, motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"
( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city =

Corio, Victoria Corio is a residential and industrial area, which forms one of the largest suburbs of Geelong, Victoria in Australia. It is located approximately 9 km north of the Geelong central business district. The area was formerly known as Cowie's ...

, country = Australia , coordinates = , type =

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

, day and boarding , denomination = Anglican , established = , founder = Theodore Carlos Benoni Stretch , chairman = Jeremy D. Kirkwood , principal = Rebecca Cody , years = ELC–12 , gender = Co-educational , enrolment = 1,433 (ELC–12) , colours = Eton blue , slogan = Exceptional Education , head_label = Principal , affiliation = Associated Public Schools of Victoria , homepage = Geelong Grammar School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Anglican

boarding and

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compa ...

. The school's main campus is located in Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking

Corio Bay Corio Bay is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. Etymology When Hamilton Hume and Will ...

and

Limeburners Bay Limeburners Bay, one of numerous bays in Port Phillip, lies in the southwest and adjoins Corio Bay, which abuts Geelong, the second largest city in Victoria, Australia. The bay was named after lime kilns, located on the east side of Corio Bay, ...

. Established in 1855 under the auspices of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, Geelong Grammar School has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,500 students from

Pre-school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...

to Year 12, including 800 boarders from Years 5 to 12. In 2009, the school's fees are the most expensive in Australia based on a comparison of Year 12 student fees. Geelong Grammar School is a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...

, the

Junior School Heads Association of Australia The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia. Officially established in Sept ...

(JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV), and is a founding member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APSV). The school is also a member of the

G20 Schools G30 Schools, formerly known as G20 Schools, is an informal association of secondary schools initiated by David Wylde of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa and Anthony Seldon of Wellington College, Berkshire, United Kingdom in 2006. ...

Group. The school has offered the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

(IB) since February 1997.

History

The school was founded in 1855 as a private diocesan school with the blessing of Bishop Perry by the Venerable Theodore Stretch, Archdeacon of Geelong, with an initial enrolment of fourteen boys. The school grew rapidly and in 1857 it was assigned £5,000 of a government grant for church schools by Bishop Perry, the

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was laid for its own buildings and it was transformed into a public school. The school closed due to financial difficulties in 1860, only to reopen in 1863 with John Bracebridge Wilson, who had been a master under George Vance, as head master. For many years Bracebridge Wilson ran the school at his own expense and through this time boarders came to compose the greater part of the student body. In 1875, James Lister Cuthbertson joined the staff as Classics master. He had a great influence upon the boys of the school and was much admired and loved by them in spite of his

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

. Upon the death of Bracebridge Wilson in 1895, Cuthbertson became acting head master until the appointment of Leonard Harford Lindon early in the next year. Lindon ran the school for 15 years, but was never fully accepted by the

old boys The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...

because he lacked the personal warmth with the boys that had been seen with Bracebridge Wilson and Cuthbertson. By the turn of the century the school was outgrowing its buildings in the centre of Geelong, and so it was decided to move. The school council chose to open the head mastership to new applicants. Lindon reapplied but was rejected and Francis Ernest Brown was chosen as the new head master. In 1909, the school purchased a substantial amount of land in the then rural Geelong suburb of Belmont, bounded by Thomson, Regent and Scott Streets, and Roslyn Road. On 21 October 1910, chairman of the school, W. T. Manifold turned the first sod at the site of what was expected to be a new era for the school.Belmont Heritage Areas Report – Volume 1 August 2007 (PDF-3133KB)
These plans had faded by August 1911, when adjoining rural land was offered for sale as the Belmont Hill Estate. The school council judged that the adjacent suburban subdivision would work against their plans for a boarding school, not one catering for day boys. The decision was rapidly made to buy land on the opposite side of Geelong at Corio, and the land at Belmont was sold for further residential subdivision. At the end of 1913 the school left its old buildings near the centre of Geelong and opened at its expansive new site at Corio in February 1914. Brown put a greater emphasis on religion than his predecessors, and the new isolated location with its own chapel was ideal for this. Upon Brown's retirement in 1929 the school council set out to find a 40-year-old married priest as the next head master, but they ended up choosing

James Ralph Darling Sir James Ralph Darling, CMG, OBE (18 June 1899 – 1 November 1995) was the English-born Australian headmaster of Geelong Grammar School (1930–1961), and Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (1961–1967). Early life Darli ...

