Hutchins School


The Hutchins School is an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys from pre-kindergarten to Year 12 in Hobart, Tasmania. Established in 1846, Hutchins is one of the oldest continually operating schools in Australia.
The school's students consistently rank among the highest academic achievers in Tasmania and nationally; it has had 24 Rhodes Scholars.
The school is located just under four kilometres from the CBD of Hobart, The Hutchins School offers facilities including classrooms, science and computer laboratories, libraries, a performing arts centre, a recording studio and multiple sporting grounds.
International students reside in the school's boarding facility, ‘Burbury House’, which in 2012 underwent a full refit and refurbishment.
Hutchins is a founding-member of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition, an accredited member of the Council of International Schools and a member of Independent Schools Tasmania.

History

The Hutchins School was established in 1846 at Hobart Town in memory of The Venerable William Hutchins, first Archdeacon of Van Diemen's Land. Arriving in the colony in 1837, Archdeacon Hutchins had worked tirelessly to establish a faithful ministry, erecting churches and schools and laying the foundation for secondary education under the auspices of the Church of England.
The School commenced operations under Headmaster John Richard Buckland at Ingle Hall, a large Georgian house dating from 1811 which still stands in lower Macquarie Street, Hobart. Three years later it moved several blocks up Macquarie Street to a purpose-built schoolhouse designed by Tasmanian architect, William Archer.
In the early days of many and varied schools and tenuous longevity, Hutchins survived by absorbing pupils, staff and plant of other less robust institutions, including Christ's College, The High School, Horton College and Officer College. When Hutchins joined forces with Christ's College in 1912 it was the signal for Arthur Augustus Stephens to close Queen's College, founded by him in 1893, and accept the post of Vice-Master of Hutchins. In 1905 Hutchins amalgamated with Buckland's School, opened in 1893 by William Harvey Buckland, son of founding headmaster J R Buckland and brother of second headmaster John Vansittart Buckland. Hutchins would go on to absorb King's Grammar School, Franklin House School and Apsley House School, and affiliate with Gryce and Gladwyn Schools.
By the 1950s the School was growing too large for its inner-city site and in 1957 a new Junior School was built on an elevated site overlooking the River Derwent at Sandy Bay. This followed the opening at the Sandy Bay site of a sub-primary section in 1946 and the Memorial Oval and pavilion in 1955. The Senior School was later constructed on the adjacent site of the former Queenborough Cemetery, following a council referendum in which ratepayers voted '1 for educational purposes' in 1960. By 1964 the Senior School campus encompassed a boarding house and science wing, quickly followed by an administration block and classrooms, while the Junior School campus across the road soon expanded to include a fledgling Middle School. The Macquarie Street building was sold in 1965, with Hutchins commencing full operations at Sandy Bay the following year.

Co-curricular program

The school runs an extensive co-curricular program offering music, performing arts, debating, sports and the Duke of Edinburgh International Award.

Headmasters

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of The Hutchins School include:
As of 2019, The Hutchins School has had 24 Rhodes Scholars, the latest being the 2018 Tasmania scholar. Alumni have been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Australian states other than Tasmania, such as the 2016 New South Wales scholar.
Notable Hutchins alumni to be awarded the Rhodes Scholarship: