The Armidale School

The Armidale School was founded in 1894 as a boarding school primarily for the sons of the gentry,^[6] however the origins of the school can be traced to 1838, when Patrick Grant, a magistrate at Maitland, conceived the idea of a proprietary school for boys in the Hunter Valley.^[4] This idea was taken over by prominent members of the Church of England in the northern districts of New South Wales, and 500 pounds was obtained from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, as a result of the efforts of the first (and only) Bishop of Australia, William Grant Broughton. In 1840, a site for the school was purchased at Honeysuckle Point, in Newcastle.^[4] Nothing more came of the plan until the appointment of William Tyrrell, as the first Bishop of Newcastle in 1846. The property was passed on to Tyrrell, and in 1854 the land was resumed by the Hunter River Railway Company.^[4]

By 1877, the school had still not been established, and Bishop Tyrrell began to push the matter further. Subsequently, a plan was drawn up and land selected at Blandford, near Murrurundi. In 1881, it was determined that the plan to build the school at Blandford was unaffordable, and a suggestion was made that it should be built on the New England Tablelands at Armidale. The additional capital required, to the amount of 6,000 pounds, was raised by James Ross, Archdeacon of Armidale, and his leading laymen.^[4]

On 5 June 1891 the New England Proprietary School Limited (NEPS) was incorporated with 100-pound shares, offered at 50 pounds each, allowing each shareholder to nominate one pupil for each share purchased. The directors purchased 20 acres (8 ha) in Armidale in September 1891, adding to the 10 acres (4 ha) obtained in 1889. The foundation stone of the main building, designed by noted architect Sir John Sulman, was laid on 22 February 1893, by the Governor of New South Wales, the Rt. Hon. Victor Albert George, Earl of Jersey. The Opening Ceremony was performed by the Rt. Rev Arthur Vincent Green, Bishop of Grafton and Armidale on 15 May 1894.^[4]

The name of the company and School was changed in 1896 to The Armidale School (TAS). Also that year, TAS joined the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (GPS) in Sydney, and has remained a member ever since.^[4]

In 1950, the school site was transferred to the trustees of the Church of England Diocese of Armidale, and was administered by a School Council comprising members from the Diocese, Old Boys' Union and P&F.^[4] through to 2009.

On 1 January 2010 the school was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act with the name: The Armidale School.

In March 2015 the school announced it would commence full co-education, and began taking enrolments for Year 12 students, who would begin tuition in October 2015, and for Year 6–11 students, to begin tuition in 2016.^[12] This expanded upon an already co-educational Junior School, and was announced following a nine-week consultation process.^[13] The school started 2016 with 53 girls, including 14 boarders.^[14] By the start of 2023, girl enrolments accounted for around 43 percent of total enrolments.

 

 

The Armidale School is situated on a single 18 hectares (44 acres) campus in Armidale, a university city on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, midway between Sydney and Brisbane.^[6] The school features a mix of historic and modern buildings, all of which reflect design elements of the outstanding original building designed by noted architect Sir John Sulman in 1892. Other notable buildings are the 1902 Chapel, designed by Cyril Blacket, and the War Memorial Assembly Hall, which features three magnificent stained glass windows designed by Napier Waller.

The facilities of the school include the Michael Hoskins Creative Arts Centre, which incorporates a 240-seat performing arts theatre, drama classrooms and visual arts studios. The centre is used by various local and visiting performing arts organisations including as the 'home' of the Armidale Drama & Music Society. Other facilities include a heated indoor swimming pool, rifle range, cattle stud, chapel, gymnasium, library, music centre, computer rooms,^[11] climbing wall, weights room, an indoor cricket centre, several indoor and outdoor basketball courts, seven tennis courts, rugby and soccer fields, and cricket wickets.

