Caulfield Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Caulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican
, day
and boarding school
, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later. The school amalgamated with Malvern Memorial Grammar School (MMGS) in 1961, with the MMGS campus becoming Malvern Campus.
Caulfield has three day campuses in Victoria, Caulfield
(Years 7–12), Wheelers Hill
(Kindergarten–Year 12), and Malvern House
(Kindergarten–Year 6). It has an outdoor education campus at Yarra Junction
, and a student centre in Nanjing
, China where the Year 9 internationalism programme is conducted. Caulfield is the only Melbourne-based APS school to provide boarding
for both boys and girls, with 95 boarding students, and is the second largest school in Victoria, currently catering for approximately 2,800 students.
Caulfield Grammar School was founded on 25 April 1881 by the Reverend Joseph Henry Davies with just nine pupils. Davies, who had been a missionary to India, he bought the site for the school—a small lolly
shop—for £
25 on 16 April and employed his sister and two brothers as teachers. Davies' aim was "that the School should be a thoroughly Christian one" that looked to render "Christian service". The school, originally located adjacent to the Elsternwick railway station, is believed to have been named Caulfield Grammar School because Caulfield was the regional locality, although the geographical boundaries of Melbourne's suburban areas were not strictly defined or precisely named at the time. Also, the vicar of St Mary's Church in Caulfield had provided Davies with support when opening the school. Davies had gone to India under the auspices of St Mary's, having been a member of the church for several years before that.
He later went to Korea as a missionary under the auspices of the Victorian Presbyterian church, having been ordained as Presbyterian minister at Scots' Church, Melbourne
on 5 August 1889; he had broken from the Church of England and, through this act, also broken from the Church Missionary Society
.
A year after opening, the school had 32 students enrolled. To house the growing student body, the school then moved to a nearby small building nearby, destroyed in a fire in 1890. In 1896, the school amalgamated with Hawksburn Grammar School, a smaller local Christian school after Hawksburn's headmaster, W. Murray Buntine, was appointed as headmaster at Caulfield. Hawksburn's 55 students subsequently transferred to Caulfield. The current site, a property near Sir Frederick Sargood's Rippon Lea Estate
on what is now Glen Eira Road, St Kilda East
was purchased in 1909. Classes began on the site on 9 February 1909 and the school's boarding house opened in 1912.
By 1931, the school's 50th anniversary, attendance had grown to 500 students but Caulfield was still considered small compared to schools such as Xavier College and Melbourne Grammar School
. To celebrate the Golden Jubilee
, a Jubilee Fair was held at the school in May. In the same year, the school moved from private ownership to a registered company governed by a School Council, an organisational structure still used today, with formal affiliation with the Church of England
. In 1958 Caulfield joined the exclusive Associated Public Schools of Victoria
schoolboy sporting competition. Caulfield was Victoria's fifth largest school in 1959, with over 800 students.
In 1961, Caulfield affiliated with Malvern Memorial Grammar School. Malvern Grammar School opened in 1890 as a boys-only secondary school and in 1924 moved into the Valentine's Mansion, formerly the home of Sir John Mark Davies
(no relation to the school's founder), a Victorian Cabinet minister
. The mansion was built in 1892 and contains a large ballroom
. Valentine's Mansion has been listed as a place of historical and architecture significance by both the Victorian Heritage Register
and the Register of the National Estate
.
The school was renamed Malvern Memorial Grammar School in 1947 to honour old boys who had fought in World Wars I
and II
. Malvern Memorial Grammar School amalgamated with Shaw House in 1971 and became the Malvern Campus, a primary school located in the Valentine's Mansion, and its students began to wear the Caulfield Grammar School uniform. From 1949 to 1979, Caulfield had operated Shaw House, its primary school located in Mayfield Street, St Kilda East, offering kindergarten and schooling from Years 1 to 3.
During the 1960s and 1970s, student activism
saw changes in the school's policies relating to students. Appointed prefects were replaced in 1970 by an elected School Committee to represent the student body, the publication of a student newsletter Demos—containing editorials on aspects of the school—was allowed, religious education
classes were made voluntary for senior year levels, the position of school chaplain was abolished, and Caulfield was the only APS school to allow its students to participate in moratorium marches protesting the Vietnam War
on 8 May 1970.
The school's centenary year, 1981, marked the appearance of the first girls at Caulfield, as a second senior school campus opened at Wheelers Hill on 26 April. Caulfield had purchased the land for a future project in 1969, and a new campus was established to celebrate the centenary. Wheelers Hill began as a coeducational school for all year levels. In 1993, the other campuses opened to girls, making Caulfield fully coeducational.
The school established a computer network in 1997 with all students and staff having individual log in details, email accounts, and file space. Unlike other Australian independent schools, Caulfield Grammar School has not followed the trend of making laptops compulsory for students. However, the school provides an online login system or Intranet
for students and staff that is accessed via existing entry passwords and usernames. This capability is referred to as the School's sixth or "virtual" campus, and enables access to email and files from the school network over the Internet.
After Caulfield Campus' historic War Memorial Hall, built in 1958, was burnt down in an electrical fire on 14 November 2000—a Melbourne Cup
public holiday—Caulfield Grammar School began to plan the construction of major halls at both Caulfield and Wheelers Hill campuses, naming the project "The Twin Halls". The Memorial Hall at Wheelers Hill was officially opened on 28 July 2005 and the Cripps Centre at Caulfield Campus opened on 25 October 2005. Each hall seats 650 people; the Wheelers Hill hall including a new chapel fitted with a multimedia centre and Caulfield hall including a music/visual art department.
