Ballarat Grammar School

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Ballarat Grammar School
Ballarat Grammar School crest. Source: www.bgs.vic.edu.au (Ballarat Grammar website)
Honores Labourem Sequenter
"Honour Follows Labour"
Established 1972
School Type Independent, Co-educational, Day & Boarding
Slogan "Leading through Learning"
Key People Mr. S.J Higgs (Principal)
Mr. John E Miller (Chairman)
Fr. Peter Treleor (Chaplain)
School Fees AU$4,040 p.a - AU$12,660 p.a (Boarding additional)[1]
Location Wendouree, Victoria, Australia
Enrolment  ? (P-12)
Employees  ?
Colours Blue, Brown & Gold
Homepage www.bgs.vic.edu.au

Ballarat Grammar School is a grammar school in Ballarat. The school motto is "Honores labourem sequenter" - Honour follows labour.

Contents

[edit] Sport

Rowing is considered by many to be the school's most celebrated sport, although a subculture considers it overhyped. The Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS) crews compete in the annual "Head of the Lake" (also known simply as "Boat Race"), which has recently been held on the Barwon river.

The school has also performed very well in athletics, cross country and cricket. In cricket, it won the BAS premiership for three out of the last five years and a Victorian Championship in 2003-2004.

[edit] House system

The house system is very important to the structure of the school, and there is substantial rivalry between houses in swimming, athletics, and choral competitions, among others. The house system also provides pastoral care and a degree of mentoring to students. The rivalry is particularly seen between the two boys' boarding houses, Dart and Wigan, which often used to engage in pranks against each other. This practice was abandoned in 2007 after new administration deemed the activities of the boarding houses to be inappropriate. Dart and Wigan still compete against each other in soccer and football matches. These houses used to be one, and their subsequent division may be the cause of the competition. The Dart-Wigan rivalry is often overlooked when competing against the "day" (non-boarding) houses.

School Hymn
Serva Fidem

The mitre and the millrind are met by Wendouree;
The Heavenly Creed, the homely deed, together still should be;
Sure and steadfast, spite of scathe, serva fidem - keep the faith.

Where once earth's gold was gathered, and now the golden fleece;
Each golden thought, by wisdom wrought, let these the more increase;
Sure and steadfast, spite of scathe, serva fidem - keep the faith.

There are also two girls' boarding houses, Hayhoe and Woodbridge. Hayhoe has multiple buildings including Larritt which was created in the last few years to accommodate the ever-increasing number of boarders, housing exclusively female boarders in years 7, 8 and 9. Larritt girls 'graduate' to Hayhoe and Woodbridge when they reach year 10.

There are also 8 day houses, 4 for girls and 4 for boys. The girls' day houses are Manifold, Krome, Cuthbert and Macpherson. The boys' houses are Smith, Butler, Robin and Nevett.

All houses are named after people who were important to the school such as former Headmasters/Headmistresses or substantial donors.

Other houses have also developed reputations, some known to students and others to the wider community. Robin-Cuthbert has a strong pastoral care tradition, which has led to it being the house of choice for many parents who have children with special needs. Krome-Butler tend too dominate sporting activities, which may be explained by the house's excellent leadership and vigorous training regime. Boarding houses tend to excel in performance-based competitions. Smith-Manifold has a very strong link to the support of charities.

The Day Boys House Smith in particular is well known for 'Dougies Donuts' which named after the head of house sell for $1.50 every Tuesday Recess to raise money for many of the notable charities supported by the school.

The day girls' house Cuthbert often compete successfully at Chorals, an annual singing competition.


[edit] House combinations

In addition, the houses are paired in brother-sister groups. While the houses are generally independent, having separate meetings and tutorial groups for example, they form one team in the various competitions.

The pairs are:

  • Macpherson - Nevett
  • Manifold - Smith
  • Woodbridge - Dart
  • Hayhoe - Wigan
  • Cuthbert - Robin
  • Krome - Butler

[edit] Alumni

Academia
Arts and Media
  • Brian James - actor
  • Ernie Gray - actor (Mercury, Round The Twist), playwright
  • Roy Dalgarno - Artist
  • John Jones - curator, National Gallery of Australia, author of A Story of Australian Art
Medicine
Music
Politics
Sport
  • Tony Lockett - AFL Champion footballer
  • Geoff Tunbridge - AFL Champion footballer
  • John Vernon - highjumper (Australian Champion, Empire Games 1954)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ballarat Grammar School Day & Boarding Fees 2007 (accessed:08-05-2007)

[edit] Further reading

  • M.J.W. Boyle, Winds of Influence: A Short History of The Ballarat Grammar School 1911-1971 (n.d.)
  • Susanne L. White, Mainly About Girls: A History of Queen's, Ballarat 1876-1972 (1990)

[edit] External links

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Members of the Ballarat Associated Schools, Victoria, Australia