The school’s story begins in 1877 when Mrs Emma B Cook founded a learning centre, named after a tranquil Abbey in NSW which she knew well from a happy childhood.
As time went on and word of mouth spread, many local and country families began sending their children to the school. In 1918, this growing demand prompted the then principal, Hilda Ball, to formally make Tintern a girls’ school.
A defining moment for the school arrived in 1994 when it allowed boys to enrol for the first time. Parallel to this milestone was the introduction of an International Baccalaureate (IB) to the school’s curriculum.
Five years later, the school was renamed Tintern Schools with two separate campuses – Tintern Girls’ Grammar School and Southwood Boys’ Grammar School.
In 2015, Brad Fry took up the role as the school’s first male principal, breaking a 138-year tradition.
So what does teaching and learning look like in 2018, 140 years after Emma Cook’s vision of a school that provided “the best education possible” for her own and other children?
Last year, nearly half of the school’s Year 12 cohort achieved an ATAR score of 80 or above and a median IB score of 37 – the ATAR score equivalent of 95.9. Fry said these “outstanding results” are a reflection of the students’ hard work.
“More than that, we find that their performance is a great credit to not only their commitment and effort, but also that of our Tintern teaching staff who have guided them in their studies across all year levels,” Fry told The Educator.
“As a truly open entry school, we are proud of all our students who have achieved their VCE certificate and successfully forged their preferred pathway.”
Tintern Grammar’s ‘parallel learning model’ sees teachers work separately with its Prep to Year 9 students in boys and girls-only environments.
“This allows us to target the different needs of boys and girls in both academic and well-being domains and is particularly important in the middle years of schooling when fostering engagement is so vital,” Fry said.
“However, we also know that during developmental years, encouraging young men and women to work together respectfully before moving into the real world is equally as important.”
Fry said that by allowing students to engage with one another outside of the classroom, the school combines the academic benefits of single-sex education and the social benefits of co-educational environments.
“We want to have the best of both worlds. It allows us for both targeted learning and enhanced social interaction,” he said.
“In our senior school, we promote a holistic co-ed approach to learning, as we believe once students have become confident in their learning. They also need to develop their interpersonal skills to flourish in the world beyond our school.”
The school also provides its students with a Young Farmers Club, where students of all ages can work with animals on ‘Tinternwood’ farm, caring for them and preparing them for Agricultural Shows around Victoria.
The Year 4 cohort visit the farm weekly for one term a year, where they undertake integrated units combining elements of science, sustainability and geography as well as connecting with nature and animals.
“Our Year 7 students take a core Agriculture subject for a semester and we offer a Year 10 Agriculture elective,” Fry said.
“The Science and Geography curricula in particular also use Tinternwood Farm and the classroom situated there, to give some real life experiences to their study of core topics.”
Fry said the school’s Outdoor Education electives at Year 9 and 10 also use the Farm land and the bushland reserve on site, for a range of school and farm learning activities.
“Tinternwood provides our students with the unique opportunity to apply their classroom studies in a practical environment, as well as see how developments in STEM affect fields such as agriculture,” he said.