Clayfield College

Clayfield College is an independent, Uniting Church and Presbyterian, coeducational day and boarding school, located in Clayfield, an inner-northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The College is owned and governed by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association.

Clayfield College
Clayfield College, circa 1947
Location
Clayfield , Queensland Australia
Coordinates	27°25′11″S 153°3′10″E
Information
Type	Independent, day and boarding
Motto	Latin: Luceat Lux Vestra (Let Your Light Shine)
Denomination	Uniting Church and Presbyterian
Established	1931[1]
Principal	Dr. Andrew Cousins
Chaplain	Reverend Paul Yarrow
Grades	PP–12[2]
Gender	Girls and Boys
Enrolment	582[3]
Colour(s)	Green, gold and blue
Website	clayfield.qld.edu.au

Founded in 1931, the College has a non-selective enrolment policy and caters for approximately 500 students from Pre-Prep to Year 12,^[2] including boarders from Years 5 to 12.

Clayfield College 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 Toowong, as the school had outgrown the Clayfield campus. Subsequently, in 1931, Clayfield College was founded on BBC's former site, as the primary school department of Somerville House (a girls' school). The secondary school at Clayfield was established in 1935 and Clayfield College was separated from Somerville House.^{[citation needed]}

In 1939, Clayfield College opened its boarding school and chose as its motto the Latin Luceat Lux Vestra ("Let Your Light Shine"). The college 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, Ida 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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. ^{[citation needed]}

In September 2021, the College transitioned to be fully coeducational using the Parallel Learning model that sees girls and boys learning together from Pre-Prep to Year 6, then learning in single-sex classrooms for Year 7 through to Year 9. In Year 10 students come together for selected classes, and then coeducational classes in Years 11 and 12.^[8]

Principals

• 1934–1964: Ida Nancy Ashburn
• 1964–1990: Ida Kennedy
• 1991–2006: Carolyn Hauff
• 2007–2014: Brian Savins
• 2015: Melissa Powell
• 2016–2019: Kathy Bishop
• 2020–present: Andrew Cousins^[9]

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^[10]
• Mallrat – Artist who has appeared within the top 3 of the Triple J Hottest 100, 2020, with her song Charlie.
• Jan McLucas – from 23 March 2013, federal Minister for Human Services; Senator (ALP) for Queensland^[11]
• Stephanie Rice – swimmer; Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Olympic gold medallist
• Karin Schaupp – classical guitarist