Trinity Grammar School (New South Wales)

For other institutions named Trinity School, see Trinity School.

Trinity Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located over three campuses in Summer Hill, Strathfield and Lewisham, all inner western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Founded in 1913 by The Right Reverend G.A Chambers at Dulwich Hill, the school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 2,000 students from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12, including 40 boarders from Years 7 to 12.

Trinity is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), and is a founding member of the Combined Associated Schools (CAS). The Head Master is a member of the the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (UK).

The School is governed by a Council (appointed by ordinance of the Diocese of Sydney), with the Archbishop of Sydney as President.

History

Promotional sign for Trinity Grammar School at its Dulwich Hill site, 1926

The Right Reverend G.A Chambers, OBE, DD, subsequently Bishop of Central Tanganyika, founded the School in 1913 at Dulwich Hill, of which Parish - the Parish of Holy Trinity - he was then Rector. At its foundation, Trinity was a small parochial school with 29 boys enrolled. This number had reached 57 at the end of that year.

Having been appointed Warden of the School, Chambers' immediate task was to find a Headmaster. Thus, K.T. Henderson was appointed as the first Headmaster of Trinity Grammar in February 1913. In November 1915, the School formulated its motto, Detur Gloria Soli Deo ("Give glory God alone"). The School colours were chosen to reflect the liturgical season of Trinity, namely green.

A property known as "The Towers" was purchased by the parish and used both as a School and Rectory. Later a larger property, "Hazeldene", was to be bought, also acting as both school and Rectory. The present site at Summer Hill, set in 8 hectares of land, was first occupied by the School in 1926, during the Head Mastership of G.E. Weeks.

By 1942 the prospects for Trinity were grim and it was decided that it should be closed. As a last attempt to save the School, the Council appointed J. Wilson Hogg as Headmaster in 1944. By the time Wilson Hogg retired in 1974, Trinity was flourishing and had become one of the leading Independent schools in NSW.

Preparatory School

Trinity Preparatory School, 1930s

Sir Philip Sydney Jones built "Llandilo House" in 1878 on a large property bounded by The Boulevarde, Albyn Road, Kingsland Road and Wakeford Road and lived there until his death in 1918. The property was then subdivided and a group of Strathfield residents headed by Rev. Wheaton, a Congregational minister, bought the house for a school, which was known as 'Strathfield Grammar School'.

In 1926 it was offered to Trinity Grammar School and bought by them but Strathfield Grammar School and Trinity Grammar School continued to function as separate establishments until 1932, when the two became Trinity Grammar School.

From 1932 until 1937 all teaching (except some Science) was done at Strathfield and boys were taken by bus to Summer Hill for sport. (The boarders lived at Summer Hill). 1938 saw a division - the Senior School returning to Summer Hill and Strathfield being established as the Preparatory School. The current Headmaster of the Preparatory School (TGSPS) is Mr Max Brand.

Junior School

In 1946 the then Headmaster, Mr James Wilson Hogg, introduced a Junior School to the Summer Hill Campus and commenced with 36 boys in four classrooms. The Junior School, in various arrangements of classes and with up to 78 boys continued at Summer Hill until 1956, when all the of the primary school boys were relocated to the Preparatory School at Strathfield.

In 2000 the Junior School was re-established by the Head Master, Mr G. Milton Cujes, on the Summer Hill campus as a gesture of good faith to the families who had committed to the Southern Campus, a venture that until this date has not been realised. The Junior School recommenced with 72 boys in four classes from Year 3 to 6. The classes were located in temporary accommodation between No.1 Oval and No.3 Oval.

In 2002 the School Council determined that the Junior School would become a permanent part of the educational profile at the Summer Hill Campus for the foreseeable future.

In 2003 the Junior School moved to permanent accommodation in the old Boarding House and was formally recommissioned in a ceremony whose guests included Messrs Neil Buckland and Neil Demeril, both of whom had been students at the Summer Hill Junior School in the 1940s.

