2013 Senior Admissions Handbook - The Southport School

The Southport School Senior Handbook 2013 15
Walker House
Housemaster
Colour
Sherwood Green and
Gold
Emblem
A Unicorn
Motto
“Ad Victorian per Unitatem”
(Victory Through Unity)
Mr Steve Roberts
Telephone 07 5531 9942
Turnock House
Housemaster
Colour
Red and Black
Emblem
Horse
Motto
“Ubertas et Fidelitas”
(Productiveness and
Faithfulness)
Ms Corinne Miller
Telephone 07 5531 9920
Email
steve.roberts@tss.qld.edu.au
Email
corinne.miller@tss.qld.edu.au
The House System
The House System at TSS was instituted in 1909, the School being divided into three Houses, McKinley, Delpratt and Thorold,
named respectively after the first Housemasters - Messrs. J. McKinley, M.G. Delpratt and C.C. Thorold. From the earliest
times, the House System has been more than just a convenient sub-division of boys into groups for sporting purposes.
The boarding Houses have been organised as separate entities for living and pastoral care. But there has always been a common
dining room. When the present buildings were first occupied in 1928, this principle was sustained by allotting one floor to each
of the Houses. In 1954 it was possible to augment the boarding accommodation for each House by joining the then new Library
and Dormitory Block to the existing building and at the same time to provide suitable accommodation for Housemasters
within McKinley and Delpratt Houses. A strong tradition of family association within the Houses has developed. There was
a large jump in enrolments when, with the reorganisation of Secondary Education in Queensland in 1963, the Scholarship
Examination was abolished and the Year 8 students became part of the Secondary School.
As the increasing numbers have placed a great strain on the ability of the Housemasters to provide personal supervision and
Pastoral Care, the decision was taken in 1972 to establish two new Houses at the beginning of the school year 1973. The new
Boarding House was known as “Kaiser House” named after the Senior Master Mr A.H. Kaiser, who as student and Master was
a member of the school from 1937-88. This continued the tradition of naming the Houses after a prominent Assistant Master.
The Day Boys were organised into a separate House named Walker House after Mr M.R. Walker, a former Senior Master at the
school who died in 1959 after serving for 31 years. Similar pressures have continued to the present day and further new Houses
- all of them for Day Boys - were formed. Radcliffe House, named after Mr A.J. Radcliffe Old Boy who attended from 1935 to
1938 and served as a Master from 1946-1978, was formed in 1975. In 1979 three new Day Boy Houses, Surman, Turnock and
Melbourne were established.
Mr F.H.W. Surman who died in September 2001, was a Master in 1941-42, and again from 1951; he was Assistant to the
Headmaster from 1961-1972 and Director of Studies from 1972-1985. Mr T.H. Turnock who died in 1992, attended the school
from 1920 to 1923 and served as a Master from 1928 to 1941. Mr H. Melbourne who died in 1949 was a Master from 1914 to
1932, including a period as Master of the Preparatory School, and came out of retirement to rejoin the staff from 1940-42 to
help overcome war induced shortages.
Two more Houses were established in 1986, Atkinson House and Maughan House. Mr T.C. Atkinson was Registrar until 1992,
having been a member of the teaching staff from 1959 to 1969 and again from 1972 onwards. The Rev. B.E. Maughan was
Housemaster of Delpratt House for 22 years and was a member of the teaching staff from 1959 to 1988.
In 1987 further developments were set in motion; a fourth boarding house and a house for all Day Boys in Year 8 were brought
into being. In 1988 these were named Biddle House and Morse House respectively, after Mr H.A.T. Biddle who was a member
of the staff from 1964-82 and Housemaster of McKinley House from 1970-82, and after Mr R.W. Morse who had been a
member of the staff from 1957-1991. Morse House was disbanded in 2007 when the School moved to a vertical Pastoral Care
System within Houses.
In the Prep School, a similar House System was established: Mitre, Shepherd, Dixon and Musgrave. Rogers House is the
House for Prep School boarders, named after Mr Peter Rogers, Master of the Preparatory School 1974 – 1994. In 2013 Year 7
moved to the Senior School and it was decided Rogers House would house Year 7 Boarders.