Sydney Church of England Grammar School

Infobox Aust school private
name = Sydney Church of England Grammar School


motto = "Vitai Lampada Tradunt"
(Lucretius:"They Hand on the Torch of Life")cite web|url = http://www.shore.nsw.edu.au/html/overview.html|title =General Information|accessdate = 2007-10-19|work = The School|publisher = Sydney Church of England Grammar School]
established = 1889cite web|url = http://www.schoolchoice.com.au/find_a_school?cid=12343&pid=2701675|title =Shore School|accessdate = 2007-10-19|year = 2007|work = New South Wales|publisher = School Choice]
type = Independent, Single-sex, Day & