St Leonard's College (Melbourne)

St Leonard's College is an independent co-educational school in Melbourne, Australia. Located in Brighton East, the school caters for students in all year levels from ELC for three-year-olds to Year 12.

History
The College began as a class of eight students in St Leonard's Church Hall in 1914. It moved to its current location in 1955 and was known as St Leonard's Presbyterian Girls' College. It became co-educational in 1972 and changed its name to St Leonard's College. Subsequently, it became the first school in Victoria to offer the International Baccalaureate in 1982. A second campus, Cornish College was built in 1987. It was sold to the Uniting Church in 2011.

Curriculum
St Leonard's was the first school in Victoria, and second in Australia, to offer the International Baccalaureate in addition to the more widely used Victorian Certificate of Education. The school is also authorised to offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme in the Junior School from ELC to Year 4. The ELC also uses the Reggio Emilia approach to learning.

St Leonard's IB program is considered one of the strongest in Victoria with a median ATAR of 96.35 and a combined VCE and IB median ATAR of 91.65 in 2023

Location
St Leonard's College is located in Brighton East, Melbourne, Australia. The school is in close proximity to Port Phillip Bay and 11 kilometres south east of the Central Business District.

Facilities
Facilities include a performing arts centre, systems engineering centre, theatre, visual arts centre, music centre, Junior, Years 5 and 6, Middle and Senior School buildings, Junior School STEM laboratory, two libraries, sports centre with indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, dance and aerobics studio, basketball and netball courts, playing fields and multipurpose sports courts.

Leonardian Centre
The Leonardian Centre is a giant beehive-shaped theatre located in the centre of the school grounds. Opened in January 2021, the theatre features an auditorium (seating up to 600) with a half fly tower housing a curtain rigging system and lights, and an orchestra pit. Behind the theatre is located an agora with a large screen and an outdoor stage approximately 30 metres in diameter.

The theatre was designed with inspiration from the Globe Theatre, as its gabled roof resembled that of nearby Harefield House. The building was completed by ARM Architecture and, in 2021, received a commendation for educational architecture from the AIA 2021 Victorian Architecture Awards.

Previous events hosted at the Leonardian Centre include:


 * March 2021: Grease
 * April 2021: David Hobson – Live in Bayside
 * May 2021: Victorian All-State Jazz Championships
 * March–April 2022: Chicago – High School Edition
 * August 2022: A Midsummer Night's Dream
 * October 2022: Doctor Dolittle Jr.
 * December 2022: The Wizard of Oz
 * March–April 2023: Mamma Mia!
 * May 2023: Picnic at Hanging Rock
 * June 2023: Bugsy Malone
 * August 2023: Our Town
 * October 2023: Frozen Jr
 * March 2024: Romeo and Juliet
 * April 2024: Legally Blonde
 * June 2024: Just MacBeth

Houses
Students are assigned a house once enrolled at the College for the duration of their attendance. They are:

Technology
St Leonard's College has a "bring your own device" (BYOD) technology program. Students in the middle years bring their own iPad to school every day while students in the senior years are able to bring any device of their choosing as long as it meets specifications.

While the BYOD program enables most students to complete all of their digital learning, the school also has computers. Students studying Information Technology, Media and Visual Design do so using the school-owned computers and software.

Hart Theatre Company
In 2012, St Leonard's College launched the Hart Theatre Company, named after long-time drama teacher Roma Hart. The college hosts five productions a year: a year 5/6 musical, Middle School play, Middle School musical, Senior School play and Senior School musical. Recent productions have included Frozen Jr., Our Town, Bugsy Malone, Mamma Mia!, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Wizard of Oz, Dr Dolittle Jr., A Midsummer Night's Dream, Chicago - High School Edition, and Grease.

Hart Theatre productions have received awards from the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria. The 2012 production of Barnum was awarded Junior Production of the Year and Direction of a Junior Production.

In 2013 the Hart Theatre Company won Junior Production of the Year for a second year straight, this time for its production of Sweet Charity. The production was also awarded Junior Female Performer in a Leading Role. In the same year the Middle School production of Beauty and the Beast was awarded Junior Male Performer in a Supporting Role.

Music
The House Music Competition is an annual event for students in years 5 to 12. Held at The Plenary, each house presents two choir pieces, a small vocal piece and a small instrumental piece. Specialist judges from other schools are invited to select a winner in each category and overall.

Students from years 5 to 7 are required to learn an instrument. Private lessons are offered to students wishing to continue with their instrument onwards. Students can join ensembles, including orchestras (St Leonard's Symphony Orchestra and STL Pops), choirs (Middle and Senior School), bands (Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Wind Band, and Concert Band), jazz bands (Big Band, Stage Band, Jazz Band and Swing Band) and other specialist ensembles.

St Leonard's College offers VCE and IB music subjects. In this students are assessed on music performance and composition.

The St Leonard’s College Big Band achieved 1st place in the premier division of the Victorian All-State Jazz Championships in 2021 and 2022. 8 of the band members were awarded a place in the all-star band in 2022.

