Trinity Grammar School, Kew (abbreviated to TGS) is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Kew in Melbourne, Australia.
The school was founded at a meeting of several high-ranking church figures on 14 November 1902. It opened in 1903, operating out of the Holy Trinity Church. Trinity is a founding member of the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV). The school has over 1500 students and approximately 20 boarding students.
History
Trinity Grammar School, Kew was founded by members of the Holy Trinity parish in 1902 and opened the next year. The school originally opened in the parish hall of Holy Trinity Church with 23 boys. Edward Taffs was the first headmaster, although G. M. Long soon succeeded him.
In 1906, the school purchased a property, "Roxeth" (now Henty House), a small distance to the south of the church, on the corner of Wellington Street and Charles Street. Trinity quickly built Arnold Hall, the first classroom block, completing it the next year. In the same year, Trinity was registered as a public school of the Church of England. The school leased "Molina", a property on the other side of Charles Street and the site of the former Kew High School which is now further to the north, in 1908. In 1909, the school built a science laboratory beside Arnold Hall.
Two years later, Long left the school to become Bishop of Bathurst and A. W. Tonge was appointed headmaster. A second classroom building was built, now demolished to make way for the Richard and Elizabeth Tudor Centre for Contemporary Learning. In 1917, Trinity again appointed a new headmaster, Frank Shann, who would lead the school for the next two and a half decades. Under his tenure, the school grew to a total of 245 boys and many buildings were built, including the now demolished War Memorial Library, the junior school classroom building and the "Health Pavilion". "Molina" was bought from its owner, John Henning, as well as the neighbouring property, "Elsinore". The properties were subsequently renamed in 1925, "Molina" becoming Merritt House, "Elsinore" Roberts House and "Roxeth" Henty House. Frank Shann died in 1943.
Alfred Bright became headmaster upon Frank Shann's death. The school built a second storey for the Junior School in 1952, and in the following year, the Parents' and Friends' Hall, a multipurpose venue, was built between Merritt House and Xavier College. On Alfred Bright's retirement, John Leppitt was appointed Headmaster. The school advanced greatly during his time as headmaster, the number of students reaching 812. The Robertson Science and Administration Building was opened in 1959 and extended later on, and two years later, the junior school building was extended to almost meet Roberts House, providing art and music facilities. In 1968, the Shann Building was constructed between the Robertson Building and the old Arnold Hall, as well as a major sports facility, Cornell Gymnasium.
At the beginning of the 1970s, Trinity purchased land beside Lake Eppalock, near Bendigo, opening the Leppitt Outdoor Education Centre in 1973, named after the headmaster. In 1975, the boarding house, which had been run in Merritt House, closed after more than 60 years. The War Memorial Library was demolished in favour of a new classroom building, the three-storey Tonge Building, and the library relocated to one floor of the Shann Building. Several years later, in 1979, John Leppitt retired. The new headmaster, Don Marles, continued the development of the school with a new swimming pool in 1980 and the renovation and renaming to the Bright Laboratories of the original science laboratories housed in the Shann Building. Merritt House, the former boarding house, was converted into a music school.
As a result of new buildings constructed over the previous two decades, the school sought further land for outdoor sports facilities. Trinity purchased land in Bulleen, near the Yarra River, and opened the Marles Playing Fields there. These facilities continue to be used today on a regular basis.
1989 saw the building of another classroom building, the now demolished Poynter Building. The tuckshop, the original canteen, was closed in 1990, and the cafeteria opened on the ground floor of the Shann Building. Two years later, the school finally built a dedicated chapel for weekly services (previously, students had to attend services at Holy Trinity Church, where the school began). Don Marles retired the same year, replaced by Peter Crawley.