Scotch Oakburn College is an independent, open-entry, Early Learning to Year 12,

coeducational 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 ...

, day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in Launceston,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, in association with the

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost a ...

in Australia. Although founded in 1886, the present school was established in 1979 with the amalgamation of the historically boys' Scotch College and girls' Oakburn College (formerly the Methodist Ladies' College, based in East Launceston). The school currently caters for approximately 1,100 students from Early Learning (3 years old) to Year 12 (18 years old), including more than 70 boarders from Years 6 to 12. Scotch Oakburn is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), 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 Septem ...

(JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association, and the

Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools The Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools (SATIS) is a group of sixteen schools in Tasmania (Australia), Tasmania, Australia formed by AHISA Tasmania (Australia), Tasmania to conduct sporting competitions for member schools. NSATIS ...

. The

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

is a full member of the

Round Square Round Square is an international network of schools, based on the educational concepts of Kurt Hahn, and named after a distinctive building at Gordonstoun. Founded by a group of seven schools in the late 1960s, by 1996 it had grown to 20 member ...

association, an international association spreading across five continents and over 100 schools around the world. Scotch Oakburn College is the first member of Round Square in Tasmania. In 2015, former Scotch Oakburn principal Andrew Barr resigned as principal of Geelong college after being caught watching pornography in his office by a student.

History

Formation

Scotch Oakburn College was created in 1979, through the amalgamation of the Scotch College and Oakburn College (formerly the Methodist Ladies' College).

Methodist Ladies' College

The Methodist Ladies' College, Launceston (M.L.C) was established on Elphin Road, just east of the city centre, in 1886. The aim of the college was to allow girls the same access to educational facilities as boys. The largest building on campus had been named "Oakburn" upon its construction 25 years earlier. After its first year, it had 88 students. The first

Headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

was G. Thornton-Lewis. In 1969, M.L.C was renamed "Oakburn College" as the school council felt that 'Ladies' was outdated. The school became co–educational in 1973.

Scotch College

The Scotch College was established as a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

boys' school, on York Street in the Launceston CBD in 1901. The school went through a number of owners in its first 50 years of existence, eventually being taken over by the

Presbyterian Church of Australia The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian and Reformed denomination in Australia. The PCA is the largest conservative, evangelical and complementarian Christian denomination in Australia. The Presby ...

in October 1950. In 1917, it moved from its York Street residence to the "Ravenscraig" property on Penquite Road, Newstead, around 10 km east of the city. By 1972 the College was struggling to survive and it was subsequently decided to introduce co–education.

Church union and amalgamation

After the formation of the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

in 1977, representatives from both colleges joined to discuss an

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

. The successful amalgamation process was chaired by local

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

John Morris, AO, MBE, who was then Chairman of the Oakburn College Council. 1979 was the inaugural year of Scotch Oakburn College with the Oakburn College Council Chairman becoming the Chairman of the amalgamated college's Council, and the Principal of Scotch College becoming the inaugural Principal of the amalgamated College. The former Oakburn College campus, on Elphin Road, in 1979 became home to the Matriculation classes (years 11 and 12) and the

junior school A junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at an infant school, which covers the age range 5–7. Since both infant and junior schools provide pri ...

(years K–5) and boarding house. The same year, the Scotch College campus on Penquite Road became the

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

(years 6 to 10). In 1980, the current set-up was adopted with years 11 and 12 joining the middle school classes at the Penquite Campus, leaving the Elphin Campus with Early Learning to Year 5 and the boarding house. It now operates in association with the

but is not governed or managed by the Church.

Principals

Campuses

Elphin

The younger of the two campuses, the Elphin Campus is the site of the more historic buildings in the school. The campus features a number of beautiful old oak trees which are located at the front of the campus in a garden area. The Elphin Campus is home to the Junior School /

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

(Early Learning to Year 5) and

boarding house A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...

. The first building on the land was "Oakburn", constructed by Eliza Thomson in 1861, a year after she was granted the land. This is the most historic building on any of the campuses. In time, "Oakburn" would become the boarding house. The college was later renamed for this building. An extension to this building, the Mary Fox Jubilee Wing, was constructed in 1935 to celebrate the College's jubilee anniversary. Today it is better known to students as the Mary Fox Hall or just the Mary Fox and it houses school assemblies, chapel services and many other events such as school plays, dances and trivia nights. The stately "Lemana" and "The Stables" are located on the western end of the campus. "The Stables", as the name suggests, was formerly the

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

area for horses. Lemana is a grand old house which keeps its historic exterior. The Mary Fox Performing Arts Centre is a dual-purpose space and is the centre of many school community events. The Early Learning centre is home to

pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

, and after-hours care facilities. The centre was built on the site of the original Methodist Ladies' College/Oakburn College Principal's residence. The Elphin campus also is home to four tennis courts, a large oval, two multi-purpose courts, a gymnasium and a 25 m swimming pool.

