Pulteney Grammar School

Pulteney Grammar School
Pulteney Grammar School emblem O Prosper Thou Our Handiwork
Location
Adelaide, SA Australia
Coordinates	34°56′5″S 138°36′9″E / 34.93472°S 138.60250°E / -34.93472; 138.60250Coordinates: 34°56′5″S 138°36′9″E / 34.93472°S 138.60250°E / -34.93472; 138.60250
Information
Type	Independent, Co-educational, Day school
Denomination	Anglican[1]
Established	1847[2]
Chairman	Tim Goodes
Principal	Mrs Anne Dunstan
Employees	~150 (Full-time)[3]
Enrolment	~948 (K-12) [3]
Houses	Kennion Miller      , Cawthorne Nicholls     , Moore Sunter      , Bleby Howard      ,
Colour(s)	Navy Blue, White & Gold
Slogan	Learning for Life
Website	www.pulteney.sa.edu.au

Pulteney Grammar School (colloquially known as 'Pulteney') is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, private day school, located on South Terrace in Adelaide, South Australia.

History

Revd E.K. Miller, first Headmaster of Pulteney Grammar School

In May 1847, a group of founding trustees met in Adelaide in order to discuss the establishment of a new school for the children of Adelaide. Twelve months later, on May 29, 1848, the new institution 'Pulteney Street School' was opened. The school was established in the Anglican tradition, which continues to this day, though it admitted students of all denominations and children from non-Christian faiths. The school had 50 attendees by the end of its first week of operation, and classes were taken at a newly constructed building on the corner of Pulteney and Flinders Streets.

Wheaton House, one of the constituent buildings of the Senior School at Pulteney.

Since 1848, seventeen headmasters have governed the school. These headmasters, of whom some held office for more than 20 years at one time (W. S. Moore, 24 years in office, W. P. Nicholls, 41 years in office, and W. R. Ray, 26 years in office), led Pulteney to become an esteemed educational institution, with its traditional competitors including Scotch College, Prince Alfred College, and Saint Peter's College (which was instituted only shortly after Pulteney). The first female headmistress, Anne Dunstan, took office in 2014.^[4] In 1919, Pulteney Grammar School was required to move to its current premises on South Terrace, where a new building, the Nicholls Building, was opened by Lord Forster, then Governor-General, in July 1921. The school's move heralded the change in its name to its current form, and also brought financial uncertainty to the board of governors, who elected Reverend W. R. Ray in 1946 to attempt to bring the school back onto its feet. By 1953, Pulteney Grammar School offered a full education for boys, beginning in what is now called 'reception', until 'Leaving Honours' (Year 12).^[5]

The school changed its structure from an all-boys day-school to admit students of both genders in 1998.

An active Old Scholars' network maintains a connection between the institution and its alumni. Like other schools of a similar standing, Pulteney's alumni identify themselves with an old boys' tie, which is presented to students upon graduation.

School structure and demographics

Herbert Hynes, student c. 1885, wearing Pulteney Grammar School uniform

The school's footbridge over South Terrace

As of 2012, the School has 1000 students enrolled and over 150 teaching and non-teaching staff. Pulteney is composed of four sub-schools located on the same campus. The 'Kurrajong' and the ELC (Early Learning Centre) for students up to year 2, Prep School for years 3-6, Middle School for years 7-9 and "one ninety" (Senior School) for the final years 10-12. Each sub-school is overseen by a Head of School responding to the Principal.

According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, the school economic background distribution is: 72% upper quarter, 22% upper middle quarter, 5% lower middle quarter, and 1% lower quarter.^[6] There are no Aboriginal students in the school community, as of 2013. The school attendance rate in 2013 was 100%.

