Girls, Empowerment and Education: A History of The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School 1905–2005 A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Pauline F Parker T.P.T.C., Dip. Ed., B. Ed., B.Arts (Hons). School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning Portfolio RMIT University November 2006 Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; and, any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged. Pauline F Parker 25 November 2006 ii Acknowledgements There are many people who supported me selflessly and enthusiastically throughout this research project, and without them I wonder whether I would have found the courage and strength to complete the history. Imagine being informed a year into the project that your postgraduate student has been diagnosed with cancer, and, three years later, that her partner of thirty years has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, dying six weeks later. It takes special people to cope with such unexpected events. In many ways my personal experience interacted with my research as I sought to understand others’ lives, and the meanings they gave to their experience and memories of experience. I am deeply grateful for every experience during the past four years. To Pavla Miller and Judith Smart, the most outstanding of supervisors, I extend my sincere appreciation for all they gave me during my postgraduate years. They are wonderful, patient and persistent teachers. They never gave up on me, even when they had to continue to read my drafts when they were overseas. Their wise and gentle encouragement kept me going and it has been a privilege to be their student. Sue Sherson (Terry) and Jessie Clark (Tilbrook) from Mac.Rob also inspired and encouraged me, year after year. Their support and assistance with many aspects of the project are deeply valued, as are they—inspiring and empowering women. To Heather Gunn (Fairlie) who assisted with aspects of the archival research, and to Jill Smith who transcribed most of the interviews and oral histories, thankyou for work conscientiously and brilliantly done. Mac.Rob has many women who supported the project in many ways. To them and to those who generously contributed their narratives, letters, photographs and school records—thank you. To my beautiful, exceptional daughters, Kate and Erin, my dear sister Margaret who looked after me, and continues to do so, and my new, and first, grandchild, Chloe Harrington, who inspires me in her very existence—thank you for your love, faith and patience. To Jesse Harrington, who is in many ways the ideal son to me, gratia amigo. My bother, Peter, provided me with much needed grounding and humour, and my sister Ros came when needed—thank you for your thoughtfulness. Jenny Kloester, Barbara Kosic and Tara McKinty constantly reminded me what friendship and courage are all about and they have been a significant and enduring part of my research experience. iii The library staff at RMIT and Deakin Universities provided wonderful support, as did Barwon Booksellers in locating school histories for me to purchase. My fellow postgraduate students in the School of Social Science and Planning at RMIT gave me time, laughter and the benefit of philosophical discussions that helped me to gain confidence and coherence. My thanks also to the RMIT staff who support the postgraduates at RMIT so efficiently. Pauline F. Parker iv Table of contents page Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents v Summary 1 Melbourne Girls’ High School Speech Night 1955 2 Melbourne Continuation School students at Werribee Gorge 3 Abbreviations 4 Foreword: Introducing Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School 5 Chapter One : Writing a history of Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School 6 Chapter Two: From the Melbourne Continuation School/Melbourne High School to Melbourne Girls’ High School 28 Chapter Three: Sites, Struggles and Survival 65 Chapter Four : Inventing Traditions and Making Histories 98 v Chapter Five : Women and Headship at Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School 1927–1965 134 Chapter Six : Heading Mac.Rob 1966–2005 181 Chapter Seven : Being a Girl, Being a Mac.Rob Girl 230 Conclusion : 1. The Meaning of Mac.Rob 280 2. Identity 284 3. Success and failure 290 4. Mac.Rob in the Victorian education landscape 292 Bibliography 296 Appendix 1 : MCS Examination Results—Melbourne University 1906–1921. 326 Appendix 2: Adelaide Visit 1969. 