About Murtoa College

Murtoa College is a P-12 school of approximately 300 students situated 300 kilometres north west of Melbourne, and approximately 30 kilometres west of Horsham. As well as drawing students from the local area Murtoa also has 75 students who pay to travel by bus each day from Horsham.

The Primary School and Secondary College amalgamated in 2001. Capital works to allow the primary students to move to the secondary site were completed in mid 2003. The primary school students moved on to the joint site in August 2003 to complete the amalgamation.

A Capital Works Project valued at over $3 million was completed in April 2007. This project includes two new science rooms, an LSF Centre and IT Room (both built from strawbales), and a new Canteen and Home Economics centre. Investing in Our School funding was used to construct new locker areas and a Year 12 Common Room during 2007. A further $180,000 was granted by the State Government for the College to erect a wind turbine to generate its own power. This project will be finished in early 2008. Obviously Murtoa College is at the forefront of innovation in building design and sustainability.

The College has 34.0 EFT teaching staff. Within this figure there is a large number of part timers. The school has strong parent support and is proud of its tradition of taking up new challenges. Murtoa College has an impressive track record in innovation and has shown the capacity to successfully implement and share a variety of programs that promote improved learning opportunities for students that lead to significant school transformation. This has been highlighted by Leading Schools Funding ($450,000) allowing the employment of 3 extra teachers over 3 years (2006-2008) to deliver an integrated curriculum to Year 7 in 2007 and Year 8 in 2008.

The relatively small size of our school enables effective communication, co-operation and flexibility in decision-making that facilitates successful innovation. The commitment of teachers to a culture of improvement is evident. The College achieved accreditation of Performance and Development Culture in mid 2006. The College has been recognised as a "Highly Effective Government School" and participated in the DE&T consultation relating to "Effective Communications" within schools. We also enjoy a supportive school community that values their school highly. This is reflected through day to day involvement with school programs and consistently high achievement in the Parent Opinion Survey.