Wesley College is a co-educational, open-entry private school in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is the only school in Victoria to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) from early childhood to Year 12.
The college consists of three main metropolitan campuses in Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Glen Waverley and Elsternwick, residential/boarding facilities (Glen Waverley), three outdoor education sites (Mallana, Chum Creek, & Lochend), a year 9 residential learning campus in Clunes and the Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School (Yiramalay) in the Kimberley Region.
Wesley was the first registered school in Australia and is a founding member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS). It is affiliated with the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia, the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Wesley College operates in a three mini-school structure (Junior, Middle & Senior Schools), which caters for students from early childhood through to Year 12. In the Junior Schools (3 Year olds to Year 4), students from the Early Childhood Learning Centre to Year 4 are taught within the framework of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). In Middle School (Year 5 to Year 9), students continue to learn within the framework of the IB Primary Years Programme before transitioning into the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) in Year 7. In the Senior Schools (Years 10 to 12), Wesley offers the Victorian Certificate of Education, IB Diploma Programme and Vocational Education and Training.
Wesley enrolment is not subject to entrance examinations or other requirements although some preference is given to female students in order to achieve gender balance. A report in 2019 cited Wesley's fees as among the highest of any school in Victoria.
Established in 1866, the St Kilda Road campus has approximately 1,500 students from early childhood through to Year 12. The campus is around four kilometres from the Melbourne city centre. The campus comprises two sites, with the Middle and Senior Schools located on St Kilda Road and the Junior School in close proximity to High Street and St Kilda Road.
The Glen Waverley campus, established in 1966, has over 1,200 students from early childhood through to Year 12. The campus is home to Wesley's boarding facility.
In 2016, parts of the Middle School were burned down during a fire, which led to the construction of the new Drennen centre.
The Elsternwick campus, established in late 1988 (formerly Methodist Ladies' College and Cato College), has over 400 students from early childhood through to Year 9.
The Clunes residential campus was established in 1999. Year 9 students spend eight weeks living with one another as part of a unique residential program, where they learn with and contribute to the local community. Girls and boys live separately in 15 residential houses designed by award-winning architect, Daryl Jackson AO. Each house accommodates up to eight students, with adult House Leaders supporting the overall wellbeing of students and house logistics.
Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School
Established in 2010, Yiramalay was born out of a partnership between Wesley College and the Bunuba community of the Kimberley in Western Australia.
Wesley has three outdoor education camp sites in Victoria. Wesley's 130 hectare outdoor education camp at Chum Creek, near Healesville, commenced in 1952, coinciding with the establishment of Timbertop by Geelong Grammar School. The original 200 acres (81 hectares) site was donated in 1952 by Alfred Wall, a parent whose family still owns land adjacent to the camp. One of the buildings was commemorated with a sign dedicated to Alfred Wall which has since fallen off and not been returned to its location.
The remaining 100 acres (40 hectares) was purchased in late 1999. Camp Mallana is located on 5 hectares (12 acres) on the Banksia Peninsula, between Bairnsdale and Paynesville, with frontage to Lake Victoria and the Duck Arm shoreline. Camp Lochend, purchased in 1988, is located on 80 hectares (200 acres) near Portland.
In 2021, Wesley College's administration was successfully sued for failing to protect students from child sexual abuse. Lawyers accused the private school's administration of allowing abuse to flourish and failing to protect students. A former student at Wesley College was awarded a record settlement of $3 million as compensation for institutional child abuse, after the court ruled that he was sexually assaulted by two former teachers at the school in the 1970s. The abuse was perpetrated by former staff members John McMillan, who sexually abused the boy at Wesley College leadership camps in the years between 1972 and 1974, and Stewart Heywood a former school counselor and long-time teacher, who then repeatedly abused the boy from 1976 until 1979. A number of other victims of McMillan and Heywood have come forward and accused Wesley College of putting "whatever legal obstacles they could" in order to prevent victims receiving proper compensation.
The beginnings of Wesley College came from a decision of the colonial government of Victoria in the wake of the Victorian gold rush to grant land and funds to four religious groups, including the Wesleyan Methodist Church, for the purpose of establishing colleges in Melbourne. In 1854, the government offered the Wesleyans 10 acres (40,000 m2) facing St Kilda Road. Major benefactor Walter Powell encouraged other Wesleyan Methodists to bridge the gap in funds between the government grant and that required to build the school. Daniel Draper and others subsequently contributed sufficient funds. The foundation stone was laid at the present site of the St Kilda Road campus on 4 January 1865. Draper drowned at sea on the day of the school's official opening on 11 January 1866. The first student, Frederick Binks, arrived on 18 January.
James Waugh was chairman of the school committee from foundation until 1883. James Corrigan was the first of seven Headmasters in Wesley's first 35 years. The school struggled for numbers over some of this period. The Depression of the 1890s provided a particular challenge when Arthur Way was Headmaster, and came to a head in 1896 under Arthur Stephenson when enrolment dropped to 90 boys and closure was threatened. Thomas Palmer's tenure as headmaster was curtailed early in 1902 after he was found to have embezzled more than £1,000 of the school's funds.
The colours purple and gold were first chosen when the school was established in 1866. In 1875, they were changed to light blue and white (after Cambridge University and University of Melbourne), but reverted to purple and gold in 1902.