==Short Biography==

Colin Black is a prominent educator and thespian. He studied singing in Edinburgh, Scotland under Michael Haydon but quickly moved across to acting and direction. Roles have included Kulgin in The Three Sisters at the MacRobert Theatre, amongst many others. His first school productions as director were A Man For All Seasons (1972) and The Tempest (1973) at the Glasgow Academy. In 1977, after moving to Australia, he directed celebrity talk show host Andrew Denton as Napoleon in Shaw's Man of Destiny at Guildford Grammar School in Perth. He directed My Fair Lady at the National Theatre, St Kilda, Victoria for Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies' College in 1983 and then again for Camberwell Grammar School and Methodist Ladies' College in 1998 when Andy Lee, co-star of the Channel 7 comedy show Hamish & Andy played Jamie. In 2005, his final show, and what is considered to be his masterpiece West Side Story was performed in the Performing Arts Complex at Camberwell Grammar School.

Life at Camberwell

Black was headmaster at Camberwell Grammar School (www.cgs.vic.edu.au), an independent boys school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was well known for directing and producing plays and musical, with an avid interest in drama. His 17 year stint ended in 2004 when he retired, leaving a previous Head of History, Dr Paul Hicks to become headmaster. Prior to his appointment at Camberwell, he was Deputy Head at well known Scotch College, a Presbyterian boys school.

Furthermore, Black was renowned within the community of Camberwell Grammar School for his eccentric mannerisms. At all assemblies he uttered the famous words "The reading is from the holy gospel according to Saint..." which preceded bible readings. His clapping technique also intrigued many by his use of cupped hands (left over right). It was most notable that in 2000 Black undertook a 4 week session with each of the six Year 7 classes in the school. During this time he insisted that students recite passages from poems such as "How they brought the good news from Ghent to Aix" in the dramatic nature that he is known for. He also embedded within the minds of his students the spelling of the word "onomatopoeia" and through all classes he would mutter repetitively "o-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a" and experts have determined this as the cause of the recent surge in spelling excellence that the Camberwell Grammar has been famed for.

However, Black's dramatic character was challenged towards the end of his years at Camberwell Grammar by the arrival of the new deputy headmaster, Julian Dowse, who succeeded Peter Hauser. Dowse, who had previously studied Law, was a highly conservative individual who often used assemblies as an opportunity to express his grandiloquence to the school learning community. Dowse is renowned for having publicly described a student's behaviour as "asinine" and thus arousing laughter in the Performing Arts Centre. In addition, he has often cited past events in history ("as a history teacher") in an effort to substantiate his belief that the school was often covered in "litter" which would attract "vermin" (possibly referring to rats and mice). However, his most hilarious "announcement" to the school was that the students were "uncivilised" in their ineffective book returning methods (which will be discussed at a later stage). It is important to note that this was preceded by arduous listing of world famous libraries and a hopelessly tenuous explanation as to why slow returning of the school's "resources" was far from civilised. Thus, it can be seen that Black's reputation was being undermined by the actions of his new deputy headmaster.

In addition, Black's final years of leadership at Camberwell Grammar School saw widespread anger from the vast majority of the school community for his controversial selection of school prefects. There was a great furore among many of the candidates in the Year 11 group that was eligible for prefect selection in Year 12. The school prefects were said to have been selected "dubiously" and they were criticised for their lack of diversity with regard to their academic and sporting demeanour. It is also notable that most of the prefects of Camberwell Grammar school, selected under Black's authority, carried school records saturated with detentions of all varieties. This saw further reason for more eligible students to be disappointed at the decisions.

Links with Year 12 Students

Black was indeed a vigilant leader for Camberwell Grammar School. His firm nature prevented anything pertaining to "pranks" from being performed at the school. However at school assemblies, particularly the final assembly that Year 12s attend. Common jokes that have been performed include the use a of a remote controlled door bell mounted discreetly somewhere in the Performing Arts Complex. The door bell would generally be activated at the conclusion of a school hymn, sung as "corporate worship", or briefly following applause for student achievements. Other pranks that have been performed in the past include excessive applause for achievements that can only be described as diminutive or singing hymns at approximately double the volume that students would normally sing during assemblies.

2005 saw a new wave of thought passing through the Year 12 community as the prospect of sustaining suspense from the aforementioned jokes was minimal. Thinkers in the student body produced stink bombs that released massive quantities of hydrogen sulfide were set off in the auditorium. However, the new headmaster, Dr Hicks, was able to circumvent these actions by conveniently inviting a guest of honor to the assembly. To relieve their anger, the Year 12s raided the locker room of the year elevens and dispersed no less than twenty unused stink bombs in the confined area, rendering the area unfit for use for several hours, due to its olfactory distaste.

After leaving Camberwell

In 2005, the prefect system faced threat with the arrival of Black's critically acclaimed successor, Dr Paul Hicks, who considered abolishing the prefect system. Hicks argued that the prefects were simply not fulfilling the duties that they were expected to perform, and served no real purpose withing the school community. This was exemplified by the fact that practically all prefect candidates promised that they wanted "to help others" but rather selfishly indulged on the "perks" that they benfitted from (these include the sandwich toaster and microwave used at the school's envy). Despite this contemplation, the school has not yet seen a firm decision to abolish the prefect system and eagerly waits for Hicks to "never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never give up" such that the interests of the school can be met.

Trivia

Black is also an enthusiastic consumer of traditionally prepared haggis, especially the traditional variey containing deer offal. However, during his time in Australia he did adapt to the alternative sandwiches available at the school cafeteria.