| Toowoomba Anglican School | |
| Motto: | Latin: Sola Nobilitas Virtus |
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| Location: | Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Country: | Australia |
| Coordinates: | -27.5578°N 151.9769°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Australia Queensland |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 240 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Queensland |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
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| Type: | Independent co-educational primary and secondary day and boarding school |
| Denomination: | Anglican |
| Religious Affiliation: | Anglican Diocese of Brisbane |
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| Principal: | Simon Lees |
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| Principal Label: | Head of School |
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| Lower Age: | and |
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| Enrolment: | 650 |
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| Campus Size: | 12acres |
| Campus Type: | Regional |
| Colours: | Gold, navy and maroon |
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| Affiliation: | Junior School Heads Association of Australia |
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The Toowoomba Anglican School (formerly Toowoomba Anglican College and Preparatory School) is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day and boarding school located in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The school is a member of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and is affiliated with the Junior School Heads Association of Australia.
The school has a small village atmosphere at its 12acres campus[1] on the edge of the Dividing Range, and has developed a variety of facilities on its East Toowoomba location. These include three sporting ovals, an outdoor swimming pool, a multipurpose court, and the St Aidans School Chapel. It also has a large multi-purpose venue with bleacher seating called the Millennium Centre, where assemblies and other sporting events are held such as volleyball, basketball and netball.
The school was founded in 1911 as The Toowoomba Grammar Preparatory School. Original enrolment comprised 17 boys. The school was founded and grew with a boarding focus to service the geographically isolated areas of Southern and Western Queensland. The focus on boarding has remained through the school's history.
In 1927 the campus was expanded with the purchase of the adjacent Stoneleigh House, which was used for boarding students. In 1942–43 the School grounds were commandeered by the Army as a result of World War II, and the school was evacuated to Southport on the Gold Coast. In 1972 the enrolment was expanded to become co-educational. In 1986 Stoneleigh House was demolished to make room for sporting facilities. The turret (known as the Bell Tower) was salvaged through the efforts of the Past Students Association, and to this day is sited between the sporting ovals that replaced Stoneleigh.
In 2001 the school's board was subject of a civil case, S v Corporation of the Synod of the Diocese of Brisbane [2001] QSC 473,[2] involving sexual offending by a housemaster in the 1990s.[3] The events later formed the basis of the 2017 film Don't Tell.
| Ordinal | Officeholder | Title | School name | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ernest Albert Gill | The Toowoomba Grammar Preparatory School The Church of England Preparatory School | 1911 | 1926 | years | ||||
| The Church of England Boys School | 1927 | 1928 | years | |||||
| Norman Scott "Boss" Connal | Headmaster | 1929 | 1958 | years | [4] | |||
| Edgar "Blue" White | 1959 | 1973 | years | |||||
| Robert "Bob" Smith | The Church of England Preparatory School | 1973 | 1979 | years | ||||
| Robert Brewster | The Toowoomba Preparatory School | 1979 | 1992 | years | ||||
| Tim Waley | 1993 | 1995 | years | |||||
| Bruce Howden | 1995 | 2009 | years | [5] | ||||
| Sandra Hawken | 2010 | 2013 | years | [6] | ||||
| Simon Lees | Head of School | Toowoomba Anglican College and Preparatory School Toowoomba Anglican School | 2014 | 2025 | years |
The school has a day house system for internal competition, and a different house system for boarding.
There are three-day houses: Gill (maroon), Connal (gold) and Fairfax (navy).
Sports offered at the school include AFL, athletics, basketball, cricket, cross country, soccer, rugby union, rugby league, hockey, netball, softball, swimming, tennis, touch football, and volleyball.
Sporting facilities at the school include three junior-sized ovals, four tennis, and netball courts, an outdoor pool, and a gymnasium (which also acts as the School's assembly hall).
TAS has an extensive music program. The program includes a music exposure system where all students undertake activities using musical instruments such as the violin. The result is extensive participation in small music ensembles through all age groups. TAS enters the annual Toowoomba Eisteddfod amongst other regional competitions, and typically enjoys significant success. The Chapel Choir is noted for its consistently high-performance standard.
The school also encourages participation in musical productions. The bi-annual Preparatory Years musical is a large production with the participation of all students from Years 3 to 6 in all aspects from staging, music and management. The College Musical and College Plays take place in alternate years with its most recent musical being Guys and Dolls performed at the Empire Theatre, the schools first musical performed at the venue, in August 2022.[7] The biannual College Plays are two performances for which students may participate in one of the two performances depending on their year level: In 2023, Urbs Urbis for the Years 7-9, and Buckets for the Years 10-12, performed at the Armitage Center, Empire Theatre.[8]
All previous students are able to join the Past Students Association. Notable alumni include: