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William Johnston, the first Headmaster of Princes Hill High School, 1959-6????61
Johnston had only been there for two years before increasing enrolments elevated the school into class A ranking, and he was shifted to a smaller school in line with his classification. Gibson, who followed in 1962, stayed for five years. Sier died in 1978 while still principal. Each had individual attitudes and methods for organising, overseeing and disciplining the school during its difficult teething period.
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Archibald Gibson, Headmaster of Princes Hill High School I 964-6.
Descriptions of Bill Johnston are compelling. According to one student, he was ‘an athletic-looking man, with thickset jaw, crew-cut, resonant voice, who seemed big to the young ones, and appeared gruff, but was very fair’.‘11 The District Inspectors thought his ‘industry, organising ability, sound judgement and sympathetic interest in the welfare of his staff and pupils have won him the full cooperation and support of his staff, of parents’ organisations and of the community which the school serves’.12 Without set directives from the Education Department, but determined to build a reputable school, Johnston emphasised the continuity of Princes Hill School’s fine tradition. His first priority was to stem the flow of the school’s better students to University High School. He went on to foster a strong school spirit, which to him meant instituting school uniforms and organised sport, as well as holding weekly assemblies in Wilson Hall at the University of1VIe1bourne, just as University High was doing.‘15 He conscientiously honoured his obligations to his school by attending all meetings of the School Advisory Council and Parents’ and Teachers’ Association.‘11 His sense of team spirit and solidarity helped the staff cope with the school’s dreadful conditions and shoestring budget.‘15 The editorial of the school magazine, Heritage, in 1961 summarised the whole school’s sentiments on the eve of Johnston’s departure: The school would be the poorer for losing a ‘Teacher, counsellor and above all friend. Friend to all pupils, Jew and Gentile, New Australian, Old Australian’. Despite all Johnston’s efforts, the physical facilities Archibald Gibson inherited were far from adequate. Like his predecessor, ‘Old Gibbo’ expended much energy coping with growing numbers. Gibson’s messages in Heritage and in speech night programmes suggest a formal man of strong moral commitment to his students and school. His pride was evident in the lyrics of the school song, which he composed: Proudly we stand and lift up our voices, United to praise the great school that’s our own; Faithful we’ll be to the teaching she gives us, Reaping the harvest of seed she has sown. Chorus Labore et fide words to inspire us, Our motto and emblem, we’ll follow their rule. Labore et fide with toil and honour; Fight the good fight and bring fame to our school. Fight the good fight and bring fame to our school. We’ll model our lives on the ways of the great ones, Men of vision whose faith in our land burnt clear. Batman and Flinders, Monash and Lawson, Fit names for our houses, names we revere. So here’s to our school, may she grow ever stronger, Gaining from each since she’s given to all; May she always be proud of her sons and her daughters Who will show themselves ready at duty’s call. 61 The core of his message was epitomised by the school motto, ‘Labore et Fide’ (‘with toil and honour’), which he regularly invoked. While praising individuals for outstanding academic and sporting achievements, he urged all students to strive to their best of their ability inside and outside the classroom. He frequently extolled the virtues of punctuality, attendance, dress, good citizenship, good manners, pride in surroundings and care for public property. By contrast, he dismissed the ‘barbarians’ who disregarded school uniform, the lazy, discourteous, vulgar, untidy and vandalous as users who shirked responsibility and blackened the school’s image.‘15 Although discipline appears to have been a problem in the school, Gibson preferred reason to corporal punishment.‘17 He was also a humane man, concerned not just for the academically gifted but for all the members of his school. One speech night, while addressing the assembled parents, Gibson commented on the academic pressures confronting migrant children, and assured the parents that the school was doing everything to help. The school, he added, was doing everything possible to help the academically ungifted too. He illustrated the point from his own experience. As a university graduate, he said, he had found difficulty coping with a son who was not academically gifted. But he had come to take as great a pride in his son’s ability to build fine furniture as he did in his graduate son’s academic success.‘15 Many labels have been attached to Gibson’s successor, Alleyne Sier. He has variously been described as ‘schizophrenic’, ‘visionary’, ‘Machiavellian’ and a ‘demigod’. Opinions and assessments differ depending on particular individuals’ experiences with this complex man. He was known to lock out students who were late; yet he abolished school uniforms and introduced the country’s first smoking pit for students within the school building.‘15 He howled down students who spoke at assembly, but made it onto the cover of the school newspaper, Yabberstick, dressed as Santa Claus. His staff mistrusted the ‘Ministry’s Man’; but, galvanised by his energy and commitment, they disregarded the very rights their union was agitating for and often worked double shifts, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m, without a break.
