Reflecting on the community: Yarra Valley Grammar's Dr Mark Merry

Yarra Valley Grammar is changing as fast as its surrounds. On an icy winter’s day in Ringwood, Yarra Valley Grammar principal Dr Mark Merry is warming up in his office.

He’s watching over students and grounds staff going about their day in the beautiful surrounds.

Among the staff working on the bushland gardens is a Yarra alumnus – one of several ex-students who’ve returned to work in roles that also include teaching, sports coaching and tutoring.

Such is the lure of the community-connected culture of the school in Melbourne’s leafy outer east.

“We have an extraordinarily engaged alumni in a number of areas across the school,” Mark says.

“They come back because they love the place – they don’t want to move away.”

He has been at the helm of YVG for eight years, overseeing the growth and change at the school and in the wider Ringwood community.

Student numbers at YVG have grown 30 per cent since 2009. Reasons for that include more families moving into Ringwood and more students attending from beyond the local area.

“Once upon a time, we were seen to be a school in Ringwood catering for the local community. Now we’re seen a bit more broadly,” Mark says.

“We’ve enrolled students from Doncaster and Templestowe, Blackburn and Box Hill. There’s even interest now from Wantirna and Knox.”

The growing enrolments have brought changes across the school – including in infrastructure and the type and diversity of subjects offered.

“Physically the school’s changing. We’ve had a major building project each year for the past eight years, so there’s a lot of infrastructure coming in,” Mark says. “There’s been a growth in our languages. Traditionally, we’ve taught French, Indonesian and Japanese. Now Chinese is our second-most popular language.

“I’ve [also] seen a greater diversity in the student population. I think it’s fantastic and we’re reflecting cultural diversity in the community.”

The changes at YVG have gone hand in hand with wider changes in education – including the expanding use of technology and social media – and a growing interest in accelerated programs.

“We have students who are very academic, so we run an enhancement program here called the Levavi Program, which we introduced this year,” he says. “We invite students (in Years 6-9), in the areas of maths, science, English and humanities, into extension classes and enrichment programs.”

For students who need more academic assistance, there is a robust individual programs department.

“As a school, you’ve got to be catering for everyone,” Mark says. “That’s a big challenge. But we make sure that whoever comes here has an opportunity for success.”

Such care for students, and for the wider community, is part of the YVG philosophy.

“We’re not just a school in Ringwood, we’re part of Ringwood. We see ourselves as being a community resource,” he says. “We have community groups using our sports facilities, and that’s been a long tradition … we’re entering into a partnership this year with Paul Sadler swim schools.”

The school is building an indoor swimming centre that will be used by students and for children from outside YVG to learn to swim. Likewise, Mark says, students give back to their community.

“Every one of our students is involved in community outreach, whether it be our littlest ones fund-raising for whales, or our older students taking part in a program that tutors refugee students who want to learn English, or working in soup kitchens,” he says. “This year, for the fourth year in a row, we were the biggest fund-raisers for the Royal Children’s Hospital of all the schools in the state.

“We want to do it because we’re part of the community here. But, also, one of the school’s strong philosophies is that when our students go out in the community they can contribute in a positive way.”

That includes the broader YVG community, in which many Yarra Old Grammarians are helping to lead into the future.