Scotch College
Latin: Deo Patriae Litteris ("To God, for Country, and for Learning")[1]
Established	1851[2]
School Type	Independent, Single-sex, Day and Boarding
Denomination	Presbyterian[3]
Key People	Mr. I. T. Batty (Headmaster) Mr. D. A. Crawford AO (Chairman) Rev. Dr. J. P. Wilson (Deputy Chairman) Rev. James Forbes (Founder)
Location	Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°50′3″S 145°1′46″E / 37.83417°S 145.02944°E / -37.83417; 145.02944Coordinates: 37°50′3″S 145°1′46″E / 37.83417°S 145.02944°E / -37.83417; 145.02944
Enrolment	~1,850 (P–12)[4]
Colours	Cardinal, Gold and Blue[1]
Homepage	www.scotch.vic.edu.au

Scotch College, Melbourne (commonly referred to as Scotch) is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

It is famous for having many distinguished former students, and is ranked the top school in Australia based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians).^[5][6][7][8]

The College was established in 1851 as "The Melbourne Academy", in a house in Spring Street, by Reverend James Forbes, of the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria.^[9] It is the oldest surviving secondary school in Victoria^[2][4] and celebrated its sesquicentenary in 2001.

Scotch is a founding member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS),^[10] and is affiliated with the International Coalition of Boys' Schools,^[11] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),^[12] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),^[4] the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV),^[3] and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.^[13] The School is also a member of the G20 Schools Group.

[edit] History

The School at its former East Melbourne site (circa 1906) prior to moving to the current site at Hawthorn

Scotch College was founded 1851 by the Reverend James Forbes, the first settled minister of the Presbyterian Church in Victoria. It opened under the name of "The Melbourne Academy", in a small house in Spring Street,^[9] opposite the Royal College of Surgeons,^[14] with Robert Lawson, a Scot from Edinburgh University as the first Principal.^[9] In the year the Melbourne Academy was founded, Forbes had contracted a chronic ailment to the trachea, and he subsequently died six weeks prior to the schools official opening on 6 October 1851.^[15][16] The Reverend William Miller who succeeded Reverend James Forbes at John Knox Church became the founding chairman of the School Council. On 19 January 1852, the school moved to a rented premises at 99 Spring Street, on the corner of Little Collins Street, before relocating to its own site at Lansdowne Street, East Melbourne on 10 January 1854.^[14] Scotch moved to the current site at Hawthorn in 1916.^[15]

[edit] Name

The name "Scotch College" appears at the entrance to the boarding precinct

The School was originally called "The Melbourne Academy" (after its location) when it opened in 1851. In its early years it was also known as "Mr Lawson's Academy" (after its first Principal, Robert Lawson), or "The Grammar School", or other names reflective of its religious and ethnic foundations (that is, Scottish Presbyterian). The main two such names were the "The Scots' College" (that is, the college of the Scots) and "The Scotch College" (that is, the college that is Scottish). For a while all of these names were used concurrently until in the 1860s the usage settled on "The Scotch College", which was later shortened to be simply "Scotch College".^[17]

[edit] Coat-of-arms and motto

The School's coat-of-arms (shown above, right) features the following elements:^[18]

• The Burning Bush - the Burning Bush, from the Book of Exodus, is a common symbol used by the Presbyterian Church, representing Christian faith.
• A white cross on a blue background - the flag of Scotland (St Andrew's Cross) representing the School's Scottish heritage.
• The Southern Cross - the Southern Cross constellation common symbol for Australia, asserting the School's location and home.
• A crown - representing loyalty to the sovereign and legitimate government.
• A lymphad - a Greek ship with oars in use, thus rowing into the wind, and representing enterprise and perserverance.
• A torch - representing the torch of knowledge and learning.

The motto of the School, shown in Scottish heraldic style in a scroll above the cost-of-arms, is latin: "Deo Patriae Litteris". It literally means "God, Counrty, Learning", or transliterated means "To God, for Country, and for Learning".^[18]

[edit] Principals

The Quad

Dr. F. G. Donaldson AM retired as Principal at the conclusion of 2007, having completed 25 years as Principal and was succeeded by Mr. I. T. Batty who commenced his term in 2008. Mr. Batty holds an honours degree in Mathematics from Brunel University and was a Housemaster at Eton College before his appointment to Scotch College. Mr. Batty's career in education has encompassed New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Mr. Batty is only the ninth Principal in the school's 158 year history.^[19]

[edit] Governance

Littlejohn Memorial Chapel

Scotch is an incorporated body governed by a Council made up of three groups; 1/3 Old Boys nominated by the Old Scotch Collegians' Association, 1/3 Presbyterian Church of Victoria nominees and 1/3 "members of the Scotch Family" nominated by Council from members of associations including the Scotch Parents' Association and Scotch Foundation.^[23]

Chairmen of the Council have included Sir Arthur Robinson, Sir Archibald Glenn, Sir James Balderstone and David Crawford.

