Rossbourne School

Rossbourne School is an independent, non denominational, co educational special school located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia that was founded in 1967. Rossbourne serves students who have had difficulties in mainstream schools due to the demands, both educational and social, of mainstream education. Many of students have an identifiable learning disability, such as dyslexia, a condition such as ADHD, or an autism-spectrum disorder such as autism or Asperger syndrome.

Rossbourne was established in 1967. It started from a small school founded by Mabel Ross in the early 1960s for students struggling with studies. Rossbourne's motto is Courage and Honour. Rossbourne caters for approximately 130 students between the ages of 12 and 17 years.

Curriculum

Rossbourne School, as well as the usual academic subjects(English, mathematics etc.),offers many subjects to prepare students for adult life. These include Sport, information technology, and Cooking. One subject, known as living skills, teaches students to run a home. Unlike most schools, Rossbourne does not offer VCE.

Co-curricular

Rossbourne offers several co-curricular activities such as sport and music. The school is a member of the Southern Special Schools Sports Association. Inter school sport is played on Friday afternoons with a different sport being offered each term. There are also the selective Swimming, athletics and Snowsports teams. There are several Musical ensembles available. Older students have the option of participating in the Human Powered vehicle programme. A musical is performed each year as well(such as 2012's Pirates of Penzance and 2014's Into the Woods).

External programmes

In the Senior School, students may go to TAFE and study a course in preparation for life after school.

A camp programme is run in each year level. This consists of surf camps for Middle and Transition students, and a bi-annual interstate camp for Senior school students. An adventure camp is run in the years that interstate camps do not run. Camps are compulsory and all students have one camp a year, although some May have 2-3 due to Human Powered Vehicle and/or Snowsports commitments.

House system

The school, unlike most other Australian schools, does not have a house system, however the matter is under discussion as of 2014.

Associated schools

Rossbourne does not have a sister school arrangement, however is similar to nearby Andale School for primary students. The school also has a work experience agreement with Xavier College and Hawkesdale P-12 college in regional Victoria.