Caulfield Grammar School now has over 2,800 students throughout its three day campuses. It is the only Melbourne-based school in the APS to provide boarding
for both boys and girls, with nearly 100 boarding students from rural Australia, Melbourne and overseas. For non-international students, fees range from A$
8,000 to A$18,000 per year for day students, and in excess of $30,000 for boarding students. Caulfield received A$2,134,444 as estimated ERI (federal funding) in 2000, which increased to A$6,573,791 in 2004. As with most Australian independent schools, Caulfield is not a full fee paying institution; full fees apply only to international students, who are not subsidised by government funding.
The 125th anniversary of Caulfield's founding was marked in 2006 and various events were held in commemoration. On 26 April 2006, the school community held a day of celebrations (ANZAC Day
—a national public holiday—is held in Australia on 25 April, the actual anniversary of the founding). Staff and students at all five campuses of the school—with student groups visiting both the Nanjing and Yarra Junction campuses at the time—formed "125TH" at their respective campuses and an aerial photograph
was taken. Other celebrations during the year included a 125th Anniversary Ball at Crown Casino
for past and present staff and parents, as well as past students. The annual Founders' Day service at St Paul's Cathedral
was attended by guest of honour, Governor of Victoria
Dr. David de Kretser
, a past parent of the school. The School Council commissioned author Helen Penrose to write a history of the school entitled Outside the Square, which was released in 2006.
The school is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria
(APS), and is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
(JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association, and the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV).
on land donated by the Cuming family. Cuming House was the first outdoor education campus for an Australian school, set in the Australian bush and close to the Yarra River
. The Yarra Junction Campus today allows students to live in sustainable eco-cabins with rainwater tanks and solar power technology. The Earth Studies Centre, Wadambawilam (Aboriginal term for 'learning place'), operates on wind and solar power, and uses many environmentally sound practices to teach students about long-term environmental sustainability. Also on campus is a commercial dairy which produces over 1 million litres of milk annually. On United Nations World Environment Day 2001 the Yarra Junction Campus won an award for Best School Based Environment Project for its energy-saving eco-cabins project.
The school opened a fifth campus in Nanjing
, China in 1998, with a residential campus constructed on property owned by the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University. This became the first overseas campus for an Australian high school, and the first campus established by a foreign secondary school in China.
It is staffed by six full-time Australian teachers, as well as four trainees selected from the school's annual graduating Year 12 class who complete 12 month gap year
placements. Most Caulfield Year 9 students take part in five week internationalism programs and are based in Nanjing.
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard
and then-Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett
both sent formal congratulations letters to Caulfield on the campus' establishment, and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer
witnessed the signing of an agreement to build the campus in 1996; also present were the Mayor of Nanjing, the Principal of the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University
, and Caulfield's principal Stephen Newton. The Governor of Victoria James Gobbo
officially opened the campus on 6 May 1998. Caulfield focuses on Mandarin Chinese
as its major Language Other Than English, with the language first offered as a senior school subject in 1963, and later becoming the sole Asian language taught as it had higher student enrolments than Indonesian
. It has been taught at every year level across all three campuses since 1994, and the establishment of a campus in Nanjing allowed the school to strengthen its ties with the region. Nanjing was selected as the campus' location in part because Jiangsu
province, of which Nanjing is the capital and largest city, is Victoria's sister-state, and Nanjing University
had previously established an Australian studies department.
Controversy arose in June 2001 when a group of six Caulfield students at the Ming Tombs
were found to have graffiti
ed this site, writing their full names on a wall near to the tomb entrance. The story was reported on the front page of Melbourne's major newspapers, The Herald Sun and The Age
, after the students were returned home to Australia. The school, in conjunction with Australian consular officials, resolved the issue with the Chinese government.
When a global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) occurred in 2003, and had the highest confirmed cases in China, the school postponed all scheduled trips to China in 2003 indefinitely. The group which was in China at the time of the outbreak – March and April 2003 – travelled to Xi'an
instead of Beijing to avoid the peak areas of infection, and returned to Australia via Tokyo's International Airport
several days before the scheduled departure on the advice of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
. The remaining groups returned in the second half of 2003 to participate in shortened three-week programmes.
On 5 May 2008, Caulfield celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Nanjing Campus and held two concerts hosted at the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University.
programme, introduced in 2004 at the Year 8 level, and expanded to Year 7 in 2005. This provides every class with two teachers to around 30 students. Each class is assigned a learning mentor, who attends all of that group's lessons and assists each student with improving their own learning style. The mentor focuses on both academic and pastoral issues, while the designated subject teacher is responsible for preparing and teaching the set curriculum.
Year 9 at Caulfield is seen as a year where students prepare to undertake the VCE (Years 10–12). Students do not have examinations, as would happen in any other senior school year at Caulfield, but rather focus on their classroom studies and the Learning Journeys programme. Learning Journeys is a combination of various subjects previously studied in Year 9 – history, geography, religious education and personal development – with students working in groups of around 15 pupils to one teacher. Classes last for one full school day each week, and students regularly participate in numerous excursions as part of the subject's curriculum.
Year 9 is also the year in which most students participate in the China internationalism programme at the Nanjing campus. Approximately 300 students attend the campus annually; students who do not take part in the programme study international culture in Australia and are based in Melbourne. Students study five key themes of Chinese culture during one of six five-week programmes offered throughout the year: heritage, work, family, education and environment. Students are based at the residential campus in Nanjing
, and also spend three days in Shanghai, one day in Tong Li, Suzhou, and four days in Beijing, with lessons based around visits to sites such as the Great Wall of China
, the Forbidden City
and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
. They also complete two day homestay visits with students from the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, and participate in English and Mandarin language lessons with their homestay partners. In addition to the Year 9 programmes, a two-week study tour for Year 11 students studying Chinese as a Second Language is held annually in the break between Term 3 and 4. These students travelling to the Nanjing campus for language lessons and activities, including a homestay visit with students from the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, and also spend time in Shanghai and Hangzhou
.
