Sydney Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Sydney Grammar School is an independent
, non-denominational, selective
, day school
for boys, located in Darlinghurst
, Edgecliff
and St Ives
, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales
, Australia
.
Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament
and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer a "classical" or "grammar" school education thought of as liberal, humane, pre-vocational pedagogy.
Sydney Grammar School currently has an enrolment of approximately 1,833 students from Kindergarten
to Year 12, over three campi. The two preparatory school
s (K to 6), are located at Edgecliff in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs
, and St Ives
, on the Upper North Shore. The historic College Street campus
caters for students from Forms I to VI (Years 7 to 12), and is situated in Darlinghurst, close to the Sydney central business district
.
The school
is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
(JSHAA), the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
, and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS).
In 2001, The Sun-Herald
ranked Sydney Grammar School tenth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia
(a listing of notable Australians).
The Sydney Public Free Grammar School opened in 1825 with Laurence Hynes Halloran
, born County Meath
, Ireland
(1765–1831) as Head Master. Halloran, who had operated a private school
in Exeter
, England
, had fled England in 1796 due to debt
s and after being accused of immorality. Also, it had been claimed by Henry Hobhouse, under-secretary of state there, that his degrees
(in Divinity
) were self-awarded; however, no authority saw fit to pursue the claim formally, nor was any sworn evidence ever presented to render this a just charge.
In 1830 Sydney College was founded. Sir Francis Forbes
, Chief Justice
, became President
of the College and laid the foundation stone of the present building in College Street on 26 January 1830. In 1835, Sydney College opened in this building with W.T. Cape as Head Master. In 1842 he resigned and was succeeded by T.H. Braim. In 1850 Sydney College was closed.
In 1854, Sydney Grammar School (SGS) was incorporated by an Act of Parliament
and acquired the land and building in College Street which had been temporarily occupied by the newly-founded University of Sydney
in 1852. It was opened on 3 August 1857, specifically as a feeder school
for the University
.
The preamble
of the Sydney Grammar School Act 1854 states that:
The Act provides that the Trustee
s of the School shall consist of twelve persons, of whom six shall be persons holding the following offices respectively:
The Act also provides that the Governor of New South Wales shall be the official Visitor
of the School.
Sydney Grammar School is the oldest school still in use in the City of Sydney
, and is also historically significant as the site on which the University of Sydney began. The School also holds scientific significance as containing examples of early building materials and techniques in pre-Federation Australia
.
The site was founded as The Sydney College in 1830, and the following year began operations in a new building in Hyde Park
designed by Edward Hallen. It consisted of a single large room (now known as "Big School") with basement
rooms beneath. Sydney College continued despite financial difficulties until 1853, when it was taken over by the fledgling University of Sydney until such time as the present Grose Farm site was ready for occupation. The site was then sold in 1856 to the Trustees of the newly incorporated Sydney Grammar School, which had been established and endowed with a building fund by Act of Parliament
. Edmund Blacket
was commissioned to design extensions to the south and north of the Hallen building (now the North and South Blacket rooms), which were completed in 1856 and 1857 respectively. The "Big School" building became central to the Colonial Architect, James Barnet
's vision for the cultural focus of Sydney Town.
The War Memorial
wing, named for its position behind Big School's monument
to the Great War, was built at the northern end of Big School in 1953 by the Scott brothers, at the cost of its double stair case. In 1876, the main building was extended to the east by Mansfield Brothers, and this extension was itself extended to the north and south in 1899 by John W Manson. The Science
classrooms on Stanley Street were built in 1889-90. Other early buildings on the site, now demolished, included the Sergeant's Lodge, an ablutions block (known as the "White House") on Stanley Street
, and a former postal sorting office
on Yurong Street (now the Palladium building).
Sydney Grammar is a private school
. Each year up to 26 full scholarships are offered to boys who show academic promise and who perform well in the scholarship examination. Currently, it is regarded as one of the most academically proficient private school in NSW and performs consistently well in the Higher School Certificate.
At A$
25,776 per annum (for Forms I - VI, non-boarding ), the tuition fees are among the highest of any secondary day school in the country.
Sydney Grammar is located near the Sydney Central Business District
. The campus is compact and consists of multi-storey buildings (of up to eight floors) in a concrete landscape setting. Sydney Grammar is situated on the eastern side of Sydney's Hyde Park
, next to the Australian Museum
, and extends from College Street to Yurong Street. The designs of the School's buildings illustrate many different architectural eras: "Big School" (dating from the early 19th century colonial era), the Blacket buildings (annexed onto either side of "Big School" and completed in the 1850s), the original Science building (1891), the Science laboratory
block (1960s), the Palladium building (an example of 1970s Modernist architecture), the Stanley Street building and Alastair Mackerras Theatre
(1980s), and the A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson
Library (1990s).
Weigall, the School's sportsground (named after former Headmaster Albert Bythesea Weigall
), is located at Rushcutters Bay
next to the Edgecliff Preparatory School and includes tennis court
s, cricket nets
and three fields for cricket, rugby and football. It is routinely used for Saturday sports matches, Physical Education
and as a recreational area for Grammar's Edgecliff Preparatory School next door. There is also a large gym
nasium at College Street and full rowing facilities at the School's boatshed
at Gladesville
.
In May 2005, Headmaster John Vallance announced that the School would lead a consortium to purchase 30 Alma St Paddington
, known as White City
, from Tennis New South Wales, thus extending the Weigall grounds substantially. In 2006, development applications to subdivide the White City tennis courts (numbered DA 20/2006 and DA 302/2006) were lodged with Woollahra Council
to develop the site to accommodate more tennis and basketball court
s; these were subsequently passed.
On 14 June 2008 the new field now known as Weigall 4 was opened with a range of guests including Mr Frank Lowy
, President of Football Federation Australia
.
In 2009, the School began the construction of a new, underground multi-purpose hall featuring a seating capacity of over 1500 seats. Completed in August 2011, it was primarily designed to accommodate the entirety of the current students and teaching staff under one roof whilst being acoustically sound for orchestral performances. Notably the hall is unique as it has been built beneath the playground and is substantially subterranean as a result. Much of the naturally occurring Sydney sandstone has been left in place which adds to the aesthetic and acoustic value of the space.
The hall was officially opened by the Headmaster on 18 August 2011 with a substantive celebratory concert featuring performances from a large number of Grammar boys past and present.
and was later a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
at which time he wrote The Lost Theory of Asclepiades of Bithynia (ISBN 0-19-824248-4), which is cited by a number of other histories of philosophy
and of medicine
. Dr Vallance is also the author of the entries on medicine and anthropology in the Oxford Classical Dictionary
(3rd edition).
Dr Vallance succeeded Dr Ralph Townsend
in his role as Headmaster. After a period at Oundle School
, Dr Townsend is now Headmaster of Winchester College
, England.
of approximately 1,833 boys across Years K to 12. In Term
Three of 2006, the main high School campus
had an enrolment of 1,109 boys in Forms I–VI (Years 7–12). The main high school is divided into the Lower School (First and Second Form) and the Upper School (Third through Sixth Forms). There are also two Preparatory Schools, one at St. Ives in the Northern Suburbs (440 boys) and the other at Edgecliff in the Eastern Suburbs (300 boys). Each year, approximately two-thirds of the incoming Form I at College Street are from the two Preparatory Schools, while the rest are drawn from schools in Sydney, from interstate and overseas.
, pre-vocational type education
, and this is reflected in its academic structure and subject choices. The academic departments are:
Subjects offered for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) include English Advanced
, English Extension 1, English Extension 2, Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2, Chemistry, Physics
, Biology
, Earth and Environmental Science
, Geography, Modern History
, Ancient History
, History Extension, Economics, Latin
, Latin Extension, Classical Greek, Classical Greek Extension, French
Continuers, French Extension, Italian
Continuers, Italian Extension, German
Continuers, German Extension, Chinese
Continuers, Chinese Extension, Japanese
Beginners, Music 1 and 2, Music Extension, Visual Art and PDHPE.
Sanskrit
, Design and Technology and Special Academic Courses are offered as non-HSC subjects. The Special Academic courses previously included a Form V (Year 11) course in extension chemistry
and physics
and a Form VI (Year 12) course in lagrangian dynamics and quantum mechanics
; they are currently centred around 19th Century Russian literature, with a focus on the works of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, with a smaller study of Chekhov
and Nikolai Gogol.
or are involved with music in some way. SGS boasts scores of musical groups in mostly classical, chamber
and jazz
styles. The School Orchestra
has received wide acclaim and frequently engages in both national and international tours. Grammar's choir
programme involves hundreds of students, Old Boys, and parents, participating in its many annual concert
s. The School's senior a cappella
group is known as The Grammarphones and is composed of the best tenor
s, basses and baritone
s in the senior years.
Recently, SGS has embarked upon a five year programme entitled "Bach: 2010", in which all the known choral cantata
s of Johann Sebastian Bach
will be performed in a series of concerts between 2005 and 2010. Sydney Grammar is one of the few institutions in the world seeking to engage in such an exercise and is aided by its newly installed Mander Organ
in the Big School.
Under the current Head Master, an organic Rock-&-Roll
movement has emerged and is currently thriving. The end of 2004 saw the consummation of years of practice in the first Grammarpalooza Rock Concert, which included the musical style of Old Boy band, Dappled Cities Fly
.
Sydney Grammar School is a member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of NSW (GPS). GPS sport
ing events are contested in rugby union
, football
, cricket
, tennis
, volleyball
, cross country
, basketball
, rowing
, swimming
, athletics, rifle shooting
, and debating. The School also competes in fencing
and chess
competitions.
Grammar participates in the annual Tri-Grammar competitions, a series of cricket and rowing competitions between the Firsts teams of Sydney Grammar School, Melbourne Grammar School
and Brisbane Grammar School
. Sydney and Melbourne Grammar School also compete for "The Bat" in the same competition. The Sydney-Melbourne match dates back to 1876, and in 1976, to mark the centenary of this rivalry, a "Bat" was struck, with the winner of the annual match taking possession. The bat was donated by John Crawford, the father of the captain of the 1976 premiership winning side Andrew Crawford.
Competition in rowing
culminates in the Riverview Gold Cup
for Junior Crews and the Head of the River
for Senior Crews.
On 2 April 2011, the Sydney Grammar School first eight won the Major Rennie Trophy at the AAGPS Head of the River
. The win was significant for Grammar as it heralded the return of the trophy to the School for the first time in more than thirty years.
A number of boys also assist in editing the School's yearly almanac, The Sydneian, over 400 editions of which have been produced since 1875.
Alumnus
of Sydney Grammar School are commonly referred to as Old Boys or Old Sydneians, and may elect to join the schools alumni association
, the Old Sydneians' Union (OSU).
In 2001, The Sun-Herald
ranked Sydney Grammar School tenth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia
(a listing of notable Australians). Notable alumni include Sir Edmund Barton
, the first Prime Minister of Australia
(1901–1903), Sir William McMahon
, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (1971–1972), Bruce Gyngell
, first person to appear on Australian television, Andrew "Boy" Charlton, an Olympic
gold medallist swimmer and Banjo Paterson
, who now has a library in the school named after him.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
, non-denominational, selective
Selective school
A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems....
, day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
for boys, located in Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...
, Edgecliff
Edgecliff, New South Wales
Edgecliff is a small suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Edgecliff is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. The postcode is 2027.Edgecliff is surrounded by...
and St Ives
St Ives, New South Wales
St Ives is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Ives is located 18 kilometres north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...
, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer a "classical" or "grammar" school education thought of as liberal, humane, pre-vocational pedagogy.
Sydney Grammar School currently has an enrolment of approximately 1,833 students from Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
to Year 12, over three campi. The two preparatory school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
s (K to 6), are located at Edgecliff in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs
Eastern Suburbs (Sydney)
The Eastern Suburbs is a general term used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the east and south-east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Suburbs can refer to the suburbs within the local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Dover...
, and St Ives
St Ives, New South Wales
St Ives is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Ives is located 18 kilometres north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...
, on the Upper North Shore. The historic College Street campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
caters for students from Forms I to VI (Years 7 to 12), and is situated in Darlinghurst, close to the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
.
