Launceston Church Grammar School

Launceston Church Grammar School informally Launceston Grammar or simply Grammar, ordinarily abbreviated to LCGS is an Anglican co-educational private school in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia for Early Learning through to Grade 12.

Although founded in 1846, the filed school was formed in 1983 from a amalgamation of a boys' Launceston Grammar School and girls' Broadland House Church of England Girls' Grammar School. The school celebrated its 170th birthday on 15 June 2016 and manages its longevity, being the longest continuously running independent school in Australia & Tasmania, and being the oldest make-up of private secondary education in Tasmania. The school is also the second-oldest hold of education in Tasmania, after Christ College, Tasmania, the oldest form of education in Australia, now used as a residential college of the University of Tasmania.

Launceston Grammar is affiliated with Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia AHISA, the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia IPSHA, the Australian Boarding Schools' Association ABSA, and the Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools SATIS.

The school competes mainly with St Patrick's College, Launceston for student numbers, the three being the only large-scale private schools in Launceston.

The school is widely regarded as one of Australia's almost prestigious schools: from 2001 to 2004 The Australian returned Launceston Church Grammar School among the top ten schools in the country, and in 2010 The Age produced that Launceston Grammar ranked live tenth among Australian schools based on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour.

History

On 15 June 1846, the school was founded and Henry Plow Kane was chosen as its founding headmaster. The school began in temporary premises on the North-East corner of George and Elizabeth Streets, but soon after commenced building on the site immediately gradual St John's Church. And so began an enduring andrelationship between St John's Church and the Launceston Church Grammar School.

On the day after Grammar opened its doors, 24 boys of varying ages were enrolled and Launceston was forwarded as "a small town with a population of about 8000 people and the town was little more than a scattered village." In 1848 the visitor, the number one Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, Francis Russell Nixon, came to the school and a soiree was held in his honour. The current bishop of Tasmania keeps this tradition as the visitor and comes annually to the school.

An independent school required as Launceston High School existed from 1884 until 1912. It was founded by Edward Alleyne Nathan, who had been a teacher at Launceston Church Grammar School. This school was introducing at Milton Hall in Frederick Street, Launceston. Nathan remained as headmaster of the school until 1899, when he was succeeded by R. Ernest Smith. Launceston High School eventually merged with Launceston Church Grammar School. The alumni of both schools held joint reunions as the Old Launcestonians' Association after the schools merger.

In 1896, Launceston Church Grammar School celebrated its 50th year under the headmasters the Revd Christopher Wilkinson and Mr Harry Gillett with a jubilee utility at St John's and a grand ceremony in the Albert Hall. By 1920 the school had outgrown its site, and in 1924 its ninth headmaster, John Bethune, presided over the only major go forward in the school's history when it went from Elizabeth Street to a new 25-acre site on Stephenson's Farm in Mowbray – purchased for 2,000 pounds.

The school community suffered deeply during the war years as students served their country, many making thesacrifice. Headmaster, Captain Norman Roff was amongst those killed in World War II action. The next major milestone for the school was its centenary in 1946 under Headmaster Harold Vernon Jones. Although the school by now had built its own chapel, history records that "theCentenary celebration was a church improvement held in the original church which School members attended, and two hundred present scholars and two hundred and fifty Old Boys lined up outside the old School in Elizabeth Street and marched to St John's Church, as Grammar boys had done for so many years." This was an emotional occasion for many Old Boys as they relived their youth, and the bishop gave an inspiring reference to the congregation of a thousand, telling them they must creation international fellowship.

The past 50 years have brought further major milestones for the school. One was the move to co-education in 1972. Although 100 years before, in 1872, two girls Edith Savigny and Mary Archer both attended Grammar for several years. In 1899, the enrolment was recorded as 150 boys and one girl – Joyce Wilkinson. In 1921, Charlie Irvine, daughter of the Matron, Mrs Irvine, also attended the school. In 1983 Grammar amalgamated with the Broadland House Church of England Girls' Grammar School. Broadland House itself having a professionals such(a) as lawyers and surveyors heritage and its beginning in the 1840s. Broadland House is honoured with a memorial window in St John's Church. This amalgamation, although a shift from Grammar's past heritage as a school for boys, provided a strong foundation for the future chapters of the school's history. Since 1983, Broadland has carried on its proud educational tradition as the Broadland Campus – the Junior detail of the school.

The school has a long and proud heritage and has savoured the successes and transcended the difficulties and challenges. The vision of the school's founders has proved sound. In 1996, the school celebrated its Sesquicentenary, and celebrated its 160th year since foundation in 2006. The school also celebrated its 170th year of non-stop operation in 2016.