Scotch College, Melbourne

Scotch College is an independent Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Studies over the years have found that Scotch had more alumni mentioned in Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians) than any other school. It is one of the wealthiest schools in Australia

In 2010 The Age reported that Scotch College "has educated more of Australia's most honoured and influential citizens than any other school in the nation", based on research that revealed its alumni had received more top Order of Australia honours than any other school.

The College was established in 1851 as "The Melbourne Academy", in a house in Spring Street, Melbourne, by Reverend James Forbes of the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It is the oldest extant secondary school in Victoria and celebrated its sesquicentenary in 2001.

Scotch is a founding member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS), and is affiliated with the International Coalition of Boys' Schools, the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV), and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The School is also a member of the G20 Schools Group and the Global Alliance of Leading-Edge Schools.

History

Scotch College is the oldest surviving secondary school in Victoria. Its foundation was due to the initiative of the Reverend James Forbes, who was the first settled minister of the Presbyterian Church in the State. It is 'the outcome of the old Scottish ideal of education', in which church and school were inextricably connected. The School opened on 6 October 1851, under the name of the Melbourne Academy in a small house in Spring Street, with Robert Lawson, a Scot from Edinburgh University, as the first principal. The house was soon outgrown, as was a larger one in the same street and the Church applied to the government for a grant of land. Two acres were reserved for the school on Eastern Hill and substantial new buildings were erected there in 1853. The cost was met partly by a government grant and partly from funds raised by the friends of the school.

Lawson resigned in 1856, but not before he had laid the firm foundations for future development. Under his successor, Alexander Morrison, the school grew and prospered; Morrison had been Rector of Hamilton Academy and remained at Scotch for forty six years. W S Littlejohn, who took over the school in 1904, served for twenty nine years and his successor, C M Gilray, for nineteen. So, when the school became the first in Victoria to celebrate its centenary,Gilray was only the fourth principal â€" a record perhaps unequalled by any major public school in the British Commonwealth. These three men have been aptly described in the school history: "Morrison, a stern patriarch and rigid disciplinarian, walking strictly in the paths of the classics taming by force of personality and the strength of his arm and fiery youth of the early colony. Littlejohn, no less strong in discipline, but typical of the broader life which came with the new century, versed in the classics but appreciative of the importance of the sciences and of the place of science in education; and Gilray, who, in a more mature and sophisticated community, preserved in the school the wisdom of classics and the adventure of science, but added the beauty of music, art and drama and the discipline of a fuller life of culture."

Gilray was succeeded in 1953 by R Selby Smith, an Old Rugbeian who had served in the Royal Navy during the war and was at the time of his appointment Deputy Director of Education for Warwickshire. During his headmastership there were still further advances in the cultural aspects of education, especially music. A fine scholastic record was maintained and the building program interrupted by the war was revived. He greatly improved the administrative efficiency of the school, the general care of the boys by masters and the participation of students in the school's religious life. Smith resigned in 1964 to become the Foundation Dean of Education at Monash University.

C O Healey who had been Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School since 1951 succeeded Smith. Healey brought the greatest dedication to his task and was totally involved in every aspect of school life. During the ten and a half years of his headmastership, he awakened a new sense of purpose in all members of the school community. A general science wing, the new dining hall and the new maths/science block are visible signs of his creativity and energy. Tireless in his pursuit of excellence, he left a lasting impact upon the minds and souls of all Scotch Collegians. Gifted with forward vision, he fostered the concept of the "Scotch Family" and conceived of the Scotch College Foundation. Healey retired in January 1975.

In the following May, P A V Roff, formerly Headmaster of Scotch College, Adelaide, was installed as the seventh principal of the college. Roff 's tenure, though a brief seven years, was characterised by an expanding voice for staff in the day-to-day management of the school, the establishment of a Foundation Office at the School under the direction of a Development Officer and the widening of the House System to provide greater depth in pastoral care. His last few years saw the school in dispute over ownership and, for the principal and his school community, it was a time of stress. In 1980 the decision was made to incorporate the school and a new Council was appointed, with representatives from the Presbyterian Church, the Old Scotch Collegians' Association and the community at large.

F G Donaldson, a vice principal from Wallace High School (Northern Ireland), with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Atomic Physics from Queens University Belfast, succeeded Roff in 1983. Under his principalship there has been a significant building program which has created outstanding facilities for the education of boys, the development of ICT for administrative and educational purposes and enhanced pastoral care of students.

I Tom Batty, was appointed as the ninth principal of Scotch and installed into office on Monday 14 July 2008. Prior to his appointment he was Housemaster of Villiers House, Eton College in the UK. The early years of Batty’s tenure have seen the introduction of a new House-based pastoral care structure in the Upper School, which began at the start of the 2011 school year.

Name

The School was originally called "The Melbourne Academy", after its location, when it opened in 1851. In its early years it was also known as

• Mr Lawson's Academy - named after the first principal, Robert Lawson
• The Grammar School
• The Scots' College - the college of the Scots
• The Scotch College - the college that is Scottish

For a while all of these names were used concurrently until in the 1860s the usage settled on "The Scotch College", which was later shortened to be simply "Scotch College".