(Caulfield does not offer the International Baccalaureate), achieved after graduating from Year 12. While the VCE is usually completed over two years, in 2003 Caulfield began to encourage Year 10 students to take as many as three VCE Unit 1/2 courses usually studied at Year 11. This programme is seen as giving students a taste of the VCE a year earlier, thereby giving them a chance to prepare for what is to come; it also allows Year 11 students to undertake Unit 3/4 studies, so that they effectively begin part of their Year 12 course a year earlier, maximising their ENTER scores by studying up to six subjects over this time.
Year 11 students studying Mandarin may return to China on a two-week language-focused study tour at the Nanjing campus. For students studying German, there are places available for exchanges
to Germany during the summer holidays.
Both of Caulfield's campuses ranked in the top 40 schools in Victoria for 2009 results, including the top 30 amongst private schools. Caulfield also has associations with Australian universities which have led to the introduction of annual awards for VCE students at the school. One Year 12 graduate from the school is awarded a Collegiate Partnership Scholarship to attend Bond University
, a private university in Queensland
, with 50% of tuition for an undergraduate degree provided.
Caulfield Grammar School has played in school sporting competitions since its establishment in 1881. Students from Years 5 to 12 participate in school sport as part of the APS
competition.
Caulfield was one of the founding members of the Schools' Association of Victoria in 1882, but when the legitimacy of the association's amateur status was questioned, Caulfield and Brighton Grammar School
formed the Schools' Amateur Athletic Association of Victoria in 1911 (renamed the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria
in 1921), and were joined by other Melbourne private and church schools in the competition. In 1958, Caulfield accepted an offer to join the Associated Public Schools of Victoria
. The APS was Victoria's most competitive school sporting association, and after initially poor results the school introduced compulsory involvement in sporting teams in 1958 in an attempt to improve its performance. Caulfield currently holds an APS record for winning 12 consecutive APS Boys' Athletics Championships from 1994 to 2005, and has won numerous 1st Division premierships throughout its history. The First XVIII football team won 18 consecutive premierships from 1913 to 1930 – the longest championship run for a Caulfield Firsts team.
For students from Years 5 to 12, inter-school sport is a compulsory activity. Teams usually train twice a week, often travelling between Caulfield and Wheelers Hill or to other sporting venues, and play matches against other APS schools on Saturdays. Sports played include cricket
, football
, rowing
, athletics
and swimming. A United Kingdom Cricket and Tennis tour every three years sees Caulfield Grammar students play matches against students from such schools as Eton College
and The King's School, Canterbury
.
The main facilities for sport are shared over both Caulfield and Wheelers Hill campus. At Caulfield, the Lindsay Thompson
Centre is used for indoor sports such as basketball and netball, and the Alfred Mills Oval is the traditional home of the First XI cricket and First XVIII football teams. The oval has been a venue of matches in the 2004 Commonwealth Bank Under 19 Cricket Championships, and the venue for a match between the England women's cricket team and the Victoria Spirit
women's team in January 2008. Wheelers Hill includes four sports ovals, AstroTurf
tennis and hockey courts, and outdoor netball courts.
has reported that several students from Christian Brothers College, St. Kilda were lured to Caulfield after sporting events. Although the school does not offer sports scholarships as such, many talented students are attending on 'General excellence' scholarships.
Caulfield's most senior orchestral group is the Galamian Orchestra, which is primarily a string group, but expands to add other instruments when required. The group went on a small tour to England and Austria in June and July 2000. In 2006, the "No Strings Attached" stage band and the senior concert band toured European nations, and was featured in the Montreux Jazz Festival
on 5 July 2006. School music groups rehearse regularly in the music departments at each of the three campuses, and students from Wheelers Hill and Caulfield perform together in the three premier groups at Caulfield Grammar – the Galamian Orchestra, the No Strings Attached stage band, and the Chamber Choir. These groups perform at major school events such as the annual year-ending Speech Night presentations, the Founders' Day chapel service, and the School Concert, as well as performing at music festivals in Melbourne and on tours. In 2005 renowned Australian jazz musician James Morrison
performed with the "No Strings Attached" stage band at Monash University
.
Caulfield also competes in the Debaters Association of Victoria Schools competition, and Caulfield Campus is the host venue for the Caulfield regional competition. Five debates are held each year, and Caulfield teams debate against other Melbourne schools on various current interest topics. Students are also involved in mooting
, where teams argue legal matters based on evidence and precedent
, and compete in the Bond University
Mooting competition.
The school's theatre department produces productions at both primary and secondary level across all three metropolitan campuses. Previously, students have performed in drama tours to European and Asian countries.
All past students of the school are members of the Caulfield Grammarians' Association (CGA), which coordinates reunions, alumni sporting teams and other activities for alumni, known as Caulfield Grammarians. The CGA was formed in 1885, and is believed to have been in continuous operation since 1906, the year of the 25th anniversary of Caulfield's founding. The Caulfield Grammarians Football Club competes in the Victorian Amateur Football Association
, and has been represented by notable former Australian rules football
players, including Dean Anderson
and Duncan Kellaway
(both past students of Caulfield), as well as Glenn Archer
and Anthony Stevens
.
