Caulfield Grammar School facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Caulfield Grammar School |
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| Location | |
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Melbourne, Victoria (main campuses)
Australia
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| Coordinates | 37°52′34″S 145°0′11″E / 37.87611°S 145.00306°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Private school, co-educational, day and boarding, Christian school |
| Motto | Latin: Labora Ut Requiescas (Work hard that you may rest content) |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Established | 25 April 1881 |
| Founder | Joseph Henry Davies |
| Principal | Ashleigh Martin |
| Employees | 800+ |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Enrolment | 3,470 (K–12) |
| Colour(s) | Blue & white |
| Slogan | Mind for life. |
| Song | The School Song |
| Publication | Labora |
| Yearbook | The Grammarian |
| Annual tuition | $20,000 – $36,000 + $30,000 for boarding students |
| Affiliation | Associated Public Schools of Victoria |
Caulfield Grammar School is a large private school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It's a co-educational school, meaning both boys and girls attend. The school is linked with the Anglican Church of Australia and offers both day and boarding options.
Caulfield Grammar was started in 1881 as a school just for boys. Exactly 100 years later, in 1981, girls were welcomed for the first time. In 1961, it joined with Malvern Memorial Grammar School, and that campus became known as Malvern Campus.
Today, Caulfield Grammar has three main campuses in Victoria:
- Caulfield (for students in Years 7–12)
- Wheelers Hill (for students from Kindergarten to Year 12)
- Malvern House (for younger students from Kindergarten to Year 6)
The school also has a special outdoor education campus at Yarra Junction. Plus, there's a student centre in Nanjing, China, where Year 9 students can take part in an international program. Caulfield Grammar is the only school in Melbourne's APS group that offers boarding for both boys and girls. It has about 95 boarding students and is one of the largest schools in Victoria, with over 3,300 students.
Contents
School History
How it Started
Caulfield Grammar School was founded by Joseph Henry Davies on April 25, 1881. He bought the land, which used to be a small lolly shop, for £25. Davies wanted the school to be a "thoroughly Christian one" that focused on "Christian service." He hired his sister and two brothers to teach.
Even though the school was first in Elsternwick, it was named Caulfield Grammar School because Caulfield was the main area nearby. Also, the local church in Caulfield supported Davies in opening the school. When it first opened, there were only nine students!
A year later, the school had 32 students. To fit everyone, it moved to a bigger building. In 1896, another small Christian school, Hawksburn Grammar School, joined Caulfield Grammar. Hawksburn's 55 students moved to Caulfield Grammar.
The school's current main site, near Rippon Lea Estate, was bought in 1909. Classes started there on February 9, 1909, and a place for boarding students opened in 1912.
By 1931, the school's 50th birthday, there were 500 students. To celebrate, they held a Jubilee Fair. In the same year, the school changed from being privately owned to being run by a School Council. This is how it's still organized today, and it officially joined the Church of England.
After World War II
In 1948, the school was renamed Malvern Memorial Grammar School to remember students who fought in World War I and World War II. Later, in 1971, it became the Malvern Campus of Caulfield Grammar. This campus is a primary school located in a beautiful old building called Valentine's Mansion.
In 1958, Caulfield Grammar joined the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) for sports. By 1959, it was Victoria's fifth-largest school, with over 800 students.
During the 1960s and 1970s, students started to have more say in school rules. For example, students elected a School Committee to represent them instead of having appointed prefects. The school also allowed a student newsletter and made religious education optional for older students. Caulfield Grammar was the only APS school that let its students join protests against the Vietnam War in 1970.
In 1981, the school's 100th year, the first girls joined Caulfield Grammar. A second senior school campus opened at Wheelers Hill on April 26. This new campus started as a co-educational school for all year levels. By 1993, all Caulfield Grammar campuses welcomed girls, making the whole school co-educational.
In 1997, the school set up a computer network. All students and staff got their own login, email, and file space. This "virtual" campus allowed them to access school files and email from anywhere with internet.
Sadly, in 2000, a big fire destroyed the school's historic War Memorial Hall. Only the stained glass windows were saved. After this, the school planned to build two new halls, one at Caulfield and one at Wheelers Hill. The Memorial Hall at Wheelers Hill opened in 2005, and the "Cripps Centre" at Caulfield opened later that year. Each hall can seat 650 people.
Today, Caulfield Grammar School has over 3,000 students. It's the only APS school in Melbourne that offers boarding for both boys and girls, with students from rural Australia, Melbourne, and other countries.
The school is part of many important educational groups, like the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS).
Yarra Junction Campus
In 1947, a special outdoor education campus opened at Yarra Junction. This was the first outdoor education campus for an Australian school! It's located in the Australian bush, near the Yarra River.
