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Ballarat Clarendon College is a school where learning comes first. It is a coeducational school associated with the Uniting Church in Australia, enrolling students from Early Learning to Year 12. Clarendon has a Junior (ELC to Year 4) campus in Mair Street, Ballarat, a year 5 to 12 campus in Sturt Street, Ballarat, and a third campus on King Island where Year 9 students spend term each year. Most students live in Ballarat and surrounding districts and attend as day students. However, 150 boarding places are filled by students mainly from regional Victoria and southern New South Wales, supplemented by a small number overseas. As a school, we are focused on learning in all contexts. Students are provided with a comprehensive range of learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. The school has achieved a satisfactory academic record over the last ten years. Based on VCE exam results and NAPLAN data, we have been consistently the highest-performing local school in Victoria and at a national level. Our programs, teaching, and policy frameworks support the principles of Australian democracy, including: Elected government The rule of law Equal rights for all before the law Freedom of religion Freedom of speech and association The values of openness and tolerance Reverend William Henderson opened Ballarat College on Wednesday, 6 July 1864, when two seven-year-old cousins presented themselves at his church, St Andrew's Presbyterian. On the following Monday morning, they were joined by three other boys to become the first students of the school. Elizabeth Kennedy, the wife of another Presbyterian minister, came to Ballarat to live, and in 1876 she began a cottage school for her children and the daughters of family friends. This was the beginning of what became known as Mrs. Kennedy's School for Girls, later to become Clarendon Presbyterian Ladies College. In 1974 Ballarat College and Clarendon Presbyterian Ladies College formally joined together to become Ballarat & Clarendon College, now associated with the Uniting Church in Australia. In 2014, as the fifth oldest private school in Victoria, we proudly celebrated 150 years of providing high-quality education. While much has changed in this time, Reverend Henderson and Mrs. Kennedy's vision and values remain. Students, 150 years later, in another age, still acknowledge the guidance, support, and inspiration they receive from being members of the Ballarat Clarendon College community. The school history from 1864 to 2004 has been documented in Golden Heritage, by Phil Roberts. Phil has written a second volume to complete the story of the first 150 years. Our students' awareness, concern, and contribution to their local and global community saw them reading, swimming, walking, skipping, donating, handballing, dancing, building, and raising awareness. Junior School students raised $15,000 for Jump Rope for Heart. They gave generously through their Kids Supporting Community initiative, presenting big cheques to the Ballarat Animal Shelter, Very Special Kids, and Child and Family Services. And across the school, students volunteered at Pinarc Disability Support and Nazareth House, donated much-needed blood at the Red Cross Blood Service, raised money for struggling farmers in the Walk a Country Mile Walkathon our Players for Pink football match continues to support the Breast Cancer Network Australia the annual Girls Boarding House concert raised money for MND Victoria. In contrast, the Boys Boarding House White Ribbon dinner dance raised awareness, seeking to end violence against women in our community our Cambodia Expedition saw students working in local communities to ensure access to clean water, undertaking reforestation projects, and teaching English in the local primary schools. And so much more. Our students, parents, and staff – are a caring community bound together by a standard set of values and aspirations. There were a record number of alumni events in 2018, and we celebrated the opening of the David H Haymes rowing tank in August. It is particularly fitting to name the rowing tank after an Old Collegian who has achieved and invested so much in the sport as a rower and coach and who has contributed so much to our school over decades. We are proud to have the Haymes' family name etched into our school's history. At this time of year, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the achievements and efforts of our VCE students, particularly the Class of 2018. We celebrate our 159-strong Year 12 cohort's successes, 101 of whom achieved a university entrance score over 80, putting them in the top 20% of the country, and 36 of these students achieved an ATAR over 95, placing them in the top 5%. Our Dux is Jack Tuohey, with an ATAR of 99.75. As ever, the context of these excellent results is our school focus to maximize a student's competence, skills and capacity so that, at the end of their time at school, when they stand on the threshold of their future, they can choose their heart's desire. And each of these young adults stands on the threshold of their future; their next steps will see them move closer to their heart's desire – whatever their personal goals or dreams may be. Within our diverse group of Year 12 students, we have aspiring engineers, industrial designers, health professionals, architects, marine biologists, dancers, military personnel, fashion designers, singers, educators, make-up artists, software developers, and musicians. These students have cause to celebrate. The Class of 2018 has achieved results that reflect their determination and effort. The outcomes also reflect the team's commitment involved in supporting, guiding, and caring for them. Congratulations to all our students, their families, and staff. Excellence is not an inconvenience, and striving for excellence, being ambitious, and wanting to achieve should be embraced. In the words of Franklin D Roosevelt, 'Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.' And our Year 12 students have much to be happy about. View full school

