Clayfield College

Clayfield College is an independent, Uniting Church and Presbyterian, day and boarding school, predominantly for girls, located in Clayfield, an inner-northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Founded in 1931, the college has a non-selective enrolment policy and caters for approximately 945 students from Prep to Year 12,^[2] including 110 boarders from Years 5 to 12. Boys are enrolled from Prep to Year 5, and girls from Pre-Prep to Year 12.^[1] It is operated by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association, as a joint mission of the Uniting and Presbyterian Churches in Queensland.^[3]

Clayfield is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),^[4] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),^[5] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),^[1] the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA),^[6] and has been a member of the Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association (QGSSSA) since 1941.^[7]

History

Clayfield College grew out of the Brisbane Boys' College (BBC), which was founded in 1902. In 1906, BBC moved to Bayview Terrace, Clayfield, moving again in 1930, to its present location at Clayfield, as the school had outgrown the campus. Subsequently, in 1931 Clayfield College was founded on BBC's former site, as the primary school department of Somerville House. The secondary school was established in 1935 and Clayfield was separated from Somerville House.

In 1939, Clayfield opened its boarding school and chose as its motto the Latin Luceat Lux Vestra ("Let Your Light Shine"). Clayfield began its house system in 1946, with four houses – Campbell, Gibson, Radcliffe and Youngman, with Henderson incorporated soon after. Ashburn house came later in honour of Clayfield's first principal, Nancy Ashburn who retired in 1964. Opened the same year, the college library was named after her.

The school's second principal, Ida Kennedy, who retired in 1990, saw the establishment of a science building, a new boarding house, an assembly hall, separate primary department, a second boarding house, the music centre and new classrooms during the 1970s and 1980s. The college chapel was built in 1985.

Mrs Carolyn Hauff AM became the third principal in 1991, retiring in 2006. Mrs Hauff saw the refurbishment and expansion of classrooms and boarding house during the 1990s. In 1997, Clayfield’s Physical Education Centre was built on the former site of the Savoy Theatre, and named after Ida Kennedy, the schools second principal. The development included a tunnel under Sandgate Road providing safe access to the east. Clayfield College continued expansion to the east of Sandgate Road by buying the Turrawan Private Hospital and converting it into a new boarding facility.

From 2007 to 2014, Brian Savins served as the fourth principal of the college. In 2009, Clayfield introduced middle schooling to link junior and senior schooling in a continuous P-12 learning environment. At the same time, the opportunity was taken to adopt the six pastoral houses across the whole college. In October 2010, Clayfield built a new junior schooling building incorporating ten classrooms and administration centre. The current principal is Melissa Powell, the fifth principal of Clayfield College.

Curriculum

Students in Years P-10 study a core curriculum based on the Australian curriculum key learning areas. In Year 9, and again in 10, students may choose electives from within languages, the arts and technology as well as continuing to study in the other core learning areas.

English and Mathematics are compulsory for all students in Years 11 and 12. In addition, students elect to study four other subjects ranging from Arts, Business, Languages, Sciences, Social Sciences, Health & Physical Education and Technology. English as a Second Language (ESL) is offered throughout the Senior School to students from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Co-curriculum

Sport

Sports offered by Clayfield College include artistic gymnastics, athletics, badminton, cricket, cross country, hockey, netball, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, touch football and volleyball.

Notable alumnae

• Tania Major – youngest person elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission; 2007 Young Australian of the Year^[8]
• Jan McLucas – from 23 March 2013, federal Minister for Human Services; Senator (ALP) for Queensland^[9]
• Elizabeth Perkins OAM – one of the first women to reach the rank of Associate Professor at James Cook University; member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council; founding editor of Literature in North Queensland ^[10]
• Stephanie Rice – swimmer; Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Olympic gold medallist and world record holder
• Karin Schaupp – classical guitarist

References

External links

• Clayfield College website