Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), is a government-funded

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

selective and specialist

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, with speciality in the

performing A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile a ...

, located within the

Melbourne Arts Precinct The Melbourne Arts Precinct is home to a series of galleries, performing arts venues and spaces located in the Southbank district of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. It includes such publicly-funded venues as Arts Centre Melbourne, National ...

in Southbank,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...

, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1978, VCASS teaches students from Year 7 to

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory educa ...

; and has an enrolment of 370 students. Students are accepted after annual auditions and interviews. All students share academic subjects, but follow either a specialised dance, music, theatre arts or visual arts training program for half the day. The school also provides academic classes to secondary students from other institutions including the

Australian Ballet School The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne. History The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scot ...

, and Gymnastics Victoria.

History

Instigated by the former tertiary institution Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), as a separate and complementary institution, VCASS was founded in 1978 by Lenton Parr and Jack Pitt (as the Victorian College of the Arts Technical School - VCATS). This was the same year that the tertiary VCA commenced its dance faculty, and VCATS was conceived as a preparatory school for the tertiary dance and music courses. In 1981 the name was changed to VCASS. For most of its history VCASS shared its campus and buildings with the tertiary VCA at 234 St Kilda Road, but in June 2009 moved to new purpose built premises at 57 Miles Street, Southbank. The Dance and Music specialist programs run in parallel from Year 7 to 12. In 2013 the school added a Year 11 intake for its Visual Arts program. In 2016 a new Theatre Arts program commenced with a Year 11 intake.

Academics

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (often abbreviated VCE) is one credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria. The VCE is the predominant choice for students ...

(VCE) studies offered by the school:
Art, Biology, Chemistry, Dance, Drama, English, English (EAL), French, Further Mathematics, General Mathematics, Health and Human Development, History: 20th Century (1900-1945), History: 20th Century (since 1945), History: Revolutions, Literature, Mathematical Methods (CAS), Media, Music Investigation, Music Performance, Music Style and Composition, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Studio Arts and Theatre Arts. Some students study additional languages via Distance Education Victoria, such as Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, German or Spanish. In 2011, the VCE median study score was 34, and 27 percent of students achieved a study score above 40.

Notable alumni

* Zoë Blackviolinist * Rebecca Chamberspianist, 1995 Young Australian of the Year * Aaron Choulaipianist, composer *

Natalie Gauci Natalie Rose Gauci (born 26 November 1981) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. Gauci undertook music tuition at the Victorian College of the Arts, formed her own band that played gigs in Melbourne, while also working as a music te ...

vocalist * Aura Gopianist * Greg Horsmandancer and choreographer, former principal Australian Ballet and Senior Principal English National Ballet *

Charlotte Nicdao Charlotte Nicdao (born 14 August 1991) is an Australian actress and composer. She is known for her roles as Jackie Lee in the Nine Network series '' A gURLs wURLd'' (2010–2011) and Poppy Li in the Apple TV+ comedy '' Mythic Quest'' (2020–). ...

actorhttp://feminartsy-com.dreamhosters.com/value-your-work-a-conversation-with-charlotte-nicdao/ * Marshall McGuireharpist * Patrick Savagefilm composer and former principal first violin with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School Dance education in Australia Educational institutions established in 1978 Music schools in Australia Performing arts education in Australia Public high schools in Melbourne Schools of the performing arts in Australia Selective schools in Victoria (Australia) Southbank, Victoria Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)

History

Academics

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links