MELBOURNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL

'Melbourne Grammar School,' also known as 'MGS' or 'Melbourne Boys', is an independent school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, founded in 1858.
It is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria. It is associated with the Anglican Church of Australia, and was formerly referred to as 'Melbourne Church of England Grammar School'. The current principal is Paul Sheahan, a former Australian test cricketer.
Melbourne Grammar's Edwin Flack Park sports complex, named after Teddy Flack, an Old Melburnian and famous Australian athlete, was opened in 2004 and includes tennis, soccer, football, rugby and hockey fields. Edwin Flack was Australia's first athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, at Athens in 1896, where he won gold medals in 800m and 1500m running events.
The bluestone buildings at the senior campus are all on the Victorian Heritage Register. The school’s War Memorial Hall recently underwent a major renovation and in 2006 it won the RAIA National Architecture Awards - Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage, the top award in its category, at an awards show in Brisbane.
The school has a strong association with Melbourne Girl's Grammar School, as the two stream productions, workshops and concerts together. The student bases also enjoy a strong association throughout the secondary years as many MGGS girls attend 'Grimwade House'.

Contents

Campuses

Houses

Houses at Senior School (9-12)

Houses at Wadhurst (7&8)

Houses at Grimwade (Prep-6)

Uniform

Academics

Theatre

Cordner-Eggleston Cup

Tri-Grammar Series

I.T.

Music

Debating

Notable alumni

Headmasters

References

See also

External links

Campuses

★ Grimwade House - Caulfield (Co-ed; Prep to Year 6)

★ Wadhurst - Melbourne (All male; Years 7-8)

★ Senior School - Melbourne (All male; Years 9-12)

★ Flack Park - Port Melbourne (Sporting complex)

★ Camp Dowd - Gippsland Lakes (Camp)

★ Robert Knox Camp - Woodend (Camp; years 5-8)

★ L.G.Robertson Camp - Breakfast Creek, Licola, Victoria (Camp; years 9-12)

Houses

Houses at Senior School (9-12)

Students at each house has their own house tie, which is differently striped according to house colour.

★ 'Bromby' - Est. 1914 - Named after the school's first Headmaster Dr. John Bromby. House Colour: Black. Logo: Panther

★ 'Bruce' - Est. 1952 - Named after Stanley Bruce, Captain of the school and Prime Minister of Australia (1923–1929). House colour: Scarlet. Logo: Lion with 5-pointed star -

★ 'Creese' - Est. 2005 - Named after a highly influential Headmaster of the school Nigel Creese. House colour: Silver. Logo: Phoenix rising from the flames.

★ 'Deakin' - Est. 1961 - Named after the second Prime Minister of Australia and school alumnus Alfred Deakin. House colour: Light Green and White. Logo: Crown with a knights arm holding an axe

★ 'Hone' - Est. 1979 - Named after Headmaster Sir Brian Hone. House colour: Old gold, or orange. Logo: Eagle.

★ 'Miller' - Est. 1961 - Named after Edward Miller, a student of the school. House colour: Magenta. Logo: Gnome

★ 'Morris' - Est. 1914 - Named after Edward Morris, the school's second Headmaster and promoter for building the school's chapel. House colour: Maroon. Logo: Letter "M" with a dragon atop

★ 'Perry' - Est. 1940 - Named after Bishop Perry, the first bishop of Melbourne. Boarding House. House colour: Royal Blue and White. Logo: Bishop's mitre

★ 'Ross' - Est. 1914 - Named after the 'Ross brothers', exemplary students of the school. House colour: Dark Green. Logo: Fist clenching a wreath

★ 'Rusden' - Est. 1914 - Named after George William Rusden, a well known Melbourne historian. House colour: Yellow. Logo: Wreath with letter "R"


★ 'School' - Est. 1914 - Following the English tradition of naming their boarding house 'School House', which is situated next in the boarding precinct next to the Melbourne Grammar Senior School campus. House colour: Royal Blue. Logo: Flame

★ 'Witherby' - Est. 1914 - On a cold winter night in 1875, a very sick young man Hubert Witherby arrived unannounced at the door of Headmaster Edward Morris. Unfortunately hospitality could not save Hubert and he died three weeks later. His father ''Mr. Witherby'' donated a sum of money to the school in thanks of their efforts. This donation materialized as the Witherby Tower, a bluestone clock tower located at the senior campus, arguably the schools most notable feature after the (also bluestone) Chapel of St Peter. House colour: Light Blue. Logo: Tower

Houses at Wadhurst (7&8)

★ 'Caffin' (Gold) Motto "Lux Dea Omni Fiat" (We Shine For All to See, Latin)

★ 'Cain' (Light Blue)

★ 'Cuming' (Dark Green)
There is also the Junior School boarding house Creswick House, which is not a house in itself. It's members consist of boarders who belong to one of Caffin, Cain or Cuming. The Junior boarding house was formerly known as Pasley House, after the building it was located in.

