Prince Alfred College

Prince Alfred College (PAC) is a boys school on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, South Australia near the Adelaide CBD. Established in 1869, it was originally established by the Methodist Church of Australasia and is now affiliated with the Uniting Church in Australia.

The school has approximately 1000 students, aged from 5-18 years old. The school also recently opened "Little Princes", a kindergarten for younger children.

Prince Alfred College has a proud tradition of producing "Princes Men". PAC has a proud history of academic excellence, as well as exceptional sporting achievements. The College has the largest 'old scholars' organisation (by membership) in the southern hemisphere.

Capable senior students at Princes tend towards the International Baccalaureate programme. Overall the IB results are excellent, with average final IB marks hovering around the 39-40 mark. Princes has produced several IB marks of 45 in recent years. The remainder of the students complete the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), usually with excellent results - including several students in recent years attaining five perfect scores.

Notable alumni

The school has produced almost 200 first grade and international cricketers. Notable old scholars of Princes include Australian Test Cricketers:
*Greg Blewett
*Greg Chappell
*Ian Chappell
*Trevor Chappell

and other well known figures including:
*Robert Gerard (Businessman)
*Sir Robert Helpmann (Actor)
*Donald Dunstan (Governor)
*Cecil Madigan (Explorer)
*Henry Brose (Physicist)
*Wayne Jackson (Australian Football League)
*Tim Weatherald (Magarey Medalist 2002)
*Jeffery Striker (Actor)
*James Pratt (Musician)
*Robert Dawe (Musician)

AFL Footballers
*Bernie Vince (AFL Footballer)
*Ed Lower (AFL Footballer)
*Nick Lower (AFL Footballer)

South Australian Soccer Players
*Eli Vlassis (Cumberland United)
*Daniel Tsagouris (Adelaide Olympic)
*Robbie McDonald (White City Woodville)
*Brett Selga (Enfield City)

Strategic Plan

As a modern school, Prince Alfred College continues to evolve and respond to the rapidly changing world. It has done this successfully since 1869. The Strategic Plan 2005-2010 presents an opportunity to advance a world class school and is designed to ensure that Prince Alfred College maintains its place at the forefront of boys' education.

Prince Alfred College offers a rich tradition of achievement and a deep understanding of the schools place in Australia and the world. The school has an enviable reputation as being progressive and effective. This reputation has been built on a commitment to being an innovative and leading educational provider for boys. An education at Princes prepares competent and confident young men ready for the world beyond school. Many former scholars have made a significant contribution to Australia and internationally. The school aims to provide an education that encourages every boy to flourish and to be prepared for the challenges and opportunities of an exciting future.

As a single-sex school, Princes offers a unique commitment to the growth and development of boys. The school aspires to develop young men who are open, creative, inquiring, socially and emotionally at ease, and who strive to achieve excellence and personal best in all their areas of endeavour. In the tradition of John Wesley and The Uniting Church in Australia, young men are encouraged to develop an appreciation of Christian principles. The school seeks to develop in boys an awareness of self, the ability to think critically and independently, and to be resilient, generous and prepared to act with others' interests at heart.

This Strategic Plan builds on the strengths and successes of the school's past and projects into the future. It has been developed after a comprehensive process which engaged the whole school community. The Strategic Plan 2005-2010 has established four key goals and a set of initiatives for the next five years aimed to guide the development of the school in teaching and learning, resources and environment, leadership and governance, and values and culture.

The actions to be implemented through the plan will guide Prince Alfred College's directions in educational programs, curriculum development, pastoral care, teacher development, research, community participation, and the development of the school's facilities and business plans.

History

Prince Alfred College was named after a royal prince - one of the four sons of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. The naming took place during the lengthy period of Queen Victoria's seclusion after the death of the Prince Consort in 1861. The last three decades of the 19th century were the zenith of the Victorian age and the Queen's sons were indulged when they travelled to the remotest parts of a very rich Empire. The optimism, ideals and models of this era were embodied and represented in the school - a period when the reach and power of the British Empire was absolute, even to the distant colonies. The naming of the College after Prince Alfred â€" in effect an imperial imprimatur â€" was seen as a glorious, honourable and appropriate connection for that age. However, in some ways it was remarkable, given that, at the time the Queen was rarely seen by her subjects, least of all by those in the Australian colonies. The close association with the sovereign, which continued until 1901 was significant for the first three decades of the history of PAC.

The founders of PAC were determined that the religious traditions of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, should be incorporated in the school. Wesley, a Church of England priest who took the unusual step of preaching in the open and to the poor, often faced the anger of other Christian believers. Methodism took Britain by storm in the eighteenth century and became a strong religious force in America during the later part of that century and later in the Australian colonies, particularly South Australia, in the nineteenth century. Young Methodist men of the colony and PAC were encouraged to live disciplined, hard working and Christian lives, even if they were mocked or faced society's temptations.

