When The Reverend Horace Henry Dixon founded The Southport School, he chose the image of Christ the Good Shepherd to be at the centre of the school’s crest. This reflected the Christian faith upon which he was founding the school. The image of Christ the Good Shepherd, reminds us that at it’s heart, the Christian faith is about love – God’s love for us revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and our invitation to respond by loving God with our whole heart and to love our neighbour as ourselves (cf. Gospel of Saint Matthew 22.36-40).
This love is a sacrificial love, embodied but the words of Jesus, who during his last meal with his disciples, gave them these words found in the Gospel of Saint John (15.13).
This was the love that was exemplified by many of our first Old Boys who in 1914, left Australia to serve in World War I.
The Chapel of Saint Alban, the heart of our school, was built as a memorial to their sacrifice.
Horace Dixon was an Anglican Priest, and the Anglican expression of the Christian faith, still guides our approach to life and learning. The Anglican tradition values the scriptures, tradition and reason. This gives us a broad and welcoming expression of faith, as we work with all boys, encouraging them to grow in love, understand their connection to the past, and develop a curiosity about the world around them.