History

When five residents of the Mornington Peninsula began talking of the need for a church associated boys’ school, there had been no new independent school in Melbourne for more than 50 years. The year was 1957 and the Mornington Peninsula was developing very rapidly, with hundreds of new families moving into the area. The dream of a new school was shared by an ever-increasing group of dedicated and enthusiastic men and women. Countless meetings were held to garner support, and fairly rapidly the dream became reality.

On 5 February 1961 the builders moved out of the newly completed single block of classrooms and the teaching staff moved in, shifting furniture and books in for the next day, the first day of school. The School’s first Headmaster, Rev. Dudley Clarke, who had an impressive ability to inspire commitment and effort in others, led the team of just eight Foundation staff. The next day 86 students from Prep to Year 8 arrived at The Peninsula School.

The Founders held on to their vision of a successful school that would provide a complete primary and secondary education for students on the Mornington Peninsula, and the School continued to thrive.

By 1965 there were more than 400 students including the first group of Year 12 students, and the very first Peninsula Grammar Prefects. Rev. Dudley Clarke left the school in 1971 after a decade of outstanding leadership.

The second Headmaster, Mr Harry Macdonald, led the School with distinction for 20 years and saw it go from strength to strength. He retired in 1991, and in 1992 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his ‘Outstanding Service to Education’.

Mr Ray Hille was appointed Principal in 1992 and steered the School through a new era where technology became an integral part of the School day. In 1994 girls were enrolled for the first time and by 1999 the School had girls in every year level from the ECC to Year 12. Mr Hille retired in 2009 and in 2010 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his ‘Outstanding Service to Education’.

Mr Stuart Johnston commenced in 2010 and is only the fourth Principal in the School’s history. The hard work and vision of the Founders continues to inspire all whom work and study at Peninsula Grammar today.

The original colours for the School were royal blue, tan and white.

The first school jumpers were royal blue (not navy) with white and tan stripes on the neckline. The School tie was blue with thin white and tan stripes. The tan colour was difficult to reproduce consistently so it was decided to change the tan to red.

In 1961 the Foundation students wore a blue cap with tan trim and a plain white mitre at the front, because the School crest had still not been designed.

After 1961 the cap carried the coloured crest on the front panel. The cap remained part of the uniform until the late 1970s. The blue blazer with the School crest on the top pocket was originally a sports blazer, designed to be worn with cricket whites. It proved so popular with the students that they were soon permitted to wear it casually as part of their everyday uniform, but the grey suit remained the formal uniform until the late 1970s.

Students who received Colours awards had red piping on their jackets.

A blue shirt was worn by all students until 1965, then the first Year 12 students wore a white shirt.

The first sports top was a blue jumper with tan collar and cuffs with no School crest. The sports jumper was reversible for practice matches and inter-House games at school. It had a white stripe on the reverse side to make the teams easy to tell apart. The football socks were blue with a tan band at the top.

In 1990 the mid-blue of the blazer, jumper and tie was changed to navy. The striped blazer was first introduced in the late 1980s as a Colours or Awards blazer, but proved so popular that it soon became the standard uniform for Senior students.

1994 was the year that the first girls entered the School. The original girls’ summer uniform was the check dress we have today, but it had white collar and cuffs and was worn with long navy socks. This was changed that same year to the navy collar and cuffs we have today.

In 2008 short socks replaced the former long socks as part of the summer uniform.

In 2010 the “February Shirt” was introduced in response to the warmer summer weather. This was a short-sleeved shirt with the School crest and “The Peninsula School” embroidered above the pocket; it could be worn without a tie during February only.

In 2013 the embroidered shirt became the standard shirt for both summer and winter uniform.

From 2020 all students will wear uniform items branded with our current school name, Peninsula Grammar.

A Bishop’s mitre above the shield was chosen to denote Peninsula Grammar’s commitment to the Christian faith.

The incorporation of the Southern Cross and a torch together on a shield below the mitre symbolise our unique location in the southern hemisphere.

The ribbons under the mitre are the traditional ribbons attached to a Bishop’s mitre.

The torch symbolises the light of learning, but is also a reference to the torch that appears on the family crest of Matthew Flinders, whom is associated with exploration of the Mornington Peninsula.