Sport
In years 5 and 6, St Leonard's students participate in the Coeducational Independent Primary Schools Sports Association competition, competing in a range of team sports against other coeducational independent primary schools.

The college is part of the Association of Coeducational Schools (ACS) sports competition which involves other independent co-educational schools around Melbourne. Participation is mandatory in years 7-11, and optional for year 12 students. Students participate in a range of team sports, through the summer and winter seasons, as well as the carnival sports of cross country, swimming and athletics.

St Leonard's College also has a community sport program, providing a number of opportunities for students, parents, staff and alumni to be involved in sport and fitness activities. Yoga, aerobics, gymnastics, adventure racing, surf ski paddling, cheer sports and triathlon are some of the activities available. There are also community basketball and netball clubs and a touch football group.

In 2014 the sailing team won the Victorian Schools Team Sailing Championships for the seventh time, and also regularly competes at the National Championships.

The Hawkes Sports Centre has a large indoor pool, tennis courts, aerobics room, gym, multi-purpose hall and change rooms. The college also has outdoor hard courts and an oval.

St Leonard’s College has enjoyed significant success in ACS sport, winning the following Senior 1sts competitions since the inception of the ACS in 1998:

ACS Carnivals

 * Athletics (9) – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2014, 2018, 2019, (2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19), 2022
 * Cross-Country (11) – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, (2020 and 2021 cancelled due to COVID-19)
 * Swimming (12) – 2000, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Girls Premierships:
 * Basketball (3) – 2004, 2011, 2012
 * Football (3) – 2019, 2022, 2023
 * Hockey (2) – 2022, 2023
 * Netball (12) – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023
 * Soccer (4) – 2004, 2013, 2019, 2020
 * Softball (5) – 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2019
 * Tennis (1) – 2015
 * Volleyball (8)– 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2020, 2021, 2022

Boys Premierships:


 * Basketball (7) – 2001, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021
 * Cricket (3) – 2012, 2014, 2016
 * Football (2) – 2016, 2022
 * Hockey (3) – 1998, 2020, 2021
 * Soccer (3) – 2003, 2009, 2014
 * Softball (1) – 2020
 * Table Tennis (2) – 2022, 2023
 * Tennis (2) – 2006, 2019

Mixed Gender ACS Premierships:


 * Touch Football (7) – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021
 * Beach Volleyball (4) – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 (no longer an ACS Sport)

ACS Championships:


 * Chess (7) – 2009, 2010, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023

Debating and Public Speaking
St Leonard's students have the opportunity to participate in the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) schools competition from year 8 under the Brighton division. The college's A grade (year 12) team won in 2023 and 2015, as did its C grade (year 10) in 2013. Its A grade team were runners up in 2018.

Students also have the opportunity to compete in public speaking competitions such as the DAV's Public Speaking competition, British Parliamentary debate and the Australian Individual Debating and Public Speaking Competition, where the college's students were the Australian champions in 2014 and 2022. It has also competed in the Bond University Mooting Competition and rotary competitions such as Bayspeak and MUNA.

Social responsibility
The St Leonard's College community is involved in a range of social justice activities. The College aims to support children and education in local, national and international settings.

Since 1992, St Leonard's College has been involved in Bangladesh, funding and building three schools. Each year, senior students organise a Bangladesh Dinner to raise funds for the ongoing operational expenses of these schools. The college also supports schools in Timor Leste and Nepal.

Lennie's van is a community social action project run by St Leonard's since 2018. It provides breakfast, lunch and dinner to residents of social housing in the neighbouring area. Students are given the opportunity to assist with the cooking and distribution of this food from year 10–12.

All year 9 students complete local service activities as part their experiential learning program – CUE (Community, Urban, Environment). The CUE program culminates in Big Experience trips, in which year 9 students take part in an international journey to a country in South East Asia, with the exception of 2022, when all trips were too Australia or New Zealand due to COVID-19. During 2020 and 2021, these trips did not occur. These trips have a strong emphasis on global sustainability and community service.

Outdoor education
Outdoor education is compulsory for students in years 3 to 10. Students attend year level camps at the college's dedicated campsite, Camp Ibis, located on the Gippsland Lakes where they take part in a range of adventure activities including sailing, mountain biking and canoeing.

There is also a voluntary Outdoor Education Extension Program. Students can elect to take part in adventure camps, white water rafting, adventure racing, snowsports (primary to year 12) and hikes (years 10–12). In 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016 the St Leonard's College adventure racing team won the national Hillary Challenge, an interschool competition which tests basic outdoor skills and competencies.

Notable alumni

 * Kerry Armstrong – actor
 * Hamish Blake – comedian, radio presenter
 * Kaarin Fairfax – actor, director and singer
 * Beverly Jane Fry – international ballet dancer
 * Noni Hazlehurst AO – actor
 * Stephanie Hickey – Olympian, Australian snowboard slalom and snowboard cross competitor
 * Geoff Ogilvy – golfer, winner of the 2006 US Open
 * Ryan Shelton – comedian
 * Mark Turnbull – sailor, gold medal winner at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
 * Chris Judd – former professional Australian rules footballer