The school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
Junior School Heads Association of Australia
The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia , is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia....
(JSHAA), the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
, and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS).
In 2001, The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...
ranked Sydney Grammar School tenth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia
Who's Who in Australia
The Who's Who in Australia is an Australian biographical reference first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as Johns's Notable Australians. It has been used by academics as a resource that identifies Australia's leading individuals, and has been analysed when studying the social backgrounds –...
(a listing of notable Australians).
Foundation
Laurence Hynes Halloran
Laurence Hynes Halloran was a convict who became a pioneer schoolteacher and journalist in Australia, founder of the Sydney Grammar School.-Early life:...
, born County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
(1765–1831) as Head Master. Halloran, who had operated a private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, had fled England in 1796 due to debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
s and after being accused of immorality. Also, it had been claimed by Henry Hobhouse, under-secretary of state there, that his degrees
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
(in Divinity
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
) were self-awarded; however, no authority saw fit to pursue the claim formally, nor was any sworn evidence ever presented to render this a just charge.
In 1830 Sydney College was founded. Sir Francis Forbes
Francis Forbes
Sir Francis Forbes was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-Early life:...
, Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
, became President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the College and laid the foundation stone of the present building in College Street on 26 January 1830. In 1835, Sydney College opened in this building with W.T. Cape as Head Master. In 1842 he resigned and was succeeded by T.H. Braim. In 1850 Sydney College was closed.
In 1854, Sydney Grammar School (SGS) was incorporated by an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
and acquired the land and building in College Street which had been temporarily occupied by the newly-founded University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
in 1852. It was opened on 3 August 1857, specifically as a feeder school
Feeder school
Feeder school is a name applied to schools, colleges, universities, or other educational institutions that provide a significant number of graduates who intend to continue their studies at specific schools, or even in specific fields....
for the University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
.
The preamble
Preamble
A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute...
of the Sydney Grammar School Act 1854 states that:
It is deemed expedient for the better advancement of religion and morality and the promotion of useful knowledge to establish in Sydney a public school for conferring on all classes and denominations of Her Majesty’s subjects resident in the Colony of New South Wales without any distinction whatsoever the advantages of a regular and liberal course of education.
The Act provides that the Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s of the School shall consist of twelve persons, of whom six shall be persons holding the following offices respectively:
- The Honourable the Attorney-General of New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
- The Honourable the President of the New South Wales Legislative CouncilNew South Wales Legislative CouncilThe New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
- The Honourable the Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative AssemblyNew South Wales Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
- The ChancellorChancellor (education)A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
of the University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania... - The Principal ProfessorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of ClassicsClassicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
of the University of Sydney - The Senior ProfessorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of MathematicsMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
of the University of Sydney
The Act also provides that the Governor of New South Wales shall be the official Visitor
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
of the School.
Site history
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
, and is also historically significant as the site on which the University of Sydney began. The School also holds scientific significance as containing examples of early building materials and techniques in pre-Federation Australia
History of Australia
The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...
.
The site was founded as The Sydney College in 1830, and the following year began operations in a new building in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Sydney
Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...
designed by Edward Hallen. It consisted of a single large room (now known as "Big School") with basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
rooms beneath. Sydney College continued despite financial difficulties until 1853, when it was taken over by the fledgling University of Sydney until such time as the present Grose Farm site was ready for occupation. The site was then sold in 1856 to the Trustees of the newly incorporated Sydney Grammar School, which had been established and endowed with a building fund by Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
. Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St...
was commissioned to design extensions to the south and north of the Hallen building (now the North and South Blacket rooms), which were completed in 1856 and 1857 respectively. The "Big School" building became central to the Colonial Architect, James Barnet
James Barnet
James Johnstone Barnet was the Colonial Architect for New South Wales from 1862 - 1890.-Life and career:Barnet was born at Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland. The son of a builder, he was educated at the local high school...
's vision for the cultural focus of Sydney Town.
