Westminster School, Adelaide
| Westminster School | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
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Marion, South Australia Australia |
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| Information | |
| Motto | Deo Duce (God Being Our Leader) |
| Established | 1961 |
| Principal | Steve Bousfield |
| Chaplain | Rev. Patrick Gillespie and Elizabeth Collins |
| Enrolment | Around 1150 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Area | 23 Hectares |
| Colour(s) | Green & White |
| Song | "'God be in my Head" |
| Affiliations | Uniting Church, SAAS, IGSSA, Round Square |
| Website | http://www.westminster.sa.edu.au/ |
Westminster School is an independent, Uniting Church, Early Learning to Year 12, coeducational, day and boarding school located at Marion, South Australia, 12 km south of Adelaide. Founded as a Methodist day and boarding school for boys, the school was opened by the Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1961 and is named after Westminster School in London. The school became co-educational in 1978, and has a current enrolment of around 1150 students.
Westminster School was born out of a perceived need by the Methodist Church in South Australia for a day and boarding school in Adelaide to accommodate demand additional to that satisfied by the long-established Methodist-based school Prince Alfred College.
Planning for Westminster began with a meeting on 7 June 1957, although at that stage it was not known where or when the school would be built, or indeed what it would be named. With growing momentum, it was resolved in December of that year to purchase twenty-five acres of vineyards from the South Australian Housing Trust at Marion. At the inaugural fundraising dinner on 9 June 1959, 160 men volunteered to solicit 3000 prospective contributors to achieve a target of $200,000 for the first building phase. The amount ultimately raised by those who have been affectionately called "the Men of Westminster" was $320,000.
The school commenced on 7 February 1961. At the first assembly, broadcast on radio station 5KA, the Headmaster's opening address began with the words, "Let the life of the school begin". The foundation Headmaster, Douglas Forder, presided over an initial enrolment of 143 students with a staff of seven.
The initial buildings comprised a single classroom block (known as "200" Block), the Headmaster's residence and a changeroom block. Throughout the 1960s the campus expanded from its modest beginnings with the addition of the Boarding House (1962), Preparatory School (1963), Administration Block (known as "100" block) (1965), Carter Laboratories (1965), Chapel (1967), Gymnasium / Hall (1967) and in 1974 the Fricker Library was opened.
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