, a 30-year-old layman and bachelor. This proved to be a most successful choice and ushered in an era of creativity and massive expansion, following the purchase in 1933, of Bostock House, the Geelong Church of England Grammar Preparatory School in Newtown, and Glamorgan Preparatory School in Toorak in 1946. Darling's boldest initiative was the starting of the Timbertop campus, in the foothills of the Victorian Alps near Mansfield, in 1953. He attracted many acclaimed in their fields to work as masters at the school, including the historian

Manning Clark Charles Manning Hope Clark, (3 March 1915 – 23 May 1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume ''A History of Australia'', published between 1962 and 1987. He has been descri ...

, the musician Sir William McKie, and the artist Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack. Thomas Ronald Garnett succeeded Darling in 1961. He took the school down a liberal path, most notably in early steps towards co-education, with girls from Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School "The Hermitage" taking certain classes at Corio by the early 1970s, but also by making chapel non-compulsory; a policy later reversed. At the start of 1972, co-education was formally introduced when girls were accepted into the two senior years. Garnett was succeeded by Charles Douglas Fisher, who continued the move towards co-education. In a staff meeting in which the votes for and against co-education were equal, he cast the deciding vote that led to the school accepting girls through all levels. In 1976, after a year of negotiations, GCEGS, GCEGGFS, "The Hermitage" and

Clyde School Clyde School was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in Alma Road, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia by Isabel Henderson, a leading educationist of her day. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent academic results. The school was relocate ...

amalgamated. Fisher died as the result of a car accident on the way to Timbertop for an end of year service in 1978. Geelong-grammar-school-hut

An interregnum of two years was followed by the appointment, in 1980, of John Elliot Lewis (who later became headmaster of

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

from 1994 to 2002). Under the leadership of Lewis the school set about renovating the boarding and day houses to bring them up to more acceptable modern standards, and there was a focus on improving academic results in addition to the generally rounded education offered. In part, this was achieved through introducing timetable flexibility to allow able later-year high-school students to undertake

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (often abbreviated VCE) is one credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria. The VCE is the predominant choice for students ...

studies ahead of their cohort. The school is now one of 43 high schools in Australia to offer the

International Baccalaureate Diploma programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

as an alternative to the VCE. The later years of Lewis' head mastership saw an effort (which has been largely successful) to make the school less hierarchical. The period since Lewis has seen two head masterships of Lister Hannah and Nicholas Sampson and, in 2004, the appointment of Stephen Meek. In 2018, after 13-and-a-half years as Principal, Stephen Meek retired from the School and was replaced by Rebecca Cody. She becomes the 12th Principal of Geelong Grammar School; the first Australian-born and first female Principal in the School's history.

Headmasters and principals

Campuses

Geelong Grammar School has four campuses: * Corio Years 5 to 8 (Middle School) and 10 to 12 (Senior School), boarding and day. * Bostock House Pre-school to Year 4, day. * Toorak Campus (formerly known as Glamorgan) Pre-school to Year 6, day. * Timbertop Year 9, Full-time boarding The school had planned in the 1990s to open a campus in northern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, but the project was cancelled following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, as the Thai government suspended many major projects, and also due to the collapse of the hillside site on which the campus was to be built, as the school had failed to undertake a geological survey to establish the suitability of the site. The school lost approximately $3.5 million in this planning failure.

Houses

Senior School *Allen (Day, Co-ed., 1914, originally Geelong) *Clyde (Boarding, Girls, 1976, nominal successor to Clyde School) *Cuthbertson (Boarding, Boys, 1914) *Elisabeth Murdoch (Boarding, Girls, 2009) *Francis Brown (Boarding, Boys, 1937) *Fraser (Day, Co-ed., 1976) *Garnett (Boarding, Girls, 1982) *The Hermitage (Boarding, Girls, 1976, originally Jennings, nominal successor to CEGGS "The Hermitage") *Manifold (Boarding, Boys, 1914) *Perry (Boarding, Boys, 1914) Middle School *Parrwang (Boarding, Boys) *Kunuwurra (Boarding, Girls) *Highton (Day, Co-ed) *Otway (Day, Co-ed) Toorak Campus *Bruce *McComas *Alexander *Mann Bostock House * Austin *Morres *School *Volum

