Our School
About The Austin School
The Austin School is a Department of Education and Training (DET) school located within the grounds of the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg. The school provides specialised educational services to young people, both inpatient and outpatient, who have significant emotional, physical and psychiatric problems. All students are patients of the Austin Health and/or Austin Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS).
The Adolescent Inpatient Unit currently accepts referrals of young people (13 to 17 years) from the North Western sector of the state. Younger children (0 to 12 years) from across Victoria can be referred to the Child Inpatient Unit. Patients from the Paediatric Ward and Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Hospital, whose stay in hospital is considered long enough to affect their learning, can be referred to the Paediatric Ward Programs.
Young people who are outpatients of Austin CYMHS can be referred to short term programs by their case manager which are designed to support students’ social and emotional learning and assist in their return to an educational or vocational setting.
We offer a range of targeted programs for both primary and secondary aged students who are from both government and non-government schools. Liaison with home schools is an integral component of The Austin School’s programs. Attendance for all students is for the short term.
For further information about the school contact our school office on 9496 5324.
For more information on Austin CYMHS, visit their website at: https://www.austin.org.au/mental-health/child-and-youth/
Alternatively, if you are concerned about a young person’s mental health and would like information, assessment or to make a referral, call Austin CYMHS Triage on 1300 859 789.
Principal’s Message
Welcome to The Austin School.
Thank you for visiting our website and taking the time to get to know our school.
As Principal of The Austin School, I am extremely proud of the work that we do to educate students who are experiencing mental health concerns and strive to build their personal, social and emotional learning needs. We have a professional and committed staff who endeavour to create learning environments to suit each of our individual students’ needs. Located on the site of the Austin Hospital, our facilities and gardens promote a sense of calmness and safety for our students, which we know is key to their success.
Staff work in close contact with parents, clinicians and the student’s base school to set and monitor learning goals and to ensure clear, consistent and supported plans are in place to enable the student to transition back to their base school or into other educational or vocational settings.
At The Austin School, we pride ourselves on our values, of being Inclusive, Curious and Respectful. We work with students, families and the wider community to ensure we are inclusive of all, curious about life and learning and respectful in how we approach our interactions with others.
I am extremely proud to lead the passionate and dedicated team at The Austin School who constantly push themselves to be at the forefront of education within the area of mental health.
Matthew Di Domenica
Principal
History of The Austin School
The Austin School carries the honour of holding the number one position on the Education Department register of special schools in Victoria.
Education for child inpatients began at the school (The Austin Hospital School) in 1902. An active philanthropist, Mrs. Elizabeth Austin, from whom The Austin Hospital takes its name, was a generous donor and extended this to the building of and furnishing of a children’s ward (Ward 13), so that all children could be educated whilst in hospital. The Committee of Management appointed three voluntary teachers from the local free kindergarten to teach in the school room in the children’s ward.
In 1908 the Department of Education was urgently approached to appoint a teacher. As a result, on 22nd May 1908 Miss Hazel Bain, a seventeen-year-old junior teacher on probation at the Heidelberg State School in Cape Street, was sent to instruct the fourteen children.
Between 1908 and 1932 the average enrolment was six to ten pupils, without a permanent teacher. Many of the early pupils had never attended school before coming to the hospital, although some were nine years old. Most of the children spent two to three years at school but few progressed beyond Grade 3. The first name in the school register was Albert Wadsworth, a boy aged six years who spent four and a half years in Grade 1, three years in Grade 2, and six months in Grade 3. Expansion of the schooling program in 1914 included all home bound children.
The school closed in 1932 for lack of pupils. In 1937 the school re-opened due to the polio epidemic which increased the number of children on the Ward and visiting teachers from Heidelberg State School again taught the pupils. The original Pupil Register remains at The Austin School.
In 1939, the first stage of the 3KZ Block for children, which contained offices for teachers, three large rooms with dividing doors which also opened into a hall, was opened on the ground floor of the East Wing.
In 1940 the school was officially recognised as State School No. 3605, with 170 pupils but still staffed by teachers from Heidelberg State School. The second stage of the 3KZ Block was opened in 1950 and saw the appointment of permanent teaching staff for 80-85 pupils. The third stage of the building, a spinal unit, was opened in 1951. Many long-term patients, mainly suffering from polio and bone/joint tuberculosis, had their entire schooling at The Austin School.