The War Memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
wing, named for its position behind Big School's monument
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
to the Great War, was built at the northern end of Big School in 1953 by the Scott brothers, at the cost of its double stair case. In 1876, the main building was extended to the east by Mansfield Brothers, and this extension was itself extended to the north and south in 1899 by John W Manson. The Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
classrooms on Stanley Street were built in 1889-90. Other early buildings on the site, now demolished, included the Sergeant's Lodge, an ablutions block (known as the "White House") on Stanley Street
Stanley Street, East Sydney
Stanley Street is a small street in the East Sydney district, which is part of the suburb of Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia.-Description:Stanley Street is primarily residential, but was the centre of Sydney's original Italian community in the 1950s and 1960s, and was subsequently part of Sydney's...
, and a former postal sorting office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
on Yurong Street (now the Palladium building).
Today
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
. Each year up to 26 full scholarships are offered to boys who show academic promise and who perform well in the scholarship examination. Currently, it is regarded as one of the most academically proficient private school in NSW and performs consistently well in the Higher School Certificate.
At A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
25,776 per annum (for Forms I - VI, non-boarding ), the tuition fees are among the highest of any secondary day school in the country.
Sydney Grammar is located near the Sydney Central Business District
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
. The campus is compact and consists of multi-storey buildings (of up to eight floors) in a concrete landscape setting. Sydney Grammar is situated on the eastern side of Sydney's Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Sydney
Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...
, next to the Australian Museum
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
, and extends from College Street to Yurong Street. The designs of the School's buildings illustrate many different architectural eras: "Big School" (dating from the early 19th century colonial era), the Blacket buildings (annexed onto either side of "Big School" and completed in the 1850s), the original Science building (1891), the Science laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
block (1960s), the Palladium building (an example of 1970s Modernist architecture), the Stanley Street building and Alastair Mackerras Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
(1980s), and the A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
Library (1990s).
Weigall, the School's sportsground (named after former Headmaster Albert Bythesea Weigall
Albert Bythesea Weigall
Albert Bythesea Weigall CMG, was an English-born Australian schoolmaster, headmaster of Sydney Grammar School for 45 years.-Early life:...
), is located at Rushcutters Bay
Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales
Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rushcutters Bay is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney....
next to the Edgecliff Preparatory School and includes tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s, cricket nets
Cricket nets
Cricket nets are practice nets used by batsmen and bowlers to warm up and/or improve their cricketing techniques. Cricket nets consist of a cricket pitch which is enclosed by cricket nets on either side, to the rear and optionally the roof. The bowling end of the net is left open...
and three fields for cricket, rugby and football. It is routinely used for Saturday sports matches, Physical Education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
and as a recreational area for Grammar's Edgecliff Preparatory School next door. There is also a large gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium at College Street and full rowing facilities at the School's boatshed
Boatshed
Boatsheds are generally lockable wooden sheds, often brightly colored, that were originally built to securely store small private boats and bathing materials directly on beaches...
at Gladesville
Gladesville, New South Wales
Gladesville is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Gladesville is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Ryde and the Municipality of Hunter's Hill and is part of the Northern Suburbs area.Gladesville prides...
.
In May 2005, Headmaster John Vallance announced that the School would lead a consortium to purchase 30 Alma St Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
, known as White City
White City Stadium (Sydney)
thumb|right|300px|White City Tennis Club circa 1923White City Stadium at the White City Tennis Club is a tennis venue in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, Australia. The stadium was built in 1922 as a new venue for the New South Wales Championships...
, from Tennis New South Wales, thus extending the Weigall grounds substantially. In 2006, development applications to subdivide the White City tennis courts (numbered DA 20/2006 and DA 302/2006) were lodged with Woollahra Council
Municipality of Woollahra
The Municipality of Woollahra is a Local Government Area in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The administrative centre of the Municipality of Woollahra is located on New South Head Road at Double Bay....
to develop the site to accommodate more tennis and basketball court
Basketball court
In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor with tiles at either end. In professional or organized basketball, especially when played indoors, it is usually made out of a wood, often maple, and highly polished...
s; these were subsequently passed.
On 14 June 2008 the new field now known as Weigall 4 was opened with a range of guests including Mr Frank Lowy
Frank Lowy
Frank Lowy, AC is an Australian-Israeli businessman. He is a co-founder of the Westfield Group, operator of over 100 shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Great Britain...
