Melbourne High School

In 1905, Frank Tate, the first Director of Education, established Victoria's first state secondary school, the Melbourne Continuation School, with 135 girls and 68 boys.^[1][4] Tate's motivation for establishing the school was to allow students from state primary schools to continue their education.

The school's campus was the Old National Model School in Spring Street, Melbourne. Joseph Hocking, an inspector of schools, was named the first principal. Hocking's temporary assistant was Margery Fraser Robertson. In 1907 she became senior mistress and in 1909 she was the headmistress.^[5]

In 1910, the first sporting exchange with Adelaide High School occurred. This was later followed by an exchange with North Sydney Boys' High School.^[4] In 1914, the school's growth and development was disrupted by World War I, in which over 500 Melbourne High students served.^[4] The school has since developed a special association with Anzac Cove, sending cadets and students to participate in ANZAC Day ceremonies every year.^[1][4]

Hocking spoke of the students as:^[6]

...so many upstanding, fearless-eyed Australians, full of the joy of life, physically fit and with mind-power and heart-power, duly exercised under favourable conditions

— Joseph Hocking

By 1919, it had the greatest number of students at Melbourne University (then Victoria's only university) from any school.^[4] although the building they had occupied was seen as dilapidated.^[4] In the 1920s, it was announced that the school would split and the boys and girls would move to alternative locations.^[4] On the 3rd of October, 1927, the senior boys moved to Forrest Hill in South Yarra and formed Melbourne Boys' High School. The old campus was renamed Melbourne Girls' High School.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1931 and 1934, the girls of the old Melbourne Continuation School moved from Government House, to the King Street Central School and finally to Albert Park, renaming the school as the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School.^[4]

Old traditions in music and debating continued, with the addition of house chorals, which is now an important event in the school calendar.^[1][4]

New traditions emerged, such as a house system, with competition in various sports, debating and, with the strong music tradition of the school, house chorals. A Memorial Hall paid for by past students was a feature of the new school.^[1]

Just as had occurred in World War I, World War II disrupted the school's proceedings greatly. The school building itself was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy.^[4] The students of the school moved to either the new Camberwell High School or the Tooronga Road State School. It was only in 1944 that students returned to Forrest Hill under the new principal Major-General (later Sir) Alan Ramsay.^[4] Ramsay was the first 'Old Boy', or former student, to become principal. Since then, all but two of his successors (Laurie Collins and Tony Mordini) have been Old Boys.^[1][4]

In the 1950s, Brigadier George Langley set up reviving the school, laying down the plans for a swimming pool and physical education centre while also reestablishing the Tecoma camp.^[4] This led to an upgrade in the school's facilities. In 1960, the physical education centre and swimming pool opened. In 1965, a new library was built. In 1968, portable classrooms were installed. In 1970, the Junior Science Block was opened.^[4]

In 1974 Molly Brennan applied to be head. Despite her making an appeal citing discrimination a less qualified man was appointed.^[7]

In the 1980s, the ageing buildings needed refurbishment and new facilities were needed to meet the rapidly changing demands of a modern education, most notably the need for computers.^[4] Neville Drohan, principal from 1987 to 1991, combined government funding with donations from the school community to construct a new four-storey building: the 'Nineties' building (see facilities below).^[4]

In 1992, Raymond Willis became principal^[1] and in 1995 he oversaw a refurbishment of the original building and the addition of new rooms including a computer suite, dark room and an upgraded canteen.^[1][4] The original grass hockey field was replaced with a synthetic one and, next to the hockey field, two plexipave basketball courts were built.^[4]

The school oval was the next to be revamped. In 1999, new turf wickets which would be maintained by a curator were added, along with new drainage and watering as well as an upgrade to the lighting.^[4] The new oval was given the name of the Woodfull-Miller Oval in honour of Bill Woodfull, a former student and principal, and Keith Miller, another former student, both highly regarded Australian test cricketers.^[4]

Willis continued to upgrade the school's facilities with the construction of a cardio room in the Nineties building, and the addition of four junior science classrooms.^[4]

The Army Cadets and Air Force Cadets received a new building in 2002, a building which included orderly rooms, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, display areas, kitchen and toilets. In 2002, new change rooms were also constructed in the Old Boys Pavilion, along with the construction of a new hockey pavilion overlooking the synthetic hockey field.^[4]

The school increased its enrolment to 1,366.^[4] This meant a lower cutoff in the entrance exam, which led to the school's median ENTER dropping to second in the state. The median returned to first place in 2009 (see Academics).

Ray Willis died in July 2004 as the school's longest serving principal, at the time of his death.^[1]

In January 2005, Jeremy Ludowyke was appointed principal. In 2007 a new Arts Centre began construction and after nearly two years was officially opened by major donor and 'old boy' Lindsay Fox (who was asked to leave during his time as a student).^[8]

In 2007, Year 10 students were assigned to produce their own 'Citizenship Statement'. The results were collated to create an official 'MHS Citizenship Statement' that details the school's expectations of its students and now appears in the student planner.^[2]

The school admits that it is primarily seen as an academic school,^[4] but it also has a wide range of co-curricular traditions of music, with massed singing, formal assemblies and speech nights, the house and inter school sporting competitions, house choral competition, Army and Air Force cadet corps, and current affairs groups.

During the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic, Melbourne High, along with every other school in Victoria, shifted to online learning from week 9 of term 1. While senior school students (years 11 and 12) returned temporarily at the end of term 2, the majority of the school remained in online learning for an unprecedented 16 school weeks. School Assessed Coursework (SACs), required for the VCE was conducted via proctorship and a large portion of unit 4 of all subjects were omitted from the study design to alleviate pressure. All extra-curricular activities, as well as many house events which are critical to school culture, did not run during this period.

In November 2020, Tony Mordini was appointed school principal.^[9][10]

Melbourne High School is the only state school for boys in Victoria which selects Year 9 students solely on the basis of performance in an entrance examination. Every year, over 1,400 apply to enter Year 9 for 336 places.^[11] These placements are based on their raw results in the entrance exam. Those who were within 5 marks of the cut-off-score or did not receive a place due to the "4% rule", which prevents more than 4% of another school's cohort entering Melbourne High, are asked to participate in the Principal's Discretionary Category.

Usually 180 students are eligible to apply in this category and compete for just 15 allocated places.^[11] Students choosing to participate follow a complete application process involving:^[11]

• The submission of a portfolio demonstrating academic and co-curricular achievements;
• The student's most recent school report; and,
• A personal statement on why the student wishes to attend Melbourne High School.

A small number of students are then short-listed and interviewed. Places are also available in Year 10; in 2007, 28 students were accepted into Year 10; in 2008, 29 students were accepted after undergoing a similar process to the Principals Discretionary Category.^[11] Fewer places again are available at Year 11, these places being given based on an interview and application form. No further enrolment is available in Year 12.^[11]

The rules for entry are equal for all students during "examination entry" into the school. Students who live in nearby areas are not treated any differently from those from outer suburbs or regional areas.

The school also offers places via an arts and humanities intake,^[12] where students who can demonstrate an active interest in the arts and humanities can apply for entry at Year 11. Applicants are shortlisted then follow an interview process where they present their portfolio of work and present a statement on why they wish to attend Melbourne High School.

Past students have achieved very strong results in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examinations, and the median ENTER for Melbourne High School in 2009 was 95.85,^[13][14] the highest ever and the highest median ENTER by any school in Victoria barring its sister school, Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. Over 99% of students pursue a tertiary education, and the school has the largest intake into Monash University and the University of Melbourne out of all schools.^[15]

Melbourne High School was ranked first out of all state secondary schools in Victoria based on VCE results in 2018.^[16]

In 2009, it ended a seven-year drought by achieving higher average VCE results than Mac.Robertson Girls'. A summary of the school's academic results up until 2009, a year which former principal Jeremy Ludowyke termed as "far and away the best VCE result MHS has ever achieved", through the major academic indicators used in Victoria is presented below:^[13][17][18]