327 Appendix 3: Educational and Professional Opportunity as Measured 328 by the Distribution of University Degrees. Academic Origins of Graduates, University of Melbourne, 1939. Appendix 4 : Student Transfers at Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, 329 1985–93. Appendix 5: Destinations of year 12 students 330 Appendix 6: School Song 331 Appendix 7: School Song—Vale 332 Appendix 8: Mission Statement—School Motto—Guiding Values 333 vi Summary Despite the considerable significance of publicly funded education in the making of Australian society, state school histories are few in number. In comparison, most corporate and private schools have cemented their sense of community and tradition through full-length publications. To redress this imbalance, the Australian Research Council provided funding to enable the history of Victoria’s only selective state high school for girls, The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, to be written. The history of the school is important in itself, because it can trace its origins back to 1905, to the beginnings of state secondary education when the Melbourne Continuation School (MCS), later Melbourne High School (MHS) was established. For this reason, the history project enjoyed the firm and enthusiastic support of the school community, the Department of Education and Training (DE&T) and RMIT University. But the project also had wider significance: it could trace strands of the development of girls’ education in Victoria, thus examining the significance and dynamics of single-sex schooling, the education of girls more generally, and, importantly, girls’ own experiences (and memories of experiences) of secondary schooling, as well as the meaning they made of those experiences. Since it is now recognised that there are substantial state, regional and other differences between schools and their local communities, studies of individual schools are needed to underpin more general overviews of particular issues. ‘Girls, Education and Empowerment: A History of The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School 1905–2005’, departs from traditional models of school history writing that tend to focus on the decision-makers and bureaucrats in education as well as documenting the most ‘successful’ former students who have made their mark in the world. Drawing on numerous narrative sources and documentary evidence, this history is organised thematically to contextualise and examine what is was like, and meant, to be a girl at this school (Melbourne Continuation School 1905–12; Melbourne High School 1912–27; Melbourne Girls’ High School 1927–34, and Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School from 1934) during a century of immense social, economic, political and educational change. 1 Speech night 1955 at the Melbourne Town Hall 2 Melbourne Continuation School students at Werribee Gorge 1907 3 Abbreviations ANZHES Australia and New Zealand History of Education Society BRW Business Review Weekly CEGGS Church of England Girls’ Grammar School DP Deputy Principal HSC Higher School Certificate IASTV Incorporated Association of Secondary School Teachers of Victoria Mac.Rob Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School ‘Matric’ Matriculation MLC Methodist Ladies’ College MCS Melbourne Continuation School MGHS Melbourne Girls’ High School MHS Melbourne High School MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly MLC Methodist Ladies’ College MPI Minister of Public Instruction PLC Presbyterian Ladies’ College RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMPI Report of the Minister of Public Instruction SMH Sydney Morning Herald SRC Students’ Representative Council TER Tertiary Entrance Ranking UK United Kingdom VCE Victorian Certificate of Education VHSTA Victorian High School Teachers’ Association VP Vice Principal VPD Victorian Parliamentary Debates VPP Victorian Parliamentary Papers VPRS Victorian Public Record Series 4 Foreword Introducing Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School Situated in the affluent, leafy suburb of Albert Park, nestled between Port Phillip Bay and one of Melbourne’s busiest arterial roads, Kings Way, is Victoria’s only selective-entry state high school for girls, The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School (Mac.Rob). This school can trace its origins back to 1905 to the opening of the Melbourne Continuation School (MCS) in Spring Street— Victoria’s first state post-elementary school, renamed Melbourne High School (MHS) in 1912. Melbourne High School split along gender lines in 1927 and two single-sex schools were created—Melbourne Girls’ High School (MGHS) and Melbourne Boys’ High School (MBHS). In 1934, following years of uncertainty about their future, the girls finally found a permanent home on the present site. A new school came at a price, however, and it was controversially renamed The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School to honour its benefactor, Sir Macpherson Robertson, in recognition of his timely £100,000 gift to the state, £40,000 of which went to build Mac.Rob, as Sir Macpherson stipulated. Mac.Rob is a prominent school often publicly and privately thought about, and discussed, in the same light as the most prestigious private and corporate schools for girls in Victoria. The prestige it enjoys accrues particularly from the academic success of its students. Mac.Rob is currently Victoria’s most successful secondary school (state or independent) at the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examinations, a position it has held for the past three years .