Houses at Grimwade (Prep-6)

★ Austin (Royal Red)

★ Grey-Smith (Light Sea Blue)

★ Millear (Canary Yellow)

★ School (Grass Green)

Uniform

The wearing of the school uniform is compulsory and dress standards are enforced by both prefects and staff.
The navy blue blazer is the most notable feature of the schools uniform, the blazer must be worn in public places during the winter months. Years 3 to 8 wear light blue ‘V-neck’ shirts without ties in summer and join the year 9's and 10's permanent uniform of darker blue shirts with ties in winter. Years 11 and 12 wear white and blue striped long-sleeved shirts and ties all year round with the exception of the school prefects who wear plain white shirts with the special prefect tie.
Ties for years 3 – 8 are identical, plane navy blue. In Senior School ties are striped with the colour of a particular student’s house, reflecting the emphasis placed on the house system. Year 12’s wear similar ties but with the school logo breaking up house lines. Prefects have ties without any house denomination but with gold school logos.
It is compulsory for all students follow uniform regulations; this includes wearing the assigned summer or winter uniform. During the summer months shorts are to be worn and socks are to be pulled up. During the winter months navy blue trousers with black socks (Years 0-8) or gray socks (senior students, Years9-12) are to be worn. These items may also be accompanied by a navy blue V- neck jumper with the schools monogram on the left hand side (over breast), black lace up school shoes are to be worn, and during the summer months a hat is needed while participating in outdoor activities. There is also a required sporting uniform for all Melbourne Grammar School sports.

Academics

Melbourne Grammar offers its years 11-12 students the VCE, the main assessment program which ranks the students in the state. Melbourne Grammar School students performed well in 2004, with six students achieving the highest possible ENTER rank of 99.95. Only twenty-three in the state achieved this score. The mean enter of all Melbourne Grammar School students was in the low 90s.
In 2005, five Melbourne Grammar students achieved the maximum possible ENTER of 99.95; only 32 students in Victoria achieved this ENTER rank.^[1]

Theatre

Melbourne Grammar also has a large theatre department, especially within the Senior Campus, which itself produces no less than four plays each school year. In Early March, "The Quad Play", most commonly a Shakespeare Play, but on occasion from other notable playwrights, is performed within the school's open air bluestone Quadrangle, and is open to years 9-12.

This is followed in May by the relatively newly performed "Autumn Play", for year 9 students only, commonly a Greek Play, such as Oedipus.
The "School Play", performed usually in August, is often the centrepiece of the year's theatrical calendar. Recent performances include Tim Winton's "Cloudstreet" in 2006, and "On the Twentieth Century" in 2005. These two performances were the first to take advantage of the newly renovated and restored Memorial Hall (see above), which features far improved staging facilities and backstage areas, enabling much more visionary and elaborate staging of performances. The next feature for the "School Play" will be the Tony Award winning musical "Guys and Dolls", in 2007.
The final performance for the year is the "Spring Production" which is open to years 9-10 students, and often alternates year on year between a light-hearted professional play, and an individual piece of work by a year 9-10 student, or group of students. It is usually held in late October, near the end of the school year. The 2004 Spring production “The Elisabeth Crown Affair”, written by two year 10 boys was seen by the owner of a local theatre who subsequently bought the script.
All of these plays are performed by the students of Melbourne Grammar, in conjunction with students from Melbourne Girls Grammar School, whose campus is located nearby.
Staging is often designed by a contracted individual, with sets constructed jointly by staff and students, often both current and former. A train was constructed for "On the Twentieth Century" and an eight-metre diameter revolving circular stage constructed for "Cloudstreet".

Cordner-Eggleston Cup

The 'Cordner-Eggleston Cup' is competed for each year by the first football teams of Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College. It commemorates the first recorded game of Australian Rules Football which was played between the two schools on the 7th August 1858 and was umpired by Tom Wills, one of the inventors of the code of Australian Football. The original game ran for three days and is also commemorated by a statue depicting the game outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Tri-Grammar Series

Melbourne Grammar participates in the annual Tri-Grammar games, a series of cricket and rowing competitions between the Firsts teams of Melbourne Grammar School, Sydney Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School.
They are held at each school in rotation, with competing students being billeted out to the students of the host school against whom they will compete. It is customary when the rowing events are hosted by Melbourne Grammar that Sydney and Brisbane Grammars shallll compete in the Head of the Yarra, an 8 kilometre river-race.
The cricketing rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney Grammars dates back to 1876 and is considered the oldest (in terms of cricket) in Australia. In 1976, to mark the centenary of this rivalry, a "Bat" was struck, with the winner of the annual match taking possession of this bat.
In the mid 90's, Brisbane Grammar was invited to play against both Melbourne and Sydney Grammars, giving rise to the 'Tri-Grammar Shield', won by the most successful school during the festival.
Melbourne Grammar currently holds both the "Bat" and the Shield, which they won for the third and second consecutive times respectively earlier this year.

I.T.

It is a requirement that all students from years 5 to 10 must have a laptop computer and much of the curriculum the students engage in takes place using these. All campuses are wireless networked to allow students easy access to the internet & Portal.
'The Portal'
The MGS portal is “a content management system for educational environments" which was made by the school. Students obtain work, submit work, communicate with teachers, access house pages and forums and get school news and information on school sporting events via the portal.