Melbourne High School has one campus, in South Yarra. This campus is split into five building blocks. These are: the Twenties Building (built in 1927, refurbished in 1995), the Nineties Building (built in 1992), the Round Building, the Junior Science Block (built in the 1970s) and the Art Building (built in 2008).^[30]

The Twenties Building is a heritage-listed, three-storey rendered brick building in the Collegiate Gothic style,^[8][31] which has been nicknamed by students and ex-students as the "Castle on the Hill" based on its appearance and elevated position of the site. The base level contains the school canteen, the dining hall (with microwaves and a rowing boat and canoe hanging inside), two IT rooms and four rooms devoted to mathematics.^[1] The ground level serves multiple purposes. The south wing of the ground floor generally functions as geography and mathematics rooms. The north wing of the ground floor is devoted to physics with two large classrooms and a lecture room with raked seating. Between the north and south wings is the school's Memorial Hall, the principal's office and the offices of the assistant principals.^[1][8] The first floor of the Twenties building is also split into two wings. The south wing is assigned to history, LOTE and politics. The north wing is assigned to chemistry.^[1][8]

The Nineties Building, built in the 1990s under principal Ray Willis, includes four floors, and abuts Chapel Street.^[8] The ground floor and first floors are used by the South Yarra Sports Centre, an organisation that provides its facilities both to the outside public and to students of Melbourne High.^[8] This ground floor contains a gym, including basketball courts and a swimming pool, and the first floor contains a weights room and cardio room. The second floor contains rooms used for biology, commerce related subjects and music. The third floor is used for English and also contains the school's library. (formerly in the R building)^[1][30][8]

The Science Block consists of four science labs split over two levels. These science rooms are generally used only for Year 9 and Year 10 general science, with other rooms being used for the more specific VCE subjects of chemistry, physics and biology.^[30] The Arts Building was completed in the year 2009. It consists of four floors, each containing multiple rooms devoted to the visual and performing arts. These also contain computers and media rooms.^[8]

In addition, the school's grounds include a hockey field, tennis courts, an oval (The Woodfull-Miller oval) for cricket and various codes of football, cricket nets, netball courts and basketball courts for sporting purposes.^[32] These are accompanied by the 'hockey pavilion', which overlooks the hockey field, the 'Old Boys Pavilion', which overlooks the oval, and the Cadet HQ, also near the oval.^[30] Miscellaneous features include a portable classroom east of the Art Building (typically used for mathematics), shipping containers near the art building and oval (storing a handful of row boats and canoes), a stairway to Alexandra Parade and a small garden north of the Twenties building.

Since the 2010s, the areas around the school have been undergoing higher density development, with multi-storey towers being constructed nearby.

• Photos from the first half of the 20th century
•  
  The 'castle on the hill'
•  
  Main entrance
•  
  Foyer interior

The junior school comprises students in Year 9 and 10. They have their own four junior school captains, assemblies, and massed singing.^[8][33] Students in the junior school are not subject to the pressures of VCE and are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities and broaden their education.^[34] For this reason, year 9 students must involve themselves in at least one extracurricular involvement (see below).^[34] Year 10 students complete twenty hours of community involvement throughout the year as well as an assignment on civics and citizenship to be submitted at the end of the year,^[35] (civics and citizenship classes generally occurring during transition) In Year 9, students select two electives for the year while in Year 10, students select four electives.^[36] Philosophy has been made a compulsory elective in Year 9 and economics for year 10.

The senior school comprises students in Year 11 and Year 12. There is only one Senior School Captain^[8] and senior School Vice-Captain. Particular members of the senior school will take up presidential roles of various teams, groups and organisations.^[33] At the end of every year, year elevens compete for a variety of coveted leadership positions, including positions in the SRC Leadership team and House leadership team. House captains and SRC presidents are determined by voting from the student body following a period of speech-making.^[37]

Interhouse competitions remain an integral part of the school's ethos. The four Houses with their associated colours are:

• Forrest (blue)
• Waterloo (green)
• Como (yellow)
• Yarra (red)

The names for the houses were derived from the local history of the area. The hill upon which the school is situated was first settled by Captain John Forrest, who built his house, Waterloo cottage, in Como estate alongside the Yarra River.^[2] Forrest won the inaugural cockhouse cup in 1928.

