Hopetoun is situated 400 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Southern Mallee farming area. Horsham and Swan Hill are the closest regional towns. The College has an enrollment of 98 students from Years 7 to 12, a figure that has remained virtually constant in the past two years. Students are drawn from the surrounding communities of Hopetoun, Beulah, Patchewollock, Lascelles and Woomelang.The prolonged drought has had a significant impact on the community. However the wet season and the 2009 filling of Lake Lascelles, sited beside the town, has provided a sense of renewal. Hopetoun Secondary College seeks to educate, nurture and provide opportunities for growth in its students. We aim to prepare our students to be socially competent, civic-minded and personally happy and to become active, responsible and caring members of a changing world. The school recognises its role and obligation to the wider community, helping to secure the future for our youth. We provide an environment that caters for individual student needs and values participation. We offer strong programs in VCE, VCAL and VET and our students receive some VCE studies via the Wimmera Virtual School. Our teachers also deliver VCE studies to other schools via the Virtual School. We have begun sharing staff with Hopetoun Primary School and plan to co-locate with the primary to continue to improve educational delivery. Our school has 22.25 eqivalent full time staff: 1 acting principal, 16.7 teachers, and 5.55 education support staff