‘Come and have another go’: The private schools offering second-chance scholarships

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.