From the Archive

Top: Students on their way to the first assembly of 1979. Above: Students at Donvale, 2011. Above right: Senior School students circa 1993. Right: Senior School students, 1989.

And the rest is history...

Joanne Horsley Archivist

History was made on Tuesday 6 February 1979, when 66 young women stood in the sun in front of the William Carey Chapel to have their photograph taken. These Inaugural Girls entered the School at the two most senior levels, Years 11 and 12, and would constitute only 17 per cent of the school’s enrolments in that year. Many of the girls came from surrounding single-sex schools. To leave the relative security of a familiar environment and friends late in secondary school life was a brave move, not to mention the prospect of attending a school that, for 56 years, had been a prominent boys school. Some were motivated by the reputation of the highly skilled and experienced science staff who would enable them to fulfil their academic aspirations of becoming doctors, scientists, physiotherapists and nurses. Two of the girls had already completed their secondary education and enrolled to attend an extra year at Carey. One of these young women had left secondary school and was attending a tertiary institution when she made the decision to put on a Carey uniform and return to study Year 12. The enrolment process included a faceto-face interview with Headmaster Gerard Cramer who told them, ‘The girls chosen to attend the School were chosen especially for their independence and ability to stand up for oneself’. The successful integration of the girls into what was essentially a boys school was a well thought out campaign of preparation, research and consultation. Headmaster Gerard Cramer, with the support of School Council President, Mr Alfred Mellor, and Deputy Head, Mr Alan Smith, steered the introduction whilst reassuring all relevant parties.

‘Many of the girls came from surrounding singlesex schools. To leave the relative security of a familiar environment and friends late in secondary school life was a brave move, not to mention the prospect of attending a school that, for 56 years, had been a prominent boys school.’

However, it is worth remembering that the first time the matter of coeducation was raised was at a staff weekend conference in 1975 when librarian Molly MacDonald said to the Headmaster, ‘It surprises me that in the last quarter of the 20th century when we are talking about educational ideas, we haven’t mentioned co-education.’ Mr Cramer was momentarily taken aback by Molly’s comment, but recovered and gave her the responsibility of convening a working party for the staff conference of the co-education issue. By the end of the year, coeducation had firm support in principle. And the rest, as they say, is history. At the Speech Night on 3 November 1977, Headmaster Gerard Cramer stated: ‘It could, with some justice, be said that the decision to move into the field of co-education in 1979 will be perhaps the most important taken, since the foundation of the School.’ There are few who would argue with this view today. Women who were educated at Carey are employed as doctors, lawyers, athletes, opera singers, actors, nurses, politicians, and entertainers; they are world-class cricket captains, professional basketballers, netballers, Olympic swimmers and AFLW footballers; they are writers, architects, accountants, psychologists, teachers, social workers, adventurers and parents; and they are all Old Carey Grammarians. We thank you, Molly. It was a great idea.