Pulteney Grammar School

Pulteney Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational day school. Founded in 1847 by members of the Anglican Church, it is the second oldest independent school in South Australia. Its campuses are located on South Terrace in Adelaide, South Australia.

Pulteney Grammar School
Location
,
Coordinates34°56′5″S 138°36′9″E
Information
TypeIndependent, co-educational, day school
MottoO Prosper Thou Our Handiwork
DenominationAnglican[1]
Established1847 (1847)[2]
ChairmanAllen Candy
PrincipalCameron Bacholer
Employees~150 (Full-time)[3]
Enrolment~915 (K-12)[3]
Houses  Bleby Howard
  Cawthorne Nicholls
  Kennion Miller
  Moore Sunter
Colour(s)Navy blue, white & gold
     
SloganWhere Passions Prosper[4]
Affiliation
Websitewww.pulteney.sa.edu.au

History

Revd E.K. Miller, first Headmaster of Pulteney Grammar School

Foundation

The original Pulteney Street School on Pulteney Street, Adelaide, pictured in 1919 before the school moved permanently to South Terrace.
The premises of the new school, opened 1923 on South Terrace

In May 1847, a group of founding trustees met in Adelaide in order to discuss the establishment of a new school for the children of Adelaide. Twelve months later, on 29 May 1848, the new institution Pulteney Street School was opened. The school was established in the Anglican tradition, which continues to this day, though it admitted students of all denominations and children from non-Christian faiths. It began operating shortly after St Peter's College was founded (and, years before that, that fellow Anglican establishment moved to its present location in Hackney). The Pulteney Street School was clearly aimed at a different demographic, having a monthly charge of 2/6d per month for each pupil, deemed "a rate which the poorest can surely afford to pay for the education of their children".[5] The school had 50 attendees by the end of its first week of operation, and 180 by October 1848. Classes were taken at a newly constructed 30 by 60 feet (9.1 by 18.3 m) building at the corner of Pulteney and Flinders streets, boys and girls being taught separately; the girls' classes ceasing around 1854.

Latter history

21 principals have governed the school, the first being E. K. Miller, who served from 1848 to 1851, before being replaced by several of even shorter duration, during which the school's title became Pulteney Street Central Schools.[6] More durable Principals, (W. S. Moore, 24 years in office, W. P. Nicholls, 41 years, and W. R. Ray, 26 years), led Pulteney to become an esteemed educational institution, with its traditional competitors including Scotch College, Prince Alfred College, and St Peter's College. The first female Principal, Anne Dunstan, took office in 2014.[7]

In 1919 the old building was acquired by the Commonwealth Government for repatriation purposes,[8] and the school was required to move to its current premises on South Terrace, where a new building, now called the Nicholls Building, was opened by Lord Forster, then Governor-General, in July 1921. The school's move heralded the change in its name to its current form, and also brought financial uncertainty to the board of governors, who elected W. R. Ray in 1946 to attempt to bring the school back onto its feet.

Opening of the new school rooms at the Pulteney Street School (now Pulteney Grammar) in 1923

By 1953, Pulteney Grammar School offered a full education for boys, beginning in what is now called 'reception', until 'Leaving Honours' (Year 12).[9]

The school changed its structure from an all-boys day-school to admit students of all genders in 1999.

School structure and demographics

Herbert Hynes, student c. 1885, wearing Pulteney Grammar School uniform
The school's footbridge allows Pulteney students to safely cross heavily trafficked South Terrace
The Middle School building was built in 2018

As of 2012, the School has 1000 students enrolled and over 150 teaching and non-teaching staff. Pulteney is composed of four sub-schools located on the same campus. The 'Kurrajong' and the ELC (Early Learning Centre) for students up to year 2, Prep School for years 3–6, Middle School for years 7-9 and "one ninety" (Senior School) for the final years 10–12. Each sub-school is overseen by a Head of School responding to the Principal.

According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, the school economic background distribution is: 72% upper quarter, 23% upper middle quarter, 5% lower middle quarter, and 1% lower quarter.[10] There are no Aboriginal students in the school community, as of 2015. The school attendance rate in 2013 was 100%.

Notable alumni

An active Old Scholars' network maintains a connection between the institution and its alumni. Like other schools of a similar standing, Pulteney's alumni identify themselves with an old boys' tie, which is presented to students upon graduation.

