Everything about Geelong Grammar School totally explained
Geelong Church of England Grammar School is a
independent,
Anglican,
co-educational,
boarding and
day school. The School's main campus is located at
Corio, on the northern outskirts of
Geelong,
Victoria,
Australia, overlooking
Corio Bay and
Limeburners' Bay.
Established in 1855 under the auspices of the
Church of England, Geelong Grammar School has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,500 students from
Pre-school to Year 12, including 800 boarders from Years 5 to 12. the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV), The school has offered the
International Baccalaureate (IB) since February 1997.
In 2001,
The Sun-Herald ranked Geelong Grammar School fourth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its male
alumni mentioned in the
Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians).
History
The school was founded in 1855 as a private diocesan school with the blessing of Bishop Perry by The Ven. Theodore Stretch,
Archdeacon of Geelong, with an initial enrolment of fourteen boys. The school grew rapidly and in 1857 it was assigned £5,000 of a government grant for church schools by Bishop Perry, the
foundation stone was laid for its own buildings, and it was transformed into a
public school. The school closed due to financial difficulties in 1860, only to re-open in 1863 with John Bracebridge Wilson, who had been a master under Rev. George Vance, as
Head Master.
For many years Bracebridge Wilson ran the school at his own expense and through this time boarders came to compose the greater part of the student body. In 1875,
James Lister Cuthbertson joined the staff as Classics Master. He had a great influence upon the boys of the school and was much admired and loved by them in spite of his
alcoholism. Upon the death of Bracebridge Wilson in 1895, Cuthbertson became acting Head Master until the appointment of Leonard Harford Lindon early in the next year.
Lindon ran the school for 15 years, but was never fully accepted by the
old boys and lacked the personal warmth with the boys that had been seen with Bracebridge Wilson and Cuthbertson. By the turn of the century the school was outgrowing its buildings in the centre of Geelong, and so it was decided to move the school. With this the school council decided to open the Head Mastership to new applicants - Lindon re-applied, but was rejected. Rev. Francis Ernest Brown was finally chosen as the new Head Master.
In 1909, the school purchased a substantial amount of land in the then
rural Geelong suburb of
Belmont bounded by Thomson, Regent and Scott Streets, and Roslyn Road. On
21 October 1910, Chairman of the school, W.T. Manifold turned the first sod that was expected to be the new era of the school. These plans had faded by August 1911, when adjoining rural land was offered for sale as the Belmont Hill Estate. The school council indicated that the adjacent suburban subdivision would work against their plans for a boarding school, not one catering for day boys. The school made the decision to buy land on the opposite side of Geelong at Corio, with the land at Belmont, sold for further residential subdivision.
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|2000 – 2004
|Nicholas Sampson
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|2004 – Present
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Stephen Meek
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Campuses
Geelong Grammar School has four
campuses:
- Corio Years 5 to 8 and 10 to 12, boarding and day.
- Bostock House Pre-school to Year 4, day.
- Toorak Campus (formerly known as Glamorgan) Pre-school to Year 6, day.
- Timbertop Year 9, Fulltime boarding
The school had planned in the 1990s to open a campus in northern
Thailand, but the project was cancelled following the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis, as the Thai government suspended many major projects.
Buildings at Corio
Some notable buildings at Corio include:
Perry Quad
Built in 1913 and extended in the 1930s the Quad is located at the centre of the school between the Dining Hall and the Chapel. It houses classrooms, school administration, the Morris Room (staff dining room), three staff residences (The Dovecote, The Eyrie, and the Vicarage), the Hawker Library, and until 1986 Perry House. The central quadrangle is grassed and there's a fountain in its centre. It is often used for assemblies and plays. The clocktower is on the eastern side of the Perry Quad.
Hawker Library
Originally the school library, its decor dates from the 1940s. From 1979, it housed the History Library, and was in 2005 converted into the Michael Collins Persse Archives Centre and School Museum.
The Cloisters
Linking the Quad and Chapel, the Cloisters are the school's main war memorial. There are plaques commemorating OGGs who died in the First and Second World Wars at either end. The ANZAC Day service is held around the Cloisters every year. Silence is to be maintained at all times in the Cloisters.
