Wesley College, Perth

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This article is about the Wesley College in Perth, Western Australia. For other Wesley Colleges, see Wesley College.

Wesley College

Motto	Audendo Atque Agendo 'By Daring & By Doing'
Established	1923
Type	Private Boys' School
Affiliation	Uniting Church, PSA
Chairman	Mr. Peter Shack
Principal	Mr. David Gee
Founder	John Wesley
Chaplain	Rev. Allan Mackenzie
Students	1250
Grades	K-12
Location	Perth, Western Australia
Campus	Riverside
Colours	Black, Green & Gold
Website	www.wesley.wa.edu.au

Wesley College is a private boys' school in Perth, Western Australia. informally known as Wesley or DubC. It was founded in 1923 and is an Uniting Church School that teaches from Kindergarten to Year 12. Wesley is located on a nineteen hectare property in South Perth on the Swan River.

The school is comprised of a co-educational Junior School (Manning House), and an all-boys Middle and Senior School.

From an original enrolment of 39, the school currently has around 1250 students from a wide range of city, country and international backgrounds. The Wesley Community includes around 180 staff and more than 8000 members of the "Old Wesley Collegians Association".

Wesley has the second highest per-year fees of any private school in Western Australia, starting from AUD$14,000.

1 History
- 1.1 Bednall controversy
2 Campus
- 2.1 Building Program
- 2.2 School Facilities
3 Uniform
4 Student Life
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The foundation stone was laid by the Premier of Western Australia, Sir James Mitchell on November 11, 1922. This stone is still visible at the south-west corner of the original building, now known as the JF Ward Wing in honour of the school’s first headmaster.

The College began operation in February the following year, with an initial enrolment of 39 boys, and grew steadily in both size and reputation. This evolution can be traced through the campus architecture which was first extended in 1925 with the construction of a general classroom block, now the site of the RE Kefford Wing. A second storey was added to the original building in 1926, along with various verandahs and a weatherboard library, which have since been demolished.

In 1930, Mr JF Ward was succeeded as Headmaster by JL Rossiter. Under Dr Rossiter’s guidance, Wesley consolidated its academic reputation and continued its expansion program. A number of new buildings were constructed in the 1930s, including the Headmaster’s Residence (now JS Maloney House), a dining hall (now the staff common room), extra classrooms and a gymnasium (now the Hamer Wing). The College also joined the Public Schools’ Association in 1952.

Dr Rossiter was succeeded as headmaster, in 1953, by Mr Norman Roy Collins. During Mr Collins' 11 years' tenure, construction of the Lych Gate, Memorial Chapel (1960-61), the boat shed, the science block (1956, 1959), additional classrooms (1955, 1963) and the swimming pool (1963) were completed.

A new Headmaster, Mr Clive Hamer, was appointed in 1965 and served Wesley until 1983. During this period, Wesley took a lead role in the introduction of the Achievement Certificate in Western Australia (1969-71), celebrated some great academic successes, and built the boarding houses of Cygnet and Tranby (1968-70), the HR Trenaman Library (1971), classrooms and balconies around the Jenkins Quadrangle (1972), the Collins Oval (1970) and the Joseph Green Centre (1973-78).

In 1977, Wesley came under the auspices of the Uniting Church which resulted from a joining of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches. The first female students were enrolled in 1978 with the opening of a new Junior School, on land acquired north of Swan Street.

Mr Roderic Kefford served as the fifth Headmaster from 1984 to 1996 and continued the extensive curriculum changes associated with a broadening of upper secondary programs beyond university entry and the establishment of Wesley’s lower secondary structure. The RE Blanckensee Physical Education Centre was opened in 1987 and the original gymnasium was renovated to become the Hamer Wing classrooms. An overhaul of the house system in 1990, saw Cygnet and Tranby become distinct houses and the new houses of Grove and Jenkins being added to the existing houses of Dickson (1968) and Hardey, Mofflin and Walton (1924). The Preparatory School was also extended towards Mill Point Road in 1994.

A site development plan was initiated by Mr John Bednall who was Headmaster from October 1996 to July 2002. To date, this has resulted in the refurbishment of the Kefford Wing, the Ward Wing and the Science block, the opening of the Junior School (Manning House) (1999), and of the Middle School (2000). In August 2003, Mr David Gee was appointed Wesley’s seventh Headmaster.

[edit] Bednall controversy

During 2002 headmaster John Bednall was sacked by the school amid allegations that he had accessed child pornography on the internet. Criminal charges were laid against him but later withdrawn^[1] and Bednall subsequently sued Wesley for wrongful termination.^[2]

[edit] Campus

[edit] Building Program

Wesley's Master Plan for 2005 - 2015 has proposed the following major projects:

Refurbishment of the Joseph Green Centre
Extension of the Old Boys' Memorial Chapel
A Business & Enterprise Centre

The last building project the school embarked on was the Design Technology & Visual Arts Centre which will house the new Business & Enterprise Centre in its undercroft level. This Design Technology & Visual Arts Centre is regarded as a state-of-the art facility and is generally viewed as one of the best in a school in Western Australia.

The Joseph Green Centre refurbishment will revitalise the school centre as the main performing arts venue. It will house a new student cafe, auditorium, high-quality gallery & lobby and flexible music & drama areas. There are also plans to include a function centre on its top floor that will capture the stunning views of the Swan River and the central business district. Work has started with the interior demolishing of the centre, and at this current point in time, everything is still on schedule. The building will be a modern, glass-exterior building with the same general shape as the current Joseph Green Centre.