Coat-of-arms and motto

The School's coat-of-arms (shown above, right) features the following elements:

• The Burning Bush - the Burning Bush, from the Book of Exodus, is a common symbol used by the Presbyterian Church, representing Christian faith.
• A white cross on a blue background - the flag of Scotland (St Andrew's Cross) representing the School's Scottish heritage.
• The Southern Cross - the Southern Cross constellation common symbol for Australia, representing the School's location and home.
• A crown - representing loyalty to the sovereign and legitimate government.
• A lymphad - a Greek ship with oars in use, thus rowing into the wind, and representing enterprise and perseverance.
• A torch - representing the torch of knowledge and learning.

The motto of the School, shown in Scottish heraldic style in a scroll above the coat-of-arms, is Latin: "Deo Patriae Litteris". Its meaning in English is "For God, For Country, For Learning".

Principals

F. G. Donaldson AM retired as principal at the conclusion of 2007, having served 25 years, and was succeeded by I. T. Batty who commenced his term in 2008. Batty is only the ninth principal in the school's 162-year history.

Governance and denominational affiliation

Scotch is an incorporated body governed by a Council made up of three groups; 1/3 Old Boys nominated by the Old Scotch Collegians' Association, 1/3 Presbyterian Church of Victoria nominees and 1/3 "members of the Scotch Family" nominated by Council from members of associations including the Scotch Parents' Association and Scotch Foundation.

Chairmen of the Council have included Sir Arthur Robinson, Sir Archibald Glenn, Sir James Balderstone and David Crawford.

At the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, Scotch was allocated to the Presbyterian Church of Australia by the Property Commission of the Presbyterian Church, which included an even number of representatives from the Uniting Church and the continuing Presbyterian Church as well as independent commissioners. At the time the Scotch Council unsuccessfully appealed this decision.

Campuses

• Hawthorn - The school has a single boarding, sporting and academic campus of 27 hectares (67 acres) in suburban Hawthorn. Sporting facilities include ovals and soccer/rugby fields, two synthetic grass hockey/soccer fields, tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool, an indoor diving pool, three gymnasiums, two weights rooms and three squash courts. As the school is situated on the banks of the Yarra River, the school has rowing and boating facilities located within its grounds.
• Healesville - The school has 80 hectares (198 acres) of forest with a lodge in the hills at Healesville east of Melbourne, used for Scout and Cadet camps.
• Phillip Island - The school has an absolute-beach-front residential seaside property at Cowes on Phillip Island, which is the site of a one-week orientation camp for Year 7 students and other camps.
• Mansfield - The school has a lodge for the use of boarders in the hills outside of Mansfield, 130 km northeast of Melbourne.

Boarding

Scotch has been a boarding school since its foundation. Today the School caters for 160 boarders of whom around 70% are drawn from around Australia and 30% are from overseas. The boarding precinct is on "The Hill" which overlooks the Senior School at the main Hawthorn campus. There are three boarding houses: School House, McMeckan House and Arthur Robinson House. Both School House and McMeckan House were built as the gift of Anthony Mackie, and his brother and sisters, in memory of their uncle Captain James McMeckan. Arthur Robinson House is named after a Chairman of the School Council, Sir Arthur Robinson.

Curriculum

Scotch students study towards the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), which is the main secondary student assessment program in Victoria which ranks students with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for university entrance purposes.

Extra-curricular activities

Some extra-curricular groups and activities at Scotch are:

• Army Cadet Corps - The Scotch College Cadet Corps was established in 1884, and holds an annual Tattoo. Cadets have weekly activities at the school and participate in camps and bivouacs.
• Pipe Band - The Scotch College Pipes and Drums Band was established in 1946 and is one of the oldest school pipe bands in Australia. It wears the Gordon tartan, and competes at national and international competitions and highland festivals. It performs at school and public events including in the annual ANZAC Day March to the Shrine of Remembrance. It is the current national champion in the Juvenile grade.
• Military Band - The Military Band performs at school, and in public including in the annual ANZAC Day March to the Shrine of Remembrance and on overseas tours. All members of the band are also members of the Australian Army Cadet Corps.
• Ist Hawthorn (Scotch College) Scout Group - Scotch has its own Scout Group, established in 1926, that is part of Scouts Australia. The Scout Group meets regularly each Thursday at the school and participate in off-campus activities such as camps.
• Sports First Aid - A Thursday afternoon service that boys can choose to undertake to gain advanced training in first aid. Members of the service learn valuable skills such as CPR and soft and hard tissue injury management. Members help the Scotch College community by regularly attending Saturday mornings to treat any injuries suffered during sport matches. An annual camp is held at Cowes where boys practice the skills they have learned.
• Debating - Scotch regularly participates in debating, competing in the Debaters Association of Victoria Schools Competition. Each season, the school hosts the Hawthorn region of the Schools Competition. In 2008 the First Debating Team were the State A Grade runners-up, while the school was also runner up in the State British Parliamentary Debating Competition. Scotch debaters have recently toured the United Kingdom participating in inter-school debating tournaments. In 2010, Scotch made Victorian debating history when it won the A Grade (Year 12), B Grade (Year 11) and C Grade (Year 10) State Grand Finals in the DAV (Debaters Association of Victoria) Debating Competition.