By the year that PAC was founded (1869), the proportion of population in Adelaide was estimated to be the second highest in the continent. No South Australian country town however had a population greater than 10,000. At the same time, nearly all the land in the city of Adelaide, laid out by Colonel Light, had been occupied. Across the parklands that surrounded the city were well established residential suburbs such as Kent Town and Norwood to the east and industrial precincts such as Hindmarsh and Thebarton to the west. The suburb of Kent Town, along with the city itself, formed a consolidated urban area in which the school was located.

During its history, Prince Alfred College has been led by some of Australia's most outstanding educators as Headmasters:
1869 to 1870 : Mr Samuel Fiddian
1871 to 1875 : Mr John Hartley
1876 to 1914 : Mr Frederic Chapple
1915 to 1929 : Mr William Bayly
1930 to 1948 : Mr Fred Ward
1949 to 1969 : Mr John Dunning
1970 to 1987 : Mr Geoffrey Bean
1988 to 1999 : Dr Brian Webber
2000 to 2004 : Dr Stephen Codrington [1]
2004 to present: Mr Kevin Tutt [2]

Recent events

During the 2005 Easter period, Prince Alfred College was in the news, when a group of ex-students were involved in a brawl with ex-students of cross-town rivals, St Peter's College, at the Oakbank Horseracing festival.

In September 2005 it was revealed that the College held $18.2 million in shares in a brewing company at the same time as it was appealing to parents and former students for funds to enable a $15 million redevelopment project to begin. However, the selling of these shares was viewed as potentially unwise due to the fact that they would likely appreciate in value in the future.

Music and the Arts at Prince Alfred College

Over the past three years, staff and students have endeavoured to improve the Arts at Princes. Of the different areas encompassed in Prince's programme (Visual Art, Multimedia, Music, Drama, Literature and Debating), Music and Drama have had the most improvement.

Drama

In 2003, Mr. Chris Overton, a new drama teacher to the school, started an extracurricular drama program for students in the Senior School. That year saw Mr. Roberts being played as the major production, as well as an assembly performance of Pirates of the Carrots and Beans (A satire of competition and interaction between Day students and Boarders, the name a pun of popular film Pirates of the Caribbean which was released in the same year), written by Mr. Overton.

2004's major production was Hamlet.com, a modern paraphrasing of Shakespeare's Hamlet, written by Mr. Overton. As there was only a small group of people interested in drama at the time, Hamlet.com shared many cast members from the 2003 season. This production required female actresses to play the roles of Gertrude and Ophelia (renamed Olivia), so year 12 students from Annesley College were auditioned and selected.

After this production, the future of Drama at Princes was unsure, as many of the senior actors were in their final year, and would thus not be able to perform in any future productions. [[Image:P9110004.JPG|thumb|400px|right |

Bang, Bang, You're Dead set

]]

Mr. Michael Steer replaced Mr. Overton as the extra-curricular drama supervisor, suggesting the play Of Mice and Men. Many students came forawrd to express their interest in doing the play, and after much discussion, the play was changed to "Bang, Bang, You're Dead", the story of Josh, a teenager who rampages through his highschool, killing Katie, his ex-girlfriend, Michael, his best-friend (also his ex's new boyfriend) and Emily, his oldest childhood friend, as well as other students he did not know. Several of the students who had committed to the play ended up dropping out, prompting several cast changes, but a concrete cast was found, with one of the students also taking up the role as Assistant Director. Three actresses from Seymour College played the lead female roles of Jessie, Katie and Emily.

"Bang Bang, You're Dead" also utilised music in the play, with Radiohead and percussion adding to the overall effect of the play. "Bang Bang" was very successful, requiring additional seating to accommodate for the unexpected audience size. The extended performance season exposed more people to the play and subsequently led to more people wanting to become involved in Drama.

In 2006, the inaugral Middle School Drama production was played, with actors from year 9 at PAC and Seymour College. The production was The Pretenders, a morality play about the consequences of Greed. None of the actors in the production had performed in a Senior School production and so had little out-of-class experience, however, three senior students coached them as Assistant Directors, teaching them various acting techniques that were employed in the play. As in "Bang Bang", music and percussion were used to carry the play along, with a live band playing at the beginning and end of the play. As yet, there has been no Senior Drama Production planned for 2006.

Music

Prince Alfred College has always had a strong music programme, producing several well known Australian performers, such as Robert Dawe and James Pratt. Since 2003, four bands have been formed in the Senior School, the String Quartet has grown to a String Orchestra and then again to a Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Choir has been formed. Students at Princes can become involved in Music either through Music Studies in class, Bands, Choirs and Orchestras or through the musical. There are also committees that help think of and organise concerts and improvement to music at Princes. In 2006, the Music Centre (with classrooms, offices and practice rooms) will be moving downstairs in the main building, to where the Health Centre and Chaplain's Office used to be.