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Alleyne Sier, Headmaster of Princes Hill High School 1967-78
Sier . Sier was the consummate politician. He loved children, loved mathematics, and loved to lead.55 Because of the fondness, respect and awe that still surround ‘Mr Sier’, it is all too easy to lose perspective and eulogise his memory. His period at Princes Hill High School was a time of intellectual, social and political ferment in the community, and of significant pedagogical developments at the school. Opinions differ as to whether Sier had a vision for the school and, if so, what that vision was. In the view of ex-teacher Emile Hamer, when Sier first arrived at Princes Hill he was concerned only with, getting the best academic results. Sier’s first message to students in Heritage 1967 extols the values of individuality, independence of thought and action, and the spirit of inquiry. Two years later, he wrote in Yabberstick that the essential function of a school was to provide students with character, expressed in self-discipline and the ready willingness to help others.51 While some disagree about the depth of his intellectualism or educational innovation, all concur that Sier’s dynamism, energy and enthusiasm inspired, coaxed and bullied the school through the ‘bad years’ of the early 1970s. Everywhere, there was teacher militancy and alienation. At Princes Hill, everything tumbled about in disarray: a burnt-out school, strikes, staff-room fisticuffs, acrimony, tired teachers, wandering students and lax discipline. Through it all, Sier had to attend to fund-raising, meetings with teachers, discussions with parents, negotiations with politicians, architects and builders. Believing that little would be achieved if democratic processes were adhered to in the school at that time, Sier manipulated meetings and individuals, demanded much, ready to surrender a little, and always got what he wanted. At times he exploded and vented his wrath on offenders, but he bore no grudges. And eventually the new school was built. Teachers worked long hours under trying conditions, but morale remained high, largely because of Sier. Inspired by his determination, the staff strove to emulate him, and identified strongly with ‘their’ school.52 Sier’s ability to gather talented staff around him and his willing reception of new ideas won the praise of his teachers. The establishment of Yabberstick, the school newspaper, is a good example. Convinced that the project had merit, Sier encouraged it and supported it financially.55 Mirimbah, the schoo1’s country centre at Mansfield, was another. The school also experimented with a number of pedagogical programmes, among them General Studies, creative workshops, equal opportunity, special classes for maladjusted children, English as a second language and the establishment of the Princes Hill School Park Centre.51
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Olive Hamilton, Senior Mistress at Princes Hill High School, searches the ruins of one of the classrooms, 1970. Photograph courtesy of the Age, 9/2/I970.1970
The achievements, however, were achieved at a price. Sier’s relations with the teachers remained distant. While he mixed with the staff over a social Christmas drink, otherwise he kept aloof. 55 According to one ex-teacher, Sier’s death on 11 February 1978 threw the school into some disorder. Uncertainty about the future stifled innovation. Acting Principal Greg Cooney stayed for a year and was replaced by Charles Johnston, who retired two years later. Olive Hamilton, who succeeded Johnston in 1981, had been Senior Mistress at Princes Hill between 1967 and 1970. Her positive attitudes helped to stabilise the school.55 As principal, she aimed to create a cohesive and structured school that was easy to work in and achieved its goals without fuss. She emphasised the need for an education that was humanistic in tone and provided students with opportunities to interact with others. She expressed the hope that, when students leave Princes Hill, they would look back at their time at school with pride, and take something of the school with them into society.57 Relations between the principal and school council soured, however, when a combination of study/long service 64 leave and secondment by the Education Department took her away from the school during 1983-4 and briefly in 1985. 55 During Olive Hamilton’s incumbency, Princes Hill was confronted with a critical threat to its independence. In 1986, following the Blackburn Report into secondary education, the Victorian government proposed various measures to rationalise the inner-suburban high schools. Organised by the Education Department’s Regional Director, ‘Local Planning Committees’ were directed to reorganise and amalgamate Princes Hill, Fitzroy High, Collingwood Technical School, Collingwood Educational Centre and Exhibition High into a number of mini-campuses teaching years 7 to 10 and a new Secondary College to teach years 11 and 12, all controlled by a centralised ‘Super School Council’. Princes Hill objected to the proposal. According to Princes Hill, despite the general decline in enrolments, it still had proportionately more students than the other schools. If it amalgamated, it would lose the financial contributions, personnel and equipment provided by the Melbourne City Council. Amalgamation would also disfranchise parents whose main interest was the immediate locality and sever the school’s ties with its traditional Carlton feeder schools. The school also noted that the students at Princes Hill already enjoyed the benefits the Blackburn Report saw as flowing from having a Secondary College for years 11 and 12 - namely, being part of a large student body with diverse backgrounds and curricula. On 2 August 1987, Education Minister Ian Cathie ended the debate by elevating Princes Hill to the status of a Secondary College.55 In 1988, Olive Hamilton took leave and John Stirling became Acting Principal. On the announcement of her retirement in 1989, the School Council voted to select the new principal. In its own small way, this marks the end of an era.