Fintona Girls' School

Fintona Girls' School is a small, independent, non-denominational, day school for girls, located in Balwyn, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Established in 1896, Fintona is a non-selective school and currently caters for approximately 600 students from the Early Learning Centre to Year 12.
Fintona is a member of Girls Sport Victoria, the Alliance of Girls Schools Australia, the Junior School Heads Association of Australia, and the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia.

WWW fintona.vic.edu.au IG fintona.girls.school

History

Fintona was established as a Presbyterian, day and boarding school for girls, in 1896. The school was founded by Annie Hughston and was originally located in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell.
The school occupies 'Balwyn', the historic home and vineyard built by early settler Andrew Murray, from which the suburb of Balwyn takes its name.

Curriculum

Fintona Girls' School is divided into 4 teaching sections:

The Early Learning Centre
Junior School, catering for Prep to Year 4
Middle School, catering for Years 5 to Year 8
Senior School, catering for Years 9 to 12

The school's ELC curriculum is based on the Reggio Emilia approach to education. From Prep to Year 6, students are involved in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program which covers the subject areas of language, social studies, mathematics, science and technology, arts, and personal, social and physical education.
Fintona offers three languages, Latin, French and Japanese.

Houses

The three Junior School houses of Fintona are Bedggood, Menzies and Reid. The six Middle and Senior School houses of Fintona are Boyne, Clarke, Hughston, Murdoch, Maxwell, Ower.

Sport

Fintona is a member of Girls Sport Victoria.

GSV premierships

Fintona has won the following GSV premiership.

Basketball – 2001

Notable alumnae

Ex-students of Fintona Girls' School are known as 'Old Fintonians' and may elect to join the 'Old Fintonians Association'. Some notable 'Old Fintonians' include:
;Media, entertainment and the arts

Norma Bull – Australian painter

;Medicine and science

Dora Mary Lush – pioneer bacteriologist
Dame Beryl Beaurepaire AC, DBE – feminist, former chairwoman of the Federal Women's Committee of the Liberal Party of Australia, wife of Ian Beaurepaire
Helen Caldicott – environmentalist and anti-nuclear campaigner
Andrea Coote – politician
Pattie Maie Menzies – wife of former prime minister Robert Menzies, appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire for public duty in hospital work

;Sport

Louise Bawden – Olympic volleyball player
Georgia Griffith – Tokyo 2020 Olympics middle-distance athlete