Clyde School

Clyde School was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in Alma Road, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia by Miss Isabel Henderson, a leading educationist of her day. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent academic results. The school was relocated to Macedon, near Hanging Rock in 1919.

Owing to its founders, the school was aligned with both the Presbyterian and Anglican denominations at this time and it expanded rapidly. By 1917 it had an enrolment of nearly 200 girls spread over five buildings. Partly to relieve overcrowding but mainly to create an educational environment free of the distractions of post-war Melbourne, Isabel Henderson decided to relocate the school. In September 1918 she purchased the former mountain golf resort, Braemar House, near Woodend, and moved her school there in 1919. In 1921 Clyde Woodend became a public school after a vigorous fund-raising campaign by a number of well-connected Old Girls. The following year, Isabel Henderson retired to England and Miss Dorothy Tucker, a domestic science teacher from New Zealand, took over as principal.

Less charismatic than her predecessor, Miss Tucker nevertheless maintained a well-disciplined, conservative boarding school. Enrolments expanded rapidly during the 1920s but the Great Depression saw numbers plummet. Rigorous cost-saving and an austere regime ensured the school’s survival when many other schools closed. The struggles took their toll on Dorothy Tucker who suffered a nervous collapse in 1935. After a short interregnum under Helen Mathieson, the school appointed Olga Hay, a protégé and old family friend of Isabel Henderson, as headmistress in 1937.

Strongly influenced by her forward-thinking mentor Isabel Henderson, Olga Hay began her tenure with a raft of innovations. However, after Miss Henderson’s death in 1940, Olga Hay’s regime became more conservative. During the 1940s and '50s, Clyde School gained a reputation as one of Australia’s most prestigious (and expensive) schools, though not known for high academic achievement. By the time she retired in 1959, Olga Hay had brought great economic success and stability to the school.

Joan Montgomery became principal of Clyde School in 1960 and immediately set about raising academic standards. A highly respected educationist, Joan Montgomery embarked on a modernisation program that included a purpose-built library and science laboratories. Before she left Clyde in 1968, Joan Montgomery recommended that the school open its doors to ‘day girls’ to increase its catchment.

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