House System
At Wantirna College, every student becomes part of a House for the entirety of their time with us. This helps to build a strong sense of belonging, pride and school spirit. The House Program encourages connection across year levels and provides students with opportunities to earn House points in a variety of ways throughout the year.
Our House System is built on healthy competition and camaraderie, creating a fun and engaging environment where all students can get involved and contribute to their house.
We have four houses, each proudly represented by its own colour:
Students earn valuable house points by participating in whole-school Carnivals as well as other school events, contributing to the overall House Championship.
Origins of the Wantirna College Houses
In August 1980, we invited the Knox Historical Society to help us name the four College Houses. They presented us with a list of names obtained from the Crown Survey of 1860 and the sub-divisional survey of 1898, which contained names of families who farmed land in the vicinity of the school site.
According the the Wantirna College yearbook of 1980, ‘The names of all these families are worthy of perpetuation, and it was difficult to limit our selection to only four names.’ Eventually Byrne, Collier, Mason and Rees were the names selected in remembrance of all the local pioneer families.
Byrne House: Named after Frederick Byrne who gained the title to Lot 1 in 1915. He was a councillor in the Ferntree Gully Shire and was President of the Shire in 1928. He died in 1955.
Collier House: Named after James Collier who gained the title to Lot 37A in September 1873. The Collier family bought more land in the area and remained here for many years.
Mason House: Named after George Mason who gained the title to Lot 20 in 1910 and was an orchardist in the area all his life. His son, Tom, inherited the property and Mr & Mrs Tom Mason still lived in Templeton Road on a part of the property when the Houses were named in 1980.
Rees House: Named after William Rees who gained the Title to Lot 24 in 1903. He died in 1905 and his widow continued the farm until his son inherited it in 1952.