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Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the oldest secondary boys school in Brisbane.

Established in 1868 under the Grammar Schools Act which was passed by the Queensland Government in 1860, the school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1424 students from Years 6 to 12, including 135 boarders.

Brisbane Grammar is affiliated with the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ), and is a founding member of the Great Public Schools' Association Inc (GPS).

History

Brisbane Grammar School was originally founded in 1868 under the Grammar Schools Act, which had been passed by the Queensland Government in 1860. It was the second school established under this act in Queensland, with the first being Ipswich Grammar School.

The original school, designed by Benjamin Backhouse, was on the site of Roma Street in Brisbane City. HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900), second son of Queen Victoria, laid the foundation stone at the site on 21 February 1868. In 1881, the school was moved a few hundred metres away to its current site on Gregory Terrace in Spring Hill to make way for the Roma Street Railway Station, which still stands today.

Following the opening of the boarding house in 1886, science laboratories were constructed in 1912. A new library and assembly hall were constructed in 1969 as a celebration of the school's centenary.

During the mid 1990s, the school commenced work on the off-campus Northgate ovals, which now consist of six fields that are used for cricket, rugby union and soccer fixtures. The M A Howell Indoor Sports Centre, named after prominent Headmaster Dr Maxwell Howell, was completed in 2000, and the old gymnasium was later renovated to become the new Centre for Art.

In 2002, the school underwent a major redevelopment with the construction of a new Middle School, which had its first intake of grade 6 and 7 students in 2003. This Middle School consists of a large block of multi-purpose classrooms, functioning as a complete school in itself, with its own teachers and independent timetables. Grade 6 and 7 students spend most of their time in the Middle School, although they do use the facilities of the "Upper School" for such activities as physical education and assemblies.

Headmasters

Academics

Curriculum

Brisbane Grammar School offers education from years 6 through to 12. The academic programme is tailored to suit the needs of its students. In recent years, around 95% of graduating students have received a first-round offer to a tertiary institution. The school offers mainstream subjects including English, Mathematics (A, B and C), Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Earth Science), History (Modern and Ancient), Geography, Economics, Physical Education, Music, Technology Studies, Art, Drama and Languages other than English (French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Latin).

In addition, the school focuses on a specific academic scope of learning aimed at educating life-skills required in the future. As of late, it has introduced updated technology to assist the students learning from school as well as home. The school also has six computer rooms equipped with 30 computers each, as well as laptop facilities in the Middle School. For the Middle School, Brisbane Grammar School offers the mainstream subjects.

Recent results

In recent years, 95% of graduating students have received a first-round offer to a tertiary institution. In 2006, the school had its second best results since the introduction of the OP system, claiming 49 OP1s. The combined percentage, of OP 1-2 was 30.45% of the school, population which far execeeded the state's average of 5.2%. 68.31% of the students received between and OP1 and an OP7 (the state percentage being 25.4%). 91.8% of the cohort received an OP between 1 and 13. The median OP score was OP5.

With respect to the school's 2008 results, more than one in four students (26.4%) of the cohort achieved an OP 1 or 2. The OP 1-7 result of 63.2% (State 27.4%) was well above the historical average and fourth best result ever and the OP 1-13 result was at 90.1% (State 60.9%) and was the third best result in the school's history.

Extracurricular activities

Cultural Activities

Students are able to participate in Orchestras (Symphony and Philharmonic), Concert Bands (1 to 4), Stage Bands (1 to 3), Choirs (many) and various individual ensembles (Percussion, Clarinet). Furthermore, each year the BGS Music Department performs a concert called Grammar Community in Concert at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. The school also has a thriving Drama program presenting a range of plays and musicals. In additions opportunities in debating and public speaking are offered, with the school participating in Queensland Debating Union and Greater Public Schools annual competitions. Additionally, Brisbane Grammar School has recently revamped its participation in enterprise education groups. With the newly reformed Economics and Enterprise Club, students are gaining exciting experiences through external competitions such as YAA, Ecoman and ABW.

Sport

The school offers a range of mainstream sporting activities, including cross country, track and field, rugby, soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, gymnastics, swimming, rowing, sailing, chess and volleyball within the GPS association of schools, as well as many others such as water polo, fencing, Australian Rules Football and Tae Kwon-do.

GPS membership

Brisbane Grammar School is a member of the Great Public Schools Association of Queensland Inc. (GPS). The school's membership enables its students to participate in sporting competitions as well as engage in endeavours such as debating. Most competitions are played out on Saturdays at any of the schools' sporting facilities. The main campus comprises four playing fields in addition to eight tennis courts. Many fixtures, including cricket, rugby and soccer, are conducted at the Northgate campus. Sailing is run on Sundays at RQYS, Manly, and the GPS championship is held at the end of the season. The school also competes in some non-GPS sports, such as Fencing, Water Polo and Australian Rules. The school has had long standing success in water polo, winning the competition for 12 of the last 13 years.

