Character Education

Ivanhoe Grammar School, the first Australian school to be internationally recognised as a School of Character.

From its inception, Ivanhoe Grammar School has been built around the key principle of developing young people of character. Our collective commitment to this remains unchanged and is underpinned by a desire to grow the moral, civic and performance character of our students, promote a passion for learning, stimulate curiosity and imagination while developing independent decision-making, building resilience, and embracing diversity. Proudly, Ivanhoe Grammar School was formally accredited in early 2024, as a School of Character by character.org, one of the first Australian schools to receive this recognition.

‘We are the only school in Australia that is accredited with character.org for the explicit teaching of character education and based on their 11 principles, we meet all their criteria. We are identified as a Melbourne Victoria National School of Character which we are extremely proud of.’ Deputy Principal/ Head of Plenty Campus Fiona Devlin.

At Ivanhoe Grammar School, the journey of character dates back 100 years, starting with our Founding Principal, Reverend Sydney Buckley who quite famously quoted ‘In a recent issue of a daily newspaper, character training was described as a sideline in education. It is not a sideline. It is the very core of education.’

After embarking on an application process in September 2022, the Ivanhoe Grammar School Cadet Unit received recognition from the Character.org association for exemplifying several of the 11 Principles of Character and in 2024 the School was accredited as an official School of Character. This accreditation demonstrates Ivanhoe’s commitment to developing young people of character and an annual auditing process makes sure that the School is continuing to implement and embed Character.org’s 11 principles.

Founded in 1993, Character.org is widely known for its 11 Principles Framework for Schools: A Guide to Cultivating a Culture of Character, a comprehensive structure developed by school leaders and character education researchers. Spearheaded by Deputy Principal/ Head of Plenty Campus Fiona Devlin, the accreditation process required the School to demonstrate, through practice and evidence, that it could meet 11 principles.

Past Parent 2022
‘I have been fortunate during our eight years at Ivanhoe Grammar School to witness first-hand an expansion of, and improvements in character education. I have watched with gratitude and awe as character education has grown at the School from a noble and respectable – albeit generalised – belief in growing young people, to a systematic, explicit, and all-pervading character. Education with many examples over the years where I have proudly watched the development and extension of Ivanhoe Learner values in all school activities’.