Classroom Music

Music Education is available to all years, generally taught on rotation for one semester in the middle school and for the entire year in the senior school. Music is a compulsory semester subject in year 8, where students learn basic musical vocabulary, to read and play music on a variety of instruments (including the Piano and Drum Kit and in a variety of styles. Basic theory, composition and musical appreciation are also taught.

In 2006, the year 9 music class was cut from the curriculum due to a lack of interest, but successful lobbying and petitions by several year 9 students convinced the school to continue the class. Year 9 music extends on what is taught in year 8 by teaching students to read and identify keys, notes and rhythms on both the trable and bass clefs, to discuss and critique performances in varying styles, how to identify form and structure of music as well as the historical context of composers and compositions. Students undertaking the year 9 music course are also expected to have Single Studies lessons and are expected to perform, both solo and within an ensemble, with their instrument and then critique their performance.

When students are in year 10, they can either elect to do the Year 10 Music, Media and More course or they can do SACE Stage 1 Music (normally a year 11 subject) as an accellerated subject, opening up the option of doing year 12 Music in year 11. This was introduced in 2004 so that students would be more likely to study Music as a final subject and so that the course would not be shutdown due to lack of interest.

The Music, Media and More course continues to develop students' knowledge and ability to use theory and performance skills in composition, arranging and performance, whilst also introducing technical and industry skills and evaluation. Students learn to work with electronic equipment, to select appropriate music for radio programming. In Term 2, students produce a script for a mock radio station, which is then 'broadcast' to the school.

SACE Stage 1 deals more extensively with theoretical and performance skills and so is a popular choice for those wanting to undertake IBD Music or Stage 2 Music. The course develops students' theory skills to approximately fifth grade (AMEB) level through learning and applying knowledge of notation, vocabulary and technique as well as developing skills to accurately transcribe and arrange pieces and continuing to perform in solo and/or ensemble performances. Students also learn more about styles, structure, historical and social/cultural contexts, how to communicate ideas about musical works and presentations and develop an understanding of the role of music and musicians in society.

SACE Stage 2 music is divided into three types: Solo Performance, Ensemble Performance and Music in Context, of which students undertake two (if they choose to do both Solo and Ensemble Performance they are counted as HESS Restricted).Solo performance requires students to perform for at least 15 minutes (cumulative throughout the unit) and then a 10-12 minute final assessment in front of a SACE Moderator. Ensemble Performance is much the same, but it instead calls for the student to display confidence, leadership, accuracy, musical skills and technique as an ensemble performer. In both subjects, contrasting pieces must be played to show a variety of musical skills. Music in Context aims to get students to pursue and excel in a range of musical studies, which could be used in a musical career or music in leisure. It encourages students to appreciate and understand music, through expansion of knowledge and skills, and to communicate ideas (their own or others) about music.

IB Music Studies is a combination of Music and Music (Solo Performance), group 6 subjects. Much like the SACE programme, students are expected to develop their knowledge, abilities and understanding of performance and composition, to recognise, speculate, analyse, identify, discriminate and hypothesise in relation to music and to develop their potential as musicians both personally and collaboratively, in whatever capacity, to the full. Students have to write a Media Script, which analyses the relationships between two musical genres and perform solo recitals for at least 15 minutes, through out the year, which is recorded and sent to the IBO for assessment.

In both the SACE and the IBD, the course finishes with a written exam for theory and musicianship.

Facilities

The Music Centre at PAC (pre-2006 shift) is located on the first floor of the Main Building. There are two music classrooms, Senior and Junior, both containing a piano, a stereo system (radio, CD, vinyl and tape), a television and VCR. The senior classroom also contains five Compaq PCs, running Windows XP. As more students became aware of these computers, more vandalism occurred, a recurring problem for computers at PAC. The music centre also has a very advanced Keyboard Lab, with approximately fifteen PCs running Windows XP, with MIDI Keyboards for composition and approximately ten standalone keyboards. The Lab is confiured so that the teacher can talk to students either individually or as a group through a microphone and headphone system and so that students can either hear just their own sound or the whole classes, useful for class demonstrations. All computers have Sibelius 3 installed for composition, Band-in-a-Box, ACID for year 10 Music, Media and More, as well as various theory education programs.

On the second floor of the main building are the tuition, practice and band rooms. The practice rooms generally contain a stereo system, as well as music stands and a piano. Due to the shuffling of offices and classrooms in 2006, some of the practice and tuition rooms are currently located in portable buildings next to the chapel. Voice and Flute tuition is conducted in the downstairs room in the Chapel, and Choir rehearsals that require an organ are conducted upstairs in the chapel with the memorial chapel organ.