Today, students at the Yarra Junction Campus stay in eco-cabins that use rainwater tanks and solar power. The Earth Studies Centre, called Wadambawilam (which means 'learning place' in an Aboriginal language), runs on wind and solar power. It teaches students about being environmentally friendly. There's also a working dairy farm on campus that produces a lot of milk each year. In 2001, the Yarra Junction Campus won an award for its energy-saving eco-cabins.
Nanjing Campus
In 1998, the school opened a fifth campus in Nanjing, China. This was the first overseas campus for an Australian high school! It was also the first campus set up by a foreign secondary school in China.
Australian teachers work there, along with Year 12 graduates who take a "gap year" to help out. Most Year 9 students from Caulfield Grammar go to Nanjing for a five-week international program. The Nanjing campus is currently closed temporarily.
Caulfield Grammar focuses on Mandarin Chinese as its main foreign language. It has been taught at all year levels since 1994. The Nanjing campus helped the school build stronger connections with China. Nanjing was chosen because it's a sister-city to Victoria, and Nanjing University already had an Australian studies department.
Stephen Newton, who was the principal from 1993 to 2011, received an award for his great work in education, especially for starting the Nanjing Campus.
School Leaders
Caulfield Grammar School has had 10 headmasters and principals since it began. The current principal is Ashleigh Martin, who started in 2018.
| Years | Name |
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| 1881–1888 | Rev. J.H Davies |
| 1888–1896 | Rev. E.J. Barnett |
| 1896–1931 | Mr. W.M. Buntine |
| 1923–1954 | Mr. F.H.J. Archer |
| 1955–1964 | Rev. S.W. Kurrle |
| 1965–1977 | Mr. B.C. Lumsden |
| 1977–1992 | Rev. A.S. Holmes |
| 1993–2011 | Mr. S.H. Newton |
| 2011–2018 | Rev. A.P. Syme |
| 2018–present | Mr. A.R. Martin |
What Students Learn
Caulfield Grammar School offers many subjects. In middle school, all students learn a language like Mandarin Chinese, French, or German. They can choose to continue these languages later. The school also offers scholarships for things like academics, theatre, music, art, and sports.
Outdoor Education
The Yarra Junction campus hosts camps for students of different ages:
- Year 3 students visit for one day.
- Year 5 students stay for three days.
- Year 7 students have one-week camps.
- Year 8 students have an 11-day program, including a three-day outdoor camping trip.
Older students (Years 10 and 11) can become student leaders for these camps. They attend a special leadership camp first. During camps, students stay in eco-cabins and learn to save water and electricity. Lessons also happen at Wadambawilam and the campus dairy.
Student Life
Sport at Caulfield Grammar
Students from Years 5 to 12 take part in school sports as part of the APS competition. Caulfield Grammar was one of the first schools to join the Schools' Association of Victoria in 1882.
In 1958, Caulfield Grammar made sports teams compulsory to help improve its performance. The school holds an APS record for winning 12 straight APS Boys' Athletics Championships from 1994 to 2005! They have also won many other championships throughout their history. For example, the First XVIII football team won 18 championships in a row from 1913 to 1930.
The main sports facilities are at both the Caulfield and Wheelers Hill campuses. At Caulfield, the Lindsay Thompson Centre is used for indoor sports like basketball and netball. The Alfred Mills Oval is where the First XI cricket and First XVIII football teams usually play.
The Arts
Caulfield Grammar has a senior orchestra called the Galamian Orchestra. In 2005, famous Australian jazz musician James Morrison performed with the school's "No Strings Attached" stage band. In 2006, this band and the senior concert band toured Europe and played at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Caulfield Grammar also competes in debating competitions. Students argue about current topics against other Melbourne schools. Students also take part in "mooting," where they argue legal cases based on facts and past decisions.
Famous Former Students
All past students of Caulfield Grammar School are part of the Caulfield Grammarians' Association (CGA). This group organizes reunions and sports teams for former students, known as Caulfield Grammarians. The CGA started in 1885.
Many former students have become famous in government, sports, music, business, and other areas.
- In politics, Peter Dowding and Lindsay Thompson both became state premiers (leaders of their state governments).
- In sports, swimmer Mack Horton has won many medals at the Olympic Games and other big competitions, including a gold medal in 2016.
- Chris Judd and John Schultz won the Brownlow Medal for being the best players in Australian Rules Football.
- John Landy held the world record for the men's mile race and later became the Governor of Victoria.
- Fred Walker started the company that created Vegemite, a famous Australian spread.
In music, the rock band The Birthday Party was formed by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, and Phill Calvert when they were students at the school in 1973. Nick Cave and Mick Harvey later formed another famous band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
See also
- List of schools in Victoria, Australia
- Caulfield Grammarians Football Club
