St Peter's College, Adelaide

Template:Infobox Aust school St. Peter's College (or simply 'Saints' as it is known by the school community) is a prestigious Anglican school on 32 hectares 3 km from the Adelaide CBD on Hackney Road, St. Peters, South Australia. St Peter's College is the wealthiest and oldest private school in South Australia being over 159 years old. School Fees range from about $7,900 in Reception to $14,100 in Year 12 and $13,100 for a boarder per annum.

Founded in 1847 by William Allen (philanthropist) and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, it teaches from Early Learning Centre (3 year olds) to Year 12 (18 years old). It was named after Westminster School in London, which used to be called The Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster.

The school motto "Pro Deo et Patria" is Latin and translates into English as 'For God and Country'.

Last year, St. Peter's welcomed their new headmaster Mr Philip Grutzner (a Melbourne Grammar old scholar).

Some senior students at Saints tend towards the International Baccalaureate programme; the remainder of the students complete the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE).

Grounds and Buildings

St Peter's College is renowned for its world class facilities and impeccable grounds. The school features a mix of heritage listed classrooms including the "Big School Room" which is thought to be Australia's oldest classroom still in constant use. The most recent addition to the school has been the completion of the multimillion dollar sports centre including two basketball courts, 25m pool, dive pool, conditioning room and café. The school is currently undertaking a new fundraising project - the Drama Centre which will be completed in stages. One of the most impeccable features of the school is its world class "Main Oval" which is ranked in the top two fields in Adelaide, the first being "Adelaide Oval". St Peters consists of seven ovals, a hockey pitch, ten tennis courts and 2 pools. The College also features an outdoor education property in Finniss which is a waterfront one hectare block of land featuring several buildings including a gymnasium.

First two Buildings on the North Terrace site. Left - Old School House Right - Chapel

Notable alumni

Notable old scholars of Saints include three Nobel laureates:

William Lawrence Bragg (Nobel prize in Physics, 1915)
Howard Walter Florey (Nobel prize in Medicine, 1945)
J. Robin Warren (Nobel prize in Medicine, 2005)

41 Rhodes Scholars

South Australian Premiers:

and other well known figures including:

Andy Thomas (Astronaut)
Scott Hicks (Film Director)
Tom Lewis (Premier of New South Wales 1975-1976)
Grant Burge Master Winemaker
Reg Grundy Television Producer

Recent events

During the 2005 Easter period, a small group of ex-students from St Peter's College and Prince Alfred College were involved in a physical altercation at the Oakbank Horseracing festival.

In 2004 a child abuse scandal involving a former chaplain at St Peter's College came to light. This event was concerning an incident that occurred over ten years before. The school was employing a chaplain, and when it was found that his balinese boyfriend and him had been sexually abusing students of the school, the then headmaster forced the chaplain to fly to Indonesia in an attempt to cover up the mishappenings. The School continues to cooperate with all police investigations and has done a great deal in recent years to prevent child abuse, bullying and harassment; however the image of the school is still marred by this scandal [1].

Assets

St Peter's College sold the Regent Arcade in 2005. Funds received from this sale have been invested in order to provide a fee subsidy for all parents, many scholarships and bursaries (from 10 to 100%) for families who are unable to afford the fees and to support the significant infrastructre that allows the School to provide an excellent teaching and learning environment for current and future students.

External links

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