source : the age
The mark level crossing supervisor Terry Bux left on the St Michael’s Grammar community after he died unexpectedly is both big and small.
There is a tiny indent in the concrete render of the school’s front fence in St Kilda where he used to rest his neon orange stop sign until his death from a heart condition in 2024.
The depression was formed over the 33 years Bux shepherded students across busy Chapel Street, now colloquially known as “Terry’s Crossing”.
Bux’s bigger legacy will be an all-expenses-paid scholarship the school will offer in perpetuity from next year.
It’s one of many scholarships private schools will introduce next year. Some will cover up to 100 per cent of fees, while other fee reductions will target students considered late bloomers.
Worth an estimated $175,000 over four years, the Terry Bux Scholarship covers everything, from payroll tax to uniforms and textbooks.
“We talk about Terry bridging the crossing for students and this scholarship will bridge the transition into a new educational opportunity,” head of school Gerard Houlihan said.
While the council employed Bux for an hour at each end of the school day, St Michael’s kept him on between 9am to 3pm so students and staff moving between the main campus and performing arts centre could cross safely.
Houlihan said Bux was embedded in the wider community too. Tram drivers would give him a ding and a wave. Some current parents remember him escorting them across the road as students.
“He really was such an integral part of the St Kilda community,” Houlihan said.
Parent Elizabeth King, whose son Tom graduated last year and whose daughter Olive is in year 10, was among the many school families who helped raise $80,000 over two years for the scholarship, which will be awarded at the end of the year to a new year 9 student starting in 2027.
“Terry was a very humble person who probably wouldn’t have been able to access a St Michael’s education,” King said.
“But this is a reminder that someone from quite a humble background can make a huge impact. And the scholarship is an opportunity for a student who might be from a similar background to make their mark.”
Geelong Grammar, one of the country’s most elite schools, has added a general excellence scholarship to mark 50 years of its foundation. The means-tested scholarship is for new students starting in years 5 to 11 next year, when fees for year 5 students will top $40,000 and year 12 fees will surpass $55,300.
“Scholarships are vital to the ongoing diversity of the school,” principal Rebecca Cody said.
More than a quarter of Geelong Grammar’s year 10 to 12 students receive some form of financial assistance. On average, the school provides 26 general excellence scholarships a year.
“The provision of life-changing opportunities for so many young people who otherwise could not afford [a Geelong Grammar] education … is a blessing that would not be possible without the foundation’s support,” she said.
Meanwhile, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, which charges $44,510 for year 11 and 12 students, has added three scholarships to the six it already offers.
The Principal’s Scholarship, the means-tested Foundation Scholarship and the alumnae Korovian Scholarship are for new students starting at the Glen Iris school next year.
Principal Frances Booth said the Principal’s Scholarship was close to her heart because it gave students who missed out on a year 7 scholarship a second opportunity.
“You’ll very often get lots of students who will sit a scholarship to enter into year 7, and then they don’t get scholarships because it turns out they’re a late bloomer,” she said.
“So I wanted to try and say ‘if you’re a late bloomer, come and have another go’.”
Hume Anglican Grammar principal Bill Sweeney agrees.
He said the school’s new scholarship for high-achieving students entering at year 9, when fees top $9000, was one that recognised that some students needed more time to shine.
“Some students get into secondary school, and they really find their place,” he said. “And we felt that they needed another opportunity.”
All-girls school Genazzano FCJ College, in Kew, has announced a scholarship for students whose mother or grandmother went to the school.
The scholarship, which spans six years and will give the recipient a 25 per cent fee discount, is partly based on academic performance but also targets families who will benefit from financial assistance.
In Essendon, St Colomba’s College has named its new scholarship after alumna and the first woman to represent the Northern Territory in federal parliament, Trish Crossin.
The multi-year scholarship will be for a new or current student who is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and can extend to cover uniform and technology costs.
A school spokeswoman said the scholarship, created with the blessing of Crossin’s family, reflected the former senator’s commitment to education, opportunity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Crossin, who died suddenly in April aged 70, had worked as a teacher in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory before entering parliament.
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Bridie Smith is an education reporter at The Age. A former desk editor, she has also reported on science and consumer affairs.Connect via X, Facebook or email.
