Scots College, Wellington

Infobox NZ school
name = Scots College
badge =
motto = "Virtutem paret doctrina"
Let education make the all round man.
type = Private Composite (Year 1-13) Single Sex, Boys, with Boarding Facilities
established = 1916
address = Monorgan Road,
Strathmore,
Wellington,
New Zealand
principal = Mr Graeme Yule
roll = 602
decile = 10
MOE = 281
homepage = [http://www.scotscollege.school.nz www.scotscollege.school.nz]

Scots College is a private (independent) boys' primary and secondary school located in Wellington, New Zealand.

It was founded as a Presbyterian boys' college in 1916 by Rev Dr James Gibb and the Hon John Aitken. Dr Gibb's vision was the creation of a Christian college that would be independent of the secular state system.

The college has a proud tradition, and its Scottish heritage is reflected in its ceremonies (official ones involve a piper leading a procession into its hall) and school song. School prefects wear kilts on official occasions and at chapel, held every Friday.

The school tartan is that of the Clan Fergusson. Permission to wear the tartan was granted by the late Governor General Sir Charles Fergusson.

The College includes both primary and secondary institutions. The primary school is referred to as the Preparatory School and has its own Head Teacher and staff.

Students at the secondary school are organized into six (formerly four) "houses", identified by colour, that compete in swimming, cross-country, music, athletics, and other events. The six houses are Aitken (Blue), Fergusson (Green), Glasgow (Red), MacKenzie (Yellow), Plimmer (Sky Blue) and Uttley (Black) and recently the addition of two new houses, Smith and Mawson, which will be established in 2009.

At the Preparatory school there are four houses: Potatau (Blue), Bedding (Green), MacArthur (Red) and McKelvie (Yellow). These four houses used to correspond to the houses of the secondary school, but were changed so that the Prep school could have its own unique house system.

Currently Scots College is enjoying a revival in its musical groups. The Pipe Band had numerous successes at competitions under the tutorship of world renowned piper Marion Horsburgh over the 2007 season. Scots has also seen its senior debating teams have success in the regional final, with 2006 being possibly the strongest debating year ever. It maintains state-of-the-art facilities, the newest of them being the science block, opened in 2006 by Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse.

Controversy

In November 2007 at Scots College in Wellington, New Zealand, a student was banned from prize giving for growing a moustache and the principle threatened to bar a senior student from their NCEA examinations (official secondary school qualification) for growing a moustache during Movember. [http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4274452a6000.html Dominion Post] Accessed 16-Nov-2007 (archive at [http://www.webcitation.org/5TYZSMZKC] )]

Notable old boys

* John Clarke, satirist
* Ashley Fogel, fashion designer
* Lord Grey of Naunton, last Governor of Northern Ireland (also attended Wellington College)
* Victor Vito, New Zealand Rugby Sevens international
* Rocky Wood, author and freelance journalist

References