Clarendon is a day community special school for pupils aged 4-16 with moderate learning difficulties and additional complex needs (including Autism). There are places for 100 young people, usually in classes of around 12. Our team works together to provide the best education and pastoral care to ensure that Clarendon is a place of learning for everyone. We strive for the improvement and achievement in all areas of our broad and innovative curriculum which aims to enrich the experiences of our pupils, providing them with opportunities for life-long learning, growing independence, and to be valued members of society. At Clarendon, we pride ourselves on our vision to create an all-inclusive, creative learning environment to optimize the opportunities for every child to achieve their full potential. Our team of experienced and specialist staff provides each child with a broad and innovative curriculum, with opportunities to develop a love of learning and support to develop independence and become valued members of society. Providing pastoral care is central to the life and work of the school. We aim to deliver our broad and innovative curriculum in a way that will promote the moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of the children, to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences they are likely to face in the wider world. At Clarendon, we follow the requirements of the National Curriculum. This helps us to provide a balanced and appropriately challenging education for all pupils. We also offer a range of tailored courses and activities personalized around our pupils’ interests and strengths, aiming to provide them with life skills and opportunities for adult life. Pupils at Clarendon follow a differentiated curriculum based on the National Curriculum. Pupils develop their Maths and Literacy skills through direct teaching and real-life experiences. Pupils have opportunities to go horse riding, swimming, and to attend Forest school during their time in the Primary department. Primary pupils have an active start every morning for 20 minutes as many will have been sitting on a bus for an hour before arriving at school. During this time, children are actively involved in PE activities and also outdoor play to help develop their social and play skills. This is followed by a 20 minute ‘breakfast time’. Pupils can eat toast and fruit in small groups with an adult who they can talk to about any concerns they have. This nurturing approach is an integral part of ensuring that pupils’ mental health and wellbeing are supported in school. Following this nurturing time, all Primary pupils come together for an assembly which includes singing, learning Makaton signs, PSHE, and brain gym. Clarendon Learning Zone is a section within our school website that is dedicated to supporting home learning. It provides links to websites containing free, interactive learning materials. The sites chosen have been very carefully selected to ensure that children will enjoy them and learn as much as possible. All sites used have been carefully vetted to ensure that the content is appropriate for children of different abilities. We will always try to link the selection with the subjects that children in different classes are studying at school. If you, or your child, discover a really good site that is not on here, we would like to hear from you. Some sites require the user to download Macromedia Flash Player, a simple piece of software that will take a couple of minutes to obtain. If you do not currently have this software simple instructions will be provided on how to obtain it from the first host site that requires it. Teaching staff will be using some of these sites in their lessons at school so that when children are using these activities at home they are familiar with them. Assessment for learning is a central part of the whole school marking policy and plays a significant part in encouraging pupil progress. Positive reinforcement is far more likely to lead to improvement than relentless criticism. Staff is enjoined to make sure that, when they mark and hand back pupil work, the effort is encouraged and positive advice is given, especially when a pupil is struggling with a particular target or subject. At Clarendon, merits are available to encourage and reward both positive behaviors as well as academic achievement. For academic achievement, they are usually given for taking a more positive approach to studying or for the emergence of improved efforts. These improvements may range from working to a better standard and more independently, to taking positive steps to improve behavior and follow school rules to strive towards their full potential. View full school