Penrhos College, Perth Explained

Penrhos College is an independent Uniting Church single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Como, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

Founded in 1952 as the Methodist Ladies' College, South Perth, Penrhos has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,400 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, including 105 boarders in Years 7 to 12.

The college is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),^[2] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),^[3] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),^[4] the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA),^[5] and is a member of the Independent Girls Schools Sports Association (IGSSA). The school takes pride in its 17 consecutive wins in the IGSSA athletics, and almost as many in the cross country and swimming events.

History

Penrhos College was established in 1952 as the Methodist Ladies' College, South Perth and was originally located on Angelo Street, South Perth across from the Perth Zoo. The school moved to its present site in Como, south of Perth, in 1971. The school was originally a subdivision of the Methodist Ladies' College, Claremont (1907), but both now operate independently. It educates from pre-kindergarten to year 12.

In 1977, the Methodist Ladies' College, South Perth was awarded to the Uniting Church in Australia following Church Union, and became known as Penrhos College. The school's new name was drawn from Penrhos College, in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, which was established in 1880 by the Methodist Church, for the special education of girls. Penrhos is a Welsh word meaning "Peak of the Moor".

Campus

Penrhos College is situated on a single suburban campus in an elevated position, on a former pine plantation. The school is 8ha in size, featuring a parkland setting and modern cream brick and terracotta-tiled buildings.^[6]

Academics

The school has had consistently good WACE results and appears regularly in the top 30 schools for the WACE.

Year	% +75 in WACE	State ranking	% +65 in WACE	State ranking	% graduation
2014	28.15	9	54.73	11	99.1[7]
2013	20.79	9	52.06	9	99.33[8]
2012	27.64	6	57.76	9	100[9]
2011	16.24	29	56.75	16	100[10]
2010	29.77	7	66.83	7	100[11]
2009		3		9	100[12]

Alumni

Alumni of Penrhos College are known as Old Girls and may elect to join the school's alumni association, The Penrhos College Alumni Inc.^[13] Some notable Penrhos Old Girls include:

• Kate Atkinson  - actress
• Amber Bradley  - rower; world champion and Olympian
• Haylie Ecker  - first violin of classical string quartet 'Bond'^[14]
• Tessa Parkinson  - sailor; competed in Olympics
• Amanda Platell  - journalist and television presenter
• Rabia Siddique  - international humanitarian and criminal lawyer, terrorism prosecutor, former senior officer in the British Army, professional public speaker, author
• Zoe Ventoura  - actress
• Maddie Phillips  - actress

See also

• List of schools in the Perth metropolitan area
• List of boarding schools in Australia
• Methodism

Notes and References

1. Web site: School Performance Information 2006 . 2007-12-18 . 2007 . Introducing Penrhos . Penrhos College . https://web.archive.org/web/20070829204817/http://www.penrhos.wa.edu.au/Introducing+Penrhos/School+Performance+Information/default.aspx . 29 August 2007 . dead . dmy .
2. Web site: AHISA Schools . 2007-12-18 . November 2007 . Western Australia . Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia . https://web.archive.org/web/20071102165207/http://www.ahisa.com.au/Display.aspx?tabid=2236 . 2 November 2007 . dead . dmy .
3. Web site: Members' Schools . 2007-12-18 . 2007 . Western Australia Branch. Junior School Heads' Association of Australia. https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015910/http://www.jshaa.asn.au/state/western_australia/sch.html . 28 September 2007 .
4. Web site: Penrhos College . 2007-12-18 . 2007 . Schools . Australian Boarding Schools' Association . https://web.archive.org/web/20071117111028/http://www.boarding.org.au/site/school_detail.cfm?schID=62 . 17 November 2007 . dead . dmy .
5. Web site: Member Schools . 2007-12-18 . Butler . Jan . 2006 . Members . The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080519223221/http://www.agsa.org.au/members.php?PageID=11 . 19 May 2008 .
6. Web site: Location . 2007-12-18 . 2007 . Introducing Penrhos . Penrhos College . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927040544/http://www.penrhos.wa.edu.au/Introducing+Penrhos/Location/default.aspx . 27 September 2007 . dead . dmy .
7. Web site: Year 12 Student Achievement Data . 2014 . 3 February 2015 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150309085033/http://scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/Statistics/YEAR%2012%20School%20Performance%20Data%202014_WITH%20STATISTICAL%20DATA.pdf . 9 March 2015 . dmy .
8. Web site: Year 12 Student Achievement Data . 2013 . 4 April 2014 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150309085051/http://scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/Statistics/2013%20Year%2012%20School%20Performance%20Data%20-%20complete.pdf . 9 March 2015 . dmy .
9. Web site: Year 12 Student Achievement Data . 2012 . 22 August 2013 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115635/http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/Statistics/Year%2012%20Student%20achievement%20data%20-%202012.pdf.pdf . 26 August 2014 . dmy .
10. Web site: Year 12 Student Achievement Data . 2011 . 22 August 2013 . Government of Western Australia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140826161651/http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/Statistics/Year%2012%20Student%20achievement%20data%202011_communications_web%20version%20RELATE%20TO%202012_900.pdf . 26 August 2014 . dmy .
11. Web site: Year 12 Student Achievement Data . 2010 . 22 August 2013 . Government of Western Australia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140826161245/http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/Statistics/Year%2012%20student%20achievement%20data%20and%20State%20statistics%20-%202010.pdf . 26 August 2014 . dmy .
12. Web site: Year 12 Student Achievement Data . 2009 . 22 August 2013 . Government of Western Australia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150309085152/http://scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/Statistics/Year%2012%20Student%20achievement%20data%20-%202009_web.pdf . 9 March 2015 . dmy .
13. Web site: Membership Application . 2007-12-18 . 2007 . Alumni . Penrhos College . https://web.archive.org/web/20070829205005/http://www.penrhos.wa.edu.au/Alumni/Membership+Application/default.aspx . 29 August 2007 . dead . dmy .
14. http://www.haylieecker.info/profile.php Haylie Ecker Website