[edit] School Facilities

The School is based primarily on its nineteen hectare campus on Coode Street in South Perth. The campus of the school is such that it is divided into three sections, each housing the Junior, Middle and Senior School respectively. The Junior School (Manning House) is located on the northern side of the campus, on the foreshore of the Swan River and boasts panoramic views of the River and City Skyline.

Junior school (Manning House)

General Classrooms (Kindergarten to Year 4)
Junior School Library on Upper Floor with River Views
Hanton Quad (Main Junior School Area)
Art and Music facilities

The Middle School campus is located directly in the middle of the campus along Coode Street. It is housed in one building, opened in 2000 at the cost of $3.5 million. The current Year 12 cohort comprises of students that are the first to go from year 5-8 and finish Year 12 at Wesley. The upper and lower floors of the building houses classrooms from Year 5 to 8.

Middle school

General Classrooms (Year 5 to 8)
Performing Arts Room
Central Atrium for Assemblies, Performances etc
Computer Labs

The J.F. Ward Wing: Central Reception

The Senior School is located at the Southern side of the campus, fronting on Angelo Street. This is the highest point of the College campus and boasts views of the City and River. The Senior School is the most historical area of the school, housing buildings nearly 90 years old. The traditional architecture of the buildings in the Senior School reinforce the history of the school.

Senior school

General Classrooms for Year 9 to 12 (Kefford and Hamer Wings)
Photography Lab
Computer Labs
Science Block (Three Levels)
College Staff Common Room
H R Trenamen Senior Library (Upper Floor - Kefford Wing)
Administration Block (Ward Wing)
Jenkins Quad (Heart of School Campus)

General school facilities

Old Boys Memorial Chapel
Memorial Rose Gardens
Lych Gate
Maloney House (Old Headmaster's Residence and OWCA Museum)
Joseph Green Centre (Main Performing Arts Centre undergoing $13 million rebuilding during 2007)
Music facilities
Wyvern Centre
RE Blanckensee Physical Education Centre
Design and Technology Centre for Art, and Design
Business and Enterprise Centre
Health Centre
Boarding House for 150 boarders

Sporting facilities

South Perth Campus

Rossiter Oval (Football, Athletics, Cricket)
Cricket Nets
8 Tennis Courts & 2 Outdoor Basketball Courts
2 Hockey, Soccer Pitches on Ward Oval
50m Olympic-sized Swimming Pool
Physical Education Centre (Weights, indoor gymnasium, mezzanine)

Collins Oval Campus

2 Soccer Pitches
2 Rugby Pitches
2 Hockey Pitches
City of South Perth Clubrooms and Changerooms

[edit] Uniform

Wesley College Uniform

Wesley's current uniform was introduced in 1999. The school broke with its own tradition as well as that of other major private schools when it decided to move away from the customary grey uniform commonplace among other colleges. The new summer uniform with green shorts and black, yellow and green pinstriped shirts was far more recognisable than previously and generally well accepted, although there was some vocal opposition.

In 2005 the school began to consider the relatively expensive procedure of replacing the entire sports uniform (including all sport specific apparel) at the same time. A contract was agreed upon with a large eastern states firm and has been implemented since the beginning of 2007. Unlike previously where the uniforms had been sought out separately for each sport and often resulted in different shades of colours (particularly green) as well as differing themes, the new uniforms will have common colours and themes for each sport and will ensure that Wesley is easily recognisable at all sporting events.

There are further plans to either replace or improve the school's current summer uniform as some criticism has been raised over its lack of style and material quality. If it is to be replaced or reviewed, the new summer uniform will improve the standard of quality of the materials and make the uniform more formal again - like previous generations of the school uniform.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Sport

Wesley has been a member of Western Australia's elite boys school association, the Public Schools Association (PSA) since 1952, within which it competes in interschool sports. Recent successes include the winning of the interschool swimming for three consecutive years, rowing's Head of River in 2001 and more recently, Wesley also won cricket's Darlot Cup in 2006.

In 2006 Wesley won its third successive PSA interschool swimming carnival after winning in 2004, 2005 and coming runner up in 2003. Prior to this, previous headmaster Mr John Bednall was quoted as saying that Wesley would "never win the Inters Swimming if nothing changed."

[edit] Klem Cup

The Klem Cup is awarded to the winning house each year, it is named after the first boy ever enrolled (CH Klem). The houses compete in a number of activities in order to gain points, these include:

Swimming
Athletics
Cross-Country (Running)
Basketball
Badminton
Soccer
Australian Rules Football
Debating
Tug of War
Eisteddfod
Ergo Rowing

[edit] Houses

Hardey (Black) 1924
Mofflin (Yellow) 1924
Walton (Green) 1924
Dickson (Red) 1968
Grove (Yellow and Green) 1990
Jenkins (Black and White) 1990
Cygnet (Black and Yellow) Boarding - 1990
Tranby (Black and Green) Boarding - 1990

[edit] Wesley Sports Club

Wesley's sporting facilities on the South Perth Campus can be used by members of the Wesley Sports Club and the general public. Formed for members of the local South Perth Community, and the College's students, The Club maintains and runs the PE Centre, from swimming classes, to weights training, yoga and various other program in the Sporting Facilities at Wesley.

[edit] Alumni

Several alumni of the school have become professional sportsmen. The R.E. Blanckensee Physical Education Centre contains a Hall of Fame showcasing over 160 of Wesley's finest sporting old boys. These include: