Opening of Westminster School Print Page

The plaque commemorates the opening of the Westminster School by Robert Menzies on the 12th February 1961.

Westminster School was born out of a perceived need by the Methodist Church in South Australia for a day and boarding school in Adelaide to accommodate demand additional to that satisfied by the long-established Methodist-based school Prince Alfred College. 

Planning for Westminster began with a meeting on 7 June 1957, although at that stage it was not known where or when the school would be built, or indeed what it would be named. With growing momentum, it was resolved in December of that year to purchase twenty-five acres of vineyards from the South Australian Housing Trust at Marion. At the inaugural fundraising dinner on 9 June 1959, 160 men volunteered to solicit 3000 prospective contributors to achieve a target of $200,000 for the first building phase. The amount ultimately raised by those who have been affectionately called "the Men of Westminster" was $320,000.

The school commenced on 7 February 1961. At the first assembly, broadcast on radio station 5KA, the Headmaster's opening address began with the words, "Let the life of the school begin". The foundation Headmaster, Douglas Forder, presided over an initial enrolment of 143 students with a staff of seven.

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