 

TAS currently has six school boarding houses, named Abbott, Croft, Dangar, Tyrrell, and White, and an as yet unnamed 64-bed girls' boarding house which opened its doors in 2018.^[4] The senior boys' boarding houses (Abbott, Croft and Tyrrell) each accommodate up to 60 students, with 10 to 15 boys in each year group. In the lower years boys are accommodated in dormitories, and as they progress through the school are moved into private study/bedrooms. Middle School boys are accommodated in White House, while Middle School girl boarders reside in Dangar House, the school's original primary school.^[15]

Co-curricular activities available to TAS students include: Debating and public speaking, drama, band, orchestra, choirs, art, photography, Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and a school Poll Hereford stud which exhibits cattle at local and regional agricultural shows.^[11] Annual theatrical productions are staged in the School's Hoskins Centre theatre; previous productions include The Addams Family (2018), Oliver! (2019), Wizard of Oz (2019), Sweeney Todd (2020), Rhinoceros (2022) and Legally Blonde (2023).^[16]

It is an expectation of TAS that all students must commit to at least 20 hours of community service per year, both in the local and wider community.

Year 8 students may volunteer for a service trip to St Christopher's orphanage in Fiji, where they participate in the upkeep and daily maintenance of the orphanage and establish friendships with the children.^[6] In the past, a similar Christian service trip has been offered to Year 10 and 11 students to Thailand, assisting at the McKean Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre and the Agape AIDS Orphanage near Chang Mai. Other service offerings have included a visit to helping indigenous boys and girls at Yipirinya School in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Locally, for more than a decade senior TAS students have participated in a lunchtime reading and play program with the neighbouring Minimbah Primary School, an independent school in east Armidale with a predominantly Indigenous student enrolment. Other student-led initiatives include donating blood to the NSW Red Cross Blood Bank and support raising awareness for mental health most recently through not-for-profit social agency, Batyr.

 

The Armidale School is one of the nine members of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (GPS)^[10] and participates in some GPS sporting competitions as well as several non-GPS or traditional sports. TAS students may participate in a variety of sports including: athletics, basketball, canoeing, cricket, cross country, hockey, mountain biking, netball, rugby union, rifle shooting, soccer, squash, rowing, swimming, tennis, triathlon, volleyball and water polo.

In April each year, the school hosts more than 40 school and club teams at the TAS Rugby Carnival, the largest primary-aged rugby carnival in Australia.

The school also holds a swimming carnival and an athletics carnival once a year, with students participating in inter-house competition. Boarding students compete for either Abbott, Croft or Tyrrell house, while day students are members of Broughton, Green or Ross houses. Broughton was originally a boarding house; Green and Ross were inaugurated in 1983 by Prince Edward, during a private visit to the school. Inter-house competitions are also held for debating, public speaking, and the creative arts.

 

The Armidale School has a leadership, service and adventure program which has an emphasis on outdoor education and is designed to develop a sense of responsibility and self-confidence through activities such as abseiling, whitewater kayaking and bivouacs. Outdoor education activities in which students may participate in, include the following:

Founded in 1898 and one of the longest-running cadet units in Australia, the TAS Cadet Unit is part of the Australian Army Cadet Corps. This activity is compulsory for students in Years 8 to 10, and is voluntary for Years 11 onwards. It involves drill and ceremonial work, and Outward Bound training. A Ceremonial Guard provides a catafalque party each year at Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services in Armidale and at school, and the TAS Cadet band operates for the annual cadet unit passing out parade.

In 1970 TAS became the first school in NSW to offer bush firefighter training, originally as part of the service component for the school's Duke of Edinburgh Award. The school's RFS program aims to produce students who are competent in aspects of bush firefighting, and who take an active role in helping their community by obtaining a Bush Firefighting (BF) qualification. The activity is carried out in conjunction with the Dumaresq Brigade of the NSW Rural Fire Service New England Zone and at the RFS' Armidale Fire Training Centre.^[17]

Surf life saving commenced at TAS in 1967, as a service component for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme introduced at the school earlier that year. For the first few years, the boys did their training at Nambucca Heads, and during the 1990s, with Yamba SLSC. Currently the relationship is with Sawtell SLSC,^[18] where students spend several days during the year and then an intensive week of training and assessment in November. Students are instructed in inshore boat rescue – crewing, patient pick-ups and assessment, related signals, radio, equipment and safety; first aid – CPR; board rescues, tube rescues, patient care, patient carries, etc. This program culminates in an examination for their RLSSA Surf Life Saving Bronze Medallion.

 

As part of the school's adventure program a number of expeditions have taken place including five treks of the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Sea to Summit cycle ride from Pambula to the peak of Mount Kosciuszko, and to Antarctica.

