AMBITIOUS EVOLUTION

BOSTOCK HOUSE HASN’T NECESSARILY BEEN A LITTLE THING THAT HAS GROWN. FOR THE PAST 98 YEARS, BOSTOCK HOUSE HAS BEEN A HOME OF LEARNING THAT HAS TRANSFORMED AND EVOLVED ACROSS VARIOUS SITES IN AND AROUND GEELONG. FOR MANY FAMILIES, IT MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY THROUGH OUR SCHOOL, BUT THE PREPARATORY/PRIMARY CAMPUS HAS ALSO HAD ITS OWN JOURNEY. AS WE PREPARE FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF THIS JOURNEY, AND THE ADVENTURE THAT AWAITS AT THE NEW, PURPOSE-BUILT PRIMARY SCHOOL AT CORIO, IT IS REMARKABLE TO RECOGNISE THE RHYTHM OF HISTORY REPEATING AND REVERBERATING WITH EACH RENEWAL.

In the beginning, it wasn’t even Bostock House. The Geelong Preparatory Grammar School began in the parish hall at Christ Church Geelong on the crest of the Moorabool Street hill in 1924, around the corner from the grand Gothic building that had been home to Geelong Grammar School from 1858 until the School outgrew the “gray-turreted mother” and relocated to Corio in 1914. Similarly, the Preparatory School outgrew the parish hall, and a new school building was constructed on the corner of Pakington and Aberdeen streets in Newtown in 1926. The Preparatory School was renamed Bostock House in 1933 by Sir James Darling (Headmaster 1930-62), in honour of Thomas E Bostock, a successful wool merchant who was Mayor of Geelong from 1905 to 1908, founded the Barwon

Heads Golf Club in 1907, and served on the Geelong Grammar School Council from 1909 to 1922, playing a vital role in the School’s move to Corio.

“Mr. Bostock was not an Old Boy of the School, but he could not have done more for its wellbeing. He loved the School… nothing, perhaps, afforded him greater happiness than those occasions in which his time and energy were being devoted to the School; he possessed in his heart a loyal and passionate devotion for the Light Blue Flag. The re-building of the School from its original site in Moorabool Street to its present site over-looking Corio Bay was due more than any other cause to Mr. Bostock’s confident assurance that a progressive step in the right direction was being taken. The School will not forget, for he has left behind him an honoured name and a work that shall endure throughout succeeding generations.” – The Corian, August 1922

Bostock House outgrew its Aberdeen Street location and moved to farming land beyond Highton on the slopes of the Barrabool Hills in 1962, where it shared a site with The Hermitage and Marcus Oldham Farm Management College. GGS amalgamated with The Hermitage in 1976 and the campus became known as Geelong Grammar School Highton, for Prep to Year 9. Another restructure of the School in 1997 saw the development of a Middle School at Corio for Years 5 to 8, with three-year-old Kindergarten to Year 4 relocated to 139 Noble Street, Newtown; a large, rambling Edwardian-style house built in 1916 for Edward George Gurr, the then Mayor of Geelong. It was purchased in 1953 by two sisters, Edith and Helen Wood, who established St Andrew’s Private School, which operated as a primary school on the site until 1994. GGS bought the property in 1997 and the new campus opened in 1998 as Bostock House (again).

“Very rarely do teachers have the chance to be involved in the formation of a new school, or in this case, a new campus. We have built upon the established principles of Geelong Grammar School Highton to create a new face for Geelong Grammar School – a campus which is aimed at developing confidence and self-esteem in young children from 3 years old until they reach the end of Year 4.” – 1998 Parent Information Evening

By 2022, the School’s ambitions had once again outgrown its location. The expansion of Corio Campus with a new, purpose-built Primary School was announced in March. This exciting new stage in the journey for Bostock House will realise the School’s vision of a learning experience that embodies the Strategic Pillars of Adventure Education, Positive Education and Creative Education, with a particular emphasis on nature and inquiry-based learning that leverages the Timbertop experience and enlivens Adventure Education for all students at Corio. The result of three years of planning, market research and design iterations, this will be a unique and innovative project that connects to the natural ecosystem of fields, ponds, native grasslands, creek, coastal ridge and lagoon, as well as the exceptional playing fields and facilities that Corio has to offer, such as the Handbury Centre for Wellbeing, Music School, Chapel of All Saints, and the School of Performing Arts and Creative Education (the SPACE).

“All innovations over the years have enabled the preservation of the GGS spirit and traditions, whilst also encouraging contemporary learning and teaching practises. What lies ahead is truly transformational and an exciting new chapter, not only for the Bostock House community, but for all of GGS.” – Rachael Dewhurst, Head of Bostock House.

The School has made significant progress in developing an exciting new Corio Campus Masterplan. Vital to the process has been extensive stakeholder engagement with our community to develop a shared vision for the future of the Corio Campus. Conversation architect, Geoff Brown from Tangent Consulting, helped the project team to guide an inclusive and flexible approach to engagement design, planning, implementation and learning. “We placed participation and creativity at the core of stakeholder engagement,” Geoff said. “Our approach sought to include a diverse cross-section of people and groups who would have an opportunity to engage at a meaningful and relevant level. We ensured equal access by staging a mix of in-person, onsite and online engagement activities. We responded quickly to emerging needs and to stakeholder feedback during the process. This commitment to listen and respond was critical in building ownership and trust with stakeholders and to overall project success.”