| Principal | Rebecca Clarke |
|---|---|
| Year levels | K to 12 |
| Enrolment numbers | 1092 |
| Boarding or day | boarding |
| Website | http://www.mlc.wa.edu.au |
| Phone | 08 9384 4000 |
| Fax | 08 9384 4704 |
| Postal address | 356 Stirling Highway, Claremont |
Methodist Ladies’ College provides over 1000 day and boarding students with broad-based opportunities to explore and develop their potential within a supportive environment. Our Vision is Per Ardua Ad Alta: through striving to the heights. Our Mission is to provide challenging and holistic educational experiences that inspire individual excellence and global citizenship. To achieve this, we live our Christian Values and are committed to leading learning. Our Values: We value and foster Christian foundations in life; courage, resilience and confidence; community spirit which celebrates diversity; striving to make the most of individual gifts; and respect for self, others and the environment. On the arrival of Rebecca Cody as Principal in 2009, the College launched a campaign message: Prepare to Amaze Yourself! While MLC girls have always achieved in academic, artistic and sporting endeavours, a student will only be amazed at herself if her achievements are above and beyond what she expected. This takes girls outside the box – it is about fulfilling potential, but also about stretching what we perceive our potential to be. Key to this approach is one of MLC’s greatest strengths – its teacher-student relationships – MLC provides a safe, nurturing environment, where girls can experiment and take informed risks, with confidence. Our Preferred Education Model (PEM) builds on the teacher-student relationship. Based on a K to 12, learner-centric philosophy – one journey through distinct phases of learning – the PEM includes a target class size of 20 at every level. The majority of classes already meet the target, and we expect to see 95% achieve this maximum by 2016, when our Pre-Kindergarten is due to open. The PEM’s clearest benefit is that our teachers are better able to understand each girl’s abilities and aspirations, and therefore better equipped to provide experiences that inspire her to achieve excellence. MLC pursues a differentiated learning program – tailoring the learning experience to allow each girl to develop her unique aptitudes. Alongside the attainment of solid literacy and numeracy skills in the Junior Years (K to 6), individual ‘intelligences’ emerge as students explore the arts, music, languages, physical activity and the environment. The Middle Years (7-9) are all about transition, as girls adjust to different expectations and ways of learning, develop organisational skills and cope with their emerging identity. From Year 10 onwards (the Senior Years) young women need to feel safe, supported and stretched to achieve their personal best. Courses are consistent with best practice, nationally and internationally, preparing students for a broad range of options, and our academic results are consistently outstanding. The College is proud of its genuinely caring approach, in which active responsibility is taken for the welfare of every student. Complementing the care offered by the Chaplain, Counsellors and Health Sisters, our Year and House teachers, leaders and tutors watch over the welfare of small groups of students. The boarding House is a close, positive community, where self-realisation and self-esteem are nurtured, and where respect, responsibility, initiative and cooperation are highly valued. Through Health Education programs, all students learn how to care for and protect themselves, with initiatives that focus on a range of issues, from body image to safety on the streets. MLC is participating in Edith Cowan University’s Cyber Friendly Schools Project and eSmart School program, where the smart, safe and responsible use of ICT is the norm. We offer young women a variety of opportunities to accumulate leadership experience in non-threatening contexts, according to her skills, qualities and aptitude. Leadership qualities are nurtured from Year 6, preparing girls for the responsibilities of the College Prefect system and the Student Representative Council. Hand in hand with leadership is service learning – raising awareness of horizons beyond the self, of the varying needs of others and strategies to help to meet those needs. Activities can be as simple as collecting and distributing items to the homeless, to overseas service tours. The beautiful Centenary Building, dating from 1907, sits at the heart of the MLC campus, overlooking the Swan River. College facilities include the Walter Shepherd Resource Centre, which contains our library and IT department, the 700-seat Hadley Hall auditorium, and the Meredith Taylor Health and Sports Centre. To truly understand the difference an MLC education makes to young women, families are invited to book a tour of the campus.