Penquite

The Penquite Campus is situated on both sides of Penquite Road in Newstead, linked by an underpass. The main side of the campus or Eastern side features a large, rectangular, grassy field in the centre, with buildings located around the outside of it. The major buildings of the school are named after and in honour of significant people and places in the school's heritage. Over the years these buildings have been upgraded and redeveloped and more buildings have been built. Directly inside the main entrance to the College lies a large, old oak tree which lies beside the school Chapel. *"Ravenscraig", named after the original name of the Penquite Road property, refers to the oldest classroom block on the campus. Formerly housing senior staff and administrative offices, this area now houses learning spaces. *Briggs House is located on the eastern end of the campus. First constructed in 1954, this building was for boarding students of Scotch College. It is named for long serving headmaster W.V.V. Briggs. Upon amalgamation, the building began to be used for

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

classrooms, and the kitchen area became the

food technology Food technology is a branch of food science that addresses the production, preservation, quality control and research and development of food products. It may also be understood as the science of ensuring that a society is food secure and ha ...

area. Today the kitchen continues to be used for classes and the remainder of the building houses staff. *The Robert Dean Senior Student Centre (formally known as the Robert Dean Centre, or just Dean Centre to students, was the campus gymnasium; it featured one multi-purpose sports court with a gym/weights area on an upstairs mezzanine floor. The Robert Dean Centre also housed school assemblies weekly) is one of the campus' largest buildings. Named after former Scotch College Headmaster, Robert Dean, this building was redeveloped and reopened in March 2007, as a state of the art purpose-built study centre for Year 11 and Year 12 Tasmanian Certificate of Education students, including study areas, computing laboratories, learning spaces, a fully functioning student kitchen and relaxation area. Housed beneath are the Design and Technology, and Art departments. It is visible in the centre of the campus behind the field and between the John Morris Library and Bruce Carter Administration building. *Saint Andrews, named after the patron

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, is located on the western side of the campus. The building was refurbished internally in 2017 with the construction of the adjoining Helix building. The tuckshop is located in this area which provides a variety of healthy food options for students at both recess and lunch times. *Helix was opened in 2017 and is the Centre for Science and Mathematics and home for Years 9 and 10, on the Penquite Campus. This latest development continues the prudent investment by the College over the past decade to ensure it can provide contemporary learning spaces to complement our C21 Teaching and Learning. Helix houses four science laboratories and five new rooms. *The Health and Physical Education Centre opened in August 2007 features international standard basketball, netball, badminton and volleyball courts, two multi-purpose learning studios, and a weights and ergonomics room. The Penquite Campus has seen a lot of building development since amalgamation: *The John Morris Centre (formerly the John Morris

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

), named after the inaugural Chairman of the amalgamated College Council (now the Board of Management) was constructed in the late 1980s and refurbished in 2015. *The Bruce Carter Administration Building, named after the inaugural Principal of the amalgamated College, replaced the former administration facilities in Ravenscraig in the early 1990s. *The Horton Auditorium/Performing Arts Centre, opened in 2003, which includes an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

facilities. The auditorium is named after the nineteenth century boys' school,

Horton College thumbnail, 1937 sketch of the school Horton College was a 19th-century independent Wesleyan Methodist boys' boarding school, at Mona Vale near , Tasmania, Australia. Founded by Captain Samuel Horton in 1855, the college closed in 1894; and dur ...

, near Ross in the Tasmanian Midlands, which was the first Methodist College in Australia. *The Middle School, which is situated on the opposite side of Penquite Road to the main campus (next to the Heath and Physical Education Centre), opened in early 2009 and features new facilities for students in grades 6 to 8. This side of the campus is connected via a tunnel which extends to the main Penquite facilities. *Helix, the Centre for Science and Mathematics and home to Year 9 and 10 students, opened in 2017.

Valley

In 2005, Scotch Oakburn came to an arrangement with the owner of 'Rostrevor', near

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...