Sport

Scotch College competes in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) league in Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Cross Country, Australian Rules Football, Hockey, Rowing, Rugby, Soccer, Squash, Swimming and Diving, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball and Water Polo. In 2006, the school jointly won the APS Australian Rules Premiership, the First VIII Rowing (Head of the River), the APS Badminton Premiership and the VSRU Open Grade Rugby. It was the fifth time in six years that Scotch had won the Rugby first XVs. In 2008, Scotch College won its fifth consecutive APS Badminton Premiership, having been undefeated for five seasons. It also won a fifth consecutive Head of the River in 2008. In 2010 the first eight convincingly won the Head of the River. As well as claiming the Victorian State title the 2010 First eight was the first interstate school to win the NSW State Championship title in both the Schoolboy 8+ and Mens Under 21 8+ as well as claiming Australian Championship title in the 8 which lays claim to being the most successful Australian schoolboy crew in history. It has won the Head of the River event more than any other competing school. The 8 also represented Australia in the 2013 World Rowing Junior Championships, placing fifth in the A final.

In addition to the APS competition, Scotch competes in a number of competitions with specific schools, including:

• Cordner-Eggleston Cup - This Cup is contested each year by the first football teams of Scotch and Melbourne Grammar School. It commemorates the first recorded game of Australian Rules Football, which was played between the two schools on 7 August 1858, which Scotch won and is today commemorated by a statue depicting the game outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• The Batty Shield - This Shield is contested between the first cricket teams of Scotch and Eton College. The Shield was inaugurated in 2008 after a number of cricket tours between the schools, and is named after the current principal of Scotch who was previously a Housemaster at Eton.
• The Tait Cup - This Cup is contested between the first cricket teams of Scotch and Geelong Grammar School and commemorates the links between the schools back to their first cricket match in 1855.
• The John Roe Shield - This Shield is contested between the first soccer teams of Scotch and Saint Peter's College, Adelaide.

Alumni

Alumni of Scotch College are known as Old Boys or Old Collegians, and automatically become members of the School's alumni association, the Old Scotch Collegians' Association (OSCA).

Studies over the years have found that Scotch College had more alumni mentioned in Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians) than any other school, and its alumni had received more top Order of Australia honours than any other school.

Alumni of Scotch College include

• Three Governors-General of Australia - Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen and Peter Hollingworth.
• Prime Minister of Australia Sir George Reid.
• Four Justices of the High Court of Australia - Sir John Latham (Chief Justice), Kenneth Hayne, Sir Hayden Starke and Sir Ninian Stephen
• Eight State Premiers - Jim Bacon (Tas), John Cain (Vic), Jeff Kennett (Vic), Sir Harry Lawson (Vic), John MacPherson (Vic), Sir George Reid (NSW), William Shiels (Vic) and Vaiben Louis Solomon (SA)
• Chief of the Australian Defence Force General Peter Gration.
• The eponyms of two Universities - Monash University named after Sir John Monash (who features on the Australian $100 note) and Murdoch University named after Sir Walter Murdoch.
• Ten University Vice-Chancellors - Sir Kenneth Wheare of Oxford University; Sir Lindsay Ride of University of Hong Kong; Sir David Derham, Sir John Monash, Sir George Paton and David Penington of the University of Melbourne; Peter Darvall and Raymond Martin of Monash University; Sir Walter Murdoch of the University of Western Australia; and Sir Zelman Cowen of the University of Queensland and University of New England.
• Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia Sir Harold Knight.
• Governor of Victoria Sir Henry Winneke.
• Three times Olympic Gold Medalist Drew Ginn.
• World number 1 and two times Wimbledon singles tennis champion Gerald Patterson.
• Two BHP Chairmen - Sir Ian McLennan and Sir James Balderstone.
• Actor Jesse Spencer.
• Singer-songwriter John Williamson.
• Player and Head Coach of the Australian National Rugby Union Team Ewen McKenzie
• Captain Robert Little, highest scoring Australian fighter ace in World War I.
• Actor Ned Napier

Images of Hawthorn campus

See also

• List of schools in Victoria
• List of high schools in Victoria
• Victorian Certificate of Education

References

External links

• Scotch College, Melbourne website
• Scotch College, 1970-1975 website
• Encyclopedia of Melbourne website
• Organ Historical Trust of Australia web-page on Scotch College's Memorial Hall organ

Further reading

• Stuart Gerstman and James Mitchell, Visions of Boyhood - Scotch College in Pictures, Hardie Grant Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-74066-565-0
• Stephen Matthews, The Pipes and Drums: Scotch College Melbourne - A History, Scotch College Pipes and Drums Auxiliary, 2007, ISBN 978-0-646-48090-9
• James Mitchell, A Deepening Roar - Scotch College, Melbourne, 1851-2001, Allen & Unwin, 2001, ISBN 1-86508-576-6
• Desmond Zwar, The Soul of a School, Macmillan, 1982, ISBN 0-333-33840-5

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