Buildings at Corio

Some notable buildings at Corio include: ;The Handbury Centre for Wellbeing aka. The Wellbeing Centre The Handbury Centre for Wellbeing is Geelong Grammar's main centre for sport, health and overall wellbeing. It was opened on 20 April 2008. The Centre comprises a multi purpose sports hall, a FINA-accredited 25 metre pool with diving bowl, a fitness centre, a dance studio, the John Court Café, the GGS Shop and the School's Medical Centre, Kennedy, that also has rooms for counselling services and physiotherapy. Perry Quad Built in 1913 and extended in the 1930s the Quad is located at the centre of the school between the Dining Hall and the chapel. It houses classrooms, school administration, the Morris Room (staff dining room), three staff residences (The Dovecote, The Eyrie, and the Vicarage), the Hawker Library, and, until 1986, Perry House. The central quadrangle is grassed and there is a fountain in its centre. It is often used for assemblies and plays. The clocktower is on the eastern side of the Perry Quad. Hawker Library Originally the school library, its décor dates from the 1940s. From 1979 it housed the History Library, and was in 2005 converted into the Michael Collins Persse Archives Centre. The building now houses the Institute of Positive Education. The Cloisters Linking the Quad and Chapel, the Cloisters are the school's main

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

. There are plaques commemorating OGGs who died in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

s at either end. The ANZAC Day service is held around the Cloisters every year. Silence is to be maintained at all times in the Cloisters. Chapel of All Saints Built in stages between 1914 and 1929 the chapel is at the spiritual centre of the school. All students must attend a weekday service and boarders must also attend on Sundays. The 3 manual organ was originally built by Hill in 1909 and was expanded in 1958 by J. W. Walker. Dining Hall Built in 1913 and extended in 1933 the Dining Hall is where all Senior School students take meals. There are paintings of all former Head Masters of GGS, as well of some of the school founders, and some the Headmistresses of The Hermitage and Clyde. Darling Hall Built in the 1960s the Darling Hall serves as the Middle School Dining Hall and Examinations Hall. At its East end is the sanctuary that was originally in the Assembly Hall of The Hermitage. Music School Built in 1938 and standing out as one of the few buildings at Corio not constructed with red bricks, the Music School contains many small practice rooms, a band room, and the Music Hall, which is used for many concerts by students, staff, and visiting musicians. Art School Built in 1937 the Art School served as the only centre for art in the school until the construction of the Sinclaire and Hirschfeld Mack Centres in the last 5 years. It remains at the centre of art in the school, being used mostly for painting and drawing. Fisher Library Built in 1979 and renovated and extended in 2005 the Fisher is now Senior School's sole lending library, now incorporating the collections of the former History Library. School for Performing Arts and Creative Education (The SPACE) Completed in May 2015 (replacing the Bracebridge Wilson Theatre), The School for Performing Arts and Creative Education (commonly referred to as The Space), holds two spaces. The 270-seat Studio is named The Bracebridge Wilson Studio, while the larger 800-seat Forum is named The David Darling Play House. The Space is where most school plays and school assemblies are held. Bracebridge Wilson Theatre Opened in 1978 (replacing the 1890s Bracebridge Wilson Hall, which burnt in 1976), the "BW" was where most school plays and school assemblies were held. It seats approximately 300 people in fixed seating. However, seating capacity can be expanded to accommodate approximately 600 people. With the construction of School for Performing Arts and Creative Education, the "BW" was made largely redundant. Cook Quad Built in stages until the 1930s the Cook Quad houses most of the school's Science Department.

Curriculum

Geelong Grammar offers its senior students a choice of the

(IB) or the

(VCE).

Extracurricular activities

Sport

Geelong Grammar is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS).