The TAS Triple Crown was instigated in 2014 as an award given to those students who complete three adventure events during their time at the school – the 2 km Coffs Harbour Ocean Swim, the 14 km City to Surf footrace in Sydney, and the 111 km overnight Hawkesbury Canoe Classic. Other events that are recognised for the award include Tour de Rocks, a 255 km charity cycle ride from Armidale to South West Rocks. Those who complete three in the one year are awarded the Gold Triple Crown.

TAS is a member of Round Square,^[19] an international organisation of more than 200 schools worldwide which subscribes to the philosophy of Kurt Hahn (1886–1974), a renowned educationalist, who founded the idea of experiential education through such initiatives as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and Outward Bound. The philosophy is based on five pillars or IDEALS: Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service. The Round Square network affords member schools the opportunity to arrange local and international student and teacher exchanges on a regular basis between their schools. Students and staff also have the opportunity to participate in local and international community service projects and conferences.

Alumnus of The Armidale School are referred to generally as Old Armidalians, Old Boys or Old Girls (following the introduction of co-education in 2015) and may elect to join the schools' alumni association, the Old Armidalians' Union (formerly TAS Old Boys' Union).^[20] Some notable Old Armidalians include:

• Robert Clarence Robertson-Cuninghame – later Chancellor of the University of New England^[21]

• Alex Buzo – playwright^[22]
• Peter Cousens – musical theatre performer^{[citation needed]}
• Gus Gordon – illustrator and children's writer^{[citation needed]}
• Ian Kiernan AO – environmentalist and around the world yachtsman (also attended The Scots College)^[23]
• David Morrow OAM - media sports broadcaster with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Radio 2GB.
• Nigel Brennan – photojournalist and author who was kidnapped by Islamist insurgents in Somalia in 2008 and held hostage for 15 months^{[citation needed]}
• Ben Mingay – TV and film actor^{[citation needed]}
• Angus Sampson – TV and film actor who appeared in Kokoda and Thank God You're Here^{[citation needed]}

• James Keith Bain AM – company director, farmer, author, chairman of Merryville Estates Pty Ltd, NatWest Aust. Bank Ltd (1985–91), Bain & Company (1947–87), Sydney Stock Exchange (1983–87) (also attended The Scots College)^[23]

• Sir Arnold Amet – former Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea^{[citation needed]}
• Sir Kina Bona KBE – Judge, National and Supreme Courts of Papua New Guinea^{[citation needed]}
• Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Bruxner – leader of the New South Wales Country Party, Deputy Premier and Member of the NSW Parliament from 1920 to 1962^{[citation needed]}
• Lieutenant General Sir Leslie Morshead KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO, ED – military leader who led the Australian and British troops at the Siege of Tobruk (1941) and at the Second Battle of El Alamein (TAS Staff)
• Don Page – former Member of NSW Parliament for State seat of Ballina^{[citation needed]}
• George Souris – former Member of NSW Parliament for State seat of Upper Hunter and former NSW Government Minister^{[citation needed]}
• Dave Layzell – Member of NSW Parliament for State seat of Upper Hunter – NSW Nationals^{[citation needed]}
• William Wentworth AO – Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives^{[citation needed]}

• Professor Jonathan Sprent FRS, immunologist with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research^{[citation needed]}

• Greg Cornelsen – former rugby player capped 25 times for the Wallabies^{[citation needed]}
• Sir Bernard Croft – played Rugby Union for Australia in the 1928 New Zealand tour
• Allan Grice – racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000, and Member for Broadwater in the Queensland Parliament from 1992 to 2001^{[citation needed]}
• Joe Roff – former rugby player for the ACT Brumbies (1996–2004) and capped 86 times for the Wallabies^{[citation needed]}
• Richard Tombs – former rugby player capped five times for the Wallabies^{[citation needed]}
• Adrian Skeggs - former representative rugby player.

• Clifford M. Chard (active 1920s onward), architect with the firm Kabbery and Chard^[24]
• Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor – pioneering aviator and author^[25]

• List of Anglican schools in New South Wales
• Anglican education in Australia
• List of boarding schools in Australia
• Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

• The Armidale School website
• NSW Rhodes Scholars