The Geelong College is an Australian independent and co-educational, Christian day and boarding school located in Newtown, an inner-western suburb of Geelong, Victoria.
Established in 1861 by Alexander James Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, the Geelong College was formerly a school of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and is now operated in association with the Uniting Church in Australia but is not governed or managed by the church. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for over 1,200 students from kindergarten to Year 12, including around 100 boarding students from Years 7 to 12. The boarding students are accommodated in two boarding houses at the senior school campus: Mackie House for boys, Mossgiel House for girls.
The college is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia, the Junior School Heads Association of Australia, the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria, the Australian Boarding Schools Association, and has been a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria since 1908.
History
Following the closure of the first Geelong Grammar, Campbell established a committee to found a new Presbyterian school. On 8 July 1861, Geelong College was officially established. The school year later started with an enrolment of 62. George Morrison was appointed the first principal and three years later became the owner of the school. The school moved to its present location in 1871. The architects Alexander Davidson and George Henderson designed its main building.
In 1908, the college returned to the ownership of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and became a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS). St David's Presbyterian Church at the corner of Talbot St and Aphrasia St, Newtown is currently used by the School for religious services. Traditionally, the school used St George's Presbyterian Church on Latrobe Terrace for Presbyterian Services. Anglican services, when required, were provided at All Saints Church on Noble St. Presbyterian Services however, were transferred to St David's Church in 1962. The Geelong College Chapel was dedicated on 8 March 1989 as the centre of the school's spiritual life. It was formerly the school's House of Music, designed by Philip Hudson, built 1936 and opened in 1937.
Land was acquired in 1946 for a new preparatory campus, which did not open until 1960. This particular campus became co-educational in 1974, with co-education being extended to the senior campus in 1975. The college undertook an extensive redevelopment and refurbishment of the middle school, which is on the preparatory campus, in 2012. In 2015, Principal Andrew Barr resigned after he was photographed watching adult pornography in his office.
Principals
PeriodPrincipal1861–1898G. Morrison 1898–1909N. Morrison 1910–1914W. R. Bayly 1915–1919W. T. Price 1920–1945F. W. Rolland 1946–1960M. A. Buntine1960–1975P. N. Thwaites1976–1985S. P. Gebhardt1986–1995A. P. Sheahan1996–2012P. C. Turner2013–2015A. M. Barr2016–2025P. D. Miller2025–presentS. Young
Campuses
Senior School – Years 9 to 12 Talbot Street, Newtown Middle School – Years 4 to 8 Aberdeen Street, Newtown Junior School – Kindergarten to Year 3 Minerva Road, Newtown Cape Otway Campus – all years Cape Otway (since 2015)
Curriculum Geelong College offers its senior students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). +The Geelong College VCE results 2012-2020YearRankMedian study scoreScores of 40+ (%)Cohort size2012463418.12762013493417.02542014583415.12342015463418.72802016533417.82632017493419.12432018653315.22302019633316.32462020853213.0254
Sport
Secondary students of the college participate in the summer, winter and spring seasons of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS)/Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV) sport competition. Choices offered for summer sports include badminton, cricket (boys only), softball (girls only), tennis and rowing. Winter sports include Australian rules football (boys only), netball (girls only), soccer and basketball. Students may also participate in a number of local competitions and the college is particularly known for rowing competitions.
APS and AGSV/APS premierships Geelong College has won the following APS and AGSV/APS premierships:
Boys:
Cricket (7) – 1946, 1947, 1963, 1979, 1982, 1995, 2011 Football (6) – 1925, 1927, 1932, 1963, 1964, 2006 Rowing (13) – 1936, 1944, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1976, 1990, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2003
Girls:
Athletics (5) – 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005 Hockey (2) – 1995, 1996 Netball (4) – 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998 Rowing (10) – 1981, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 Tennis (6) – 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005
Geelong College Challenge The Geelong College Challenge is a competition run by the college at the preparatory school campus in which government schools in the region can enter. The challenge started in 1993. Participating schools send in an entry based on the set theme, and the teams with the 16 best entries are accepted. These schools then form a team of four Year 6 students (two boys and two girls). On the weekend of the challenge, the teams participate in various challenges, which include art, music, drama, technology, information technology, physical education and mathematics challenges.
Notable alumni
Alumni of the school are known as Old Geelong Collegians and may elect to join the alumni association, the Old Geelong Collegians' Association (OGCA). Some notable Old Geelong Collegians include:
Academic Sir Robert Honeycombe – scientist and metallurgist, emeritus Professor of Metallurgy at Cambridge University, UK. John Marden – first headmaster of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (1888–1919) and Pymble Ladies' College (1916–1919); pioneer of women's education; Presbyterian elder
Business Bill Dix – former managing director of Ford Australia and Chairman of Qantas Don Kendell – founder of Kendell Airlines
Entertainment, media and the arts Russell Boyd – cinematographer: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Crocodile Dundee. John Duigan – film director and writer Gideon Haigh – journalist and author Robert Ingpen – artist, writer and illustrator Rebecca Maddern – journalist Veronica Milsom – comedian and triple j radio presenter George Ernest Morrison – Australian adventurer; correspondent for The Times Peking (Beijing) Guy Pearce – actor Sean Sowerby – journalist Nathan Templeton – journalist
Medicine and science Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet – biologist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine
Politics, public service and the law Lionel Aingimea – President of Nauru since 2019https://www.linkedin.com/in/lionel-aingimea-a25b5045 John Button – senior Federal Minister in the Hawke and Keating Governments Sir Arthur Coles – retail founder, MP, Lord Mayor of Melbourne; first Chairman of Australian National Airlines (TAA) Robert Doyle – Lord Mayor of Melbourne, politician; Member for Malvern in the Legislative Assembly (1992–2006); Leader of the Victorian Opposition (2002–2006) Major General Sir James Harrison, KCMG, CB, CBE – former Governor of South Australia Sarah Henderson, MP – Member for Corangamite (Liberal Party) from 2013 to 2019, Senator for Victoria since 2019 Barry James Maddern – Australian barrister and jurist Fergus Stewart McArthur, MP – Member for Corangamite (Liberal Party) from 1984 to 2007 Sir Gordon Stewart McArthur – Liberal Party politician, President of the Victorian Legislative Council (1958–1965), grazier and barrister James Nimmo – public servant
Religion Thomas Henry Armstrong – first Bishop of Wangaratta
Sport Tom Atkins – AFL footballer for Geelong Jaxson Barham – AFL footballer for Collingwood Alec Boswell Timms – VFA footballer for Geelong and Scottish international rugby union player from 1896 to 1905 Tim Callan – AFL footballer for the Western Bulldogs Alex Cincotta- AFL footballer for Carlton David A. Clarke – AFL footballer for Geelong and Carlton David E. Clarke – AFL footballer for Geelong and Carlton Georgie Clarke – Olympian (athletics) Tim Clarke – former AFL footballer for Hawthorn Richard Colman – Paralympic athletics gold medallist Ayce Cordy – AFL footballer for the Western Bulldogs Zaine Cordy – AFL footballer for the Western Bulldogs; premiership player in the 2016 AFL Grand Final Ed Curnow – current AFL footballer for Carlton Charlie Curnow – current AFL footballer for Carlton Josh Dunkley-Smith – 2012 Olympic rowing silver medallist Edward 'Carji' Greeves – winner of the inaugural Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the Victorian Football League (later known as AFL) (1924) Lindsay Hassett – captain of the Australian Test cricket team from 1949 to 1953 John "Jack" Bailey Hawkes – Australian tennis champion Lachlan Henderson – current AFL footballer for Geelong Steve Horvat – Australian international soccer player Jack Iverson – Australian Test cricketer Charlie Lazzaro – AFL footballer for North Melbourne Bowen Lockwood – AFL footballer for Ned McHenry – AFL footballer for Adelaide Edward Russell Mockridge – dual gold medallist for cycling at the 1952 Summer Olympics David Ramage – two-time Olympic rower Ian Redpath – Australian Test cricketer Josh Saunders – former AFL footballer for St Kilda Will Schofield – former AFL footballer for the West Coast Eagles Paul Sheahan – Australian Test cricketer; former headmaster of The Geelong College and Melbourne Grammar School Alex Witherden – AFL footballer for the Brisbane Lions and West Coast Eagles Mason Wood – AFL footballer for North Melbourne and St Kilda
See also Geelong Grammar School List of schools in Victoria List of boarding schools
References
Further reading Notman, G.C. & Keith, B.R. 1961. The Geelong College 1861–1961. The Geelong College Council, Geelong. Deakin University. 1979. Portrait of The Geelong College: Continuity and Change in an Independent School. Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Vic. . Penrose, Helen. 2011. The Way to the Stars: 150 Years of The Geelong College. Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne. .
External links
Heritage Guide to The Geelong College