, to lease and use a part the property for

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...

and environmental study purposes. This facility is known as the Valley Campus. The Valley Campus is home to the College Education Outdoors and Sustainability program.

House system

Scotch Oakburn College operates under four Houses: Fox (red), Dean (blue), Briggs (green) and Nance (yellow). Throughout the year, students at the middle and senior school (Penquite Campus) compete in a number of competitions to gain points to win the House Shield at the end of the year; these competitions include swimming, cross-country, athletics, debating and singing. At the junior school (Elphin campus) – the only competitions are swimming, cross-country and athletics.

Sport

Scotch Oakburn College is a member of the

(SATIS).

SATIS premierships

Scotch Oakburn College has won the following SATIS premierships. Combined: * Athletics (13) – 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2021 * Swimming – 2021, 2022, 2023 Boys: * Athletics (6) – 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 * Basketball (3) – 2016, 2017, 2020 * Cricket (10) – 1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1968, 1970, 1974, 2013, 2015, 2016 * Cricket T20 – 2018 * Football (4) – 1967, 2005, 2018, 2019 * Hockey (2) – 1997, 1999 * Rowing (3) – 1996, 1998, 2003 * Rowing Eight (10) – 1948, 1973, 1974, 1987, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2007, 2013, 2018 * Swimming - 2023 * Tennis (16) – 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1983, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019 Girls: * Athletics (7) – 1984, 1985, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2021 * Cricket T20 - 2023 * Football – 2019 * Hockey (4) – 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997 * Netball (4) – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 * Rowing – 2005 * Rowing Eight (2) – 1997, 2021 * Softball (6) – 1988, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 * Swimming (4) – 1985, 1986, 1987, 2021, 2022, 2023 * Tennis (14) – 1979, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Notable alumni

Alumni of the Scotch Oakburn College (and its predecessors) are known as Old Collegians, and may elect to join the schools

alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students ( alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, school A school is the educati ...

, the Scotch Oakburn Old Collegians Association (SOOCA). Some notable Old Collegians include: ;Academic * Alan Stretton – academic and Rhodes Scholar ;Business * Sir Edgar Coles – former Managing Director of

Coles Supermarkets Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty. Ltd., doing business as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in the suburb of Collingwood, Victoria, Colli ...

;Entertainment, media and the arts *

Stuart Coupe Stuart Coupe is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. A renowned rock music writer, Coupe is best known for his work with Roadrunner (Australian music magazine), ''Roadrunner'', ''Rock ...

– music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist, broadcaster and music label founder. * Roger Scholes – film director ;Government, politics and the law *

David Bushby David Christopher Bushby (born 17 July 1965) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania from August 2007 to January 2019, representing the Liberal Party. He was the Chief Government Whip in the Senate f ...

– Senator for Tasmania *

Enid Campbell Enid Mona Campbell, AC, OBE, FASSA (30 October 1932 – 20 January 2010) was an Australian legal scholar, and was the first female professor and Dean of a law school in Australasia. She is known for her work on constitutional law and administr ...

AO,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

– legal scholar, first Australian female professor and law school dean * Evelyn Temple Emmett OBE – first Director of the Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau * John Watson – former Senator for Tasmania *

Don Wing Donald George Wing (born 27 April 1938) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1982 to 2011, representing the electoral division of Launceston (briefly named Paterson), he was President of the Le ...

– former lawyer, politician and President of the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

;Military *

Alec Campbell Alexander William Campbell (26 February 1899 – 16 May 2002) was the final surviving Australian participant of the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War.Shaw, John"Alec Campbell, Last Anzac at Gallipoli, Dies at 103" ''The New York T ...

– Australia's last

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

soldier ;Sport *

Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ross Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series, 2003 and ...

–

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

champion;

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Driver *

Brent Crosswell Brent Tasman Crosswell (born 8 August 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club, North Melbourne Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). An articulate and ...

– AFL footballer *

Michael Grenda Michael Ronald Grenda, OAM (born 24 April 1962) is a retired road bicycle and track cyclist from Australia, who represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There he won the gold medal in the men's 40 ...

– Olympic Cycling Gold Medalist * Mia King –

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

player North Melbourne * Meg Phillips – WNCL and WBBL cricketer

References

{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1979 Presbyterian schools in Australia High schools in Tasmania Former Methodist schools in Australia Uniting Church schools in Australia Boarding schools in Tasmania Private primary schools in Tasmania Private secondary schools in Tasmania Rock Eisteddfod Challenge participants Round Square schools Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools 1979 establishments in Australia