John Willcock College

John Willcock College is a comprehensive public middle school located in Geraldton, a regional centre 424km north west of Perth, Western Australia.The school was established in 1975 as a high school catering for students from Year 8 to Year 10. In 1983 the first cohort of Year 11 students occurred and the school became John Willcock Senior High School. The school was amalgamated with Geraldton Senior College in 1997 and was known as the Geraldton Senior College Middle School (Highbury Campus). By 2003 the name was changed again to John Willcock College and school caters for students from Year 8 to 9 with most students continuing onto the senior college upon graduating.The school is named after John Willcock, the 15th Premier of Western Australia.Enrolments at the school were 652 in 2007, 624 in 2008, 620 in 2009, 467 in 2010, 449 in 2011 and 585 in 2012.The school was closed temporarily in 2008 after being swamped following a torrential downpour. Several classrooms were damaged as a result of the 25mm deluge.Later the same year vandals caused over $15,000 worth of damage to the school. Three teenage boys smashed about 40 windows then flooded many rooms using a fire hose. Local police apprehended them at the site.In 2010 the school was the subject of intense media scrutiny following the broadcast of violent video footage of students at the school attacking each other. The unprovoked students had filmed tag team fights with other unsuspecting students then circulating the images on their mobile phones. The Principal, Julie Campbell, was shocked at the footage which involved only a small number of female students. Parents were contacted saying that the culprits would be suspended and that the College had made huge strides in managing behavior.