If a student entering the school has a relative who was (or is) in Melbourne High, then that student is allocated to the same house as their relative's house.

The houses compete in four major competitions:^[2]

• Swimming

Always the first event of the year, this event features students from each of the four age groups competing in a number of short and long-distance swimming events at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre's Commonwealth games outdoor swimming pool.^[33] Points are accumulated for a house both through relays and individual events. The event runs over one full day, with each individual event containing two students from each house. For the individual events, points are awarded from first place through to fourth, giving houses the opportunity to break ahead if they were to have both competitors in the top four. There are four 50m relays per age group: the A, B, C and D relays. They progressively are less valuable to the house, but are still pivotal in the final calculations for champion. There are also 200 m relays and medleys, which have the same value as an A relay. Extra points are awarded for breaking school records. An age group champion is named from each age group. Based on points awarded, swimming is the least valuable of the four majors, with first place scoring 80 points, second 64, third 56 and fourth 48.^[38]

• Athletics

The second major event of the year, the athletics competition has for several years been held over two days at Olympic Park Stadium,^[33] however in 2010 it was held on the school oval due to the Melbourne & Olympic Parks precinct redevelopment. More recently, the competition has been held at Lakeside Stadium, though in 2020, the athletics competition was again held on the school oval due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first day largely comprises heats and C, D, E and F relays (as with swimming, the A relay is the most valuable and the F relay the least). The second day contains a large number of finals. Currently, the heats are not worth any points. In the past, the heats were worth very few points, so the second day could make or break a house's chances. The second day also features A and B relays. Other individual events include the 1500 m walk, the 3000m race and the 2000m steeplechase. These three events are open to all age groups. All other individual events are run within age groups. Both track and field events are competed in. The winner of the Athletics competition is awarded 90 points, second 70, third 60 and fourth 50 points towards the Cockhouse Cup.^[38]

• Chorals

The chorals involves the entire school in one day at the Melbourne Town Hall.^[33] It is preceded on that same day by the Instrumentals Competition, which is not a major competition, although it is one of the most important minors.^[8][33] The chorals competition features three pieces sung by each house: a set song, a free choice, and a special choir song.^[33] The special choir consists of between 8–20 members of the house while the set song and free choice are sung by the whole house. Rehearsals are held at recess and lunchtimes in the school's memorial hall and are generally coordinated by student leaders in the house. There is also a special choir event that sings in harmonies and more complex songs. The winner of the House Chorals competition is awarded 100 points, second 80, third 70 and fourth 60.^[38]

The most recent competition (2022) ended with results: 1st: Waterloo, 2nd: Forrest, 3rd: Yarra, 4th: Como.

• Cross Country

The cross country competition closes off the house competition and is generally the decider as the Cockhouse Cup reaches its finale.^[33] Most of the school runs 5 km around Albert Park Lake in their year levels.^[33] All positions are counted from 1st to 250th in each age group with four points being awarded for the house year group in first place, while last place receives one point. House year group points are added together to get the eventual winner of the House Cross Country. Where two houses are equal on points, the winner will be decided by the house with the highest percentage of participants (across all age groups) who have completed the course. This generally means that the house with the greatest participation wins. Waterloo ended its own cross country winning streak in 2017, losing to Como. The winner of the Cross Country competition is awarded 100 points, second 80, third 70 and fourth 60.^[38][39] The cross country competition was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

They also compete in minor competitions:^[2]

• Australian Football (Junior and Senior, counted as two events)
• Basketball (Junior and Senior, counted as two events)
• Debating (Junior and Senior, Australasian/DAV style counted as one event)
• Hockey
• Football (soccer) (Junior and Senior, counted as one event)
• Theatre Sports (Junior and Senior, counted as one event)
• Volleyball
• Water Polo
• Instrumentals – one of the most hotly contested minors, the entire school watches the instrumental competition, which features around 150 students across the year levels. The competition is structured so that each house presents two soloists and one ensemble performance,^[33] each of which are judged by the same three adjudicators that judged the Chorals, and the points are tallied to find the winner. The most recent competition (2017) had results: 1st: Waterloo, 2nd: Como, 3rd: Forrest, 4th: Yarra.
• Year 9 Cockhouse Round Robin – in which the new Year 9s can pick to play a particular sport out of a wide array of sports for their house and participate in round-robin against the other houses. The main focus of the competition is to make the new Year 9s involved with their houses.

In 2020, the Cockhouse Cup was renamed to the "Derrimut" House Competition. The competition is named after Derrimut, leader of the Yalukit-willam clan of the Boonwurrung peoples.^[40]

Melbourne High School offers a music program. The school has a compulsory massed singing program for students in Year 9 and Year 10.^[41] Year 9 students also complete a semester of classroom music. The Music Department also offers a number of electives at Year 10 level in Music Craft, Music Technology, Film Music and Music Composition. At VCE level, the department currently offers VCE Music: Group Performance and VCE Music: Solo Performance. This is complemented with an instrumental tuition program on the school's campus.^[41]

Each term students choose a sport to play during a double period once a week. There are various sports to choose from, including: rowing, sailing, cricket, football, rugby, tennis, water polo, parkour, golf, squash, cross country running, lacrosse, ten-pin bowling, badminton, lawn bowls, yoga, fencing, soccer, futsal, swimming (for weak swimmers) and Taekwondo. The school also has a burgeoning rowing program, recently establishing a sculling school.^[42] Students select new sports after a six-week rotation.^[42]

The school has an active participation in 23 different interschool sports through the Victorian Secondary Schools' Sports Association (VSSSA) and other tournaments.^[42] The school is engaged in a further 14 weekend sporting competitions, notably in the areas of water polo, which is supported by the school's indoor swimming pool, and rugby.^[42] Hockey, lacrosse, and water polo teams are entered into the Australian All Schools' Competition, in which students travel interstate to compete against teams from around the country.^[42] Other competitions specific to particular sports also exist.^[42]

The school's performance in sports has been in constant flux. In the past its strengths lay in Australian Rules Football, Melbourne High won all senior VSSSA Australian football titles between 1988 and 1996,^[43] and tennis, where Melbourne High five titles in the space of seven years between 1989 and 1995,^[44] but as the student demographic changed, so much so that currently more than 90% of students are from East Asian or South Asian background, this strength in football was replaced by greater performance in table tennis and badminton. As of the end of 2009, Melbourne High had won the senior VSSSA badminton competition three times in the last four years, had won the senior table tennis competition nine times in the last ten years and had won the intermediate table tennis competitions for the last five years.^[45][46] The school is also emerging in its Cross Country performance, and has won five out of the six possible VSSSA age group titles it could contend for in the last three years.^[47]

The school also has a tradition of hockey performance, and the MHSOBA uses the school's synthetic turf hockey field for its own senior and junior clubs. The school's team has won the VSSSA crown seven times in the last nine years.^[48] A similar tradition involving the MHSOBA exists with the school's cricket teams, which have been consistently competitive, winning six VSSSA titles over the twenty-year history of the competition.^[49]

The First XI cricket team has played matches against the Victorian Governor's XI which included Merv Hughes.^[50] The school's rich cricketing history led to a 2009 visit from avid cricket fan and media personality Sir Michael Parkinson.

Melbourne High School has a number of leadership opportunities integrated into its leadership program. The opportunities begin as early as year 9, as every form must elect one student as its Form Captain, who serves administerial duties, and another to be its SRC representative, who represents the form in Student Representative Council meetings.^[8] In addition, two students from the year level are elected to be the year level's SRC Executives.^[8] The pre-election period for this role generally involves active campaigning by students.

