YEAR GROUPS
Year Groups, sometimes also known as 'Peer Years', were developed to organise former students by a common activity year. This enabled the Old Geelong Collegians’ Association (OGCA)to organise reunions and activities based on students most likely to have known each other while at the School. This system commenced in 1963 when the OGCA, initially for fund raising purposes, listed former students into groups based on their entry year into Senior School (i.e 3rd Form or Year 9). Students, for example, who left School at the end of the Matriculation Year (Year 12) in 1969 were therefore considered members of the 1966 Year Group.
By the mid 1970s however, most students were continuing to Year 12 and many female students had never attended Year 9 or 10 at the College. It was recognised that the system had become inadequate. In 1974, the Year group was changed to the Year 12 cohort and this applied from the following year onwards. Technically, this meant that there were no 1972, 1973 or 1974 Year Groups.
Sources: Ad Astra No 60 December 1988 p4.