The Lou Barberis Era at Melbourne High School

Mr Lou Barberis was the Principal of Melbourne High School from 1975 to 1986. In that time nearly 5000 boys, including myself, passed through the School. Melbourne High School is a state school not a private school. During the 1970s and 1980s, it provided highly effective social mobility and life opportunities for many young men from working-class backgrounds, including many children of migrants to Australia. Mr Barberis was the exceptional leader who knew every boy’s name and circumstances, and who showed great care and compassion for every boy’s welfare and future prospects. In this presentation I revisit the world of those schoolboys. I also explore the implications of the school’s leadership in that era for the policies which are needed to achieve better educational equity and excellence in Australia today.