Chapel of All Saints
Built in stages between 1914 and 1929, the Chapel is at the spiritual centre of the school. All students must attend a weekday service and boarders must also attend on Sundays. The three manual organ was originally built by Hill in 1909, and was expanded in 1958 by J. W. Walker.
Morres Hall (aka. The Dining Hall)
Built in 1913 and extended in 1933, the Dining Hall is where all Senior School students take meals. There are paintings of all former Head Masters of GGS, as well of some of the school founders, and some the Headmistresses of The Hermitage and Clyde.
Darling Hall
Built in the 1960s, the Darling Hall serves as the Middle School Dining Hall and Examinations Hall.
Music School
Built in 1938 and standing out as one of the few buildings at Corio not constructed with red bricks, the Music School contains many small practice rooms, a band room, a strings room and the Music Hall, which is used for many concerts by students, staff, and visiting musicians.
Art School
Built in 1937, the Art School served as the only centre for art in the school until the construction of the Sinclaire and Hirschfeld Mack Centres in the last 5 years. It remains at the centre of art in the school, being used mostly for painting and drawing.
Hirschfeld Mack Centre
Erected in 2003 in a mock-Bauhaus style and named after the former art master and influential artist and designer, Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack, the centre houses the school's photography department and a recording studio.
Fisher Library
Built in 1979 and renovated and extended in 2005 the Fisher is now Senior School's sole lending library, now incorporating the collections of the former History Library, most of which is maintained in a large staff-accessible vault.
Bracebridge Wilson Theatre
Opening in 1978 (replacing the 1890s Bracebridge Wilson Hall, which burnt in 1976), the "BW" is where most school plays and school assemblies are held. It seats approximately 300 people in fixed seating.
Cook Quad
Built in stages until the 1930s the Cook Quad houses most of the school's Science Department.
The Handbury Centre for Wellbeing aka. The Wellbeing Centre
The Handbury Centre for Wellbeing is Geelong Grammar's main centre for sport, health and overall wellbeing. It was opened on April 20, 2008. The Centre comprises of multi purpose sports hall, a FINA Accredited 25 metre pool with diving bowl, a fitness centre, a dance studio, the John Court Cafe, the GGS Shop and the School's Medical Centre, Kennedy that also has rooms for counselling services and physiotherapy.
House system
As with most Australian schools, Geelong Grammar School utilises a
house system.
Senior School
Allen (Day, Co-ed)
Clyde (Boarding, Girls, 1976, nominal successor to Clyde School)
Cuthbertson (Boarding, Boys, 1914)
Francis Brown (Boarding, Boys, 1937)
Fraser (Day, Co-ed., 1976)
Garnett (Boarding, Girls, 1982)
The Hermitage (Boarding, Girls, 1976, originally Jennings, nominal successor to G.C.E.G.G.S. "The Hermitage")
Manifold (Boarding, Boys, 1914)
Perry (Boarding, Boys, 1914)
Middle School
Barrabool (Boarding) Boys Year 7 and 8
Barwon (Boarding) Boys Year 5 to 8
Connewarre (Boarding) Girls Year 5 to 8
Highton (Day) Co-ed Year 5 to 8.
Otway (Day) Co-ed Year 5 to 8
Bostock House
Originally the houses of G.C.E.G.G.S. "The Hermitage"
Austin (Honour above honours)
Morres (The chain is as strong as its weakest link)
School (Play up, play up, and play the game)
Volum (Non sibi, sed toti)
School journal
The Corian is the journal of the Geelong Grammar School. Published as The Geelong Grammar School Annual (1875–76), The Geelong Grammar School Quarterly (1877–1913), and The Corian (1914–). Published quarterly since 1877, it reverted to an annual publication in 1992. There are two editions of The Corian, a Senior School and Middle School edition.
Notable alumni
Former students of Geelong Grammar and old girls of The Hermitage and Clyde School are known as Old Geelong Grammarians (OGGs), and may elect to join the schools alumni association, the Old Geelong Grammarians Association.
In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked Geelong Grammar School fourth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its male alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians).[ Amongst the schools notable alumni are HRH Charles, Prince of Wales, John Cain, Premier of Victoria (1982-1990), John Gorton, Prime Minister of Australia (1968-1971), and HM Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Sultan of Terengganu, King of Malaysia.]
Further Information
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