At the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia on 3 May 1977, Scotch was allocated to the Presbyterian Church of Australia by the Property Commission of the Presbyterian Church, which included an even number of representatives from the Uniting Church and the continuing Presbyterian Church as well as independent commissioners. At the time the Scotch Council unsuccessfully appealed this decision.^[24]

[edit] Campuses

Memorial Hall

• Hawthorn - The School has a single boarding, sporting and academic campus of 27 hectares (67 acres) in suburban Hawthorn.^[25] Sporting facilities include ovals and soccer/rugby fields, two synthetic grass hockey/soccer fields, tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool, an indoor diving pool, three gymnasiums, two weights rooms, three squash courts and a rock climbing tower. As the school is situated on the banks of the Yarra River, the school has rowing and boating facilities located within its grounds.^[25]
• Healesville - The School has 80 hectares (198 acres) of forest with a lodge in the hills at Healesville east of Melbourne, used for Scout and Cadet camps.^[25]
• Phillip Island - The School has a absolute-beach-front residential seaside property at Cowes on Phillip Island, which is the site of a one week orientation camp for Year 7 students and other camps.^[25]
• Mansfield - A lodge for the use of boarders has been built in the hills outside of Mansfield, 130 km northeast of Melbourne.^[25]

[edit] Curriculum

Scotch students study towards the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), which is the main secondary student assessment program in Victoria which ranks students with an Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) for university entrance purposes.

[edit] Extra-curricular activities

The music and drama school - named the James Forbes Academy after the School's founder Reverend James Forbes

Some extra-curicular groups and activities at Scotch are:

• Pipe Band - The Scotch College Pipes and Drums Band was established in 1946 and is the oldest school Pipe Band in Australia. It wears the Gordon tartan, and competes at national and international competitions and highland festivals. It performs at school public events including in the annual ANZAC Day March to the Shrine of Remembrance.^[26][27]
• Military Band - The Military Band performs at school, and in public including in the annual ANZAC Day March to the Shrine of Remembrance and on overseas tours.^[28]
• Army Cadet Corps - The Scotch College Cadet Corps was established in 1884, and holds an annual Tattoo. Cadets have weekly activities at the school and participate in camps and bivouacs.^[29][30]
• Ist Hawthorn (Scotch College) Scout Group - Scotch has its own Scout Group, established in 1926, that is part of Scouts Australia. The Scout Group meets regulary each Thursday at the school and participate in off-campus activities such as camps.^[31]
• Debating - Scotch regularly participates in debating, competing in the Debaters Association of Victoria Schools Competition. Each season, the school hosts the Hawthorn region of the Schools Competition. In 2008 the First Debating Team were the State A Grade Runners Up, while the school was also runner up in the State British Parliamentary Debating Competition.^[32] Scotch debaters have recently toured the United Kingdom participating in inter-school debating tournaments.^[33][34]

[edit] Sport

Statue at the Melbourne Cricket Ground of Tom Wills umpiring the first recorded match of Australian rules football between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar

Scotch College competes in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) league in Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Cross Country, Australian Rules Football, Hockey, Rowing, Rugby, Soccer, Squash, Swimming and Diving, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball and Water Polo. In 2006, the school jointly won the APS Australian Rules Premiership, the First VIII Rowing (Head of the River), and the VSRU Open Grade Rugby. It was the fifth time in six years that Scotch had won the Rugby first XV's.^[35] It won a fifth consecutive Head of the River in 2008, and has won that event more than any other competing school.^[36]

In addition to the APS competition, Scotch competes in a number of competitions with specific schools, including:

