Fort Street High School

Fort Street High School is a coeducational, academically selective high school currently located in Petersham, Sydney, Australia. Established in 1849, it is the oldest government school in Australia, and today, it remains a public school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. For part of its history, it existed as two separate schools: Fort Street Boys' High School and Fort Street Girls' High School. Its former primary department is now the separate Fort Street Public School. Fort Street High School is renowned for the accomplishments that its graduates have achieved, and as a selective school, it draws students from across metropolitan Sydney and across the multicultural spectrum. To avoid confusion due to the school's history of separation, amalgamation, and relocation, the present school is designated Fort Street High School, Petersham for official government purposes. The school's motto is "Faber est suae quisque fortunae" (Latin: "Every man is the maker of his own fortune"), which is attributed to the Roman historian Sallust.

History

The history of public education in Australia began when the Governor of New South Wales, Charles Augustus FitzRoy, established a Board of National Education on 8 January 1848 to implement a national system of education throughout the colony. The board decided to create two model schools, one for boys and one for girls. The site of the school was chosen as the old Military Hospital at Fort Phillip, on Sydney's Observatory Hill. This school was not only intended to educate boys and girls, but also to serve as a model for other schools in the colony. The school's name is derived from the name of a street which ran into the grounds of the hospital and became part of the playground during its reconstruction. The street name is perpetuated in the small street in Petersham that leads to the present school. The school was officially established on 1 September 1849, when the conversion of the building was approved by the government. This original school building is visible today beside the southern approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The establishment of Fort Street School marked the establishment of a non-denominational system of school, where the government undertook the education of its people, separate from religion.

In 1911, the school was split into one primary and two secondary schools: Fort Street Public School, Fort Street Boys' High School and Fort Street Girls' High School. Due to space limitations at Observatory Hill, in 1916, the Boy's school was moved to the school's present site, on Taverner's Hill, Petersham. The Girls' school remained at Observatory Hill until 1975, when the two schools were amalgamated to form the current co-educational school at Petersham. During that time, its grounds continued to be consumed by the growing city; for example, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which opened in 1932, took most of the playground. Fort Street Public School remains at Observatory Hill.

The school celebrated its sesquicentenary in 1999. Its student population is now a diverse one; students come from over 100 suburbs in Sydney, and over 600 of the 930 students have one of forty different languages as their native tongue. Students past and present are called "Fortians", leading to the expression, "Once a Fortian, always a Fortian".

Campus

The Wilkins building of the present Fort Street High School

Fort Street High School is located on Parramatta Road in Petersham, a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney. The school occupies almost the entire street block surrounded by Parramatta Road, Palace Street, and Andreas Street. The Petersham campus centres on the Romanesque style main building, now named the Wilkins Building after William Wilkins, who played an instrumental role in the formation of the eduation system in New South Wales in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Other buildings include the Kilgour building, the Memorial Hall and the newest additions, the Cohen and Rowe buildings completed in 2004.

School facilities include a library, a gymnasium, an oval, two tennis courts, two basketball courts, two cricket practice nets, a cafeteria, and a performing arts block.

The school's original Observatory Hill campus is now used by the National Trust of Australia.

Curriculum

The school offers a wide range of subjects in its curriculum. The academic staff is organised into several departments: English, mathematics, science, history, social sciences, languages, design and technology, visual arts, performing arts, and physical education. The school's traditional strengths are history, mathematics and the social sciences.

The school participates in the Higher School Certificate assessment regime, with a wide range of subjects being offered in a variety of difficulty levels. In recent years, however, the school's ranking in The Sydney Morning Herald has been falling . A likely cause of this trend is due to the executive's policy of suspending anything that moves. Inspiration for this comes from extensive experience and training in Duke Nukem 3D.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Fort Street High School include:

Academic

Rhodes Scholars

• Robert Nicholson McCulloch - BSc (Agric), University of Sydney, 1926

Politics and law

• Linda Ashford, current Justice of the District Court of New South Wales
• Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia; (attended Fort Street aged 8-10; later attended Sydney Grammar School)
• Sir Garfield Barwick, former High Court judge
• Vicki Bourne, former federal Senator
• John Bryson, current Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
• Ian Cohen, current Member of the NSW Legislative Council
• Terence Cole, QC, jurist, commisioner into AWB Oil-for-Food Inquiry
• Maj-Gen. Bill Crews, current National President of the Returned and Services League of Australia
• John Dowd, former NSW Attorney-General, Leader of the Opposition and Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and current Chancellor of Southern Cross University
• Bob Ellicott, QC, former Federal Minister, Solicitor-General, Attorney-General and Judge of the Federal Court
• Dr H.V. Evatt, former High Court judge, President of the United Nations General Assembly and federal ALP opposition leader.
• Robbie Flohm, current Justice of the Family Court of Australia
• Don Grimes, former Senator, Federal Minister, and Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
• Justice Michael Kirby, current Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Justice David Kirby, current Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
• Sir John Kerr, 18th Governor-General of Australia, responsible for the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975
• Trevor Morling, QC, former Judge of the Federal Court, Royal Commissioner and Chairman of the Australian Electoral Commission
• B.S.B. Stevens, former Premier of New South Wales
• Neville Wran, former Premier of New South Wales

Business and industry

• Sir Ronald Irish, businessman and author
• Gary Pemberton, businessman
• Abe Saffron, underworld figure, nightclub owner and property developer
• John Singleton, broadcaster; advertising tycoon

Science and education

• Sir Hermann Black, former Chancellor of the University of Sydney
• Prof Ross Blunden, computer scientist and transport expert
• Sir Joseph Hector Carruthers, founder of Sydney Technical College
• Sir Archibald Collins, knighted for services to medicine, Dux of Fort St. 1907
• Stephen Hetherington Associate Professor in Philosophy at UNSW, son of Mr. Squiggle, Norman Hetherington
• Douglas Mawson, Antarctic explorer
• William Slowman, explorer
• David Verco, Director-General of Education
• Dr John Yu, Australian of the Year, 1996; Former Chancellor of UNSW
• Dr Patricia Farrar, Leader in Nursing Education, UTS

Arts and media

• Louise Becke, writer
• Anna Choy, television presenter
• George Foster, broadcaster
• Norman Hetherington, creator of "Mr. Squiggle"
• A.D. Hope, poet
• Robyn Hughes, Filmmaker and Writer
• Heidi Hunt, adult actress (stage name Selena Silver)
• Deborah Hutton, television presenter
• Mary Kostakidis, SBS newsreader and a member of founding management team
• James McAuley co-creator of Ern Malley
• Donald McDonald, chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Margaret Preston, artist and teacher of art
• Eric Rolls, author
• Harold Stewart co-creator of Ern Malley
• Jake Stone, actor Big Bite & singer/MC Bluejuice
• Helen Yee, food critic [1]

Sports

• Marilyn Black, athlete
• Judith Canty, athlete
• Jean Coleman, athlete
• Leslie Duff, swimmer
• Harold Hardwick, swimmer
• Jon Henricks, swimmer
• Harry Hopman, tennis player
• Clarice Kennedy, athlete
• Frederick Lane, swimmer
• Charles Mccartney, cricketer
• Betty McKinnon, athelete
• Ian McLauchlain, water polo
• June Maston, athlete
• Marlene Matthews, athlete
• Ian Moutray, footballer
• Margaret Parker, athlete
• Harold Pascoe-Pearce, footballer
• Myer Rosenblum, footballer
• Fred Spofforth, cricketer
• Jan Stephenson, Australian golfer
• Liz Weekes, water polo player
• Tory Wicks, hockey player
• Taryn Woods, water polo player

See also

• List of Government schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales

External links

• Fort Street High School website
• NSW Department of Education and Training: Fort Street High School
• Fort Street's Instrumental Music Program
• Foreword by Justice Kirby in the sesquicentenary book, Maroon and Silver