Sydney Boys High School

Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School
	SHS Crest
	Moore Park, NSW; Australia
Information
Type	Public all-male secondary
Motto	Veritate et Virtute; 'Truth and Courage'
Established	1 October 1883
Principal	Dr. K.A. Jaggar
Grades	7–12
Enrolment	1140
Campus	Urban Parkland: 34 400 m²
Colour(s)	Chocolate brown and sky blue
Affiliations	GPS
Website	www.sydneyboyshigh.com

Sydney Boys High School is a secondary school in Sydney, Australia. It is the highest-ranked among selective schools for boys in the state of New South Wales in terms of academic outcomes ^[1]. The school has 1,140 students, from years 7 to 12, and is a selective school catering for the academically gifted.

Sydney High's sister school is its neighbour at Moore Park: Sydney Girls High School.

Fame

The school is one of the oldest government-funded high schools in New South Wales, and the oldest such school which did not have an attached primary school. As such, it has lately been somewhat anomalous within the NSW Education System and the subject of occasional resentment by the NSW Teachers Federation.

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High is renowned for its academic success, especially in the Higher School Certificate, in 2006, according to SMH listings, ranking in 3rd, below Baulkham Hills and James Ruse. In particular, it earned a reputation as the finest New South Wales public school at debating, having now won the Hume Barbour and Karl Cramp trophies more times than any other school. Sydney High has also been the GPS champion for both Chess and Debating on several occasions. It has educated many high profile and influential individuals who have proceeded to reach the top of their chosen fields at a global level. The school has also established itself a long standing tradition of sporting achievement. The school colours of Sydney Boys High are sky blue and chocolate brown; shown most strikingly on the school's striped rugby jersey.

History

Sydney Boys High School, seen from Moore park

The school was established in 1883 as two single sex schools sharing a single building with girls and boys on separate floors. In 1906, the school became a member of the AAGPS (Athletics Association of the Great Public Schools of NSW). In the case of the GPS, "public school" has the meaning as used in the UK, i.e. a private school. Sydney Boys High School, however, is the only publicly funded school to be a member. The school is well known for producing a number of prominent alumni, with many ex-student organisations. It is also one of the oldest public high schools in NSW. It was originally located on Castlereagh Street in the City of Sydney. Later, it moved to Mary Ann Street, Ultimo. In 1928, the school moved to its current ___location at Moore Park, on the fringe of the inner city. (This site was previously a zoo). Each year (from Year 7) is divided into six houses: Eedy, Fairland, Rubie, McKay, Saxby, Torrington. These houses are named after famous people who were associated with the school, or places, eg. McKay Sports Ground.

In the 2006 film Superman Returns, the school had a cameo in a scene where Lois Lane picks up her son after school. The school is often used by the nearby FOX studios as an offsite filming ground.

Departments

The school is made up of eleven departments (also known as faculties), each teaching one or a variety of related Board of Studies–endorsed subjects. The departments are:

English (Subjects: English, Drama.)
Mathematics (Subjects: Mathematics)
Science (Subjects: Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physics)
Creative Arts (Subjects: Visual Arts, Architecture, Photography, Music). Note: The Creative Arts department is split into two subdepartments operating under different regulations and in different parts of the school. One is the Visual Arts subdepartment, the other is the Music subdepartment.
Social Sciences (Subjects: Geography, Commerce, Business Studies, Legal Studies, Economics)
Languages other than English (Subjects: French, German, Chinese, Latin, Classical Greek, Hebrew)
Personal development, Health and Physical Education
Industrial arts (Subjects: Design & Technology, Technical Drawing, Engineering, Software Design)
History (Subjects: History, Wars through the Ages, Empires, Ancient History, Modern History, History Extension)
Welfare (Subjects: Character Education)
Careers

Enrolment policy

Due to the fact that Sydney Boys High School is a selective school, it accepts only one hundred and eighty students in year 7, all of whom have passed an academic ability test in year 6. There is also scope for entry in years 8 to 12 and a reserve list system for those who have not been offered a place in previous years. In the Senior years, a further 30 'academic imports' are interviewed and granted admission to the school.

Notable Alumni

For former students of SBHS who have achieved distinction or notability in various fields see List of notable Old Boys of Sydney Boys High School

Sports

Sydney Boys High is the sole state-run member of the GPS (Great Public Schools). It has a wide range of sports offered to its students, one factor distinguishing it from other government schools. Notable differences include the school's possession of rowing facilities, the Outterside Centre at Abbotsford including a dormitory, boat sheds and two pontoons. Along with the sheds at Abbotsford, the school has playing–fields in Centennial Park punctuated by the Fairland pavilion and fenced cricket ground, McKay Oval. Sydney Boys High also has facilities at the ANZAC Rifle Range, managed by the Sydney High School Rifle Club. Almost all sports offered are played against other schools of the GPS.

GPS sports offered in Summer include:

GPS sports offered in Winter include:

Non-GPS Sports:

Demographics

In recent times, Sydney Boys High School has been known for the high percentage of its student population who have non-English speaking backgrounds, particularly those from Asia and the subcontinent. The school takes pride in this cultural diversity, giving its students a chance to interact with peers with different cultural backgrounds.

This issue became controversial in 2002 with calls [1] from prominent Old Boys for the school return to the earlier system of allocating a small percentage of places to sons of Old Boys who still had to qualify academically. This practice was stopped by the NSW Department of Education in the late 1990s. Proponents of the system, including former Headmaster Robert (Bob) Outterside argued that sons of Old Boys understood the nature of extra-curricular activities and their importance in contributing to a richer schooling environment. It was felt that contemporary parents were solely interested in academia. At the time, the school's high rate of students of Asian ethnicity was cited. There was considerable discussion in the broader media with accusations that the policy (and by extension Outterside) was racist. It was noted however, that sons of Old Boys of Asian ethnicity would be equally entitled to this higher preference, thus the accusation of racism was knee-jerk and not necessarily genuine.

Student Welfare

The student welfare at Sydney Boys High is concerned with fostering attitudes of mutual respect and confident participation among the staff, students and parents who form the school community.

Examples of strategies implemented by the welfare branch of the school to promote a sense of self-acceptance and recognition of life are evident in campaigns including the Anti-Homophobia publicity campaign, Exoday events and the implementation of education concerning bullying into the mandatory Yr 7 community and Yr 8 resilience syllabuses.

Islamic Society of Sydney Boys High

The Islamic Society of Sydney Boys High (or ISSBH) was set up in 2003 as a community for Muslims at the school.

The Society has come to prominence mainly through its well-attended internal seminars for Muslim and non-Muslim boys. These events have been held during lunchtime breaks at the school, with a variety of guest speakers from the Muslim community. Controversy arose in 2005 regarding the selection of speakers (such as Wassim Doureihi and Khalid Yasin) and their proposed, but later repudiated, affiliation with the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir due to Mr. Doureihi being invited to speak at their 2005 event. Concerns were raised on the 7.30 Report on ABC TV and in two articles by Miranda Devine which appeared in the Sun-Herald. [2][3]

School Song

Come rally round, boys young and old
To swell the happy throng
And sing the song of Sydney High
In measures loud and long

Though many are our tasks severe
With efforts nonetheless sincere
We'll overcome them year by year
With courage, bold and strong

Then sound once more the strain
And let the cloisters ring again
With echoes of our school's fair name
The name of Sydney High.

Ring out the name of Sydney High
In peals of joyful praise
The glories of our heritage
Must never fade away

With Truth and Courage as our guide
And minds prepared whate'er betide
When we are scattered far and wide
Our tribute still we'll pay