A number of Caulfield alumni have made significant contributions in the fields of government, sports, music, business and academia among others. Among those who have had involvement in politics, Peter Dowding
(Western Australia) and Lindsay Thompson
(Victoria), have served as state premiers
. Chris Judd
and John Schultz
have both been awarded the Brownlow Medal
for the best and fairest player in the Victorian/Australian Football League
, and John Landy
has held both the men's mile world record in athletics and the office of Governor of Victoria. John Clifford Valentine Behan
, later second Warden of Trinity College
at the University of Melbourne, became the first Victorian Rhodes Scholar
after graduating as the Dux
of Caulfield Grammar School in 1895. Fred Walker
founded the company that first created and sold Vegemite
, an Australian spread and cultural icon
.
The band The Birthday Party
was formed by Nick Cave
, Mick Harvey
and Phill Calvert
while they were students at the school in 1973, and Cave and Harvey would later form the band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
, which released Top 10 albums in Australia and the United Kingdom. Cave and Harvey had been a members of the school choir under the direction of Norman Kaye
, who became a noted actor and musician after working at Caulfield as a music teacher and choirmaster.
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
, day
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
and boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later. The school amalgamated with Malvern Memorial Grammar School (MMGS) in 1961, with the MMGS campus becoming Malvern Campus.
Caulfield has three day campuses in Victoria, Caulfield
Caulfield, Victoria
Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Glen Eira...
(Years 7–12), Wheelers Hill
Wheelers Hill, Victoria
Wheelers Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 22 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Wheelers Hill had a population of 21,029.-History:...
(Kindergarten–Year 12), and Malvern House
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
(Kindergarten–Year 6). It has an outdoor education campus at Yarra Junction
Yarra Junction, Victoria
Yarra Junction is a town in Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. It sits at the junction of the Yarra and Little Yarra Rivers. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
, and a student centre in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, China where the Year 9 internationalism programme is conducted. Caulfield is the only Melbourne-based APS school to provide boarding
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for both boys and girls, with 95 boarding students, and is the second largest school in Victoria, currently catering for approximately 2,800 students.
History
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
shop—for £
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
25 on 16 April and employed his sister and two brothers as teachers. Davies' aim was "that the School should be a thoroughly Christian one" that looked to render "Christian service". The school, originally located adjacent to the Elsternwick railway station, is believed to have been named Caulfield Grammar School because Caulfield was the regional locality, although the geographical boundaries of Melbourne's suburban areas were not strictly defined or precisely named at the time. Also, the vicar of St Mary's Church in Caulfield had provided Davies with support when opening the school. Davies had gone to India under the auspices of St Mary's, having been a member of the church for several years before that.
He later went to Korea as a missionary under the auspices of the Victorian Presbyterian church, having been ordained as Presbyterian minister at Scots' Church, Melbourne
Scots' Church, Melbourne
The Scots' Church, a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia, was the first Presbyterian Church to be built in the Port Phillip District . It is located in Collins Street and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia...
on 5 August 1889; he had broken from the Church of England and, through this act, also broken from the Church Missionary Society
Church Mission Society
The Church Mission Society, also known as the Church Missionary Society, is a group of evangelistic societies working with the Anglican Communion and Protestant Christians around the world...
.
A year after opening, the school had 32 students enrolled. To house the growing student body, the school then moved to a nearby small building nearby, destroyed in a fire in 1890. In 1896, the school amalgamated with Hawksburn Grammar School, a smaller local Christian school after Hawksburn's headmaster, W. Murray Buntine, was appointed as headmaster at Caulfield. Hawksburn's 55 students subsequently transferred to Caulfield. The current site, a property near Sir Frederick Sargood's Rippon Lea Estate
Rippon Lea Estate
Rippon Lea Estate is a historic property located in Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia. It is under the care of the National Trust of Australia.It was built in 1868 for Sir Frederick Sargood, a wealthy Melbourne businessman, politician and philanthropist...
on what is now Glen Eira Road, St Kilda East
St Kilda East, Victoria
St Kilda East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. It is located within the Local Government Areas of the City of Glen Eira and the City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, it had a population of 12,188.St Kilda East is one...
was purchased in 1909. Classes began on the site on 9 February 1909 and the school's boarding house opened in 1912.
By 1931, the school's 50th anniversary, attendance had grown to 500 students but Caulfield was still considered small compared to schools such as Xavier College and Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
. To celebrate the Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
, a Jubilee Fair was held at the school in May. In the same year, the school moved from private ownership to a registered company governed by a School Council, an organisational structure still used today, with formal affiliation with the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. In 1958 Caulfield joined the exclusive Associated Public Schools of Victoria
Associated Public Schools of Victoria
The Associated Public Schools of Victoria are a group of eleven elite independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales in New South Wales....
schoolboy sporting competition. Caulfield was Victoria's fifth largest school in 1959, with over 800 students.
In 1961, Caulfield affiliated with Malvern Memorial Grammar School. Malvern Grammar School opened in 1890 as a boys-only secondary school and in 1924 moved into the Valentine's Mansion, formerly the home of Sir John Mark Davies
John Mark Davies
Sir John Mark Davies KCMG was an English-born Australian politician.Born in Halstead, England in 1840, Davies was the fifth eldest of the six boys and six girls of Ebenezer Davies and Ruth Bartlett. Two of the younger boys were educated at Geelong Grammar School...
(no relation to the school's founder), a Victorian Cabinet minister
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
. The mansion was built in 1892 and contains a large ballroom
Ballroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...