The Band Room has seating for a band of approximately 50 students, with Keyboards, Amplifiers and Percussion equipment stored for rehearsals and performances. The room also has whiteboards for notices and houses the filing cabinets that contain most of the PAC Music Library. The room also contains a brand-new stereo system, which due to vandalism is now off-limits to students. When the Band Room is moved downstairs in 2006, it will contain recording equipment so that the Band Director, Mr. Andrew Newhouse, can continue to improve the standard of performance, and so that the school can make recordings of the bands.

Ensembles

In 2003, there were two bands in the senior school, the Intermediate Band for beginning and average players from the Senior school and advanced students from the Junior school and the Senior Band for advanced players from the Senior school and very advanced players from the Junior school. To enter the bands, students had to successfully audition to show that they were capable of playing at the level required in the band. There was also a String Quartet in the senior school, that later grew into a String Orchestra.

The Senior band worked with various Adelaide girls schools, including Annesley, Wilderness and Seymour, up until the last term of 2005 (see below). From 2000-05, rehearsals for the Senior band were conducted on a rotation at either Seymour or PAC, whilst the Intermediate band would rehearse separate from the other school until just before a performance, where they would combine.

In 2004, year 10 students lobbied for the creation of a new Senior school band, focusing more on Big Band style music than the repertoire in the Senior band, which is a Concert Band. Their requests were fulfilled, albeit partially, with the starting of Big Band 1, which contained students primarily from the Junior school (only three or four senior students were in the new band). In an effort to get more Senior involvement in music, the Princes Jazz Band was formed in 2005. A five piece (then in 2006 four piece) band, the PJB performed at many functions including various Prince Alfred College Art shows.

Successful and continuing recruitment drives and displays in the Junior school from 2003-06 resulted in a much larger group of students becoming involved in music, prompting the creation of Big Band 2 (2005) and Big Band 3 (2006) as well as the upgrade of the String Quartet to a String Orchestra in 2003 which then amalgamated with the Chamber Orchestra. 2004 also saw the creation of the Chamber Choir which was intended to have a less religious repertoire than the Chapel Choir.

Students relaxing at Generations in Jazz 2005

=Awards and Major Public Performances

=Princes Bands have participated in a wide variety of State and National Level competitions, placing highly in their divisions. Unfortunately, several of the competitions and performance opportunities have stopped, generally due to lack of funds, but PAC has still maintained a high quality of performance.

2003:

The Art of Jazz

SA School Band Festival at Westminster College

2004:

SA School Band Festival at Westminster College

2005:

SA School Band Festival at Westminster College - Senior Band Gold, Big Band Gold, Intermediate Band Silver

Generations in Jazz - Big Band 1, 4th (Div. 3)

Australian Surgeons' Convention at Adelaide Oval - Big Band 1

2006:

Generations in Jazz - Big Band 1, 6th (Div. 2), Big Band 1 Saxophone Section, 4th (Div. 2), Big Band 2, 3rd (Div. 3)

=Tours

=Prince Alfred College has conducted four tours in the past ten years, with most of them in the past two and with several more planned for the future.

1996: Choir tour to Sydney

2004: Intermediate band tour to Melbourne

2005: Generations in Jazz (Mt. Gambier)

2006: Generations in Jazz (Mt. Gambier)

2006: Choir tour to Hobart

2006: Senior and Big Band 1 tour to MelbourneTours being planned include:

2007: Generations in Jazz (Mt. Gambier)

2007: Band tour to China

Musicals

For many years, Prince Alfred College has performed several well known musicals, with a cast comprised of students from Junior and Senior schools as well as female students from various Adelaide girls schools. From 2001 to 2004 the musicals were directed by Kerry Elliot and then later (2005-present) by Peter Hopkins, a well known man in Adelaide amateur theatre society.

2001: Fiddler on the Roof

2002: Guys and Dolls

2003: Oliver!

2004: Oklahoma

2005: Godspell

2006: HMS Pinafore

In 2006, the Princes Musical Theater Company was created, with invitations for students from Saint Peter's Girls Collegiate, Annesley College, Seymour College and Walford Anglican School for Girls to participate in the PAC Musicals. A Committee was formed to introduce more student leadership and resposibility into the planning and running of the musical, with representatives from all schools. The introduction of the committee also heralded the creation of a new Captain (see below).

In all the productions an orchestra, comprised of students from the schools involved, has accommpanied the on-stage singers during the production, assisted by a back-stage and sound/lighting crew, generally led by the head or deputy of the Tech Crew.

External links

*Home page