Scots College, Wellington
Encyclopedia
Scots College is a private (independent) boys' primary and secondary school
located in the suburb of Strathmore Wellington, New Zealand. The College comprises both the primary and secondary institutions - the primary school section is typically referred to as the Preparatory School and has its own Head Teacher and staff.
on the current campus of Queen Margaret College in Thorndon. Dr Gibb's vision was the creation of a Christian college that would be independent of the secular state system. It is the 'brother' school of The Scots College
in Sydney
, Australia and of Queen Margaret College in Thorndon, Wellington.
The college has a proud tradition, and its Scottish
heritage is reflected in its ceremonies (official ones involve a piper leading a procession into its hall) and school song. College prefects wear kilts on official occasions and every Thursday for chapel (due to construction limitations). The school tartan is that of the Clan Fergusson
. Permission to wear the tartan was granted by the late Governor General Sir Charles Fergusson.
In November 2007 several graduating students were banned from end-of-year prizes for growing moustaches and the college threatened to ban a senior student from their NCEA examinations (official secondary school qualification) for growing a moustache during Movember
.
The Preparatory School maintains four houses: Potatau (Blue), Bedding (Green), MacArthur (Red) and McKelvie (Yellow). In 2004 there was an announcement of a change to the current House names in the hopes of giving the Preparatory School a better sense of historical identity; Potatau renamed for the writer of the School haka
and McKelvie to retain a link to the old McKelvie Baths, demolished in 2001-2002.
The School holds a tradition of maintaining a Pipe band and a Musical Director with Organ playing skills. The Pipe Band has in the last few years travelled to Scotland and regularly competes in local contests.
Concerts have been performed the college at St Paul's Cathedral as a part of the Friday concert series the Cathedral promotes throughout the year. The school's musical students have also performed at the Town Hall, of which the most recent, Shared Harmonies, was performed in conjunction with QMC. In the past performances from the school choirs have been in conjunction with the Orpheus Choir and also the Vienna Boys Choir from Austria.
The School has offered many theatre and musical productions over the years including A funny thing happened on the way to the forum
, The Mikado
, Oliver!
, Peter Pan
, The Count of Monte Cristo
and Johnny and the Dead
as the 2011 production.The secondary school productions have a significant amount of collaboration with Queen Margaret College and Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
for the female roles.
The school also has IB World School status and maintains an IB curriculum from PYP to Diploma. The current IB Diploma co-ordinator is Niels Erik Wegge
and the MYP co-ordinator is Peter Cassie, Head Teacher and Principal of the Preparatory School.
Scots College is the brother school to the slightly younger Queen Margaret College
, which now sites itself in the original Scots College building; often there are various socials and sporting matches against local schools, organised by College Sport Wellington. In addition, both sections of the school have inter-school fixtures with other secondary schools, notably Lindisfarne
and primary schools such as Huntley School
.
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
located in the suburb of Strathmore Wellington, New Zealand. The College comprises both the primary and secondary institutions - the primary school section is typically referred to as the Preparatory School and has its own Head Teacher and staff.
History
It was founded as a Presbyterian boys' college in 1916 by Rev Dr James Gibb and the Hon John AitkenJohn Aitken (Mayor of Wellington)
John Guthrie Wood Aitken was the Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand from 1900 to 1904.He represented the City of Wellington electorate from 1902 to 1905, and then the Wellington East electorate from 1905 to 1908, when he retired....
on the current campus of Queen Margaret College in Thorndon. Dr Gibb's vision was the creation of a Christian college that would be independent of the secular state system. It is the 'brother' school of The Scots College
The Scots College
For other schools with a similar name see Scots College.The Scots College is an independent Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Bellevue Hill, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia and of Queen Margaret College in Thorndon, Wellington.
The college has a proud tradition, and its Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
heritage is reflected in its ceremonies (official ones involve a piper leading a procession into its hall) and school song. College prefects wear kilts on official occasions and every Thursday for chapel (due to construction limitations). The school tartan is that of the Clan Fergusson
Clan Fergusson
Clan Fergusson is a Scottish clan which has multiple geographic origins across Scotland. Consequently the Fergussons may be viewed as both a Highland and a Lowland clan....
. Permission to wear the tartan was granted by the late Governor General Sir Charles Fergusson.
In November 2007 several graduating students were banned from end-of-year prizes for growing moustaches and the college threatened to ban a senior student from their NCEA examinations (official secondary school qualification) for growing a moustache during Movember
Movember
Movember is an annual, month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November. The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com...
.
Houses
Students at the secondary school are organized into eight "houses", identified by colour. The houses have expanded three times since the founding of the school- two houses were added to the original two in 1961/1963, another two in 1993 and a further two added in 2009, with the boarders' house (Gibb) being removed at this time as well. There are major competitions in swimming, cross-country, music, athletics, and other weekly house sport games, such as hockey and touch rugby. The two original houses were Aitken (Blue) and Fergusson (Green), with Glasgow (Red) and MacKenzie (Yellow) being established next, followed by Plimmer (Sky Blue) and Uttley (Black) in 1993 and Smith (Navy Blue) and Mawson (Maroon) established in 2009.The Preparatory School maintains four houses: Potatau (Blue), Bedding (Green), MacArthur (Red) and McKelvie (Yellow). In 2004 there was an announcement of a change to the current House names in the hopes of giving the Preparatory School a better sense of historical identity; Potatau renamed for the writer of the School haka
Haka
Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
and McKelvie to retain a link to the old McKelvie Baths, demolished in 2001-2002.
Cultural
Dr Stephen Rowley (Preparatory School) and Andrew Stopps (Secondary School) are the current directors of music and involved through all year groups, responsible for choirs, orchestras and performing groups and musical tutelage.The School holds a tradition of maintaining a Pipe band and a Musical Director with Organ playing skills. The Pipe Band has in the last few years travelled to Scotland and regularly competes in local contests.
