An independent Christian school has officially opened its doors with a new name despite sparking outrage from members in the community.
From New Year’s day the school, formerly known as Serpentine Jarrahdale Grammar School, became Court Grammar School.
The school held its annual Sir Charles Court Futures Assembly last Friday which included the raising of the new school flag.
It was attended by four of Sir Charles Court’s sons Victor, Barry, Ken and Geoffrey with the fifth Richard sending his well wishes from Japan.
Federal Member for Canning Andrew Hastie also attended the assembly and relayed a message from Prime Minister Scott Morrison who wished the school every success.
Several efforts to put a stop to the name change were in motion last year including recruiting a lawyer to look into the legality of the board’s proceedings and an online petition, which gathered more than 1200 signatures.
Serpentine Jarrahdale Grammar School foundation board member and former chairman of the Parents and Friends Association Rod Vogel said many people were not happy about it but there wasn’t much they could do now that it has been officially renamed.
“It is now named after one man who didn’t participate and didn’t contribute any more than anybody else in the community,” he said.
“They have got what they wanted, they have won but they have burnt a lot of bridges within the community.”
Principal Patricia Rodrigues previously said in a statement that she was excited about the change and felt honoured the Court family chose the school to take on their name.
“Now the school has settled as a pre-kindergarten to year 12 school this change will only enhance the identity of our school,” she said,
“It is custom and practice for schools to have a name linked to a patron or historical figure and it is now time for us to take that step.”
