Author(s): Jim Mitchell

Victoria

Scotch College, Melbourne, is remarkable for having reached the age of 150 years (Melbourne itself is not much older) and has commissioned this history in celebration. For those associated with the school, the anniversary is reason enough for a history. Other readers, too, will dip into these pages out of a curiosity about the prominent role Scotch has played in the wider Australian community. In Who's Who in Australia and The Australian Dictionary of Biography, for example, entries about Scotch Old Boys outnumber those about ex-students from any other school except Sydney Grammar.

Rather than chronicle the public achievements of its almumni, however, A Deepening Roar concentrates primarily on the school's inner life. It breathes with the lived experience of the school through the perspective of its pupils, teachers and leaders. And so, rather than merely singing the school's praises, it touches upon good and bad, triumphs and stumbles, hopes and fears, all woven into a rich story of that vital enterprise, the education of the young.

When asked to explain its success and its longevity, Scotch tends to reply out of its own myths, alluding to, among other things: Christian education, character, the staff, school spirit, the Old Boys, or the principals. Such replies, however, extol the school more than they explain it. Other factors in its success were more down to earth-that from the start Scotch drew its students from a more diversified religious and social background than most other private schools; that it offered an education both progressive and conservative, catering for mercantile and scholarly needs (its second principal was a businessman of great acumen and aplomb); that its academic streaming system kept boys challenged; and that it was the first large school in Victoria that actively generated attractive myths and symbols.

Scotch has thrived by constantly changing. While it strongly asserts its long-standing traditions, it has shown a capacity to adapt to new circumstances and to assess and respond to evolving community values.

great condition. light curling and very small tear on back of dust cover.