Scotch Oakburn College

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Scotch Oakburn College

Ad Superiora Viam Inveniam
(I will find a way to higher things)
Established	1886 (as MLC) 1979 (amalgamation)
School type	Independent
Principal	Andrew Barr
Location	Launceston, TAS, Australia
Enrollment	1028 (2004)
Colors	Blue, gold and maroon
Homepage	www.soc.tas.edu.au

Scotch Oakburn College is a co-educational private school in Launceston, Tasmania, for years kindergarten through to year 12.

1 Formation
2 History
3 Past principals of Scotch Oakburn College
4 Campuses and buildings
5 Alumni
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Formation

It was formed in 1979 from the amalgamation of the Scotch College and Oakburn College (formerly Methodist Ladies' College). It operates as a college of the Uniting Church in Australia, formed in 1977 by the union of many congregations of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and Congregational Union of Australia with the Methodist Church of Australasia.

[edit] History

Methodist Ladies' College was established on Elphin Road, just east of the city centre, in 1886. The aim of the college was to allow girls the same access to educational facilities as boys. The largest building on campus had been named "Oakburn" upon its construction 25 years earlier. After its first year, it had 88 students. The first headmaster was Mr G. Thornton-Lewis.

Scotch College was established as a non-denominational all-boys' school, on York Street in 1901. The school went through a number of owners in its first 50 years of existence, being taken over by the Presbyterian Church of Australia in October 1950. In 1917 it moved from its York Street residence to the "Ravenscraig" property on Penquite Road, around 10km east of the city.

In 1969, MLC was renamed Oakburn College. Both schools soon went coeducational - Scotch in 1972, and Oakburn in 1973. Scotch College in particular struggled at the time. After the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, representatives from both colleges joined to discuss an amalgamation. The impressively successful amalgamation process was chaired by distinguished local physician Dr John Morris, AO, MBE, who was then Chairman of Oakburn College Council. 1979 was the inaugural year of Scotch Oakburn College with the Oakburn College Council Chairman becoming the Chairman of the amalgamated college's Council, and the Principal of Scotch College becoming the inaugural Principal of the amalgamted College.

The former Oakburn College campus, on Elphin Road, in 1979 became home to the Matriculation classes (years 11 and 12) and the junior school (years K-6) and boarding house (boarding school). The same year, the Scotch College campus on Penquite Road became the middle school (years 7 to 10). In 1980, the current set-up was adopted with years 11 and 12 joining the middle school classes at the Penquite Campus, leaving the Elphin Campus with Early Learning to Grade 6 and the boarding house.

[edit] Past principals of Scotch Oakburn College

Dr Bruce Carter (1979-1985)
David Hone (1986-1993)
Graeme McDonald (1994-2001)
Andrew Barr (2002-present)

[edit] Campuses and buildings

[edit] Elphin Campus

The older of the two campuses, the Elphin Campus is the site of the more historic buildings in the school. The Elphin Campus is home to the primary school and boarding house (boarding school). The first building on the land was "Oakburn", constructed by Eliza Thomson in 1861, a year after she was granted the land. This is the most historic building on any of the campuses. In time, "Oakburn" would become the Boarding House (the boarding school part of the school). The college was later re-named for this building. An extension to this building, the Mary Fox Jubilee Wing was constructed in 1935 to celebrate the College's jubilee anniversary.

The stately "Lemana" and "The Stables" are located on the western end of the campus. They include classroom areas for years 3 to 6. '"The Stables", as the name suggests, was formerly the stable area for horses.

The primary classroom area is located on the eastern end of the campus, near the "Mary Fox Chapel and Hall". This forward-looking dual-purpose space (the Chapel/Hall) is the centre of many cultural events in the life of the school community.

A leading-edge Early Learning complex houses pre-school, kindergarten, and out-of-school-hours care facilities. This first-class complex was built on the site of the original Methodist Ladies' College/Oakburn College Principal's residence.

[edit] Penquite Campus

The Penquite Campus has a large field area in the centre, with buildings scattered around the outside. The major buildings are named after significant people and places in the school's heritage.

"Ravenscraig", named after the original name of the Penquite Road property, refers to the oldest classroom block on the campus. Formerly housing senior staff and administrative offices, this area now includes recently refurbished classrooms and teachers' departmental offices.

Briggs House is located on the eastern end of the campus. First constructed in 1954, this building was for boarding students of Scotch College. It is named for long serving headmaster W.V.V. Briggs. Upon amalgamation, the building began to be used for social sciences classrooms, and the kitchen area became the food technology area.

The Robert Dean Centre is one of the campus's largest buildings, visible in the centre of the campus. Named for former Scotch College headmaster, the Reverend Robert Dean, this building is dominated by the gymnasium area, which can double as an assembly hall and theatre with enough capacity for all senior school students. Underneath are the Design & Technology, and Art departments.

"Wesley", named after John Wesley, founder of Methodism (formerly Matriculation|HSC centre) was located on the other side of Penquite Road to the rest of the campus, but has recently been demolished to make way for the new gym and middle school. As well as the English and literature classroom areas, it was home to the year 11 and 12 student common area.

"Saint Andrew's", named after the patron saint of Scotland, is located on the western side of the campus. The building mainly includes several specialised science laboratories, mathematics classrooms, and computer labs. The tuckshop area has recently been relocated to this area.

The Penquite Campus has seen a lot of building development since amalgamation:

The John Morris Library, named after the inaugural Chairman of the amalgamated College Council (now the Board of Management) was constructed in the late 1980s.
The Bruce Carter Administration Building, named after the inaugural Principal of the amalamated College, replaced the former administration facilities in Ravenscraig in the early 1990s.
The Horton Auditorium | Performing Arts Centre, opened in 2003, which includes an auditorium and enhanced performing arts facilities. The auditorium is named after the nineteenth century boys' school, Horton College, near Ross in the Tasmanian Midlands, which was the first Methodist College in Australia.

[edit] Valley Campus

In 2005, Scotch Oakburn came to an arrangement with the owner of "Fawlty Towers", near Fingal, to lease and use a part the property for outdoor education and recreation purposes. This property will be known as the Valley Campus.

[edit] Alumni

Well known alumni of Scotch Oakburn College (and its predecessors) include:

Marcos Ambrose, V8 Supercar champion
Mollie Campbell Smith - former head girl who came back as a teacher, trialled sex education in this school and sold the idea to the government
Sir Edgar Coles
Kirsty Dunphey, businesswoman
Michael Grenda - Olympic Cycling Gold Medalist
Susan Rapley - entrepreneur, first developer of cotton/wool fabric in Australia, pioneered woollen housing batts, pastoralist
Jim Sloman - businessman and former chief operating officer of SOCOG during the Sydney Olympics
Don Wing, President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council and member for Paterson
James Wise - Australian High Commissioner in Malysia

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Uniting Church in Australia Schools

Former Presbyterian Church of Australia Schools

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