• Cordner-Eggleston Cup - This Cup is contested each year by the first football teams of Scotch and Melbourne Grammar School. It commemorates the first recorded game of Australian Rules Football, which was played between the two schools on 7 August 1858, and is today commemorated by a statue depicting the game outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[37][38]
  Main article: Cordner-Eggleston Cup
• The Batty Shield - This Shield is contested between the first cricket teams of Scotch and Eton College. The Shield was inaugurated in 2008 after a number of cricket tours between the schools, and is named after the current Principal of Scotch who was previously a Housemaster at Eton.^[39][40]
• The Tait Cup - This Cup is contested between the first cricket teams of Scotch and Geelong Grammar School and commemorates the links between the schools back to their first cricket match in 1855.^[41]
• The John Roe Shield - This Shield is contested between the first soccer teams of Scotch and Saint Peter's College, Adelaide.^[42]

[edit] Alumni

The senior school as seen from the forecourt of the Littlejohn Memorial Chapel, with the open-air pulpit in the foreground

Alumnus Sir John Monash features on the Australian $100 note

Alumni of Scotch College are known as Old Boys or Old Collegians, and automatically become members of the schools alumni association, the Old Scotch Collegians Association (OSCA).^[43]

Academic research of Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians) shows that Scotch College alumni are listed more often than those of any other school.^[5][6][7][8]

Alumni of Scotch College include

• Three Governors-General of Australia - Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen and Peter Hollingworth.
• Prime Minister of Australia Sir George Reid.
• Four Justices of the High Court of Australia - Sir John Latham (Chief Justice), Kenneth Hayne, Sir Hayden Starke and Sir Ninian Stephen
• Eight State Premiers - Jim Bacon (Tas), John Cain (Vic), Jeff Kennett (Vic), Sir Harry Lawson (Vic), John MacPherson (Vic), Sir George Reid (NSW), William Shiels (Vic) and Vaiben Solomon (SA)
• Chief of the the Australian Defence Force General Peter Gration.
• The eponyms of two Universities - Monash University named after Sir John Monash, and Murdoch University named after Sir Walter Murdoch.
• Ten University Vice-Chancellors - Sir Kenneth Wheare of Oxford University; Sir Lindsay Ride of University of Hong Kong; Sir David Derham, Sir John Monash, Sir George Paton and David Penington of the University of Melbourne; Peter Darvall and Raymond Martin of Monash University; Sir Walter Murdoch of the University of Western Australia; and Sir Zelman Cowen of the University of Queensland and University of New England.
• Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia Sir Harold Knight.
• Governor of Victoria Sir Henry Winneke.
• Three times Olympic Gold Medalist Drew Ginn.
• Two times Wimbledon singles tennis champion Gerald Patterson.
• Two BHP Chairmen - Sir Ian McLennan and Sir James Balderstone.
• Actor Jesse Spencer.
• Singer-songwriter John Williamson.

[edit] Media descriptions

The Hill and the Littlejohn Memorial Chapel

• Britain's The Independent newspaper has called Scotch "Australia's top school" and "Australia's equivalent to Eton College".^[44]
• Britain's The Daily Telegraph newspaper has called Scotch "the city's most prestigious school".^[45]
• The Australian newspaper has described Scotch as "one of the country's most prestigious schools" whose Council's members are a "high powered group" and "an impressive roll call".^[46]

[edit] Images of Hawthorn campus

The weeping elm in The Quad

The senior school - library (left) and Memorial Hall (centre)

The elms of Monash Drive named after Sir John Monash

The Gifford Tower

[edit] See also

Calvinism portal

• List of schools in Victoria
• List of high schools in Victoria
• List of schools in Victoria, Australia according to 2006 VCE results
• Victorian Certificate of Education

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Scotch College, Melbourne website
• Scotch College, 1970-1975 website
• Encyclopedia of Melbourne website
• Organ Historical Trust of Australia web-page on Scotch College's Memorial Hall organ

[edit] Further reading

• Stuart Gerstman and James Mitchell, Visions of Boyhood - Scotch College in Pictures, Hardie Grant Books, 2007, ISBN 9781740665650
• Stephen Matthews, The Pipes and Drums: Scotch College Melbourne - A History, Scotch College Pipes and Drums Auxiliary, 2007, ISBN 9780646480909
• James Mitchell, A Deepening Roar - Scotch College, Melbourne, 1851-2001, Allen & Unwin, 2001, ISBN 1865085766
• Desmond Zwar, The Soul of a School, Macmillan, 1982, ISBN 0333338405