Concerts have been performed the college at St Paul's Cathedral as a part of the Friday concert series the Cathedral promotes throughout the year. The school's musical students have also performed at the Town Hall, of which the most recent, Shared Harmonies, was performed in conjunction with QMC. In the past performances from the school choirs have been in conjunction with the Orpheus Choir and also the Vienna Boys Choir from Austria.
The School has offered many theatre and musical productions over the years including A funny thing happened on the way to the forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
, The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
, The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
and Johnny and the Dead
Johnny and the Dead
Johnny and the Dead is the second novel by Terry Pratchett to feature the character Johnny Maxwell. The other novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Only You Can Save Mankind and Johnny and the Bomb...
as the 2011 production.The secondary school productions have a significant amount of collaboration with Queen Margaret College and Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori in New Zealand. It has a socio-economic decile of 10 and provides private preschool to year 13 education for girls, but with co-educational kindergarten facilities...
for the female roles.
Campus facilities
Scots maintains very recent facilities and is often visited by construction vehicles. The most recent projects on campus have been the science block, opened in 2006 by Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse and the Aitken (Admin/Reception) block in 2009. Other facilities updated in the last few years include the Leslie Shelly Lecture Theatre and the Information Centre, and an extension to Gibb House, the school's Boarding House. Currently under Development are the Creative Performing Arts Centre and a Covered Sports Centre, intended to provide facilities for recording, robotics, drama, music and art and sporting training in all weather conditions, respectively.The school also has IB World School status and maintains an IB curriculum from PYP to Diploma. The current IB Diploma co-ordinator is Niels Erik Wegge
Niels Erik Wegge
Niels Erik Wegge-Olsen is a Danish mathematician and physicist. He is also an accomplished organist.He has published three books: K-theory and C-algebras and Oriya, a guide to the Oriya language in India, as well as a book about living in India....
and the MYP co-ordinator is Peter Cassie, Head Teacher and Principal of the Preparatory School.
Boarding
The boarding house (titled Gibb House, after the founder of the school) has accommodation for approx 60 boys. The majority of these students attend the Secondary School (years 9-13) however allowance has been made occasionally for Year 7 and 8 Boys to Board fulltime. The current boarding director is Geoff Hall, with assistant house masters Phillip Smith and Will Struthers. In addition, gap year tutors are lodged in the boarding house and assist with day-to-day operations. Day Boys and Boarders compete with rival rugby teams on an annual basis.Connections with other schools
Although not as large as competing schools around the Wellington region Scots College 1st XV is currently playing in the Premier I rugby division. Students competing for the 1st XV in traditional fixtures perform a special haka written by an old boy; this is distinct from the school haka.Scots College is the brother school to the slightly younger Queen Margaret College
Queen Margaret College (Wellington)
Queen Margaret College is an independent Presbyterian all-girls high school/college in Wellington, New Zealand. The school was started in 1919 at 53 Hobson Street, Thorndon, Wellington. It was previously the location of Scots College, Wellington, now the school's brother school. The land currently...
, which now sites itself in the original Scots College building; often there are various socials and sporting matches against local schools, organised by College Sport Wellington. In addition, both sections of the school have inter-school fixtures with other secondary schools, notably Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne College, New Zealand
Lindisfarne College was established in Hastings, New Zealand in 1953 by the Herrick Family. The land was gifted by the Herricks and the school begun with a modest roll of 33 students however its roll has rapidly increased and in 2011 has over 500 students currently attending the college. The school...
and primary schools such as Huntley School
Huntley School (New Zealand)
Huntley School is an Anglican independent boarding prep School in Marton, New Zealand.It was founded in 1896 by Charles Mather and Basil Wilson on Calico Line as a small school for children of the farmers in Marton. The school is now located on Wanganui Road. The building has been rebuilt since the...
.
Notable alumni
- John ClarkeJohn Clarke (satirist)John Morrison Clarke is a New Zealand-born Australian comedian, writer, and satirist. He was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and has lived in Australia since the late 1970s...
- satirist - Ashley Fogel - fashionFashionFashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
designerDesignerA designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a... - Lord Grey of Naunton - last Governor of Northern IrelandGovernor of Northern IrelandThe Governor of Northern Ireland was the principal officer and representative in Northern Ireland of the British monarch. The office was established on 9 December 1922 and abolished on 18 July 1973.-Overview:...
(also attended Wellington CollegeWellington College (New Zealand)Wellington College is a state secondary school for boys in Mount Victoria in Wellington, New Zealand.-History:Wellington College opened in 1867 as Wellington Grammar School in Woodward Street, though Sir George Grey gave the school a deed of endowment in 1853. In 1874 it opened at its present...
) - Stu RiddleStu RiddleStu Riddle is a New Zealand football player.- Playing career :Less than a year after leaving high school at Wellington's Scots College, Riddle shot to prominence after a high-scoring debut season with Wellington United in the New Zealand Superclub competition.At the age of 19 Riddle was the...
- footballer - Victor VitoVictor Vito (rugby player)Victor Vito is a New Zealand rugby player/male model who plays blindside flanker for the New Zealand All Blacks. He was a star of New Zealand Sevens, and captained the 2006 New Zealand Under 19 Rugby team...
- New Zealand Rugby Sevens international and All Black - Rocky WoodRocky WoodRocky Wood is an award-nominated writer and researcher best-known for his books about horror author Stephen King. He is the first non-American to hold the position of President of the Horror Writers Association. Wood was born in Wellington New Zealand and lives in Melbourne, Australia with his...
- author and freelance journalist