. Valentine's Mansion has been listed as a place of historical and architecture significance by both the Victorian Heritage Register
Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register lists places of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 1995 which establishes Heritage Victoria as the permit authority...
and the Register of the National Estate
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Malvern Memorial Grammar School amalgamated with Shaw House in 1971 and became the Malvern Campus, a primary school located in the Valentine's Mansion, and its students began to wear the Caulfield Grammar School uniform. From 1949 to 1979, Caulfield had operated Shaw House, its primary school located in Mayfield Street, St Kilda East, offering kindergarten and schooling from Years 1 to 3.
During the 1960s and 1970s, student activism
Student activism
Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding...
saw changes in the school's policies relating to students. Appointed prefects were replaced in 1970 by an elected School Committee to represent the student body, the publication of a student newsletter Demos—containing editorials on aspects of the school—was allowed, religious education
Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...
classes were made voluntary for senior year levels, the position of school chaplain was abolished, and Caulfield was the only APS school to allow its students to participate in moratorium marches protesting the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
on 8 May 1970.
The school's centenary year, 1981, marked the appearance of the first girls at Caulfield, as a second senior school campus opened at Wheelers Hill on 26 April. Caulfield had purchased the land for a future project in 1969, and a new campus was established to celebrate the centenary. Wheelers Hill began as a coeducational school for all year levels. In 1993, the other campuses opened to girls, making Caulfield fully coeducational.
The school established a computer network in 1997 with all students and staff having individual log in details, email accounts, and file space. Unlike other Australian independent schools, Caulfield Grammar School has not followed the trend of making laptops compulsory for students. However, the school provides an online login system or Intranet
Intranet
An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
for students and staff that is accessed via existing entry passwords and usernames. This capability is referred to as the School's sixth or "virtual" campus, and enables access to email and files from the school network over the Internet.
After Caulfield Campus' historic War Memorial Hall, built in 1958, was burnt down in an electrical fire on 14 November 2000—a Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
public holiday—Caulfield Grammar School began to plan the construction of major halls at both Caulfield and Wheelers Hill campuses, naming the project "The Twin Halls". The Memorial Hall at Wheelers Hill was officially opened on 28 July 2005 and the Cripps Centre at Caulfield Campus opened on 25 October 2005. Each hall seats 650 people; the Wheelers Hill hall including a new chapel fitted with a multimedia centre and Caulfield hall including a music/visual art department.
Caulfield Grammar School now has over 2,800 students throughout its three day campuses. It is the only Melbourne-based school in the APS to provide boarding
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for both boys and girls, with nearly 100 boarding students from rural Australia, Melbourne and overseas. For non-international students, fees range from A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
8,000 to A$18,000 per year for day students, and in excess of $30,000 for boarding students. Caulfield received A$2,134,444 as estimated ERI (federal funding) in 2000, which increased to A$6,573,791 in 2004. As with most Australian independent schools, Caulfield is not a full fee paying institution; full fees apply only to international students, who are not subsidised by government funding.
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
—a national public holiday—is held in Australia on 25 April, the actual anniversary of the founding). Staff and students at all five campuses of the school—with student groups visiting both the Nanjing and Yarra Junction campuses at the time—formed "125TH" at their respective campuses and an aerial photograph
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
was taken. Other celebrations during the year included a 125th Anniversary Ball at Crown Casino
Crown Casino
Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a large casino and entertainment precinct located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited....
for past and present staff and parents, as well as past students. The annual Founders' Day service at St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...
was attended by guest of honour, Governor of Victoria
Governors of Victoria
The Governor of Victoria is the representative in the Australian state of Victoria of its monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
Dr. David de Kretser
David de Kretser
David Morritz de Kretser, AC is an Australian medical researcher and a former Governor of Victoria from 2006 to 2011.-Biography:...
, a past parent of the school. The School Council commissioned author Helen Penrose to write a history of the school entitled Outside the Square, which was released in 2006.
The school is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria
Associated Public Schools of Victoria
The Associated Public Schools of Victoria are a group of eleven elite independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales in New South Wales....
(APS), and is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
Junior School Heads Association of Australia
The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia , is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia....
(JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association, and the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV).
Yarra Junction Campus
In 1947, a country centre opened at Yarra JunctionYarra Junction, Victoria
Yarra Junction is a town in Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. It sits at the junction of the Yarra and Little Yarra Rivers. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
on land donated by the Cuming family. Cuming House was the first outdoor education campus for an Australian school, set in the Australian bush and close to the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
. The Yarra Junction Campus today allows students to live in sustainable eco-cabins with rainwater tanks and solar power technology. The Earth Studies Centre, Wadambawilam (Aboriginal term for 'learning place'), operates on wind and solar power, and uses many environmentally sound practices to teach students about long-term environmental sustainability. Also on campus is a commercial dairy which produces over 1 million litres of milk annually. On United Nations World Environment Day 2001 the Yarra Junction Campus won an award for Best School Based Environment Project for its energy-saving eco-cabins project.
Nanjing Campus
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, China in 1998, with a residential campus constructed on property owned by the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University. This became the first overseas campus for an Australian high school, and the first campus established by a foreign secondary school in China.
It is staffed by six full-time Australian teachers, as well as four trainees selected from the school's annual graduating Year 12 class who complete 12 month gap year
Gap year
An expression or phrase that is associated with taking time out to travel in between life stages. It is also known as sabbatical, time off and time out that refers to a period of time in which students disengage from curricular education and undertake non curricular activities, such as travel or...
placements. Most Caulfield Year 9 students take part in five week internationalism programs and are based in Nanjing.