, President of Football Federation Australia
Football Federation Australia
Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...
.
In 2009, the School began the construction of a new, underground multi-purpose hall featuring a seating capacity of over 1500 seats. Completed in August 2011, it was primarily designed to accommodate the entirety of the current students and teaching staff under one roof whilst being acoustically sound for orchestral performances. Notably the hall is unique as it has been built beneath the playground and is substantially subterranean as a result. Much of the naturally occurring Sydney sandstone has been left in place which adds to the aesthetic and acoustic value of the space.
The hall was officially opened by the Headmaster on 18 August 2011 with a substantive celebratory concert featuring performances from a large number of Grammar boys past and present.
Headmasters
The current Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School is Dr John T. Vallance. Dr Vallance attended St John's College, CambridgeSt John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
and was later a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
at which time he wrote The Lost Theory of Asclepiades of Bithynia (ISBN 0-19-824248-4), which is cited by a number of other histories of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Dr Vallance is also the author of the entries on medicine and anthropology in the Oxford Classical Dictionary
Oxford Classical Dictionary
-Overview:The Oxford Classical Dictionary is considered to be the standard one-volume encyclopaedia in English of topics relating to the Ancient World and its civilizations. It was first published in 1949, edited by Max Cary with the assistance of H. J. Rose, H. P. Harvey, and A. Souter. A...
(3rd edition).
Dr Vallance succeeded Dr Ralph Townsend
Ralph Townsend
Dr Ralph Douglas Townsend is Headmaster of Winchester College. He was previously Headmaster of Oundle School and before that Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School....
in his role as Headmaster. After a period at Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
, Dr Townsend is now Headmaster of Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, England.
| Years | Sydney College |
|---|---|
| 1835–1841 | William Timothy Cape William Timothy Cape William Timothy Cape was an early school master in Sydney, Australia; several of the Premiers of New South Wales attended his school.... |
| 1841–1846 | Thomas Henry Braim, MA |
| 1847–1849 | David Patterson |
| 1850 | Charles Woodward, LLB |
| Years | Sydney Grammar School |
| 1857–1866 | W. J. Stephens, MA |
| 1867–1912 | Albert Bythesea Weigall Albert Bythesea Weigall Albert Bythesea Weigall CMG, was an English-born Australian schoolmaster, headmaster of Sydney Grammar School for 45 years.-Early life:... , CMG, MA |
| 1913–1920 | H. N. P. Sloman, MC, MA |
| 1920–1923 | Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas was an English-born Australian schoolmaster and scientist.-Early life:Lucas born was born in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, the third son of the Rev. Samuel Lucas, a Wesleyan minister, and his wife Elizabeth, née Broadhead... , MA, BSc |
| 1923–1939 | H. S. Dettmann, MA, BCL |
| 1940–1950 | Frederick George [Sandy] Phillips Sandy Phillips Frederick George Phillips was the second Australian-born headmaster of Sydney Grammar School. -Early life:Sandy Phillips was born in Tamworth, New South Wales, the son of a Methodist Minister. He attended Newington College where he became known as 'little Sandy' as his brother was 'big Sandy'.... , MA |
| 1951–1964 | C. O. Healey, OBE, TD, MA |
| 1965–1968 | S. P. T. Houldsworth, MA, DipEd |
| 1969–1989 | A. M. Mackerras, AO, MA |
| 1989–1999 | Dr Ralph D. Townsend, MA, D.Phil Ralph Townsend Dr Ralph Douglas Townsend is Headmaster of Winchester College. He was previously Headmaster of Oundle School and before that Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School.... |
| 1999–present | Dr John. T. Vallance, MA, Ph.D. |
Structure
Sydney Grammar has a total enrolmentEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
of approximately 1,833 boys across Years K to 12. In Term
Academic term
An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...
Three of 2006, the main high School campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
had an enrolment of 1,109 boys in Forms I–VI (Years 7–12). The main high school is divided into the Lower School (First and Second Form) and the Upper School (Third through Sixth Forms). There are also two Preparatory Schools, one at St. Ives in the Northern Suburbs (440 boys) and the other at Edgecliff in the Eastern Suburbs (300 boys). Each year, approximately two-thirds of the incoming Form I at College Street are from the two Preparatory Schools, while the rest are drawn from schools in Sydney, from interstate and overseas.