In addition to these roles, there are other more senior leadership opportunities in the school. The school has four Junior School Captains (all in Year 10), a School Captain and a School Vice Captain.^[51] Several year twelves also comprise the SRC Cabinet, which includes the roles of the President, vice-president, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer.^[51] The SRC serves to advocate and promote student voice and wellbeing, and in addition, organises student initiated events such as socials, formals and inter-form competitions in games such as dodgeball or soccer.^[8]

Many involvements, including such as the Global Issues Education group, Political Interest Group, Food Interest Group and Model United Nations Student Association (MUNSA) (see below) have presidents or captains.^[33] Most sporting teams also have captains.^[33] Within the Cadet Units, there are a series of leadership positions offered to students who completed particular promotion courses over the holidays.^[33] There are also leaders in the form of the Year 11 Mentoring Program and the Millgrove Outdoor Education Center leaders.^[51]

Student leaders are often distinguishable from the rest of the students. Most leaders (apart from form captains and SRC representatives, who wear coloured badges^[8]) are distinguished through writing sewed onto their blazer pocket.^[33] The School Captain and SRC President is further distinguished through the sewing of a golden wreath around the Unicorn of their blazer pocket,^[33] whilst the School Vice-Captain and SRC Vice-president have a green wreath around the Unicorn of their blazer pocket. The house captains have a small coloured trim representing their house sewn onto the pocket,^[33] Other leadership positions can also be distinguished through badges specific to those positions^[8] (Though some badges are simply given to participants of certain student-initiated involvement groups).

The annual Ray Willis Leadership Scheme invites all of the students involved in the school's leadership program to a forum discussing a major issue, such as climate change, the Australian identity or multiculturalism.^[52] The students then form groups and conduct research on that issue for the remainder of the year, at the end of which they submit a report on their findings.^[52] Each group must contain at least one student from each year level and the report must be completed solely in the students' own time.

The school has an extensive program of student-run clubs, societies and special interest groups. It is compulsory for new Year 9 students to be involved in some of these groups. The school has 54 recognised involvements, groups and societies^[53] Some of the major involvements that have been integral in Melbourne High's history are Army Cadets, Air Force Cadets, Chorale, Debating, Instrumental Ensemble and Rowing.^[1][34] Other clubs and societies that exist include educationally themed ones such as the renowned Political Interest Group (PIG), Astronomy club, IT Programming club, Model United Nations Student Association(MUNSA), Global Issues Education (GIE) and Heritage Society as well as recreational ones such as the Bush-walking club, The Sentinel (student magazine) and FIG (Food Interest Group), otherwise known as the "Fun With Food" group.^[34] Students pursuing similar interests may gather together and form a new group of their own, subject to the approval of the school's administration,^[1] (and on students attending) The administration's flexibility in this regard has seen the recent emergence of the TCG Club, Go Club, Jewish Student Network, Students Alive (Christian Religious Group), Diplomacy Club, Marvel Club, Soccer Interest Group, Indo Club, Korean Club, and Baka Anime.

Former MHS principal once quoted, "There is a joke here that if you reside in Canberra's halls of power but you haven't been invited to Melbourne High by the PIG, you haven't really made it."^{[citation needed]} The Political Interest Group has had speakers ranging from former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello, to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard (at the time, Shadow Health Minister), former Federal Minister Stephen Conroy and annually has Andrew Bolt speak at the school. Recently PIG has had journalists such as Catherine Deveny, Derryn Hinch, Barrie Cassidy as well as politicians such as Richard di Natale.

