St Peter's College, Adelaide

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St Peter's College
St Peter's College logo
Motto Pro Deo et Patria
'For God and Country'
Established 1847
Type Independent Anglican School For Boys
Headmaster Mr. Philip M. Grutzner
Students 1,150
Grades ELC–12
Location {{{city}}}, South Australia Australia
Campus St Peters, Finniss
Colours Royal Blue and White
Website www.stpeters.sa.edu.au

St Peter's College, also The Collegiate School of St Peter, but commonly known as Saints, is an independent boy's school in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Founded in 1847 by members of the Anglican Church of Australia, the school is noted for its famous alumni, including three Nobel laureates and forty-one Rhodes scholars. Three campuses are located on the Hackney Road site near the Adelaide Parklands in St Peters. The Senior School (years 8-12) comprises the bulk of the grounds and most of the historic buildings. To the south of the site are the Preparatory School (years 4-7) and Palm House (reception-year 3). Saints also owns an outdoor education campus in Finniss, near Lake Alexandrina.

Saints is a day and boarding school and provides education to boys from pre-school to Year 12. It offers two matriculation streams in secondary education: the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) and the International Baccalaureate (IB). It is funded by student fees, which range from AU$7,900 to AU$14,100, government grants and endowments.

Contents

[edit] History

The origins of the school lie in the ambition of the early colonists to establish for their sons an institution equivalent to the Public Schools from which they benefitted in Great Britain. They founded the Church of England Collegiate School of South Australia, or "The Collegiate School", as a proprietary school on 15 July 1847 in the schoolroom of Holy Trinity Church on North Terrace. The school's foundation was followed by the arrival of the first Bishop of Adelaide Augustus Short in December 1847. Short brought with him an endowment of £2,000 from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge with which he was expected establish an institution for the Church of England. He intended to use the Trinity School as the basis for this institution and had his chaplain the Reverend T.P. Wilson appointed as its Head Master. He also purchased the school's current estate in Hackney (now St Peters). [1]

In 1849, negotiations between Short and the proprietors concluded, and a Council of Governors was established per their agreement. The school was rededicated as the Collegiate School of St Peter's upon incorporation in July 1849. The Latin translation, Sancti Petri Schola Collegiata, is still used as the school acronym, SPSC, although it is often Anglicised to "St Peter's School Collegiate".

[edit] Emblem

The school's emblem consists of a blue shield with white trim, surmounted by two golden keys and bishop's mitre. The keys represent Saint Peter while the mitre represents the school's link to the Anglican Church. Beneath the shield is a scroll with the school's Latin motto "Pro Deo et Patria", in which translates into English as "For God and Country".

[edit] House system

Upon entering the Senior School in Year 8, all boys are assigned to a house. There are currently 10 houses, each named after prominent figures in school's history. Four of these – Da Costa, Farrell, Hawkes and Short – were the original four houses founded in 1920. To accommodate the growing student population five additional houses were founded: MacDermott, Woodcock, Young, Howard and Farr. There is also a boarding house – School & Allen House – that was established in 2003 through the amalgamation of School House with Wyatt & Allen house.

Houses meet several times each week, and compete in various intra-school competitions throughout the year.

[edit] Campus

An 1875 drawing of the school grounds. Old School House is centre-ground and the Chapel is to the right.
An 1875 drawing of the school grounds. Old School House is centre-ground and the Chapel is to the right.

The school is situated on 32 hectares of landscaped grounds only 3 kilometres from the Adelaide central business district on Hackney Road in St Peters. The main campus' facilities include seven ovals, a hockey pitch, ten tennis courts and two swimming pools. It features mostly heritage architecture, but also includes modern buildings. The "Big School Room" is thought to be Australia's oldest classroom still in constant use.

The most recent addition to the school has been a sports centre, which includes four basketball courts, a 25 metre pool, a diving pool, a weights and conditioning room, and café. The school is currently raising funds to refurbish the old gymnasium as a new Drama Centre.

The College also owns an outdoor education property in Finniss, situated on several hectares of land on the banks of the River Finniss. The property includes dormitories, teacher accommodation and a gymnasium, and students are involved with the property's revegetation program.

[edit] Endowments

A significant source of the school's revenue is the estate of Benjamin Mendes da Costa. Da Costa, a successful Adelaide businessman, bequeathed his estate of £20,000 to the Collegiate School of St Peter when he died in 1868.[2] The bequest was subject to the life interests of ten relations; the last surviving relation died in 1910 and in 1912 the property was vested in the school.[3] A large portion of the estate remains land in prominent city-centre locations. Income generated by the estate is used to subsidise the fees of all students, along with several scholarships and bursaries.

A somewhat common Adelaidean urban myth asserts that the da Costa estate was intended to be given to the Catholic church rather than the Anglican, and that the funds were awarded to Saints after an extensive legal battle. This myth has no basis in fact and most probably stems from misconceptions of da Costa's religion due to his Portuguese family name.

St Peter's College sold da Costa Arcade, near Rundle Mall, in 2005.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

[edit] Sport

Each student at St Peters is encouraged to play both a summer and winter sport. Choices are:

Staff and past students conduct training sessions. Weekend competitions are held at the school (or at away venues) each weekend against other schools in Adelaide. Each sport has an annual intercollegiate showdown against rivals Prince Alfred College, known to students as the "Intercol".

[edit] Music

The school runs an extensive music program which encourages students to study musical instruments and perform in ensembles. These ensembles perform in several concerts throughout the year, both within the school and externally. Groups include an intermediate and a senior concert band, senior choir, orchestra, string orchestra, and two stage bands that are named for prominent Australian jazz musicians James Morrison and Don Burrows.

[edit] Outdoor Education

The Outdoor Education campus at Finniss is used by students from years 7 to 10 for annual camps. In addition, students have the opportunity to join the Exploration Society, which allows boys with a passion for outdoor activities to pursue more challenging ventures. Activities include hiking, kayaking, rockclimbing, mountain bike touring and cross country skiing.

[edit] Exchange Program

St Peter's College's exchange program has links with schools in Germany, France, China, South Africa, England, Switzerland and Canada.

[edit] Notable alumni

St Peter's position as a leading Adelaide school has seen many of its former students achieve renown in several fields. It has educated more Nobel laureates than any other school in Australia,[4] and is tied for third internationally behind only New York City's Bronx High School of Science and Stuyvesant High School.

St Peter's alumni include three Nobel Prize winners.

Furthermore, the school has produced 42 Rhodes Scholars, which is an impressive figure.

In addition, four premiers of South Australia were educated at St Peters:

and other well known figures including:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ John Tregenza, "Collegiate School of St Peter, Adelaide, The Founding Years 1847-1878", 1996.
  2. ^ John Tregenza, "Collegiate School of St Peter, Adelaide, The Founding Years 1847-1878", 1996.
  3. ^ Miller, J. S. C. (1974). Mendes da Costa, Benjamin (1803 - 1868). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved on September 19, 2006.
  4. ^ Australia has produced nine Nobel Laureates. The six others are Frank MacFarlane Burnet (educated Geelong College), John Cornforth (educated at Sydney Boys High School), John Eccles (educated at Melbourne High School), Patrick White (educated in country NSW and England), Peter Doherty (educated at public high school in Brisbane) and Barry Marshall (educated at public high schools in Perth). This discounts Lawrence Bragg's father William Bragg(educated in England) and Robert Robinson and Bernard Katz, who both lived in Australia for very short periods during their career as Australian winners of the Nobel Prize. All details from individual winners bios at http://nobelprize.org
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