Western Heights College is a "unique" secondary school in Hamlyn Heights, Geelong, Australia. Also known as Western Heights Community College, it is situated in Vines Road with its adjoining campus being the Vines Road Community Centre. The college is spread across three buildings, with Year 7 and 8 in the red building, Year 9 and 10 in the grey building and Year 11 and 12 in the yellow building. As of 2016, the school has 605 students, with only 204 being girls and 401 boys. The school currently has a lower than average Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage score of 950.
History
The Vines Road Community Centre was established in 1984. For some time, Western Heights College had two campuses, Junior Years Campus for years 7, 8 and 9 and Senior Years Campus for years 10, 11 and 12, located in the suburbs of Herne Hill, Hamlyn Heights respectively. By 1985, the college had been created from the merger of existing secondary schools - Geelong West Technical School and Bell Park High School. In 2011, the school began relocating to a single site on Vines Road, on the site of the Department of Human Services Barwon South Western Regional Office, which had once been the site of the GeelongTeachers College. The Barton campus closed at the end of the 2008 and stage one allowed Years 7 to 9 to start school at the new site at the beginning of July 2011.
Community College
The college has pioneered "learning communities" of 100-120 students and there are no traditional arrangements of classrooms with 25 students and one teacher. These communities can operate independently. Shared community facilities feature in the school and are open to the public. These facilities include: Community Library, Vines Road Community Centre itself, Seniors Club, Sporting facilities and a central Civic Plaza. These facilities are owned and co-managed by the City of Greater Geelong in conjunction with the college's management. Various courses and programs are offered to students and the community on a fee-paying basis. Western Heights College/Vines Road Community Centre experienced severe flooding in 2016.