Notable alumni

Rhodes Scholars

• Charles Ashwin, 1952. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.^[7]
• Peter Gibbard, 1991. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.^[7]
• Mark Mussared, 1976. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.^[7]
• John Pritchard, 1935. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.^[7]
• Simon Best, 1973. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.^[7]

Military

• Arthur Seaforth Blackburn VC, soldier and lawyer; Winner of the Victoria Cross^[8]

Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, alumnus

• David Kenney, flight lieutenant, awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross,^[9]

Sports

• Bruce Abernethy, former AFL player and sports news reader.
• Josh Francou, player for North Adelaide Roosters(SANFL) and Port Adelaide Football Club(AFL) Australian rules football clubs.
• Jordan McMahon, current player in the AFL for the Richmond Tigers.
• Andrew Leipus, sports physiotherapist
• Maurice P. Hutton, died 1940, cricketer and footballer ^[10]

Arts

• Peter Dawson, internationally acclaimed bass-baritone and songwriter
• Harold Thomas, first Aboriginal student of Pulteney, and designer of the Australian Aboriginal Flag ^[11]
• Sean Williams, science fiction author
• Lewis Fitz-Gerald, actor.
• Don Kountouris/Christopher, actor, Packed to the Rafters, and Steven Spielberg's Terra Nova
• Jeffrey Smart, expatriate Australian artist of the Precisionist movement. Smart's works today return prices in excess of AUD$1,000,000 at auctions worldwide.^[12] He is a disciple of Adelaide artist Dorrit Black.
• Lesley Kirkman Meller, died 1962, South Australian writer ^[13]
• Michael Burden, Fellow in Music, Dean and Chattels Fellow at New College, Oxford, also Director of New Chamber Opera, and Professor of Opera Studies in the Faculty of Music, University of Oxford ^[14]
• Sam Clark, (Samuel James Clark), singer-songwriter and Australian television actor
• Chris Panousakis, indie folk singer/songwriter under the moniker Timberwolf

Business

• Joseph Albert Riley, (1869-1940), prominent Adelaide businessman and philanthropist, notably awarded the King Albert Medal for services in the Great War
• Colin Blore Bednall, journalist and media manager, Editor and Director of Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd.^[15]
• Oscar Lionel Isaachsen, banker ^[16]
• Alan Scott Martin, died 1958, former Assistant Chief Valuer of the Land Tax Department, and former member of the Australian Land Board ^[17]

Other

• Ernest Robert Beech, emeritus consultant physician of the Royal Perth Hospital ^[18]
• Sam Clark, current affairs reporter, Channel 10's The Project
• Jed Richards, author of 'One Long Day'^[19]
• Les Murray, SBS broadcaster and Member of the Order of Australia
• The Hon. John Sulan, Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia ^[20]
• Joseph Albert Riley, died 1940, prominent South Australian businessman and former Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce ^[21]
• Wyatt Roderic 'Rory' Hume, pharmacologist, former vice-chancellor of the University of New South Wales, and Provost of the United Arab Emirates University ^[22]
• Ted Mullighan, died 2011, QC and former Supreme Court Judge ^[23]
• Sir Leonard Ross Mallen, died 1980, Federal councillor of the Australian Medical Association,^[24][25]

Other

In 2008, Pulteney Grammar School was accused of discriminating against two brothers, students at the school, by offering financial incentives to female students but not males, whose fees exceed $21,000 p.a. ^[26]

In 2009, many parents, heritage groups and members of the general public condemned Pulteney’s plan to demolish the school’s Morgan Building, a landmark South Terrace bluestone mansion, using funding from the Federal Government’s stimulus package for new school buildings. While the building was not heritage listed, it is one of the last remaining mansions on South Terrace and was recommended in 1992 for conservation under Adelaide’s Townscape List. The school went ahead with their plans of demolition, despite a letter written by the Adeladie City Council to the school arguing against the proposal. David Beaumont of the National Heritage Trust said that Pulteney Grammar was “A school which should be setting an example in fact demolishing history instead of teaching it" and in an interview, one parent stated “…It’s [Pulteney Grammar] a values based school but it’s only values that suit them at the school.”^[27]

See also

• List of schools in South Australia
• List of Victoria Crosses by School

References

External links

• Pulteney Grammar School website