The chess club, and competition writing group are involvements that participate in interschool competitions, as do the chorale, instrumental ensemble and debating teams.^[1][34] Melbourne High School has been successful in each, with achievements in debating including state championships, Swannie awards and students making the national debating team.^[54][55] In 2008, the school also began involvement with the UN Youth Australia's Thant-Evatt Trophy – a model United Nations Security Council competition – two teams reached the state finals in that year.^[54] More recently, the establishment of MUNSA has involved more students in Model UN related activities. This includes the EVATT Competition as well as the interschool Model UN Conference held annually by MUNSA. The school has won the State Final in chess for four years running as of 2009.^[54]

In Year 9, students are introduced to the compulsory involvement program. In Year 10, students complete community involvement, which includes a day raising funds in the city for the Red Cross.^[1][33][56] In Year 11, students undertake cultural involvement, in which they experience different cultures around Melbourne.^[57]

There are School Colours for both Service and Sport. Both are in the form of ties, with a design consisting of the standard MHS tie's stripes and a unicorn at the bottom for Half Colours; and the tie stripe alternating with unicorns for Full Colours. The Unicorns on Sport Colours ties are coloured gold; the ones on Service Colours are silver.^[8]

In addition to the tie, Full Colour recipients as well as holders of some leadership positions can have their blazer emblazoned with their award or position.^[8] Position titles are emblazoned above the school emblem on the blazer pocket whilst award titles are emblazoned below. A system of badges is also employed at Melbourne High School (for house captains, SRC executives, class SRC representatives, high academic achievers, form captains and for various clubs).^[8]

The Melbourne High School Speech Night features the awarding of various prizes to particular students for performance in academic subjects, co-curricular achievements or sporting feats. The academic prizes are determined by using data delivered through internal testing of VCE students. There is one academic prize for every subject, as well as a prize for Pure Science and scientific enquiry.^[33] The sporting prizes are chosen by the heads of a particular sport to reward the individual deemed to have made the greatest contribution to that sport during their time at Melbourne High. The co-curricular prizes are similarly chosen. In addition, there are prizes for 'Best All-rounder' and 'Sports Champion'.^[1][33]

Melbourne High maintains close ties with its counterpart the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. Each year the schools join for the Winter Concert performed at the Melbourne Town Hall,^[58] as well as a musical and a drama production performed in the school's memorial hall.^[59] Recently a fairly light-hearted Melbourne High vs Mac.Rob Cup has begun to take place and includes events such as debating, netball, soccer and theatre sports.

Sister school relationships have been established internationally with high schools in Japan (Kasukabe High School),^[60] Germany (Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium Gundelfingen), Indonesia (SMAN 4 Denpasar),^[61] Hong Kong (Queen's College) and France (Lycée Branly Amiens, Pertuis).^[62] Annual exchanges occur with each of the sister schools, giving students the opportunity to experience both the culture and education system of another country. Each year Melbourne High either sends a group of students overseas to these schools, or hosts students from these schools.^[60] There are also opportunities for individual students to go on a longer term exchange overseas.

Melbourne High has annual sporting contests against North Sydney Boys High School and Adelaide High School during which boys from the visiting school are billeted with host families.^[42] Annual exchanges with Sydney Boys High School are also held for basketball, rowing and volleyball.^{[citation needed]}

The annual competition between North Sydney and Melbourne began in 1959, when a North Sydney cricket team visited Melbourne for a one-day match in October. In subsequent years the game was increased to two days and the date changed to March so that final year boys could more easily take part. the competition was first expanded in 1969 when, at the team of the Melbourne principal, North Sydney sent a water polo and swimming team to Melbourne in company with the cricketers. During the visit, it was agreed that the water polo fixture should become a permanent part of the exchange. In 1971, former Test cricket captain Allan Border played on the school oval in the North Sydney team. Also in 1971, squash and tennis were included in the program and athletics was added in 1972. Chess was included for the first time in 1975, and in 1976 golf and debating teams also competed. Basketball was introduced in 1979. Lawn bowls and table tennis were added in 1990 and sailing and fencing in 1992. Rowing was contested in 1993 and netball was introduced in 1998. Futsal replaced netball in 2004. The Crawford Shield (inaugurated in 1972) is awarded to the overall winner from these events.^[63] In the most recent exchange (2019), 13 sports were contested.

