Perth Modern School (colloquially known as Perth Mod or Mod) is a public co-educational academically selective high school, located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Perth Modern is Western Australia's only fully academically selective public school. Established in 1911, the school is both the oldest public high school and the oldest co-educational high school in Western Australia (WA).
History Planning and construction Perth Modern School was the first government high school in WA. Although funds were allocated to build the school in 1907, the west building and main hall contract was not tendered until 1909 due to debate continuing for some time.
Opening and academic scholarships The school opened in 1911 with 226 students enrolled. The school charged a fee of £6 a year. Students were prepared for entry to the University of Western Australia, which opened in 1913. Demand for places at the school was high and students came from all over WA. In 1912, the school began offering scholarships designed to encourage students to attend regardless of their financial situations.
Cecil Andrews, Inspector General of Schools, was responsible for naming the school and directing its school curriculum.
Educational concepts When it opened, Perth Modern School introduced three concepts into WA education:
Co-education No corporal punishment, detention, or arbitrary/authoritative punishment The teaching of modern languages (such as French), and rejection of Classical studies as the core of the curriculum
Prior to Perth Modern School, the only high schools in WA were eight independent schools. These schools were sectarian, unisex, high fee paying schools, and only three catered for girls.
Local-intake school and music scholarships In 1958 Perth Modern School became a local-intake school, with no academic entrance requirements and accepting primarily students who lived nearby. In 1968 music became a focus of the school, with the first music scholarships awarded; the last intake of students on a music scholarship occurred in 2006. By 1970, the school orchestra was formed and the Joseph Parsons Memorial Library opened. A home for English as a second language was opened in the former Thomas Street Primary School located on the school grounds, and was run by Perth Modern School.
Return to academic selection In 2005, a return to academic selection was announced so as to better serve the needs of WA's gifted students. Perth Modern School began to take in students on the basis of academic selection in 2007 for years 8, 10 and 11. By 2011 (the centenary of the school's opening) all students had been selected through the Gifted and Talented Program. The gifted program in WA is based on Francois Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent.NSW AGTC: Francois Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent
Governance In 2012, Perth Modern became an Independent Public School.
School structure Despite the worldwide acceptance of corporal punishment in education at the time of the school's opening, as a tool to enforce authority, students were instead encouraged to develop self-discipline and motivation through the message that education was the key to future success. This is reflected through the motto "Savoir C'est Pouvoir" (Knowledge is Power) and the school emblem of the Sphinx (a reference to the character in Oedipus) which represented knowledge and wisdom.
Although Perth Modern has always been a co-educational school, when it initially opened in 1911, boys and girls were still kept apart in different classrooms and entrances. However, as a co-educational school, it was able to provide the same quality of education to girls as was provided to the boys of the school.
House system Perth Modern School was excluded by WA private schools from joining established interschool sporting competitions. In 1915, Red, Blue, Gold and Sphinx factions were created to promote sporting rivalry. In 2007, a new house system was introduced to promote competition, recognition of achievement, and participation in extracurricular activities. The houses were named after the school's first four principals: Fredrick Brown, Joseph Parsons, Noel Sampson and Talbot Downing. Awards are given to students who achieve a certain number of required house points. Annually, the house which has achieved the most points is recognised as the Champion House.
Admissions All students attend Perth Modern School based on their performance in the Academic Selective Entrance Test, which has been criticised for unfairly advantaging those from privileged backgrounds. Of 2,563 students who sat the test in order to begin schooling in 2020, 225 were accepted.
In 2019, the school was criticised for its lack of socio-educationally disadvantaged students, with 98% of students coming from above-average socio-educational backgrounds, and for having no Indigenous Australian students. Nationally, the school is the second most advantaged, behind only Sydney Grammar School. This prompted calls for changes to the WA system for assessing and supporting gifted students, as the school should reflect the diversity of gifted people. Myriad barriers to inclusivity at the school were noted, including its location in an affluent area and that many advantaged students access tutoring for the entrance test from early primary school.
Curriculum When the school first opened, students studied comprehensive science and modern languages as part of their courses, in addition to classical subjects. Until 1928, students attended Perth Modern for four years. The focus of the first two years was on basic subjects, whereas the final two years focused on a more diverse range of subjects. Students could choose from five streams: arts, science, education, commerce and agriculture.
Today, the school primarily teaches based on the Australian Curriculum.
