Mac.Robertson Girls High School

I'm a current VCE student at Mac.Rob and I have to say, there are a lot of good things about this school.

Mac.Rob is very supportive and accepting of people - it has many clubs and opportunities to participate in events and meet other like-minded people. For example, there's the music program (which I'm in, and everyone is so supportive) general lunchtime clubs (art club, badminton club, board games club, etc) and leadership portfolios such as Enviro (sustainability portfolio), IAM (Inclusion portfolio for LGBTQIA+ students), etc. Keep in mind that there are always people at every school who aren't as friendly - I have met some people who are not good influences, and I've heard from some of my teachers that the younger cohort are not respectful enough. However, at Mac.Rob there is always someone there for everyone, and the best part of the school for me personally, are the friends and strong connections I've made with such lovely people. The personality of everyone is actually not as competitive as I thought it would be when I first entered mac.Rob in Year 9. People care lots about their studies, but they don't compete with their friends or put each other down, it's actually the opposite. Every single person I have met has uplifted their friends and encouraged them. It's really the people here who make the school so great.

With teachers, I'm very torn with this one, because there are definitely some teachers who will be amazing. Some of my VCE teachers work to the ends of the earth to provide resources and correct practice SACs - they don't get paid enough for the amount of amazing work they do. However, Mac.Rob's teacher spectrum is very varied, and while there are some amazing teachers, there are also some that are not good at all. I've had some teachers who criticise students, say some very rash and offensive things, or simply don't teach at all. Some teachers also care way too much about attendance and uniform, and while I've definitely seen some people who wear their uniform so wrong, most of the time the teachers are too harsh on the smallest detail. Some teachers also lock you out even if you're 2 seconds late, which is a problem as the average time of travel to Mac.Rob for most students is around 1 hour to 2 hours, and we can't control PTV sometimes because there's always delays.

I also think the canteen is amazing - I have friends who volunteer, and everyone loves the Canteen Aunty there. So much that there's a huge waiting list for people who want to work in the canteen, and my friends always talk about how kind the Aunty is - also the food she makes is so good! It's not too expensive - the price does vary, as it ranges from 80 cents for food to 8 dollars for a whole meal, which is definitely a lot cheaper than food outside. It gets really busy in there some days.

Some things that aren't great are the facilities. The library just got renovated, and it's still way too small. Since everyone at Mac.Rob puts effort into their studying, at breaktimes and free periods the library is always crammed full with people locking in for their SACs, IAs, and assessments, and because of the sheer amount of people it gets quite loud in there. Even though we have rooms set up for study outside the library it's still loud and hard to focus in as a lot of people are talking. The good thing is, the rooms are always cool in summer and warm in winter, so at least the temperature is good. Plus, there isn't much Mac.Rob can do about the size of the school, since there's roads, parks, and space everywhere around Mac.Rob which is already occupied.\

I also think the Connect sessions we are doing right now are a waste of time. Connect happens every week for 1 hour a week, and we just sit in class and listen to talks about wellbeing. While wellbeing is important, most students don't need to hear it, and the ones who do need help will seek out the Wellbeing Team at Mac.Rob, who I've heard from friends that they are amazing and very helpful. Time could be used more effectively here to let students study for tests or actually socialise with their classmates, since the teachers prevent students from talking to each other during the Connect sessions.

I just graduated in 2022 and over the past 4 years I’ve been compiling all my thoughts and experiences about this school so this will be a long one.
Let’s start positively with the pros.

This school is extremely supportive and there is very little racism and bullying. MacRob is an incredibly diverse community with people of many different backgrounds, genders and sexualities and you’ll feel really welcome there. I also felt like I wasn’t judged and could be myself which was not how I felt when I went to a coed school.

There are some teachers who will go above and beyond for your needs, especially some VCE teachers who will bend over backwards to give you resources, correct your work and give you tons of informative and constructive feedback (English and PE teachers in particular). I also had a French teacher who would say hello to me every single time over 4 years in the hallways when I only had her in year 9.

Students get a voice and a lot of events are student organised or lead, and a lot of things are put to a vote. The leaders really care deeply about the school and I find that really refreshing.

It’s more relaxed than you think. Not everyone is academically competitive and people will be happy for you and cheer you on regardless of how smart you are. No one is really uppity about how many superiors they got or what mark they received.

Many of your friends will be like-minded and you can support each other through common experiences

Teachers are very understanding of public transport delays and are usually pretty lenient on extensions and things like that so that is nice to see. However lots of students abuse this which is unfortunate.


Now onto not so good aspects of MacRob.

The canteen is run by a very lovely person but it’s often overpriced and understaffed and the students often have to volunteer. Also my friends have often missed out of lunch because they ran out of food.

Last year there was a lot of construction and it made it extremely hard to concentrate, especially when it happened during exams and sacs which I think could’ve been avoided.

While the old timetable was much better and easier to follow, the new timetable is confusing to me and other students who are still attending MacRob and I think it’s unnecessary.

While a lot of events are student run or suggested, teachers have more control over learning aspects such as timetabling or ‘Connect’ classes. I’m not sure about other classes but for me throughout my whole MacRob journey I never found form/connect classes to be useful and mostly they were just reminding us of upcoming events to give consent or payment for. My teachers have also been inattentive and just go on their devices during this time and let the form/connect captain handle things. I’m not sure why connect was increased from 10-20 minutes a week to a full 45 minute session or more every week as far as I know, but this time could be used more productively. I cannot speak for this year since I’ve left but I assume it hasn’t changed much.

Assemblies used to sometimes be after school which I think should not happen and I had 7 subjects on a Friday which I thought was ridiculous but probably couldn’t be helped.

It’s really congested! MacRob keeps accepting more and more students when we don’t have the room. It was a nightmare getting from K3 to L2.

Sometimes you have to teach your own content or rely on your friends because teachers are constantly getting pregnant or sick and no subs are organised for 3/4 classes most of the time and it really impacts my learning and many of my friends.

Teachers often take a very long time to return work (chemistry and maths in particular) which is understandable since there are a large number of students taking these subjects. However I think to this day I didn’t get back one of my chem sacs. I do think 3 months is excessive but of course I don’t know how hard they are to mark so this is just a warning to people hoping to take these subjects.

MacRob teachers are very concerned about attendance? But in a way that’s way more extreme than other schools. During an assembly that was after school the gates were locked and teachers were standing at all exits and guarding them like—

This is not about MacRob but just the public transport. Keep in mind often you can miss period one or even two because there are bus replacements, delays and strikes ALL THE TIME. Normally teachers will be understanding though.