 November 1981) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. Gauci undertook music tuition at the Victorian College of the Arts, formed her own band that played gigs in Melbourne, while also working as a music tea ...

vocalist * Aura Gopianist * Greg Horsmandancer and choreographer, former principal

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

and Senior Principal

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

Charlotte Nicdao Charlotte Nicdao (born 14 August 1991) is an Australian actress and composer. She is known for her roles as Jackie Lee in the Nine Network series '' A gURLs wURLd'' (2010–2011) and Poppy Li in the Apple TV+ comedy ''Mythic Quest'' (2020–). ...

actorhttp://feminartsy-com.dreamhosters.com/value-your-work-a-conversation-with-charlotte-nicdao/ *

Marshall McGuire Marshall McGuire (born 1965) is an Australian harpist, teacher, conductor and musical administrator. He has been described as the world's greatest champion of new music for the harp. Biography McGuire was born in Melbourne in 1965. His interest ...

harpist * Patrick Savagefilm composer and former principal first violin with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

References

External links

* {{authority control Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School Dance education in Australia Educational institutions established in 1978 Music schools in Australia Performing arts education in Australia Public high schools in Melbourne Schools of the performing arts in Australia Selective schools in Victoria (Australia) Southbank, Victoria Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)

History

Academics

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links