Curriculum
Sydney Grammar offers a liberalLiberal education
A Liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment...
, pre-vocational type education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and this is reflected in its academic structure and subject choices. The academic departments are:
- ClassicsClassicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
- DesignDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and TechnologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;... - EconomicsEconomicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
- EnglishEnglish studiesEnglish studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
- GeographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
- HistoryHistoryHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
- MathematicsMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
- Modern LanguagesLanguageLanguage may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
(Asian and European) - MusicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
- Physical EducationPhysical educationPhysical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
- ScienceScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
- Visual ArtsVisual artsThe visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
. - Academic Extension
Subjects offered for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) include English Advanced
New South Wales HSC English
English is the only compulsory subject for the award of the Higher School Certificate at the end of secondary schooling in New South Wales, Australia. Marks gained in at least two units of English must also be included in the calculation of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank used to determine...
, English Extension 1, English Extension 2, Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2, Chemistry, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, Earth and Environmental Science
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
, Geography, Modern History
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
, Ancient History
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
, History Extension, Economics, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Latin Extension, Classical Greek, Classical Greek Extension, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Continuers, French Extension, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
Continuers, Italian Extension, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Continuers, German Extension, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
Continuers, Chinese Extension, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
Beginners, Music 1 and 2, Music Extension, Visual Art and PDHPE.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Design and Technology and Special Academic Courses are offered as non-HSC subjects. The Special Academic courses previously included a Form V (Year 11) course in extension chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and a Form VI (Year 12) course in lagrangian dynamics and quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
; they are currently centred around 19th Century Russian literature, with a focus on the works of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, with a smaller study of Chekhov
Chekhov
- People :* Alexander Chekhov, older brother of Anton Chekhov* Anton Chekhov , Russian writer** Chekhov Gymnasium, school, and now museum in Taganrog** Chekhov Library, public library in Taganrog** Anton Chekhov class motorship...
and Nikolai Gogol.
Music
SGS has won the AMEB Music Shield ten times in the past eleven years. Two-thirds of pupils in the School play a musical instrumentMusical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
or are involved with music in some way. SGS boasts scores of musical groups in mostly classical, chamber
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
styles. The School Orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
has received wide acclaim and frequently engages in both national and international tours. Grammar's choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
programme involves hundreds of students, Old Boys, and parents, participating in its many annual concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s. The School's senior a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group is known as The Grammarphones and is composed of the best tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
s, basses and baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
s in the senior years.
Recently, SGS has embarked upon a five year programme entitled "Bach: 2010", in which all the known choral cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
will be performed in a series of concerts between 2005 and 2010. Sydney Grammar is one of the few institutions in the world seeking to engage in such an exercise and is aided by its newly installed Mander Organ
Mander Organs
Mander Organs is an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher based in London. Although well known for many years in the world of organ building, they achieved wider notability in 2004 with their refurbishment of the Royal Albert Hall's Father Willis organ....
in the Big School.
Under the current Head Master, an organic Rock-&-Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
movement has emerged and is currently thriving. The end of 2004 saw the consummation of years of practice in the first Grammarpalooza Rock Concert, which included the musical style of Old Boy band, Dappled Cities Fly
Dappled Cities Fly
Dappled Cities are a five-piece indie rock band from Sydney, Australia.-History:The band, originally called Periwinkle, first came together in the leafy, northern Sydney suburb of Pymble in 1997. Dave Rennick and original drummer Hugh Boyce were soon joined by Alex Moore on bass and Tim Derricourt...
.
Sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
ing events are contested in rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, athletics, rifle shooting
Shooting sports
A shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
, and debating. The School also competes in fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
and chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
competitions.
Grammar participates in the annual Tri-Grammar competitions, a series of cricket and rowing competitions between the Firsts teams of Sydney Grammar School, Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and Brisbane Grammar School
Brisbane Grammar School
Brisbane Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
. Sydney and Melbourne Grammar School also compete for "The Bat" in the same competition. The Sydney-Melbourne match dates back to 1876, and in 1976, to mark the centenary of this rivalry, a "Bat" was struck, with the winner of the annual match taking possession. The bat was donated by John Crawford, the father of the captain of the 1976 premiership winning side Andrew Crawford.