Melbourne High competes against Adelaide High annually, typically in August. Football, hockey, rowing, badminton, basketball, cross country, debating, soccer, table tennis, tennis, theatre sports, and volleyball are contested for the Prefects' Cup.^[64] The Prefects' Cup has been held since 1910. As Adelaide High School is coeducational, the MacRobertson Girls' High School also competes, although their performance against the girls of Adelaide High has no bearing on the Prefects' Cup.^[64]

The school motto is "Honour the work". The School motto was derived spontaneously from an eloquent address given to the assembled school by the late Frank Tate ISO, MA, a former director of education. In the course of his speech, he quoted the words of Edward Thring.^[8] The song is sung at the start of all school assemblies and other school gatherings such as speech nights. On normal occasions only the first two verses are sung, however on special occasions, such as ANZAC Day, the third verse is also sung.^[8]

The following individuals have served as Principal, or any precedent title, of Melbourne High School:

^[note §] : denotes an alumnus of Melbourne High School.

Those who have left the school are known as 'Old Boys' and many join the Melbourne High School Old Boys Association. The Old Boys Association was founded in 1907, and has been in continuous operation since then.^[65] The Association provides considerable support to leaving students in their tertiary studies in the form of scholarships.^[66] The Association organises sport participation after Year 12, and the MHSOB cricket and football clubs have been historic entities. The MHSOBA also has hockey and waterpolo clubs. These institutions have played their part in the production of notable Australian sportspeople, including cricketers Keith Miller and Bill Woodfull as well as a number of champion AFL footballers that includes, at least, three members of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, three Brownlow medalists, seven team-of-the-century members, eight captains, fourteen All-Australian selectees, and twenty-one best and fairest award recipients such as David Parkin, Garry Lyon and Cameron Bruce.^[1] The old Central School admission system provided some who rose, but two clubs were within two kilometres walk, and another club about four kilometres, and appropriate arrangements were made for their best education. The MHSOBA organises reunions which occur every five years, maintaining contact between Melbourne High alumni.^[67]

As a school that prides itself on academic success, Melbourne High School has produced individuals who have played a major role in research, government, economics and finance including Nobel laureate for medicine Sir John Eccles, who was awarded his prize for his research on the synapse. Melbourne High School students have also contributed to arts and culture. The school has produced a number of best-selling authors including Graeme Base the author of the Animalia series, Raimond Gaita a renowned author/philosopher, and Brett King, a respected author and innovator in the banking industry. The male members of the Australian band The Seekers – Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley – the creators of the now folk song I Am Australian, also attended Melbourne High School, as did two finalists in the popular reality television show Australian Idol in Thanh Bui and Dean Geyer.^[1] Geyer also played Brodie Roberts in the hit TV Show Glee. There are photographs of many notable Old Boys on walls in the school's corridors in the Distinguished Old Boys gallery.^[68]

Melbourne High School featured on Thank God You're Here^[69] on Wednesday, 27 May 2009, where the name of the school was replaced with Kevington Grammar but footage was taken of the school building and school students.^[70]

Steven Spielberg's World War Two miniseries The Pacific, the follow-up to Band of Brothers, featured some footage of Melbourne High School, shot in December 2007.^[71]

On 13 August 2010, the Year 12 students had their formal crashed by singer Katy Perry^[72] and DJ Ruby Rose.^{[citation needed]}

Lili Wilkinson's YA novel Pink is set in "The Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence", a thinly veiled amalgamation of Melbourne High School and Mac.Robertson Girls High School^[73] based on the author's own experience of school theatre at the schools.

• List of government schools in Victoria
• Australian Army Cadets
• Australian Air Force Cadets

• ^{^} Who's Who of boys' school rankings: 1. Scotch College, Melbourne, 2. Melbourne Grammar School, 3. Melbourne High School, 4. Geelong Grammar School, 5. Sydney Boys High School, 6. Wesley College, 7. Shore, 8. Fort Street Boys' High, 9. North Sydney Boys High School, 10. Sydney Grammar School^[74]

• Bell, Susan (2005). Janet Prideaux (ed.). More Than Just Marks. Melbourne High School.

• Melbourne High School Website
• Melbourne High School Old Boys' Association Website