Recent achievements

In 2006, BGS's Senior A debating team achieved 2nd in the GPS competition after losing only one debate in the last round to GPS champions St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace. Also in 2006, the School won six GPS titles (GPS Cross Country, GPS Volleyball, First VI Volleyball, First XI Soccer, GPS Sailing, and GPS Chess), four more titles than any other GPS school.

In March 2007, the school secured the O'Connor Cup by winning the 1st VIII race at the annual Brisbane GPS Head of the River. Furthermore, the 2007 Senior A Debating Team became the champions of the QDU state competition, with a team member making the Australian side.

In 2008, the Senior A team won the GPS premiership undefeated and 2 team members achieved selection in the QLD team.

Following the 2008 victory in debating, the 2009 BGS Senior A Team was even more successful, winning both the QDU and GPS premierships convincinly beating all opponents. Members of the team Daniel Gibbons, Andrew Justo and Marc Harris were all selected for the State Team, and the BGS Year 12 group of 2009 was the most successful debating cohort in the school's history.

In 2010, BGS won its 8th consecutive, 9th total, GPS Volleyball Premiership. The First VI is currently coached by Young Old Boy Rhys Cox, Vice Captain of Volleyball 2005.

Campus

Indoor sports centre

The M A Howell Indoor Sports Centre was officially opened by the then Governor of Queensland. Major General Peter Arnison on 3 March 2000. The centre, which is situated on the main campus, is home to a multi-purpose double basketball court sports hall (which can also accommodate 3 volleyball courts, 6 badmington courts, 12 fencing pistes as well as indoor soccer), an aquatic centre with a 10-lane, 25m heated swimming pool, a gymnasium featuring a deep foam pit, parallel bars and rings and a spectator area with seating for 150 people during sporting events, as well as a weights room and theory rooms and amenities. This sports centre has hosted local and international sporting teams, such as the Queensland Reds, Australian Wallabies, Brisbane Broncos, New Zealand All Blacks, Australian cricket team, United States Swimming squad and the English Rugby team.

Northgate playing fields

Work commenced on the Northgate Playing Fields in the mid 1990s, which now have six ovals, accommodating cricket, rugby union, soccer and Australian Rules Football fixtures. The fields are also used during the school week, especially for winter activities training sessions. Canteen facilities are provided on game days. Adjacent to the main oval is a small stadium which caters for seating for one half of the field, which also contains a dining area. The playing fields were used by the Australian Cricket Team prior to the 2006/2007 Ashes campaign, where they trained with the school's First XI.

Normanby playing fields

Normanby, adjacent to the school grounds, habours tennis courts and minor track and field facilities. Students visit this facility for PE lessons as well as sports training sessions. It is separated from the main campus by a public footbridge.

Auditoriums and theatres

The school has 4 major auditoriums and a theatre: The Centenary Hall, The Great Hall, The Forum, The Music Auditorium and The Theatre

Centenary Hall accommodates the entire 1400 student body for weekly assemblies. The hall is also used for other events such as breakfasts, music concerts, debates, theatrical productions and year-level tests. The gallery above the hall can accommodate 2 year groups for lectures.

The Great Hall is one of the school's most historic buildings. The walls have various honour-boards commemorating academic, sporting and cultural achievements, as well as honouring the names of those who have served in wars. The stage is overlooked by a 10 by 3 metre stain-glass window, with Queen Victoria and her knights of the realm as a central feature. The hall provides venue for Form Year Assemblies, Public speaking, debating and vocal performances. It is also used for dinner parties (such as the Old-Boys Association's reunions or the 'Mothers of Past Student'’ gatherings) and weddings for old-boys.

The Forum can seat around 150 - 200 people and is used for collaborative learning exercises, usually housing all students in a subject or 3-4 classes.

The Music Auditorium is a venue used to highlight the school's large music program. During the year a varied program of choral, concert and stage band and orchestral concerts take place.

The Drama Theatre can seat approximately 300 and provides excellent acoustics for Theatrical productions. The school holds a Junior School Play and a Senior School Play once a year and a musical every 2 years.

Moogerah Outdoor Education Centre

Brisbane Grammar School’s off-campus centre at Pepperina Hill, near Lake Moogerah, was opened in 1976 and is named the Moogerah Outdoor Education Centre (colloquially referred to as Moogerah). The school sends each form class from grades 8, 9 and 10 out to the campus to strengthen intra-class relationships and morale, as well as develop team-working and leadership skills. Class, "Form Seniors" also attend the camp to build the relationship between the senior, and younger students. The five day programme includes such activities as rock-climbing, bushwalking, orienteering, canoeing, and a camp-out in the bush at the foot of a mountain.

The centre is also used for various other school activities: Writer’s camps, Musical composition camps, scientist-in-residence camps, sport training and fieldwork in senior courses. The rowers, in the past while the lake was at a higher capacity, have utilised the camp’s boatshed on the lake’s edge for training.

