Helen Rooks

Established in 1919, Dandenong High School is one of the oldest, largest and most culturally diverse Secondary Schools in the state. Located in the South East of Melbourne, Dandenong High School is a co-educational school from Years 7 to 12 with an enrolment of approximately 2000 students. The school is highly multicultural with 77 nationalities and 83 different language groups represented and has a team of 200 teaching and 55 non teaching staff. The heritage-listed façade of the Administration Building serves as a gateway to the more modern, architecturally-designed learning centres behind. The oldest (public or private) school in Melbourne’s outer east, DHS has a proud history and remains one of the landmarks of Dandenong.The Federal Government’s ‘Building the Education Revolution’ saw Dandenong High School, Cleeland Secondary College and Doveton Secondary College officially merged to become the new Dandenong High School at the beginning of 2007. At DHS, student learning is structured around a collaborative teaching and learning model. We have seven identically designed Houses; each containing purposefully designed learning spaces. These spaces allow for diverse and innovative learning experiences to take place, with a strong emphasis on collaborative learning. Within each House, there are 300 students, 50 from each year level from Year 7 through to Year 12. Each House has 25 staff from all Domains and teaching areas.