Scots College (Sydney)

The college was formed in 1893 by three men, Archibald Gilchrist, William "Fighting Mac" Dill-Macky, and Arthur Aspinall. Gilchrist devised the school motto of "Utinam Patribus Nostris Digni Simus", which may be translated from Latin as "O that we may be worthy of our forefathers".

Arthur Aspinall, who became the first Principal, was minister to the Forbes parish from 1874 to 1887. An educated man himself, with a love of learning, he saw the need to educate the sons of the pastoralists of the area. His dream was for a boarding school in Sydney to which these very isolated farming families could send their children. Lillyan MacDonald of the Church Records and Historical Society (Uniting Church in Australia, NSW Synod) writes:

From Dr Prentis I have learnt that a Forbes influence has pervaded Scots College for more than a century through the sons of Forbes District farming families, especially the related families of Aspinall, Strahorn and Martel.

— Lillyan MacDonald, Personal communication

The Presbyterian Church was not happy with the proposal to start the school. Aspinall became the guarantor, advancing the capital required, while the possibility of starting the school was still a matter of bitter contention within the Church hierarchy. Thus Scots opened as a private enterprise. Once the school was established and functioning, the Church Assembly saw no reason to continue to oppose the idea of the school. In 1906 Aspinall sold the college to the Church for 7,000 pounds and so it became part of the Presbyterian education system in New South Wales.

The following individuals have served as Principal of The Scots College:

The Scots College has four campuses: Bellevue Hill, Mansion Road, Brighton (Brighton Le Sands), Glengarry (Kangaroo Valley), Bannockburn (Shoalhaven River).

The Main building seen from Victoria Road

Oval houses the Year 12/11 Study Area, the Black Watch Café, the Privy Council Rooms, The College Shop, and the school's two main function rooms (the Founders' Room). Scots main houses the Auditorium and main school administration, whilst the Centenary Centre contains the school's primary Lecture room, the Coote Theatre and various music facilities and musical instruments.

The college quadrangle finished reconstruction in 2007 to provide additional change rooms and wheelchair accessible facilities such as an elevator for the Main Building, as well as vastly improving the aesthetics of the College 'quad'.

A new Mathematics/Science building named the Graeme Clark Centre, as well as aerobics room (Bottom Level – the same level as the current pool and weights room) was constructed from early 2007 to late 2008. Classes began on Monday 17 November 2008 and the building was opened on Friday 27 March 2009.

In 2007 the new 'Ginahgulla' classrooms were completed. These classrooms house years five and six located at the Senior campus, Victoria Rd. The upper floors were renovated in 2008 and became new Languages and English classrooms.

The college was able to fund an altitude training chamber in the high-performance center. Such a device is able to alter the levels of oxygen present during sport training sessions and PD lessons. While providing benefit to the college's leading athletes, the benefit of such equipment for the institution as a whole has been publicly questioned.[13]

As a testament to its Scottish heritage, the school has a very well known pipe band: The Scots College Pipes and Drums, established in 1900. The original band consisted of five members – boys who had joined the cadets as pipers. There are now over 230 boys in the band, making it the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1931 the band was granted permission to wear the tartan of the Black Watch regiment. The band's royal patron was formerly the Queen Mother. Traditionally, the Scots Pipes and Drums leads the annual ANZAC Day parade through Sydney. At the 2006 Australian Pipe band Championships, the Drum Corps won the Juvenile Drum Corp title, and the band as a whole earned a respectable third place. These results were then followed up by a successful run at the 2008 Australian Pipe Band Championships, where the band won both the Juvenile and Grade 4 title. These are the best results the band has seen in its long and prosperous history. The Pipes and Drums was recently invited and participated in the 2012 Queen's Diamond Jubilee Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the 2014 Basel Tattoo and went back to Edinburgh in 2016 to participate again in the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo .

Like most Australian schools, The Scots College uses a house system. Scots has 13 student houses, of which 5 are boarding houses. Each year the houses participate in multiple academic and sporting competitions, spread across the school year, and are awarded points according to their placings. This point system determines the winner of the House Championship each year (announced at a final assembly). The day boy houses contain between 90 and 95 students each, whilst the boarding houses have between 50 and 65.

The school's thirteen houses are as follows:

Old Boys' Union Logo

Former students of The Scots College are known as Old Boys, or alternatively Old Scotsmen, and may elect to join the school's alumni association, The Scots College Old Boys' Union (OBU). The OBU was formed in 1900, and today supports the school with financial assistance, while working to facilitate communication and interaction between the College and its Old Boys through events and activities, such as alumni and sporting reunions. Reunions are also held in various states of Australia and overseas.[14]

• 
  Steps and entrance porch, c. 1939
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  College Colours Certificate (1930)
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  Aspinall House
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  Main Building, 1938
• 
  Scots 1st XV singing Auld Lang Syne after a game against St Joseph's College
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  Scots 1st XV 2007

• List of non-government schools in New South Wales
• List of boarding schools in Australia
• History of Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales
• List of pipe bands
• Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition
• Scottish Australians
• Ginahgulla

• Andrew, Phillipa A. (1997). Built To Last: the stories of John and Thomas Aspinall and their descendants. Privately Published. ISBN 0-646-34463-3. Available in the library of The Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, State Library of New South Wales and in the library of The Scots College.
• Church Records and Historical Society. Parramatta: Uniting Church in Australia, NSW Synod.
• Garrett, J.; Farr, L. W. (1964). Camden College: A Centenary History.
• Geeves, Phillip; Jervis, J. (1986). Rockdale: its beginning and development (Revised ed.). Historical Society of New South Wales.
• Joy, William (29 April 1968). How three fighting Scots founded a great school. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the school; includes photo of Rev Arthur Aspinall and his wife. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• May, Munro (1961). In Old Aspinall's Day.
• Prentis, Malcolm. "A Biographical Register of Presbyterian Ministers in NSW, 1866–1885". Church Heritage. 6 (3).
• Prentis, Malcolm; Sherrington, G. (1994). History of Scots College.
• Sherington, G.; Prentis, Malcolm (1993). Scots to the Fore: A History of The Scots College Sydney 1893–1993. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0-86806-500-5.
• White, C. A. The Challenge of the Years. The Scots College. p. Plate 29.

• The Scots College website