Mount Alvernia College

Mount Alvernia College Kedron has unfortunately gone downhill in the past few years. At first my daughter was reasonably happy when she started there in grade 7. However after persisting with the school, it became evident there were some serious issues that were not being appropriately dealt with. We finally decided to cut out losses and moved her to another school. My daughter has never been happier than she is now at her new school and I only wish we had made the decision to move her sooner. If you have concerns about your daughter's mental health and wellbeing, please don't ignore it.

Please note: Our child never attended this school but I attended a school tour and I wanted to share what I learnt and observed about the school. Thank you to Camilla for taking the time to answer many of my questions. The reason for us not moving our child to this school has nothing to do with the school tour. What I learnt from the school tour: (in no particorder) - They encourage a simple and purposeful life - They have a small chapel area where student can reflect or work on volunteer projects together. - The school has sports opportunities before and after school. - Swimming twice a week, before school - Running twice a week, before school - Bootcamp one day a week, before school - They have a range of sports and offer about 4 sports a term - they have a lovely tuck shop that offers 2 hot meals daily and a range of cold foods too. - the architecture of the main building to quite lovely and filled with natural light, but no air conditions for year 7 and 8 class rooms - the seem to have a very proactive sports coach who - they have a rock climbing wall - they have a debate group - they encourage strident to report no -friendly behaviour - some classes in later years of high school are shared with Padua College (if that subject makes use of shared resources. - new grounds have been secured for an additional campus that will be built over the next several years. Still in planning phase but it means that their grounds and resources will expand - all the classrooms that we entered were clean and presentable - they have a drama club and opportunities to do drama as a subject - their music class is small and the instruments that I saw were mostly traditional instruments such as cello, piano, guitar etc. - they have a sound booth for recording music - they have psychology support for students, if needed - they also have career counselling to help students plan their future studies and subjects - the range of subjects is limited in terms of flexibility. (As I understood it - there is a set, fixed time table and students will need to choose subjects that fall into those slots.) - they have a lovely outdoor patio area for students to eat lunch - they have a ‘’magic carpet’ area for years 7&8 students to socialise - the reception staff person was very friendly - they school seems to have quite a few events and social activities planned for students and families, across the year - they actively do charity work and students can offer to get involved in multiple community projects to make a difference and to practice giving their time to a meaningful cause. - they have a small garden area for kids to socialise and be in nature - their art initiatives seem to be multi-dimensional with traditional fine art but also what seems like a product design course. They also have a design technology that explores a range of coding languages. - I was impressed with some of the art work that was being produced in the classroom. - they do not cover the topic of women’s rights or abortion directly (based on the response I received from my question) but they do teach about principles of respect, responsibility and compassion - I am not aware of how religious or dogmatic the school is in reality. It is a catholic school so I would expect that a certain amount of religion is covered. - They did recently work with a Muslim religious church to share and explore their religions together which shows some tolerance. Overall it seemed like a pleasant school. The grounds are company but they have made good use of the land and they seem to cater for a lot of students. The students all sees to be neatly dressed and presentable. I did see a few girls with modest make-up or mascara but I assume that would have been students that were not complying with the expected dress code. I cannot comment on wether this is being done successfully but many of the girls seemed to be comfortable and friendly as we walked through the school.

A school that is aspirational and faith filled. Massive academic improvements in last 2 years, encouraging of students to find their gifts and talents. Dedicated staff ❤️

A socialist mantra is pushed daily to our daughters in this political Lefty Marxist School run by 3rd generation feminists. We should have never sent our daughter here... big mistake. Ask one question before committing your child - can I see your study of society assignments. You'll be shocked at the garbage being taught and ideology being 'shoved down student's throats'. Be cautious of Mt Alvernia's teacher's Western hatred ideologies.