Performing arts
Dance
Perth Modern School hosts the independent Graduate College of Dance, from which a number of acclaimed high-profile dancers have graduated. The Graduate College of Dance is a leading vocational dance school in Australia. The College prepares talented dancers aged 9 to 17 (year 5 to 12) for the dance profession. The college's comprehensive curriculum combines professional dance training with an academic education to tertiary level. The college is a private organisation requiring fees from applicants, enrolled students at Perth Modern School and private students from elsewhere. The Department of Education and Training previously accommodated the Graduate College of Dance at Swanbourne Senior High School. With the amalgamation of Swanbourne into Shenton College in 2000, the department offered the Graduate College of Dance accommodation at the Perth Modern School site due to the availability of appropriate space and suitable dance flooring.
Drama
Perth Modern presents a biennial musical production featuring live music performed by students. The first production was in 2014, and was a production of 'The Wizard of Oz'. This was followed by 'High School Musical' in 2016, 'Little Shop of Horrors' in 2018, 'Grease' in 2020, 'Legally Blonde' in 2022, 'The Addams Family' in 2024 and 'We Will Rock You' in 2026. Perth Modern has also put on a variety of other productions throughout each school year, for the year 10, 11 & 12 drama classes
Campus
List of buildings In 2013 the school's buildings were renamed after several people who had made significant contributions to the school. The school campus consists of the following buildings and centres, notable either in their own right or due to their namesake: Building nameOpenedMain useNamesakeNotes Andrews Building 1961Administration, mathematics, scienceCecil Andrews, the WA Inspector General of Schools when Perth Modern opened Beasley Building 1911Auditorium, humanities and social sciences, languages, musicHillson Beasley, the building's architectOriginal building of Perth Modern School.Gardham Building2009Design and technologyWalter Amos Gardham, the founding Manual Training Teacher from 1911 to 1930Mills Building2009Visual arts, languages, food science, multimedia/computer scienceFrank Mills, a senior art teacher from 1939 to 1957Parsons Building2009Cafeteria, lecture theatre, library, study hallJoseph Parsons, the Headmaster of Perth Modern School from 1912 to 1939The Library replaced the Joseph Parsons Memorial Library, which was demolished in 2009.Stokes Building1904English, Year 7 areaJohn P Stokes, the headmaster at Thomas Street Primary School from 1949 to 1951 and principal of Perth Modern from 1972 to 1979Originally West Perth School (1904-1906) and then Thomas Street Primary School (1906-1979).Tyler McCusker Sports Centre2015, 1964Assembly area, gymnasiumMalcolm McCusker and Don Tyler, alumni who made significant donations to the building's constructionConsists of a complex of two buildings, one of which was built earlier but shares the same name.Cyril Tyler Auditorium2021Music, Drama and Dance performances.With Modernian Don Tyler once again making a significant donation to another one of Perth Modern's building projects, Don was given the choice of what it was to be named. Don chose to name it after his stepfather, Cyril, who raised him from a young age after his biological father died when Don was just 28 days old.
Beasley building Construction Until 2013, the Beasley building was known as the West building. At the time of its construction from 1909 to 1911, the building was Perth Modern's first and only building. The new school was built on land which was formerly part of the northern common in Subiaco, which had been set aside for education purposes. This land was 4 hectares (10 acres) in area and was located between Subiaco and Mueller Roads (later renamed Roberts Road), west of Thomas Street in Subiaco. On 30 July 1909, S B Alexander was awarded the building contract for £11,637. The contract for the west building and main hall specified eight classrooms, art room, library, chemistry and physics laboratories, lecture rooms, as well as cookery and laundry classrooms. These facilities were grouped around the 27.4m by 14.3m (90 ft by 47 ft) central hall. The building was designed by Hillson Beasley, Principal Architect of WA. By 1911, the building was completed for the sum of £18,974.
Design Beasley's design of the west building and main hall comprised three parallel two storey wings facing north and south with a courtyard to the west. The west building is linked by a covered walkway to the third heritage listed wing. The building was typical of Beasley's mixture of formality and informality, with interesting interiors serving ritualised assemblies and examinations. The building reflected many key characteristics of Federation Arts and Crafts architecture. It was constructed from red brick with a stone base facade. Decorative exterior features included white painted cement rending to all framing, quoins, and copings. The design and construction also featured a central landmark clock tower with a battlemented parapet, a tapering roof lantern, and dormer windows. The roofs were designed and built with steeply pitched parapeted gables covered with tiles, and with prominent eaves and exposed ends to rafters. The main hall was set two storeys high with a jarrah ceiling. Carved, sloped, roof rafters were designed to give the interior of the building an ecclesiastical feel. The gallery was built spanning east and west on the first floor with staircases at each end. Other notable details of fine design and craftsmanship of west building included the stained glass transom windows and fanlights executed in Art Nouveau style at the north side of the building and inside the entrance foyer.
Refurbishment and heritage listing