Historical profiles of selected schools
A selection of essays on specific schools that have an interesting story to tell. Dr Deborah Towns OAM, together with John Andrews, wrote the key history of Victoria’s high schools. Their book is called A Secondary Education for All: A History of State Secondary Schooling in Victoria.
The extracts below come from her essays on individual schools in that book.
Profile: Bacchus Marsh Primary School
The story of Victoria’s oldest continuing public school, founded in 1850.
Profile: Bairnsdale Secondary College
How one of the first high schools grew into East Gippsland’s biggest secondary college.
Profile: Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College
A leading girls’ school with nearly 170 years of continuous learning.
Profile: Melbourne High School
How the school founded in 1905 came to be Victoria’s only boys’ select-entry high school.
Updated 9 February 2026
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