St Michael's Collegiate School, colloquially known as Collegiate, is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

early learning,

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and secondary

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and boarding school for girls. It is located in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia.

Overview

Established in 1892 by the Sisters of the Church, the school currently enrols approximately 700 students from Early Learning to Year 12, including up to 40 boarders in Years 5 to 12. Collegiate's brother school is The Hutchins School, with whom they share their Year 11 and 12 classes and many other brother/sister school activities. The school is a member of the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australia, the

Junior School Heads Association of Australia The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia. Officially established in Septem ...

(JSHAA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association, and the Association of Independent Schools' of Tasmania. The school was accredited by the Council of International Schools.

History

1892–1939

In 1892, at the invitation of Bishop Montgomery, seven Sisters came from the mother house in Kilburn, England, to Tasmania. Of these, three Sisters remained in Tasmania and at the request of Dean Dundas, opened a school for girls and boys in October 1892. Sister Hannah was the principal of the school which had an initial enrolment of 12 children, six boys and six girls. Classes were held in the Synod Hall. The son of Bishop Montgomery was

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...

, who attended the school while living in Tasmania and went on to be the victorious

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

field marshal in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

organising the D-Day Invasion at

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

and taking the surrender of

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in 1945. Sister Phyllis became the principal in 1895, by which time the number of enrolled students had risen to 71, including 6 boarders. To cater for this growth in numbers the school moved to 'Stephenville', a large house in Macquarie Street. 'Stephenville' was built in 1825 for the Solicitor General of Tasmania Sir Alfred Stephen. In 1898, the education of boys was discontinued and the school became a girls-only school, which it has remained ever since. During the following decades the school continued to expand, and in 1912 the school purchased the house 'Tremayne', located next door to 'Stephenville'. This provided extra class rooms and accommodation for the senior boarders. In these early days the school was known as the Collegiate School. The students did not have a

uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

as such, but were required to wear a long dark coloured skirt and a white

blouse A blouse () is a loose-fitting upper garment that may be worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary It is typically gathered at the waist or hips (by tight hem, pleats, parter, or belt) so th ...

. From around 1915 girls who became

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

s were presented with a silver brooch in the form of the school emblem. These were worn for the term of office and then handed back to the school to be passed to the next year's prefects. Sister Phyllis then presented each outgoing prefect with a gold signet ring. At some time during the 1920s some girls began to wear a brooch with the initials C.C.E.S., which stood for Collegiate Church of England School. In 1929 Tremayne was demolished to make way for a larger, two-storey, purpose-built building, which housed classrooms downstairs and boarding accommodation upstairs. This new building, also named 'Tremayne' was opened in 1932. Throughout this time the school continued to be run by Sister Phyllis who remained principal until 1933. In 1937 a summer uniform was introduced. It was very different from the traditional navy blue

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

and black stockings, and much more comfortable to wear in the warmer months. It was a beige-coloured tunic. This uniform remained virtually unaltered for over 50 years.

1940–1999

Due in part to the onset of the

, the school did not embark on any further expansion until 1953, by which time the school required separate buildings for a

junior school A junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at an infant school, which covers the age range 5–7. Since both infant and junior schools provide pri ...

. For this purpose two adjacent houses in Macquarie Street were purchased in 1953. In 1959 a new large Assembly Hall was completed, and not long after a number of new classrooms were added. In 1973, 80 years after the foundation of the Collegiate

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

School, the Sisters of the Church handed the responsibility of the running of the school over to a board, and in 1974 the school saw its first lay principal.

21st century

Under new principal, Adam Forsyth, positive change occurred throughout Collegiate. New school values of Courage, Compassion and Integrity were cemented as well as a new vision, "To empower every student to embrace the fullness of life". Collegiate has also updated some learning methods, with a wide range of new electives such as Marine Environment, and Athlete development. As well as this, Collegiate is a part of the Global Online Academy, which enables students to join online classes with students and teachers from all over the world. Collegiate was identified as being the site of abuse of Grace Tame, Australian of the Year, 2021.

House system

As with most Australian schools, St Michael's Collegiate School uses a

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

. The current house system consists of eight houses (Dundas, Kilburn, McPhee, Mitchell, Montgomery (nicknamed Monty), Reibey, Rivers and Stevens). Each house has a sister house within the school, and a brother house from The Hutchins School. Dundas, McPhee and Buckland (Hutchins) are 'red houses'. Rivers, Stevens and School (Hutchins) are 'blue houses'. Reibey, Montgomery and Thorold (Hutchins) are 'green houses'. Kilburn, Mitchell and Stephens (Hutchins) are 'yellow/purple houses. Each year, these houses compete against each other in physical and mental contests for the 'House Cup', donated by the graduating class of 1958. These events include inter-house swimming,

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

, house performance, house choir and athletics. There is also a 'House Spirit Cup' that goes to house with the most School Spirit.

Curriculum

Collegiate offers a wide range of subjects. Students up to Year 4 study a core of subjects, including Japanese, specifically designed to prepare them for

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

(Years 5–8). Years 5 to 8 have common teachers whenever possible. In years 5 and 6, in each semester students start learning 1 language to help them choose in year 7 and 8. In Years 7 and 8 students can study two languages other than English, from French, Mandarin and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. The Senior school (9–12) is designed to prepare students for life after school. Year 9s choose three elective subjects a semester and study a core of Science, English, SoSE,

Math Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

s, Faith and Life and Health/

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

(HPE). Year 10 students choose three electives each semester, and study the same core subjects as year 9s. Pre-tertiary students (Years 11 and 12) may choose up to five pre-tertiary subjects, however most students only choose four per year. In collaboration with The Hutchins School, Year 11 and 12 students can possibly attend Hutchins or Collegiate for some of their classes, if they would otherwise clash.