Headmasters

Period	Details
1913	Kenneth Thorn Henderson, B.A.
1913 – 1916	William G. Hilliard, M.A.
1916	Arthur Alston, M.A.
1917 – 1922	Frank Archer, M.A., Dip.Ed.
1923 – 1928	George Edward Weeks, M.A., B.D., LL.D.
1929 – 1934	William G. Hilliard, M.A.
1935 – 1937	Percival William Stephenson, M.A., B.D.
1938 – 1942	Vernon S. Murphy, B.A.(Oxon.)
1944 – 1974	James Wilson Hogg, M.B.E., M.A.(Oxon.), F.A.C.E
1975 – 1996	Roderick Ian West, M.A.(Syd.), B.D.(Lond.), Dip.Ed., M.A.C.E
1996 – Present	George Milton Cujes, B.Ec.(Hons.)(Syd.), Dip.Ed.(UNE), M.A.(Syd.), Dip. School Admin.(Armidale CAE), M.Ed.(Melb.), M.A.C.E., M.A.C.E.A., F.A.I.M, P.H.D

Campus

The School consists of four separate but closely-linked establishments:

• A Senior (Years 10 to 12) and Middle (Years 7 to 9) School for day and boarding students located at the Summer Hill Campus, as well as a Junior School (Years 3 to 6)
• Preparatory and Pre-Kindergarten sections (Pre-School to Year 6) at the Strathfield Campus
• Preparatory (Infants) and Pre-Kindergarten sections (Pre-School to Year 2) at Lewisham on the former Thomas Beckett school campus (Opened 2006)
• An Outdoor Education Centre at the Pine Bluff Campus.

Attempts were made in the early 2000s towards establishing a fourth campus in Sydney's southern suburbs. Such plans have been postponed indefinitely by the School.

Summer Hill

Trinity Grammar School

The Trinity Grammar School senior campus is located in suburban Summer Hill, and features a mix of old and new buildings and facilities.

Some current facilities of the school include:

• A quadrangle forms the centrepiece of the grounds, with a chapel;
• The new Founders Building, containing a drama theatre, film and sound editing studios, computer lab classrooms, interview rooms, staff common room and library;
• A gymnasium consisting of a fitness and weights room, three basketball courts and squash court, and a 25 metre swimming pool;
• Three sporting fields and an off-campus tennis centre;
• A design centre housing art classrooms, science laboratories, design and technology rooms and computer labs;
• The Roderick West School of Music Building, containing a choir room, orchestra room, band room, music-composing computer labs, a recording studio and 30 music studios;

Strathfield

The Strathfield campus is centred around three historic homes and has recently been redeveloped. The new infrastructure includes a musical facility, indoor cricket nets and basketball courts.

Pine Bluff

Established in 1992, the Pine Bluff campus is located in Bigga, a village in rural New South Wales, and was founded by Mr Reginald Marsh.

Each year, students in Year 9 are divided into 7 or 8 groups, consisting of up to 32 boys and are given 3 weeks on the campus. Students are restricted from using unnecessary technology such as television, computers, music players, gaming consoles and radios, and participate in caving, hiking and canoing, which is split up over the 3 weeks and on different camp outs and visits to Wyangla Damn. Usually on the last Sunday, of the students' stay, their parents are invited to visit Pine Bluff for the day to see what their boys have been doing. After their parents visit, boys are divided into several groups, where they have a Final Camp-out lasting for three days and two nights. On this camp, students are left alone in the Pine Bluff property with radio contact to the staff.

Fees

As with all Australian independent schools, Trinity is not a full fee paying institution, due to it receiving limited government funding; full fees only apply to international students, who are not subsidised by any government funding. For non-international students, 2007 fees range from AUD$10,720 to AUD$20,010 per annum, and in excess of AUD$35,000 per annum for boarding students.

The school receives one of the highest government grant allocations, despite charging its own fees to parents, and has been described as one of the beneficiaries of the Federal Government's postcode funding criteria with an increase in funding between 2001 - 2004 of 236%.

Motto

Collectable Australian School Cigarette card featuring the Trinity colours & crest, c. 1920's.

The School's motto is Detur Gloria Soli Deo which may be translated from Latin to "Glory Give to God Alone".

School song

The school song is Detur Gloria Soli Deo, and is sung to the tune "Stuttgart" No.200 in the Australian Hymn Book

Detur Gloria Soli deo,
Let the prayer triumphant ring;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Trinity of thee we sing.

Trinitarians give the glory,
In a song of praise and joy;
For our School and her great story,
Glory give to God alone.

Students past and those now present,
Those the future years shall bring,
Detur Gloria Soli Deo,
This our own great anthem sing.