Music

Melbourne Grammar is noted for its Orchestra, the Melbourne Grammar School Symphony Orchestra (MGSSO). Conducted by Martin Rutherford, the Orchestra tours internationally in December every year. In 2005 the Orchestra toured Malaysia and Singapore and in 2006 travelled to China, performing in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou. December 2007 will see the orchestra touring Dubai, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Venice. The orchestra is usually made up of around 100 students, the vast majority attendants of the school. However, a small number of girls are in the orchestra who attended the co-educational junior school, Grimwade House, or have a brother at the school. Currently there are around 10 female members. All campuses have their own choirs, concert bands and string orchestras. The Chapel Choir is the oldest of any Victorian private school. It sings at the weekly eucharists and consists of about 30 select members.
The MGSSO is held in quite high regard and has accompanied international soloists such as Ronald Farren-Price, Leslie Howard and Neville Taweel, and has premièred works by Australian and British composers.^[2]

Debating

Melbourne Grammar has held inter-grammar school British Parliamentary Debating competitions, with schools from Victoria and New South Wales: Scotch College, Sydney Grammar, and Melbourne Grammar.

Notable alumni

★ Keith Aickin - former Justice of the High Court of Australia

★ Harry Brookes Allen - Notable pathologist

★ Austin Asche - former Administrator of the Northern Territory

★ Oscar Asche - actor; director; writer

★ David Ashley - Judge, Victorian Court of Appeal

★ Mervyn Austin - Rhodes Scholar, headmaster Newington College and professor

★ Adam Basil - Australian sprinter (N.B. ''MGS staff member'')

★ John F.O. Bilson - academic

★ John Brack - artist (N.B. ''MGS staff member'')

★ Stanley Bruce - former Prime Minister of Australia

★ John Brumby - current Premier of Victoria

★ Ted Baillieu - current Victorian Opposition Leader

★ Sam Calder - politician

★ Frank Callaway former judge, Victorian Court of Appeal

★ Richard Casey - former Governor-General of Australia

★ Manning Clark - historian

★ Don Cordner - doctor and Australian rules footballer

★ Professor Merlyn Crossley Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Sydney

★ Alfred Deakin - former Prime Minister of Australia

★ Xavier Ellis - Australian rules footballer

★ Tom Hawkins - Australian rules footballer

★ Teddy Flack (Edwin)- 1896 Olympic gold medallist

★ Malcolm Fraser - former Prime Minister of Australia

★ Ernest Gaunt - Royal Navy Admiral

★ Guy Gaunt - Royal Navy Admiral and British Conservative Member of Parliament

★ Harold William Grimwade - soldier

★ William Keith Hancock - historian

★ Edmund Herring - soldier and judge

★ Vasey Houghton - politician

★ Frederic Godfrey Hughes - soldier

★ Wilfrid Kent Hughes - politician

★ Barry Humphries - entertainer

★ William Donovan Joynt - soldier, Victoria Cross winner

★ Charles Kellaway - scientist

★ Barrie Kosky - opera and theatre director

★ Andrew MacLeod - International Disaster Manager

★ Geoff Manchester - founder of Intrepid Travel

★ Chris Maxwell - President, Victorian Court of Appeal

★ Leslie Morshead - soldier (N.B. 'MGS Staff member')

★ William Moule - cricketer; politician

★ William Ellis Newton - airman, Victoria Cross winner

★ William Ormiston - former Judge, Victorian Court of Appeal

★ Dan Robinson -singer

★ Rob Sitch - actor; comedian

★ Andrew Thompson (footballer) - Australian rules footballer

★ Frank Thring - actor

★ John Thwaites - politician

★ Athol Tymms - Australian rules footballer

Headmasters

★ John Edward Bromby (1858–1875)

★ Edward Ellis Morris (1875–1883)

★ Alexander Pyne (1883-1885)

★ Ambrose John Wilson (1885-1893)

★ Frederic Sergeant (1894-1898)

★ George Ernest Blanch (1899-1914)

★ Richard Penrose Franklin (1915-1936)

★ David Stacey Colman (1937-1938)

★ Joseph Richard Sutcliffe (1938-1949)

★ Sir Brian William Hone (1950-1970)

★ Nigel Arthur Holloway Creese (1970-1987)

★ Anthony James De Villiers Hill (1988-1994)

★ Paul Sheahan (1995-Current)

References

1. Public school trio make mark on VCE results Chee Chee Leung
2. Martin Rutherford, Associate Composer, Australian Music Centre Martin Rutherford


★ ''Challenging Traditions'', Weston Bate and Helen Penrose (2002)

★ Kiddle, J Beacham, (ed), ''Liber Melburniensis (1848-1936)'', Robertson & Mullens Ltd, Melbourne, 1937

★ ''Liber Melburniensis'', Centenary edition 1858-1958, revised edition 1915-1995

★ Socceroos train at Melbourne Grammar before match with Greece SMH

See also

★ List of schools in Victoria

★ List of high schools in Victoria

★ List of schools in Victoria, Australia according to 2006 VCE results

★ Victorian Certificate of Education

External links

★ Melbourne Grammar School website

★ MGS Portal login