As part of the 50 Year Celebrations in 2022, the School worked with Perth author Richard Offen to publish The School in the Bush: A history of Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School 1972-2022.
The School uniform, alongside the School Crest, form part of the identity of the School. A lot of thought goes into the design, fabric and colour selection, which, for many School’s rarely changes. Over the last 50 years, the School’s uniform has undergone changes for both boys and girls and the below is an extract from the Anniversary book, outlining the development of the initial uniform and the changes over the following years:
‘Smartness and practicality were the focus for our School uniform when first designed for the opening of the School in 1972.
The Uniform Committee, led by Audrey Craddock, spent months contemplating fabrics, colours, designs and suppliers. Modern, drip dry material was utilised as much as possible.
Chairman of the Board of Governors, Bishop Ralph Hawkins, was originally in favour of black and gold uniforms including black suits and gold shirts for the boys. Members of the Uniform Committee were not as convinced. When the uniform was announced in September 1971 the boys were to wear dusty gold shirts with grey shorts. By the time the School opened in 1972 the boys’ uniform had evolved into grey shirts, with white shirts for best wear, accompanied by grey trousers or shorts.
The girls wore old gold A-line frocks with a nay ‘tab’ tie, navy gloves and a navy hat complete with School badge. The navy blue woollen cape which was added for winter was a particularly notable part of the girls’ uniform. The capes drew a great deal of attention and were wonderful to wrap around girls’ knees on a cold winters day. Even today the capes are particularly popular when students view the old uniforms in archives.
Long-term consistency is an aim with School uniforms and has been a feature at Bunbury Grammar where change has been quite rare. By the mid-1980s, the ‘old gold’ fabric was no longer available for the girls’ dresses so a change to royal blue dresses was implemented. At this time the royal blue winter uniform was also introduced featuring blue skirts for the girls plus the blue blazers and jumpers that all our students still wear in winter today. Girls’ trousers were first introduced as an option for the winter uniform in the year 2000.
A new summer uniform for both boys and girls was introduced in 2016. Uniform panel members considered the comfort of students while retaining the formal look of the uniforms in keeping with the ethos of the School. The style of the girls’ summer dress has been retained with a lighter-weight fabric in blue, white and gold plaid. The boys’ shorts are now Bunbury Grammar navy, teamed with a white and blue striped over-shirt with the School crest on the pocket. No tie is worn with the new summer uniform.
The aim of today’s uniform is much the same as it was when the school opened; to look good, be comfortable and easy care so it can be worn with pride. (Adapted from the 2016 Summer Grammarian article by Margaret Paterson)
Excerpt from The School in Bush: A history of Bunbury Grammar from 1972-2022. The Anniversary Book is available to purchase from the School with copies $75 and postage $15. Please email oga@bcgs.wa.edu.au or contact 9722 6000 to order a copy.
