The JH Boyd Girls High School was constructed in 1884 by the Education Department's Chief Architect Henry Bastow. The building was reconstructed in 1930 to become the South Melbourne Girls' School, devoted to the training of girls in domestic arts. In 1932 it was renamed the JH Boyd Domestic College after its patron, a successful grazier, who bequeathed a large sum of money to establish a school of domestic science so "that women should be taught to manage a home correctly". The school occupies a prominent corner site on City Road, and is a two storey brick building with a third storey of one room and entry to a tower. It was closed as a school in 1985 after 100 years of operation. The surviving section of the original school is a commanding Tudor Revival design executed in Hawthorn bricks, embellished with bands of cream brick and render mouldings. The Tudor influence is repeated in a castellated parapet and octagonal turret.
The JH Boyd Girls High School is of architectural significance as one of the most ornamental and distinctive of the Education Department schools of the 19th century. It was the only 19th century State School to have a three storey central block, reflecting its prominent location in full view of the railway line from Port Melbourne to Flinders Street. The schools size and style are evidence of the rapid growth in population and wealth in Melbourne suburbs as a result of post-gold rush prosperity.
It gives us a reminder of early education philosophies, especially for girls. Domestic Arts schools developed in the years during and after WWI, at a time when there was a wider concerted push for "scientific" mothering education. It was considered that mothering skills were not innate and needed to be taught, in the same way that domestic skills needed to be taught at school. The schools emphasis on the domestic arts demonstrates the different approach to girls and boys education that characterized the school system for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Less emphasis was placed on academic achievement than on domestication, to produce young women who would find their place in private rather than public life. Nevertheless, these domestic arts schools were the predecessors of the Girls High Schools and, despite the emphasis on domestic skills, they were a means of expanding secondary education to girls at a time when State Governments were reluctant to provide post-primary education.
The school has been transformed into a community hub, incorporating a library, Maternal and Child Health Services, Family Support Services and outside spaces to enjoy. Dotted around the walls of the revamped building are plaques with quaint quotes from former students and teachers: memories of shorthand and typing classes, javelin and shot-put practice, or working on one’s grace and poise. The new community hub retains much of the character of the old Tudor revival school building, with the addition of some of the deluxe mod cons and design flair we’ve come to expect from more modern buildings.
Cache is located next to the community hub on the ground level. This area consists of busy roads and overpasses so please ensure you cross the roads safely, especially with children. Only cross the roads at designated pedestrian crossings. Cache is large enough to hold small swaps. it should contain a pencil.