The Lilley Centre

The most recent construction project of the school is a centre located on the College Road side of the main campus (named after Premier and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Sir Charles Lilley), and houses several classrooms equipped with learning technologies, a library, a lecture theatre (called 'The Forum') and a seniors' study room. The centre has finished completion; it was officially opened on the 26th of February 2010 by the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh.

School Uniform and Colours

The School has adopted two sets of colours. The first was introduced by Thomas Harlin, Headmaster 1869–1876. They are red and gold and are now associated with academia. Reginald Heber Roe, Headmaster 1876–1909, introduced the sporting colours of Oxford and Cambridge Blue which are now seen as the main representative colours of the school. They still hold a particularly special relationship with sporting activities, represented by various school chants and war cries that mention the Light Dark Blue.

Paedophile compensation controversy

In 2003, the school was involved in controversy when it attempted to recover damages from its insurer following students' claims that they had been sexually abused by Kevin Lynch, school counsellor between the 1976 and 1988.

Some 70 former students sued the school, alleging Lynch sexually abused them during counselling sessions. Rejecting out-of-court settlements, some of the victims claimed compensation in the Supreme Court of Queensland. Two former students had allegedly lodged complaints about Lynch's conduct with then headmaster of the school, Maxwell Howell, in the early 1980s and the issue was quietly investigated, however Grammar was unaware the details had to be passed on to its insurer. For failing to notify its insurer of the complaints made of Lynch, the school thus became liable for $AUD1.17 million in legal fees and compensation.

Lynch was charged in January 1997 over the abuses perpetrated at both St Paul's School (where he was subsequently employed) and Brisbane Grammar. Lynch committed suicide on 23 January 1997, the day after being charged.

Fumes Exposure Incident

On the 14 July 2010, 120 students were exposed to a chemical solvent being used in school construction works. Many of these students had been exposed for less than 20 minutes. 6 ambulance crews were dispatched to the school, where 35 students experienced sore eyes and throats as well as minor breathing difficulties. Of the students affected, 2 were hospitalised.

Notable alumni

Politics and law

• Justice Ian Callinan, Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Justice Sir Charles Powers, Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Frederick W. Paterson, the only member of a Communist party ever to be elected to a parliament anywhere in Australia.
• Ian Macfarlane, Federal Cabinet Minister
• Tom Burns, former ALP National President and later Deputy Premier of Queensland
• Sir Charles Spry, Director-General of ASIO

The arts

• Robin Dods, architect
• Robert Forster, musician, singer-songwriter and founder of The Go-Betweens
• David Malouf, internationally-acclaimed author
• Brad Shepherd, member of seminal Australian bands The Fun Things, The Hitmen and The Hoodoo Gurus
• Ian Haug and John Collins of the band Powderfinger

Sport

• Stephen Moore, Wallaby since 2005
• Otto Nothling, one of only two Australian Cricket/Rugby Union dual internationals

Twenty-four Rhodes Scholars

See also

• List of schools in Queensland
• List of boarding schools

References

1. ^ "Schools Reporting 2006" (PDF). Staff & Students. Brisbane Grammar School. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
2. ^ "Brisbane Grammar School". Schools. Australian Boarding Schools' Association. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
3. "AHISA Schools". Queensland. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
4. "Brisbane Grammar, School". School Search. Independent Schools Queensland. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
5. "GPS Schools". Sport and Music. Brisbane State High School. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
6. Academic notes Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006; Report detailing academic results of the 2004 Senior cohort Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
7. http://www.brisbanegrammar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=148&Itemid=57 Boys Grammar Debaters Selected For State Team Official BGS Website Retrieved 3 November 2008
8. ^ David Murray, School pays sex victims, Courier Mail, 5 November 2006 Cite error: The named reference "couriermail" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
9. Board of Enquiry report, Anglican Diocese of Brisbane, 22 April 2003
10. Survivor Link
11. The Australian, Nearly 200 exposed to solvent at Brisbane Grammar School in suburban Spring Hill]
12. ^ "Queensland Rhodes Scholars" (doc). Rhodes Scholarship. University of Queensland. Retrieved 7 February 2008.;
13. ^ "BGS History" (pdf). BGS History. BGS. Retrieved 7 July 2010.

• Academic notes Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• Report detailing academic results of the 2004 Senior cohort Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• Development dates Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• Description of school population Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• School colours information Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• Extra curricular information Official BGS website. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• Historical information State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• Article that comments on the Brisbane Broncos training at Northgate The Courier Mail. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• 2006 OP information Official BGS website Retrieved 8 February 2007

• http://www.afi.org.au/
• 2008 Academic ResultsOfficial BGS website. Retrieved 6 March 2009

External links

• Official website

• Use dmy dates from August 2010
• Educational institutions established in 1868
• High schools in Queensland
• Boarding schools in Queensland
• Private schools in Queensland
• Boys' schools in Australia
• Nondenominational Christian schools in Australia