PGC's 105th Birthday Garden Party

This August 19 we are inviting you all to return to our majestic gardens to celebrate 105 years of Girls’ Education at PGC.

We have planned a mid-morning brunch in the gardens and have organised some of the College bands and choir to help create the atmosphere. All of our dormitories will be open for you to stroll through and reminisce about your days at Locke St. We are really looking forward to hearing all of your stories. 

Please let us know if you can join us and invite all of your friends as well.

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Ever since 1918, young girls have had the opportunity to be educated at PGC, both as Presbyterian Girls College (PGC) and after amalgamation as SCOTS PGC College. Although we current girls think of PGC as our home away from home, for many of you it was classrooms and school as well.

When originally commissioned in 1918, by founders Mr R J Shilliday and Mr B T de Conlay, with support from Mr W R Black, Presbyterian Girls’ College was a place for girls to undertake a quality education. This was a time of great change and development in Australia, 18 years after Federation and at the end of WWI. Secondary schooling was not compulsory and the Southern Downs was a centre of agricultural production and processing as well as a transport hub.

For country people, transport links, most notably rail improved during this time, and it was possible to travel to Warwick by train from almost anywhere in Queensland. Presbyterian Girls College, under the guidance of Miss Mackness, its first Principal, began with 53 students, including eleven boarders and thirteen kindergarten students.

The initial trend of day students outnumbering boarders lasted until 1920, when boarders became the predominant group of students.

Over the last 20 years day students have been in the majority at SCOTS PGC College, however boarding students are a key part of SCOTS PGC and make up 30 per cent of the current student population from Years 7 – 12.

Currently, there are almost 60 girls residing at the Locke St campus, fondly still known as PGC. Over the past ten years, most of the dormitories have been refurbished to create modern, air-conditioned, single-room accommodation for girls across all age groups and beautiful common spaces.