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[[File:Sbhsmoorepark.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Sydney Boys High School, as seen from Moore Park West.]]
[[File:Sbhsmoorepark.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Sydney Boys High School, as seen from Moore Park West.]]

Before Kim Jaggar's retirement, he made what was arguably his largest contribution to the High community in his twelve years as headmaster by removing the crown from the Sydney Boys High crest. <ref>http://www.shsobu.org.au/obu-prizes/ Old Boys Union Editorial October 2011</ref>Fuelling a fully-fledged political debate in the Great Hall, the republican Jaggar persuasively argued that this was a symbolic move to demonstrate the "progressive nature of the High community" which "must reflect the changing values of the twenty-first century society, a society that has moved on from the monarchist days of the yestercentury". The opposition was led by conservative speaker and mathematics teacher Douglas Hespe, who was clad in his trademark 1920s three-piece suit, bow-tie and top-hat who retorted that "we must not bow to popular culture but retain the rich monarchist culture we have at High, a monarchy led by our very own "King" Jaggar who is now argueing against the crown" - the pun on 'Kim Jaggar' prompting laughter in the audience. <ref>http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7968-high-notes-vol-12-no-30-september-23-2011 High Notes Volume 12 No. 30 "The Great Debate in the Great Hall"</ref> Nonetheless Jaggar won his case and on the eleventh hour of the 11th day of October, the school crest had its crown removed, a day now known as "Jaggar Day" to recognise his outstanding and only contribution to Sydney Boys High. <ref>http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7969-high-notes-vol-12-no-31-october-14-2011 High Notes Volume 12 No. 31 "Long Live Jaggar!"</ref>



== Notability ==
== Notability ==

Revision as of 10:47, 25 December 2011

Sydney Boys High School
Sydneyboyscrest
Location
Map
Moore Park in City of Sydney
,
NSW

Australia
Information
TypePublic selective all-male secondary
MottoLatin: Veritate et Virtute
(Truth and Courage)
Established1 October 1883
HeadmasterVeronica Crothers (2012- ), B. Librarian Studies with Honours (UWS)
Grades7–12
Enrolment1180
CampusUrban Parkland: 34 400 m²
Colour(s)Chocolate brown and sky blue
   
AffiliationsGPS
WebsiteSydney Boys High School

Sydney Boys High School is an academically selective public secondary school for boys, located in the City of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with 1,180 students, from years 7 to 12. It regularly ranks highly amongst schools in the state of New South Wales in terms of academic results.

Sydney Boys High School, operated by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, was the highest achiever in the Higher School Certificate of all boys' schools in New South Wales in 2006 and 2010 according to a list published by the Sydney Morning Herald. The school was previously known as The Sydney High School, due to its position as the first government High School in New South Wales created under Premier Henry Parkes' system of public education in the early 1880s.

Sydney Boys High School's sister school is its neighbour at Moore Park: Sydney Girls High School. The school is a member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (GPS).

In 2010 The Age reported that Sydney Boys High School ranked third among Australian schools based on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour.[1]

History

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 Athletics Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales. In this association, "public school" has the meaning as used in the UK, i.e. a private school. Sydney Boys High School is the only publicly funded school to be a member. The school is well known for producing a number of prominent alumni, known as "Old Boys", with many active ex-student organisations including the Sydney High School Old Boys Union, the High Club and High Rugby Friends.

Sydney Boys' High School is the oldest public secondary school in NSW to offer education until matriculation to university. It was originally located on Castlereagh Street in the Sydney CBD. 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 designed by George McRae, who also designed the Queen Victoria Building. This site was previously the Moore Park Zoo. Each year is divided into six houses: Eedy, Fairland, Rubie, McKay, Saxby, Torrington. These houses are named after Old Boys who have given significant service to the school.

In December 2011, headmaster Kim Jaggar retired after twelve years of service and received a guard of honour as he was farewelled from the Great Hall along with the departing Year Twelves. School librarian Veronica Crothers, who was award an Honours in her Bachelor of Librarian Studies (UWS), was overwhelmingly voted in as the new headmaster by the The Executive Committee, consisting of the head teachers of each department and the two deputy headmasters. She promised she would continue Jaggar's legacy by "diverting more of the school's sport funding into the under-resourced Junior Library", which has seen severe shortages in the Manga section.[2] At the same time, Robert Dowdell has taken Crother's place as the new school librarian after ten years of distinguished service as a deputy headmaster who oversaw the disciplinary reform of the school, with "record numbers of boys on detentions and suspensions, which I think has contributed to the high academic ranking of the school in the 2011 HSC." [3] Dowdell promised to continue his crack-down against boys "using computers inappropriately in school libraries, including playing video games and viewing other material". The new role of school librarian was "a relief" from being the deputy, "much needed as you age", he laughed. Being a "much less stressful" role, Dowdell also vowed to contribute as much to the library as his predecessor Veronica Crothers did. [4] Meanwhile, the Junior Deputy Headmaster Con Barris's portfolio now covers both Junior and Senior sectors of Deputy Headmaster due to the State Government's funding cuts and the increased resources spent on expanding the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) section in the school library, which at the end of 2011 took up 60 per cent of the Junior Library shelves. [5]

Sydney Boys High School, as seen from Moore Park West.

Before Kim Jaggar's retirement, he made what was arguably his largest contribution to the High community in his twelve years as headmaster by removing the crown from the Sydney Boys High crest. [6]Fuelling a fully-fledged political debate in the Great Hall, the republican Jaggar persuasively argued that this was a symbolic move to demonstrate the "progressive nature of the High community" which "must reflect the changing values of the twenty-first century society, a society that has moved on from the monarchist days of the yestercentury". The opposition was led by conservative speaker and mathematics teacher Douglas Hespe, who was clad in his trademark 1920s three-piece suit, bow-tie and top-hat who retorted that "we must not bow to popular culture but retain the rich monarchist culture we have at High, a monarchy led by our very own "King" Jaggar who is now argueing against the crown" - the pun on 'Kim Jaggar' prompting laughter in the audience. [7] Nonetheless Jaggar won his case and on the eleventh hour of the 11th day of October, the school crest had its crown removed, a day now known as "Jaggar Day" to recognise his outstanding and only contribution to Sydney Boys High. [8]


Notability

The school is recognised as 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.

The school is renowned for its academic success in the Higher School Certificate, in 2006, according to Sydney Morning Herald listings, ranking in 3rd, below Baulkham Hills and James Ruse Agricultural High School, with a student attaining an UAI rank of 100. It has also achieved notability in debating, having won the Hume Barbour and Karl Cramp trophies more times than any other school.[9][10]

Departments

The school is made up of eleven departments, 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, Environmental Science)
  • Creative Arts (Subjects: Visual Arts, Architecture, Photography, Music, Film and Media Studies).
  • Social Sciences (Subjects: Geography, Commerce, Business Studies, Legal Studies, Economics.)
  • Languages other than English (LOTE) (Subjects: French, German, Chinese, Latin, Classical Greek, Hebrew)
  • Personal development, Health and Physical Education
  • Industrial arts (Subjects: Design & Technology, Technical Drawing, Engineering, Information Processes and Technology, Software Design)
  • History (Subjects: History, Ancient History, Modern History, History Extension, Studies of Religion)
  • Welfare (Subjects: Character Education)
  • Careers

Sport

Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales
FormationMember since 1906
Websiteaagps.nsw.edu.au

Sydney Boys High is the sole state-run member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales and offers students a wide range of sports. The school possesses rowing facilities, the Outterside Centre at Abbotsford including a dormitory, boat sheds and two pontoons ). The school has playing–fields in Centennial Park with 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. Many players from Sydney High have represented at State and National levels. Most sports are played against other schools of the GPS. These sports include:

Notable alumni

see List of Old Boys of Sydney Boys High School

Notes

See also

References

  1. ^ Topsfield, Jewel (4 December 2010). "Ties that bind prove a private education has its awards". The Age. p. 11. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) The hard copy article also published a table of the schools which were ranked in the top ten places, as follows: (1st with 19 awards) Scotch College, Melbourne, (2nd with 17 awards) Geelong Grammar School, (3rd with 13 awards) Sydney Boys High School, (equal 4th with 10 awards each) Fort Street High School, Perth Modern School and St Peter's College, Adelaide, (equal 7th with 9 awards each) Melbourne Grammar School, North Sydney Boys High School and The King's School, Parramatta, (equal 10th with 6 awards each) Launceston Grammar School, Melbourne High School, Wesley College, Melbourne and Xavier College.
  2. ^ http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7978-high-notes-vol-12-no-40-december-16-2011 High Notes, Volume 12 No. 40
  3. ^ http://north-shore-times.whereilive.com.au/news/story/north-sydney-boys-high-finally-beats-north-sydney-girls-high/ North Shore Times 2011 HSC wrap-up
  4. ^ http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7967-high-notes-vol-12-no-29-september-16-2011 High Notes Volume 12 No. 29 "Robert Dowdell's farewell edition"
  5. ^ http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7972-high-notes-vol-12-no-34-november-04-2011 High Notes Volume 12 No. 34 "School Budget 2012"
  6. ^ http://www.shsobu.org.au/obu-prizes/ Old Boys Union Editorial October 2011
  7. ^ http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7968-high-notes-vol-12-no-30-september-23-2011 High Notes Volume 12 No. 30 "The Great Debate in the Great Hall"
  8. ^ http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/document-library/doc_view/7969-high-notes-vol-12-no-31-october-14-2011 High Notes Volume 12 No. 31 "Long Live Jaggar!"
  9. ^ https://www.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/speaking-competitions/debating/past-winners-year-11-debating-challenge Past Winners Year 11 Karl Cramp Debating Challenge
  10. ^ https://www.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/speaking-competitions/debating/past-winners-years-11-12-debating-challenge Past Winners Year 11-12 Hume-Barbour Debating Challenge

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