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and then-Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett
Jeff Kennett
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of Hawthorn Football Club. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national depression initiative.- Early life :Kennett was born in Melbourne on 2 March...
both sent formal congratulations letters to Caulfield on the campus' establishment, and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
witnessed the signing of an agreement to build the campus in 1996; also present were the Mayor of Nanjing, the Principal of the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University
Nanjing Normal University
Nanjing Normal University , is a normal university located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.Nanjing Normal University was originally named Sanjiang Normal Institute, which was established in 1902 by Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Jiangsu and Jiangxi...
, and Caulfield's principal Stephen Newton. The Governor of Victoria James Gobbo
James Gobbo
Sir James Augustine Gobbo, AC, CVO, KStJ, QC was an Australian jurist and was the 25th Governor of Victoria.-Family:...
officially opened the campus on 6 May 1998. Caulfield focuses on Mandarin Chinese
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
as its major Language Other Than English, with the language first offered as a senior school subject in 1963, and later becoming the sole Asian language taught as it had higher student enrolments than Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
. It has been taught at every year level across all three campuses since 1994, and the establishment of a campus in Nanjing allowed the school to strengthen its ties with the region. Nanjing was selected as the campus' location in part because Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
province, of which Nanjing is the capital and largest city, is Victoria's sister-state, and Nanjing University
Nanjing University
Nanjing University , or Nanking University, is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China...
had previously established an Australian studies department.
Controversy arose in June 2001 when a group of six Caulfield students at the Ming Tombs
Ming Dynasty Tombs
The Ming Dynasty Tombs are located some 51.35 kilometers due north of central Beijing, within the suburban Changping District of Beijing municipality...
were found to have graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
ed this site, writing their full names on a wall near to the tomb entrance. The story was reported on the front page of Melbourne's major newspapers, The Herald Sun and The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, after the students were returned home to Australia. The school, in conjunction with Australian consular officials, resolved the issue with the Chinese government.
When a global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
(SARS) occurred in 2003, and had the highest confirmed cases in China, the school postponed all scheduled trips to China in 2003 indefinitely. The group which was in China at the time of the outbreak – March and April 2003 – travelled to Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
instead of Beijing to avoid the peak areas of infection, and returned to Australia via Tokyo's International Airport
Tokyo International Airport
, commonly known as , is one of the two primary airports that serve the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, south of Tokyo Station....
several days before the scheduled departure on the advice of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally...
. The remaining groups returned in the second half of 2003 to participate in shortened three-week programmes.
On 5 May 2008, Caulfield celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Nanjing Campus and held two concerts hosted at the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University.
Academics
Caulfield offers students a full range of subjects in its academic curriculum. All students study Mandarin Chinese – the school's major Language Other Than English, taught because of China's developing importance in the Asia-Pacific region – from primary school to Year 8, and German in Years 7 and 8, and may continue these languages as electives thereafter. The school awards scholarships for a range of fields, including academic excellence, theatre, music, art and sports.Middle school structure
Caulfield has reorganised the early years of secondary school, which had previously been overshadowed by the VCE (Years 10–12) and attempts to upgrade programmes for senior students. Years 7 through 9 make up the middle school, and operate differently to the later VCE years. New initiatives at the middle school include a learning mentorMentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
programme, introduced in 2004 at the Year 8 level, and expanded to Year 7 in 2005. This provides every class with two teachers to around 30 students. Each class is assigned a learning mentor, who attends all of that group's lessons and assists each student with improving their own learning style. The mentor focuses on both academic and pastoral issues, while the designated subject teacher is responsible for preparing and teaching the set curriculum.
Year 9 at Caulfield is seen as a year where students prepare to undertake the VCE (Years 10–12). Students do not have examinations, as would happen in any other senior school year at Caulfield, but rather focus on their classroom studies and the Learning Journeys programme. Learning Journeys is a combination of various subjects previously studied in Year 9 – history, geography, religious education and personal development – with students working in groups of around 15 pupils to one teacher. Classes last for one full school day each week, and students regularly participate in numerous excursions as part of the subject's curriculum.
Year 9 is also the year in which most students participate in the China internationalism programme at the Nanjing campus. Approximately 300 students attend the campus annually; students who do not take part in the programme study international culture in Australia and are based in Melbourne. Students study five key themes of Chinese culture during one of six five-week programmes offered throughout the year: heritage, work, family, education and environment. Students are based at the residential campus in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, and also spend three days in Shanghai, one day in Tong Li, Suzhou, and four days in Beijing, with lessons based around visits to sites such as the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
, the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the tomb of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. It lies at the southern foot of Purple Mountain , located east of the historical center of Nanjing, China...
. They also complete two day homestay visits with students from the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, and participate in English and Mandarin language lessons with their homestay partners. In addition to the Year 9 programmes, a two-week study tour for Year 11 students studying Chinese as a Second Language is held annually in the break between Term 3 and 4. These students travelling to the Nanjing campus for language lessons and activities, including a homestay visit with students from the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, and also spend time in Shanghai and Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
.
Victorian Certificate of Education
Caulfield Grammar School senior students study for the Victorian Certificate of EducationVictorian Certificate of Education
The Victorian Certificate of Education or VCE is the credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete high school level studies in the state of Victoria, Australia. Study for the VCE is usually completed over two years, but it can be spread over a longer period in some cases...
(Caulfield does not offer the International Baccalaureate), achieved after graduating from Year 12. While the VCE is usually completed over two years, in 2003 Caulfield began to encourage Year 10 students to take as many as three VCE Unit 1/2 courses usually studied at Year 11. This programme is seen as giving students a taste of the VCE a year earlier, thereby giving them a chance to prepare for what is to come; it also allows Year 11 students to undertake Unit 3/4 studies, so that they effectively begin part of their Year 12 course a year earlier, maximising their ENTER scores by studying up to six subjects over this time.