House system

Student's at the Summer Hill campus are divided into sixteen houses, named after significant facets of the school's history. One of the houses is reserved for boarders (School House). Boys are usually put into their family house, the same house as their father or grandfather or brother.

Each year the different houses compete for the House Cup in a variety of activities such as swimming, track and fields,touch football, indoor soccer, chess, debating, music, academic, cricket, fitness challenge,dodgeball,tug of war and quad challenge. Through these activities houses are awarded points, and at the completion of the school year the house with the most points wins the Cup.

The senior school is divided into sixteen houses:

• Archer (Red)
• Dulwich (Sky Blue)
• Founders (Orange)
• Henderson (Gold)
• Hilliard (Purple)
• Holwood (Tan)
• Kerrigan (Lime Green)
• Latham (Black)
• Murphy (Khaki)
• School (Dark Blue)
• Stephenson (Turquoise)
• Taubman (White)
• Weeks (Mid Blue)
• Wilson Hogg (Grey)
• Wynn Jones (Bishop Pink)
• Young (Maroon)

Curriculum

Senior

The Senior School commences in Year 10, encompassing the New South Wales School Certificate examinations, and offering the State Higher School Certificate (HSC) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma program for Year 11 and 12 students.

Trinity performed well in the 2004 HSC with 19 students achieving a University Admission Index (UAI) of 99 or above. Of these 19 students, three earned UAI's respectively of 99.9, 99.95 and 100. In the International Baccalaureate Programme, one student achieved the Maximum Score of 45. The average IB Score of all the IB students was equivalent to a UAI of 98.82

Co-curriculum

The School offers a range of academic, vocational, sporting and co-curricular subjects and activities, including:

• The School Australian Army Cadet Unit
• Many Musical Orchestras, Ensembles and Bands including the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Band, and Chapel Choir.
• Many Visual Art Groups
• Chess, Fishing and Science Clubs
• A Media Production Group
• A Golf Group
• Snow Sports
• Drama and Dance Group
• A Debating Society
• Sports Experience
• Specialist Sports (Basketball, Rugby Union, Cricket, Soccer)
• An Archaeological Society
• A Charity and Community Committee
• The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

Sport

Trinity Grammar School is a member of the Combined Associated Schools (CAS), and through this association competes with Knox Grammar School, Barker College, Cranbrook School, Waverley College and St Aloysius' College in a variety of sports.

Sporting activities offered include:

• Basketball, cricket, track and field, diving,sqaush, cross country and water polo in summer
• Soccer, rugby union and cross country in winter

In addition, squash, swimming, tennis, volleyball, lawn bowls and fencing is offered for a limited number of students year round.

Trinity Grammar School competes annually with St Patrick's College, Strathfield for the 'Black and Green Shield' conceived in 2005, it is based on the cumulative results of all winter sports games, soccer and rugby, on a designated weekend between the schools.

Controversies

In 2000, some year 10 boarding students assaulted a boy several times using an implement made in a woodwork class. Three students were expelled by the school and convicted of various offences as minors. Compensation payments to two victims of bullying at the school are likely to have been approximately $1 million. Experts alleged that the school had a culture of bullying A film loosely based on the incident, Boy's Grammar, was produced in 2005. Academics now quote this case, and the school's attempts to minimise public awareness and perceived damage to it, in studies in this area.

Triniy's ambitious plan to bulldoze 11 of the 17 houses it owns bordering the school grounds and build a swimming pool, multi-purpose hall, classroom block and underground carpark, was approved by the NSW Land and Environment Court in November 2007, despite overwhelming resident and local Council objections[1]. The single Ashfield Councillor who supported the application was an alumni of the school who described his fellow Councillors as "envious" and "a pathetic bunch of people"[2]

Notable alumni

File:TrinityOTU.jpg

Old Trinitarians' Union Logo

Alumnus of Trinity Grammar School are known as "Old Trinitarians" and are automatically members of the schools alumni association, the "Old Trinitarians Union". A notable Old Trinitarian was David John Kelleher, a notorious drug importer, rapist and career criminal, known to associates as BG ("Blonde God"). refFor a list of notable "Old Trinitarians", see List of Old Trinitarians.

The Old Trinitarians Union forms the association of Old Boys. Old Boys regularly compete against current boys in various facets such as cricket, cricket and athletics.

See also

• List of non-government schools in New South Wales
• List of boarding schools
• Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

External links

• Trinity Grammar School website