Cocurricular

Sport

Collegiate is a member of the

Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools The Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools (SATIS) is a group of sixteen schools in Tasmania (Australia), Tasmania, Australia formed by AHISA Tasmania (Australia), Tasmania to conduct sporting competitions for member schools. NSATIS ...

(SATIS). Collegiate offers a wide range of sports. Captains are usually chosen in Years 11 and 12, but in some cases a Year 10 girl is chosen as captain. Sports offered at Collegiate include, soccer, hockey, basketball, netball, rowing, orienteering, touch football, rugby, afl, water polo, tennis, mountain biking, athletics, cross country running, swimming, surfing, cricket, volleyball and sailing. Collegiate girls have represented Australia in

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, soccer, rowing, underwater hockey, and water polo, and many students represent Tasmania in many sports.

SATIS premierships

Collegiate has won the following SATIS premierships. * Athletics (15) – 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 * Cross Country (16) – 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2021 * Hockey (12) – 1990, 1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 * Netball (5) – 1983, 1984, 1986, 2001, 2005 * Rowing (3) – 1998, 2000, 2014 * Rowing Eight (5) – 2000, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2019 * Soccer – 2001 * Softball (9) – 1977, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2015 * Swimming (15) – 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 * Tennis (19) – 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1983, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2019, 2020, 2021

Music

At present Collegiate has an orchestra, various ensembles and choral groups, and a School of Performing Arts (SPA) which is a 'school inside a school' where students choose to have devoted lesson time for singing, dancing, acting or band.

Debating

Collegiate offers strong debating teams, from Junior level up to College level. Often students in Year 12 mentor the younger students in debating.

Controversy

In 2011, Nicolaas Ockert Bester, who was a science teacher and head of maths and science at St Michael's Collegiate, was convicted and jailed by the Tasmanian Supreme Court for two years and ten months for a sex crime against a 15-year-old girl student, Grace Tame, the year prior. He was 55 years old at the time. He was convicted and jailed for an additional four months in 2016, for later bragging about it on social media. In 2017, Raynor Ian Bartsch, 56, who was a physical education teacher and head of sport at St Michael's Collegiate between 1989 and 1993, pleaded guilty and was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for maintaining a sexual relationship for eight weeks in the 1990s with a young person (a 16-year-old girl student).St Michael's Collegiate School ex-teacher, Raynor Ian Bartsch, jailed for sex with student – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
/ref> During the trial, the court heard that the school was aware of allegations, but allowed the teacher to finish the year teaching, working at the pool, and coaching. At the time, the acting principal and the school chaplain both spoke to Bartsch about his behaviour.

Notable alumnae

* Courtney Barnett, singer-songwriter and guitarist * Fran Bladel, secretary and founding member of ''A Taste of the Huon Festival''; former Tasmanian Government spokesperson for women; former special Minister of State Assisting the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

; former acting Minister for Education; former acting Minister for Health; named on Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women 2006 (also attended St Theresa's Convent School, Moonah) * Monique Brumby, singer * Nan Chauncy, children's author * Vanessa Goodwin MLC, a former Tasmanian politician who served as Attorney General, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Justice, Minister for Corrections; and was the Leader of the Upper House; former Upper House Member for Pembroke * Pauline Fanning ,

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

for the Australian National Dictionary (ANU); former consultant to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library * Dorothy Foster (1908-1981) studied here before becoming a producer, writer and actress. *

Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the I ...

, victorious British Army field marshal of World War 2 * Elizabeth Murchison, geneticist specialising in devil facial tumor diseases. * Grace Tame, Australian

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and advocate for survivors of

child sexual assault A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

; 2021 Australian of the Year * Jean Miles Walker, World War I nurse * Julie Warn , director of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), Edith Cowan University; recipient of the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

2003 * Kate Warner , Governor of Tasmania; foundation director of the Tasmania Law Reform Institute; professor at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

* Alison Mary Watkins (née Lester), company director; director of

Woolworths Limited Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian multinational retail and finance company, primarily known for the operation of its retail chain Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia, Woolworths (previously known as Countdown) in New Zealand and ...

Just Group The Just Group, also known as Apparel Brands, comprises five fashion retail brands: Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Jacqui E, Portmans and Dotti. The group is owned by Myer. History 1970–1990: Founding and growth Just Jeans was founded by the K ...

Ltd and National Food Industry Strategy Ltd; former executive chairman of Mrs Crocket's Kitchen Pty Ltd * Alison Whyte, actress, '' Frontline'', '' SeaChange'' * Claire Chandler, Senator for Tasmania. * Ellie Gavalas, Athlete

References

External links

St Michael's Collegiate School websiteCommunity of the Sisters of the Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael's Collegiate School Educational institutions established in 1892 Boarding schools in Tasmania Girls' schools in Tasmania Anglican primary schools in Hobart Anglican high schools in Hobart Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools 1892 establishments in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia