Welcome to Geelong High School’s website. Here you will find key information about the school for current and prospective students and parents and for interested visitors.
About Us
Geelong High School is the oldest government secondary school in Geelong. Founded in 1910 the school has a long history of providing high quality education to students from the Geelong and Bellarine region.
We pride ourselves on being inclusive rather than exclusive. Students come from over 40 different primary schools to attend Geelong High School.
We have an existing alumni organisation, the Silver Gulls, and are part of the expanding our school alumni network. The last three years have seen the school transformed through a $25million rebuild project. The result is stunning, state-of-the-art learning spaces including new facilities in dance, music, arts, administration, IT, Canteen, VCE and systems technology. Alumni, parents and friends are welcome any time to drop in and check out our new facilities.
2023 School Captains
William Bibby (Vice-Captain) Mariele Go (Captain) Davin Reid (Principal) Alexander Aidt (Captain) Harrison Jones (Vice-Captain)
Our Vision & values
Our vision is that we are a positive and creative learning community that embraces its history and prepares students for life.
Our values are: RESPECT
Respect, Effort, Service, Positivity, Excellence, Creativity and Teamwork.
Democratic Principles
At Geelong High School our curriculum programs and teaching are designed to prepare students for life and is delivered in a manner that supports and promotes the principles and practice of Australian democracy, including a commitment to elected government; the rule of law; equal rights for all before the law; freedom of religion; freedom of speech and association, and the values of openness and tolerance.
Positive Education
At Geelong High School we pride ourselves on having a safe, calm and orderly environment which is a pre-condition for focused learning. A key feature of the school is our Positive Education initiative. Pos. Ed. is taught explicitly at all year levels and seeks to build on each individual’s character strengths and to promote a growth mindset particularly in relation to learning. Geelong High School was the first government secondary school in Victoria to introduce Positive Education as an integrated program. Recognizing that mental health is a significant issue amongst our young people, Positive Education provides tools and skills for all students to manage challenging situations in their lives and set them up to flourish. Having a positive (growth) mindset is a skill that can be learned and therefore, taught. We work hard to create a culture where students are reflective.
We strongly believe that the key to a happy and successful education is the quality of the relationships that are formed between all members of the school community. We see learning as a shared and collaborative process with parents, teachers and the broader community working together with students to achieve desired outcomes.
Linked to our Pos. Ed. Program is our Community Service program which has the aim of every student completing 10 hours of community service annually. Students completing 25 hours receive a bronze award, 50 hours a silver award and 100 hours a gold award which is presented at our annual awards evening.
House System & Wellbeing
To ensure that students feel connected and supported at school we have a house system. The house system is a pillar of the school. On enrolment each student is assigned to a house. If older siblings have been at the school then this will be the same house as their older sibling. Students remain in the same house with predominantly the same house staff for the time they are at Geelong High. The house staff, students and parents/carers form a strong collaborative relationship to ensure that each student is well known and supported at all times.
Working with the house system we have a student wellbeing team who provide tiered support for groups and individual students and we are fortunate to be part of the Doctors in Secondary Schools Program.
Curriculum
The 7-12 co-educational school is capped at 975 students which enables us to offer a comprehensive range of subjects at all year levels and for all abilities; an extensive VCE program, and a highly-regarded and rigorous VCAL program in addition to numerous enrichment and extension programs. Students have access to a wide-range of co-curricula programs as well, including debating, public speaking and sustainability.
We have had a strong focus on improving our teaching and learning over the past 6 years. In that time we have completely rewritten our curriculum at years 7 – 10 to focus on evidence based, high impact teaching and learning strategies which lead to more consistent practice across the school and the most improvement in student learning. We have developed an agreed teaching process which again is based on research as to what methods produce the best results. Strong positive feedback from students, staff and parents attest to the progress we have made and this is reflected in improved academic results. Student voice and agency are visible at Geelong High School as students have the opportunity to influence what and how they learn and to take responsibility for their own learning through goal-setting and individualised learning programs tailored to the point of need.
At years 7 – 10 we now provide real time feedback to students and parents through Compass, our student organisation and learning management system, which all parents and carers can access at any time. This means as student assessment tasks are completed the teacher assesses the work against the Victorian Curriculum and then provides feedback on the task completed and identifies the next steps for growth for the student.
Performing Arts
Geelong High School’s performing arts program, including dance, drama and music is acclaimed within the region. A centre-piece of the program is the renowned Shenton Theatre. With seating capacity for 130 patrons, the facility is widely utilized by the Geelong community including Orchestra Geelong, which uses Shenton as its base, and numerous amateur theatre groups. Many students learn a musical instrument and participate in our orchestral, band and choir programs.
Physical Activity
Geelong High School is also well known as a school that encourages participation in sport. In order to be prepared for life students need to be physically active and able to work as a team, to co-operate, to manage challenge and pressure, success and disappointment. Students are exposed to all of these experiences through physical education and sport. Our interschool sports program provides many opportunities to compete in a wide range of sports and we regularly have individuals and teams competing at a regional, state and national level.
At Geelong High School we are committed to developing caring and respectful relationships, empowering people to realise their potential through effort, responsibility and teamwork and to building health, resilient and productive global citizens.
Please feel welcome to drop in and see us at any time.
Davin Reid
Principal