APS & AGSV/APS Premierships

Geelong Grammar has won the following APS and AGSV/APS* premierships. Boys: * Athletics (6) - 1926, 1928, 1936, 1946, 1951, 1954 * Badminton (4) - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 * Cricket (8) - 1903, 1906, 1915, 1916, 1961, 1962, 1990, 2014 * Football - 1902 * Rowing (30) - 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1898, 1914, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1934, 1935, 1943, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994 Girls: * Athletics (8) - 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 * Badminton (3) - 2002, 2003, 2005 * Cross Country (4) - 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 * Hockey (2) - 1993, 1994 * Netball (2) - 2012, 2018 * Rowing (23) - 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 * Swimming (3) - 1986, 1987, 1988

School journal

''The Corian'' is the journal of the Geelong Grammar School. Published as ''The Geelong Grammar School Annual'' (1875–76), ''The Geelong Grammar School Quarterly'' (1877–1913) and ''The Corian'' (1914–present). Published quarterly from 1877, it reverted to an annual in 1992.

Notable alumni

Prince Charles visiting Geelong Grammar School, Corio, Victoria, Australia

Former students of Geelong Grammar and old girls of The Hermitage and Clyde School are known as ''Old Geelong Grammarians'' (OGGs), and may elect to join the school's alumni association, the Old Geelong Grammarians Association. Former teachers include the German/Australian artist Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack. In 2001, ''

The Sun-Herald ''The Sun-Herald'' is an Australian newspaper published in tabloid or compact format on Sundays in Sydney by Nine Publishing. It is the Sunday counterpart of ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. In the 6 months to September 2005, ''The Sun-Herald'' ...

'' ranked Geelong Grammar School fourth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its male

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

mentioned in the ''

Who's Who in Australia ''Who's Who in Australia'' (''WWIA'') is an Australian biographical dictionary first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as ''Johns's Notable Australians''. It is used as a resource for summary information on prominent Australians. ''WWIA'' is part of ...

'' (a listing of notable Australians). Among the school's notable alumni are

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

; media mogul

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

; actress

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for w ...

;

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

, Prime Minister of Australia 1968–1971; Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu,

King of Malaysia The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...

2006–2011;

Tim Macartney-Snape Tim Macartney-Snape (born 5 January 1956) is a mountaineer and author. On 3 October 1984 Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer were the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest. They reached the summit, climbing without supplementary ...

, mountaineer and author; billionaire businessman Kerry Packer; singer-songwriter Missy Higgins; Entrepreneur and Climate 200 Founder Simon Holmes à Court.

Sexual abuse

Former pupils of Geelong Grammar have told an inquiry that their abuse claims were ignored for decades. The

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...

heard evidence about five decades of complaints at the school. In 2015, the school principal, Stephen Meek, wrote to the school community encouraging abuse victims to come forward (Letter from Stephen Meek, dated 25 May 2015, addressed to "Dear community member"). However, at the hearing of the Royal Commission, the first witness was interrogated by the school's lawyer over minor points. During that exchange, the ''

Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victor ...

'' reported that the school lawyer was warned by the Royal Commission for referring to the ex-student by his actual name during the proceedings, in spite of the abuse victim requesting anonymity. At no point did the school lawyer take issue with the abuse claims. One former student said he was touched on the genitals by a chaplain and then threatened with expulsion when he reported the abuse. Referred to as "BKO" by the commission, the witness described the school's Timbertop campus, where Prince Charles spent two terms in 1966, as "similar to ''

Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...

''". BKO said the school was concerned only with avoiding scandal, rather than stopping the abuse. Local media report that another former student, described as "BKM", told the commission that Geelong Grammar should repay the fees of abuse victims. "They made my father pay an exceptional amount of money", he said. "I was sexually abused, and repeatedly and seemingly uncaring, re-exposed to the situation that allowed the abuse." In a statement issued in August 2015, Stephen Meek said the school "absolutely condemns any form of abuse ... that has occurred at the school in the past ... I greatly regret that not all of our students received the care and support to which they were entitled". However, he had told school council meetings in 2007 that litigation regarding some of Philippe Trutmann's 41 victims had been settled for about $350,000. His report stated: "Overall, this has been a very satisfactory financial outcome for the school".

List of perpetrators

* Jonathon Harvey * Philippe Trutmann * John Hamilton Buckley * John Davison (deceased) * Graham Leslie Dennis * Stefan Van Vurren * Norman Smith (deceased) * Max Guzelian (deceased) * Andrew MacCulloch (deceased) * David Brian Mackey

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1855 Associated Public Schools of Victoria Boarding schools in Victoria (Australia) Schools in Geelong International Baccalaureate schools in Australia Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools Co-educational boarding schools Grammar schools in Australia 1855 establishments in Australia Geelong Grammar School