Rhodes Scholars

  • Charles Ashwin, 1952. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.[11]
  • Peter Gibbard, 1991. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.[11]
  • Jack Turner, 1992. Rhodes Scholar Australia at large.[11]
  • Mark Mussared, 1976. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.[11]
  • John Pritchard, 1935. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.[11]
  • Simon Best, 1973. Rhodes Scholar for South Australia.[11]

Politics, diplomacy and Law

Medicine

Military

Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, VC was a Pulteney Old Scholar who served in the First and Second World Wars and was a prisoner of war; he subsequently had a distinguished legal career
  • Colonel Walter Dollman VD, a Pulteney "old boy" and president of the Old Scholars Assoc., was commander of the 27th Battalion that saw service in Egypt, Gallipoli and in the Somme.
  • David Kenney, flight lieutenant, awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross,[20]
  • Brigadier General Stanley Price Weir, DSO, VD, JP (1866-1944), public servant and Australian Army officer

Sports

Arts

Business

  • Joseph Albert Riley, (1869-1940), prominent Adelaide businessman, Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, philanthropist, notably awarded the King Albert Medal for services in the Great War[29]
  • Colin Blore Bednall, journalist and media manager, Editor and Director of Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd.[30]
  • Oscar Lionel Isaachsen, banker[31]
  • Alan Scott Martin, died 1958, former Assistant Chief Valuer of the Land Tax Department, and former member of the Australian Land Board[32]

Other

  • Jed Richards, author of 'One Long Day'[33]

Controversy

In 2009, heritage groups and members of the public condemned Pulteney's plan to demolish a two-storey bluestone mansion within the school's boundary. The building was not heritage listed, but it was one of the last remaining mansions on South Terrace and had been recommended for conservation under Adelaide's Townscape List. The school went ahead with demolition,[34] citing a need to act quickly to take advantage of the national economic stimulus program following the 2007–2010 global financial crisis[35] and that retaining the building was neither practical nor affordable.[34]

In August 2023, a petition was circulated by self-described "members of the Pulteney community" complaining about the departure or reassignment of teachers which had caused a deficit of experience and unreasonable expectations of remaining staff; a decline in university entrance scores and primary-level pupil assessments; and changes such as the merging of its middle school and the previously self-contained unit for year 11 and 12 students. The school's board promptly engaged an independent firm to conduct a review of its leadership, with expected completion by mid-October.[36]

See also

Further reading

  • W. R. Ray, Pulteney Grammar School 1847-1972 : a record (1973).
  • W.R. Ray and K. Brunton, F.H. Greet & J.R. Moore, Pulteney Grammar School 1847-1997 : a record. Revised and brought up to date (1997).
  • Lingard Goulding, Under the kurrajong trees : Pulteney Grammar School from 1847 until 2020 (2020)

References

  1. "Pulteney Grammar School". Search for Schools. Private Schools Directory. 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  2. "Co-education Schools". Community. Anglican Diocese of Adelaide. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  3. "My School website". Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. "Home | Pulteney Grammar School". www.pulteney.sa.edu.au. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  5. "Local Intelligence". The Adelaide Observer. Vol. VI, no. 257. South Australia. 27 May 1848. p. 2. Retrieved 31 March 2019 via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Pulteney Street Central Schools". South Australian Register. Vol. XVI, no. 1804. South Australia. 25 June 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 1 April 2019 via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Principal's Message | Pulteney Grammar School". www.pulteney.sa.edu.au.
  8. "Old Days and New". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXIV, no. 22, 722. South Australia. 5 September 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 1 April 2019 via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Pulteney Grammar School, South Australia". Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  10. "The Rhodes Scholarship, South Australia" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
  11. "Obituaries: Tributes to three of our finest". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 20 January 2012.
  12. "The Abraham Institute". www.abrahaminstitute.com.au.
  13. Debelle, Bruce (29 March 2014). "Youngest ambassador had a deep affinity for the world of Islam - and cricket". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015.
  14. "Royal Perth Hospital - Ernest Robert BEECH". Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  15. "Vice-Chancellors Exhibition | Records & Archives". www.recordkeeping.unsw.edu.au.
  16. "Knighthoods for 3 Victorians". The Age via Google News Archive Search.
  17. Blackburn, R.A (1979). "Blackburn, Arthur Seaforth (1892–1960)". Blackburn, Arthur Seaforth (1892 - 1960). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 307–308. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  18. "04 Apr 1945 - D.F.C. For Four South Australians - Trove".
  19. "OBITUARY". 21 February 1940. p. 12 via Trove.
  20. "Search for Jeffrey Smart's 'Terry'". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 23 June 2013.
  21. McDonald, John (29 May 2014). "Jeffrey Smart: A modern Australian master". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  22. "T. J. R. Landers: (author/organisation) | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au.
  23. "Michael Burden | New College". Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  24. "A Century in Focus". artgallery.sa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018.
  25. "Keith Phillips" (PDF).
  26. "Rhett Giles". IMDb.
  27. "08 Jan 1940 - DEATH OF MR. J. A. RILEY - Trove".
  28. Morgan, Patrick. "Bednall, Colin Blore (1913–1976)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  29. "The Bank of Adelaide Story". users.picknowl.com.au.
  30. "Obituary". Australian Surveyor. 17 (2): 133. 1958. doi:10.1080/00050326.1958.10440382.
  31. "Jed Richards". Smashwords.
  32. "Ten News Adelaide: Pulteney Grammar to demolish Morgan Building". Archived from the original on 15 December 2021 via www.youtube.com.
  33. "Building the Education Revolution". Nation Building: Economic Stimulus Plan. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  34. Novak, Lauren (1 September 2023). "School leaders "must go"". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Adelaide. p. 4. Retrieved 1 September 2023. Paid subscription required subscription: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("paywall").
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