Bulleen Heights School (School No. 5099; previously known as Bulleen Special School 1976-1989; also known as Bulleen Heights Specialist School)

Full description

Note: These historical records contain words, descriptions and information that may be insensitive or inappropriate and that may be upsetting.

Opening in 1976, Bulleen Heights – then named Bulleen Special School – is a co-ed and specialised government school for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or severe language impairment.

In its early years, the school provided students regular visits by a speech therapist, a teacher for the deaf, a music teacher, and a physiotherapist. Rather than be divided into traditional class structures based on age, students were divided into three ability streams, further separated into class groups according to ‘academic, social, physical, emotional and dependency maturational factors’. The streaming was flexible, with students able to move between them when ready.

In 1989, the school’s name changed to Bulleen Heights School (Victorian Government Gazette 50, 20 December 1989, 3293). The school’s class structure was also changed, with students placed in groups according to several interacting factors that included their stage of educational development, peer group interaction, student/teacher relationship, and the student’s age.

As of 1998, the school was comprised of three main buildings and a three-bedroom brick house in extensive grounds. The house, called ‘Yungaburra’, was used as a centre for independent living skills. The school had three main departments serving students aged between 5 – 20 years old – Primary, Intermediate/Secondary and Transition.

Currently, Bulleen Heights School teaches students aged 5 – 18 across two campuses in the North-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne – Pleasant Road, Bulleen (Primary campus), and Manningham Road, Lower Templestowe (Secondary campus). Classes follow the Victorian curriculum, supplemented by a multi-disciplinary team of speech therapists, occupational therapists, and a psychologist who provide additional therapy and educational service to the students.