Coates (1957–1971) and David Prest (1972–1991) were long-serving headmasters during a period of substantial change, particularly during Prest's tenure. The school purchased land at Syndal in 1955, and for the next few years considered selling the St Kilda Road campus to fund building at its new location. However, by 1959 it had decided to retain its St Kilda Road location, move the Junior School and establish playing fields at Syndal. Following a period of fund-raising, the new campus (renamed Glen Waverley campus in 1978) opened in 1966. The school opened enrolment to girls in 1978. Boarding was discontinued in 1980, in order to accommodate more students at St Kilda Road. Wesley first approached Cato College, Elsternwick in the late 1970s regarding amalgamation. Struggling financially, Cato agreed to this in 1986, with integration into Wesley completed by 1989. In November 1989, a fire substantially damaged the St Kilda Road campus. Significant archival material was lost with the virtual destruction of the school library. The damaged areas were rebuilt by 1991. Historian Andrew Lemon characterised Glen McArthur's tenure as headmaster (1992–1996) as leaving a sense of "unease". With the two larger campuses becoming more autonomous and competitive, McArthur was encouraged by the school council to engender a greater sense of a single school, but in doing so he challenged the positions of both campus heads, who left during his tenure. Ill-health affected McArthur's incumbency, and he died in 1998. David Loader became principal of Wesley in 1997 after 18 years as head of Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne and brought to fruition the country-based year 9 learning campus at Clunes in 2000. Former Glen Waverley campus head Helen Drennen became Wesley College's first female principal in June 2003. In April 2016, a fire at the Glen Waverley campus destroyed ten years 5 and 6 classrooms. Headmasters and principals Crest and motto The Wesley College crest, designed by Frank Goldstraw, later headmaster from 1893 to 1895, first appeared in 1877. It acknowledges the Southern Cross in the cross quarters of the shield and visualises the colleges motto. The lion passant, or standing, in the first quarter symbolises courage, vigilance and readiness to act in the daring pursuit of wisdom; the books in the second and third quarters symbolise the wisdom to be gained from learning; and the lamp in the fourth quarter symbolises the light of wisdom. The Wesley College motto, Sapere Aude, appeared