Year 11 students studying Mandarin may return to China on a two-week language-focused study tour at the Nanjing campus. For students studying German, there are places available for exchanges
Student exchange program
A student exchange program generally could be defined as a program where students from secondary school or university choose to study abroad in partner institutions...
to Germany during the summer holidays.
Both of Caulfield's campuses ranked in the top 40 schools in Victoria for 2009 results, including the top 30 amongst private schools. Caulfield also has associations with Australian universities which have led to the introduction of annual awards for VCE students at the school. One Year 12 graduate from the school is awarded a Collegiate Partnership Scholarship to attend Bond University
Bond University
Bond University is a private university located in Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is also the first private university established in Australia...
, a private university in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, with 50% of tuition for an undergraduate degree provided.
Outdoor education
The Yarra Junction campus hosts student camps at various year levels: Year 3 students attend for one day, Year 5 students for three days, Year 7 students have one week camps, and Year 8 students have 11 day programmes including a three day outdoor camping activity. At each of the camps involving overnight stays by students, student leaders currently in Years 10 and 11 accompany groups for the duration of their programmes. Year 10 and 11 students wishing to act as leaders attend a leadership camp at the campus at the end of the previous school year, and a number are then selected to take part in student camps. As part of various camps, students stay in eco-cabins and must monitor their use of both water and electricity. Lessons also take place at Wadambawilam and at the campus dairy.Student life
Caulfield offers an extracurricular activities programme for students. The major components of the programme are sport, music and the Arts.Sport
Associated Public Schools of Victoria
The Associated Public Schools of Victoria are a group of eleven elite independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales in New South Wales....
competition.
Caulfield was one of the founding members of the Schools' Association of Victoria in 1882, but when the legitimacy of the association's amateur status was questioned, Caulfield and Brighton Grammar School
Brighton Grammar School
Brighton Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day school for boys, located in Brighton, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
formed the Schools' Amateur Athletic Association of Victoria in 1911 (renamed the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria
Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria
The Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria are a group of nine independent schools in Victoria, Australia, formed in 1920. The AGSV provides the basis for interschool sporting competition between the nine member schools in a range of sports....
in 1921), and were joined by other Melbourne private and church schools in the competition. In 1958, Caulfield accepted an offer to join the Associated Public Schools of Victoria
Associated Public Schools of Victoria
The Associated Public Schools of Victoria are a group of eleven elite independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales in New South Wales....
. The APS was Victoria's most competitive school sporting association, and after initially poor results the school introduced compulsory involvement in sporting teams in 1958 in an attempt to improve its performance. Caulfield currently holds an APS record for winning 12 consecutive APS Boys' Athletics Championships from 1994 to 2005, and has won numerous 1st Division premierships throughout its history. The First XVIII football team won 18 consecutive premierships from 1913 to 1930 – the longest championship run for a Caulfield Firsts team.
For students from Years 5 to 12, inter-school sport is a compulsory activity. Teams usually train twice a week, often travelling between Caulfield and Wheelers Hill or to other sporting venues, and play matches against other APS schools on Saturdays. Sports played include cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and swimming. A United Kingdom Cricket and Tennis tour every three years sees Caulfield Grammar students play matches against students from such schools as Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in the historic English cathedral city of Canterbury in Kent. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group....
.
The main facilities for sport are shared over both Caulfield and Wheelers Hill campus. At Caulfield, the Lindsay Thompson
Lindsay Thompson
Lindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson AO, CMG , Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 40th Premier of Victoria from June 1981 to April 1982...
Centre is used for indoor sports such as basketball and netball, and the Alfred Mills Oval is the traditional home of the First XI cricket and First XVIII football teams. The oval has been a venue of matches in the 2004 Commonwealth Bank Under 19 Cricket Championships, and the venue for a match between the England women's cricket team and the Victoria Spirit
Women's National Cricket League
The Women's National Cricket League is the national competition for women's cricket in Australia.The league competition involves the six member teams playing each other in two 50-over limited-over matches, with the side finishing at the top of the table after the preliminary rounds earning the...
women's team in January 2008. Wheelers Hill includes four sports ovals, AstroTurf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
tennis and hockey courts, and outdoor netball courts.
Controversy
Like many other private schools, Caulfield Grammar School has withstood a deal of criticism on the practice of offering lucrative scholarships to students who excel in sporting competitions. The AgeThe Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
has reported that several students from Christian Brothers College, St. Kilda were lured to Caulfield after sporting events. Although the school does not offer sports scholarships as such, many talented students are attending on 'General excellence' scholarships.
The Arts
Primary students in Year 2 learn to play either the violin or cello, and for most students this is their first introduction to the Caulfield music programme. Year 4 students choose one of a number of woodwind or brass instruments to learn for a year. Year 7 students also take part in compulsory music tuition where they may choose one instrument to learn as part of a small group, with a range of musical groups represented including guitars, brass, woodwind and percussion. They may also take part in a singing group, or work in a composition workshop where they learn about songwriting, patterns in music and improvisation. Students who wish to learn an instrument in private lessons may do so from prep through to Year 12, and many of these musicians go on to join various musical groups available at Caulfield. School bands, choirs and orchestras are open to students from Year 3 onwards, and many of these musical groups are on show at the annual Caulfield Grammar School Concert at Melbourne's Hamer Hall. Senior choirs and bands also take part in such events as the Kodaly Choral Festival and Melbourne Bands Festival.Caulfield's most senior orchestral group is the Galamian Orchestra, which is primarily a string group, but expands to add other instruments when required. The group went on a small tour to England and Austria in June and July 2000. In 2006, the "No Strings Attached" stage band and the senior concert band toured European nations, and was featured in the Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
on 5 July 2006. School music groups rehearse regularly in the music departments at each of the three campuses, and students from Wheelers Hill and Caulfield perform together in the three premier groups at Caulfield Grammar – the Galamian Orchestra, the No Strings Attached stage band, and the Chamber Choir. These groups perform at major school events such as the annual year-ending Speech Night presentations, the Founders' Day chapel service, and the School Concert, as well as performing at music festivals in Melbourne and on tours. In 2005 renowned Australian jazz musician James Morrison
James Morrison (musician)
James Morrison AM is an Australian jazz musician who plays numerous instruments, but is best known for his trumpet playing...
performed with the "No Strings Attached" stage band at Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
.