Competition in rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
culminates in the Riverview Gold Cup
Riverview Gold Cup
The Riverview Gold Cup is a Rowing Regatta for high school students, held annually by Saint Ignatius' College at Riverview, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
for Junior Crews and the Head of the River
Head of the River (New South Wales)
The Head of the River rowing regatta refers to two New South Wales school rowing competitions, one for boys and one for girls.-NSW Schoolboy Head of the River Regatta:...
for Senior Crews.
On 2 April 2011, the Sydney Grammar School first eight won the Major Rennie Trophy at the AAGPS Head of the River
Head of the River (New South Wales)
The Head of the River rowing regatta refers to two New South Wales school rowing competitions, one for boys and one for girls.-NSW Schoolboy Head of the River Regatta:...
. The win was significant for Grammar as it heralded the return of the trophy to the School for the first time in more than thirty years.
Extra-curricular
The school has numerous clubs and societies for students. Notable examples include:- Air Force CadetsAustralian Air Force CadetsThe Australian Air Force Cadets , known as the Air Training Corps until 2001, is a Federal Government funded youth organisation. The parent force of the AAFC is the Royal Australian Air Force...
(Established in 1942) - Army Cadet CorpsAustralian Army CadetsThe Australian Army Cadets is a youth organisation that is involved with progressive training of youths in military and adventurous activities. The programme has more than 19,000 Army Cadets between the ages of 12½ and 19 based in 236 units around Australia...
(Founded in 1871 by School Headmaster Albert Bythesea WeigallAlbert Bythesea WeigallAlbert Bythesea Weigall CMG, was an English-born Australian schoolmaster, headmaster of Sydney Grammar School for 45 years.-Early life:...
, the Corps is one of the oldest military units in the nation, even predating the Australian ArmyAustralian ArmyThe Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
.) - Creative WritingCreative writingCreative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
Club, run by notable author John HughesJohn Hughes (writer)John Hughes is a Sydney-based Australian writer and teacher. His first book of autobiographical essays, The Idea Of Home, published by Giramondo in 2004, was widely acclaimed and won both the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for Non-Fiction and the National Biography Award .-The Idea of...
A number of boys also assist in editing the School's yearly almanac, The Sydneian, over 400 editions of which have been produced since 1875.
Notable alumni
Alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
of Sydney Grammar School are commonly referred to as Old Boys or Old Sydneians, and may elect to join the schools alumni association
Alumni association
An alumni association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students. In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools , fraternities, and sororities often form groups with alumni from the same organisation...
, the Old Sydneians' Union (OSU).
In 2001, The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...
ranked Sydney Grammar School tenth in Australia's top ten boys' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia
Who's Who in Australia
The Who's Who in Australia is an Australian biographical reference first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as Johns's Notable Australians. It has been used by academics as a resource that identifies Australia's leading individuals, and has been analysed when studying the social backgrounds –...
(a listing of notable Australians). Notable alumni include Sir Edmund Barton
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
, the first Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
(1901–1903), Sir William McMahon
William McMahon
Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (1971–1972), Bruce Gyngell
Bruce Gyngell
Bruce Gyngell was a hugely influential Australian television executive, prominent for 50 years in both Australian and U.K. television. Although Gyngell began his career in radio, in the 1950s he stepped into the arena of early television broadcasting, helping to set up Channel 9, the first...
, first person to appear on Australian television, Andrew "Boy" Charlton, an Olympic
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
gold medallist swimmer and Banjo Paterson
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
, who now has a library in the school named after him.
Further reading
- Sheldon, J.S 1997. The Big School Room at Sydney Grammar School with an Account of the Decline & Fall of Sydney College. Sydney Grammar School Press, Sydney, NSW. ISBN 0-646-30507-7.
- Turney, C. 1989. Grammar: A History of Sydney Grammar School 1819 - 1988. Allen & Unwin with Sydney Grammar School, Sydney, NSW. ISBN 0-04-910115-3.