Between the years 1950-1960, the school was staffed by four teachers, two for tuberculosis, one for orthopaedic and spinal, and one for wards. The average enrolment was 80-90 pupils.
In 1968 the Austin became a teaching hospital which brought about a reorganisation of Wards, and tuberculosis patients were transferred out, which left two remaining children’s wards (13 & 14). As a consequence, enrolments decreased to 40 and the school was reclassified as Class 3, only requiring a Head Teacher and one assistant. The school was moved to a ‘shed’ on the southern side of the Bowen Block (known as ‘the Doll’s House’).
Throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s The Austin School continued to operate from the condemned wooden building 6m x 5m, originally used as a nurse’s infirmary and then as an occupational therapy unit. Students in wheelchairs, or on trolleys, attended the classroom that lacked running water and toilets. Enrolment numbers fluctuated from as few as 15 (1973) to 158 (1978).
A further change in paediatric clinical patterns occurred with the formation of the Department of Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry in 1974, for referral purposes. This was followed by referrals accepted from the Renal Unit in 1975.
A new school was completed, in October 1984, between the Maria Drummond Building and the 3KZ Block. On 26th February 1985 the school was officially opened by the Hon. Robert Fordham, MP, the Minister of Education, and the Hon. Tom Roper, MP, the Minister of Health. The staff comprised of a Head Teacher, five classroom teachers and a part time secretary. A School Council was also formed with representatives from across the hospital. The school was made up of relocatable classrooms set adjacent to an attractive small paved outdoor area with a basketball ring, and ready access to the nearby tennis court.
Changes to the structure of hospital services was revised to a 4-team model: Adolescent inpatient unit, Child inpatient unit, Adolescent outpatient unit, Child outpatient unit, and in 1986 they all moved to the Marian Drummond Building.
The Wards program continued, encompassing Paediatrics, General, Surgical, and specialist – Neurological and Spinal, patients. 1987 saw the increase of staff to nine, who were given honorary appointments within the Division of Central Medical Services with the school being treated as a department (Dept. of Special Education) within the Division. Educational programs also commenced for outpatients, that year.
Patients from the Spinal and Rehabilitation wards at the Kew campus at Royal Talbot Hospital were included into the program in 1992. Services expanded further with the introduction of the Brief Intervention Program for adolescent day patients, and two new teachers were appointed. This was further added to in 1995, increasing the total number of staff to eleven.
The development of a new State-wide Child Inpatient Program with the Department of Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry commenced in 1995, and three additional staff were appointed in 1997 for this program.
At the time of the State-wide Child Inpatient Unit opening, The Austin School became the largest school in Victoria specialising in education for students with serious emotional problems, and the only school which provided educational programs for students with both mental health and physical health problems. One of only four that teach students with psychiatric conditions.
The school’s name was officially changed to The Austin School in 2020, previously being known by different names such as, The Austin Hospital School and The Austin Hospital Special School.
The Austin School places great value on its relationship with the multidisciplinary teams within the hospital. This interaction enables teachers to provide the best possible programs for students.
The strong links with our local community schools, base schools, hospital, and auxiliary staff promote active participation by all involved, to support our students.
Today, The Austin School continues to run on the site of Austin Health and services those students with mental and physical health problems. All students attending The Austin School are clients of Austin Health and Austin Health Child & Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS). Inpatient students come from all over Victoria and Outpatient students are located within the catchment area of seven local government areas surrounding the hospital. Student enrolments are transient in their nature and the school works with hundreds of students each year.
1902 Unknown
1908-1917 Hazel Bain (Head Teacher)
1918 -1931 No records found
1932-1937 School closure (Polio epidemic in Victoria)
1937-1940 Staffed by teachers from Heidelberg State School
1941 Jessie E.A. Brown (Acting Head Teacher)
1943 Hazel Sparrow
1952 Phyllis. H. Wallace
1961 Mrs. E. C. Nicol (Acting Head Teacher)
1968 Mrs. V. Vago (Acting Head Teacher)
1969 Miss M. Carroll
1969 M. Murphy (Acting Head Teacher)
1973 S. Pringle
1977 Joan Hammond
1981 Gabrielle Gardner
1987 John McCormack
1988 Anne Burke
1989 Ian Taylor
1996 Geneveive Berenyi
2009 Biserka Andrzejewski
2016 Penny Moffat
2020 Matthew Di Domenica
Employment
For all employment opportunities at The Austin School, please visit Recruitment Online.