Caulfield also competes in the Debaters Association of Victoria Schools competition, and Caulfield Campus is the host venue for the Caulfield regional competition. Five debates are held each year, and Caulfield teams debate against other Melbourne schools on various current interest topics. Students are also involved in mooting
Moot court
A moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...
, where teams argue legal matters based on evidence and precedent
Precedent
In common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a principle or rule established in a legal case that a court or other judicial body may apply when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts...
, and compete in the Bond University
Bond University
Bond University is a private university located in Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is also the first private university established in Australia...
Mooting competition.
The school's theatre department produces productions at both primary and secondary level across all three metropolitan campuses. Previously, students have performed in drama tours to European and Asian countries.
Alumni
Victorian Amateur Football Association
The Victorian Amateur Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia consisting purely of amateur players. Unlike the Victorian Football League and the VFL/AFL, the VAFA has always been strictly a purely amateur league and has affiliations with both AFL Victoria...
, and has been represented by notable former Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
players, including Dean Anderson
Dean Anderson
Dean Anderson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn and St Kilda in the Australian Football League. A half forward, he kicked 4 goals in the Hawk's 1989 Grand Final triumph.-External links:...
and Duncan Kellaway
Duncan Kellaway
Duncan Kellaway is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
(both past students of Caulfield), as well as Glenn Archer
Glenn Archer
Glenn Archer is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the North Melbourne Football Club.Archer had a reputation as one of the most courageous players ever to play the game...
and Anthony Stevens
Anthony Stevens
Anthony Stevens is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Kangaroos. He was named as ruck rover in the club's official 'Team of the Century'....
.
A number of Caulfield alumni have made significant contributions in the fields of government, sports, music, business and academia among others. Among those who have had involvement in politics, Peter Dowding
Peter Dowding
Peter McCallum Dowding SC was the 24th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990 after an internal party dispute....
(Western Australia) and Lindsay Thompson
Lindsay Thompson
Lindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson AO, CMG , Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 40th Premier of Victoria from June 1981 to April 1982...
(Victoria), have served as state premiers
Premiers of the Australian states
The Premiers of the Australian states are the de facto heads of the executive governments in the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia. They perform the same function at the state level as the Prime Minister of Australia performs at the national level. The territory equivalents to the...
. Chris Judd
Chris Judd
Christopher Dylan "Chris" Judd is a professional Australian rules footballer and current captain of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
and John Schultz
John Schultz
John Schultz is a former Australian rules football player, who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League and is one of the club's greatest players....
have both been awarded the Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
for the best and fairest player in the Victorian/Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, and John Landy
John Landy
John Michael Landy, AC, CVO, MBE is an Australian former Olympic track athlete. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, and he held the world records for the 1500 metre run and the mile race...
has held both the men's mile world record in athletics and the office of Governor of Victoria. John Clifford Valentine Behan
John Clifford Valentine Behan
Sir John Clifford Valentine Behan was the second warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne and the first Victorian Rhodes Scholar....
, later second Warden of Trinity College
Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
Trinity College is the oldest college of the University of Melbourne. Founded in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England, Trinity is unique among Australian university colleges in its diverse education programs...
at the University of Melbourne, became the first Victorian Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
after graduating as the Dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
of Caulfield Grammar School in 1895. Fred Walker
Fred Walker (entrepreneur)
Fred Walker was an Australian businessman and founder of Fred Walker & Co. The company is best known for creating Vegemite, a food paste and Australian cultural icon....
founded the company that first created and sold Vegemite
Vegemite
Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. It is a spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits, and filling for pastries...
, an Australian spread and cultural icon
Cultural icon
A cultural icon can be a symbol, logo, picture, name, face, person, building or other image that is readily recognized and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group...
.
The band The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
was formed by Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
, Mick Harvey
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
and Phill Calvert
Phill Calvert
Phill Calvert is an Australian rock drummer and producer best known for his playing in the influential post-punk band The Birthday Party with Nick Cave. His playing with the Birthday Party was noted for its use of tom-toms...
while they were students at the school in 1973, and Cave and Harvey would later form the band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
, which released Top 10 albums in Australia and the United Kingdom. Cave and Harvey had been a members of the school choir under the direction of Norman Kaye
Norman Kaye
Norman James Kaye was an Australian actor and musician. He was best known for his roles in the films of director Paul Cox.Kaye was born in Melbourne and educated at Geelong Grammar School...
, who became a noted actor and musician after working at Caulfield as a music teacher and choirmaster.
Further reading
- Caulfield Grammar School (2005). One School Six Campuses. Retrieved 10 April 2005. Publishing | year=1997 | isbn=0-949853-60-7}}
External links
- Caulfield Grammar School website
- The Caulfield Grammarians' Association (alumni association)
- Caulfield Grammar School images – from the collection of the State Library of VictoriaState Library of VictoriaThe State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...
.