FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Academic Extension Program

The provision of this Community report on the activities of Ivanhoe Grammar School during the 2022 academic year forms part of a series of communications with parents and other stakeholders within the School family to assist them in understanding our operations, achievements, and outcomes.

It was wonderful to see all students back on campus for the entire year in 2022, although it was not without its challenges! Throughout the year, the School continued to balance the complexities of COVID with providing high quality education and the range of co-curricular offerings and broad learning that is very much the essence of an Ivanhoe education. The pandemic impacted on different campuses at separate times, and while activities needed to be modified, our staff continued to be outstanding in their response to the needs of students.

Not only has 2022 seen the reintroduction of students for a full year, but it has also given us the opportunity to reconnect with our Ivanhoe community, with a number of highly successful social functions held where we were able to welcome visitors back on the various campuses. Open Mornings, assemblies attended by parents, full seasons of sport, a revitalised reunion program for our alumni and the welcome return of several music events including musicals, all contributed to returning to what we now refer to as ‘pre-COVID’ participation. Ivanhoe Grammar School has always valued community involvement and 2022 provided us with the opportunity to re-engage across the whole school.

The opening of the Sports and Aquatic Centre at the Ivanhoe Campus was one of the true highlights of the year as it was the culmination of many years of planning, revising, preparing and construction. The resultant facility is a state-ofthe-art sporting complex that caters for over eight different activities, to be used by students at all campuses. It was great to have Sam Bramham OAM (Class of 2007) and dual Olympic Gold Medallist to open the Centre. Part of the opening ceremony also included the announcement that the premier basketball show court would be named the Nigel Kendall Court, in recognition of Nigel’s enormous contribution to Ivanhoe Grammar School and his significant sporting alliance with the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria.

2022 has also been a year of significant strategic planning with both the School’s leadership team and the Board of Governors engaged in a series of meetings, which resulted in a number of important initiatives to be implemented over the coming years.

Teaching And Learning

Recognising the importance of teachers as a student’s ultimate resource, the School intends to continue its strong investment in staff and learning to ensure that we are catering for the needs of all students into the future. Over the next twelve months, we intend to introduce the following:

The formation of an Ivanhoe Institute, which will oversee and be responsible for all professional learning for teachers, as well as learning research at Ivanhoe Grammar School. The Director of the Ivanhoe Institute’s primary focus will be to lead the continuous improvement of teacher capability through the development of a highquality professional learning program. The Director will also lead the pedagogical leaders at each campus in the development and implementation of the School’s coaching program.

The establishment of a new career structure for highly accomplished staff who wish to remain in the classroom and provide ongoing coaching and support to their colleagues.

CO-EDUCATIONAL CLASSES

Commencing in Year 7 2025, Ivanhoe Grammar School will be running fully co-educational classes in all subjects. Our ‘Pathways’ model has served the School extremely well since the introduction of girls to the Ivanhoe Campus, as many students and families will testify. However, we see this as a significant step in the evolution of the School as our school-wide gender balance moves closer to fifty-fifty.

Facilities

After the completion and opening of the Sports and Aquatic Centre this year, the School has now committed to the next set of capital work projects to be completed across all campuses. These include in order of priority:

1. A revitalised Sport Precinct at Plenty Campus which will include a twenty-five-metre pool, a Learn to Swim Pool, Weights Room, and Multipurpose Studio; a synthetic Hockey Pitch that converts to twelve Tennis Courts in the summer, and a full-sized Soccer Pitch.

2. Improved facilities at Chelsworth Park to cater for the growing number of students and community groups using the park and the expansion of girl’s sport played there.

3. The refurbishment of an additional terrace at the Year 9 University Campus to house additional classrooms and specialist facilities.

4. A Senior Years (Years 10 – 12) Centre at the Ivanhoe Campus to be known as the Fraser Centre, acknowledging the outstanding contribution to the School by former Principal Rod Fraser. The Fraser Centre will be built where the current Benson Gymnasium is located. It will be a multi-levelled building catering for the needs of our senior students.

All these projects are subject to various regulatory approvals, economic climate at the time and final approval from the School’s Board of Governors. We are very excited by these initiatives, and we look forward to updating you in the future as we move to turn plans into reality.

Community

In keeping with the spirit of being a school that is community focused, Ivanhoe Grammar School was pleased to be able to assist twenty-five Year 12 students whose current school closed unexpectedly. These students completed their final eight weeks of school at Ivanhoe Grammar School, sat their exams with us and were provided with whatever support we could, to assist them during this time.

Gerard Foley Principal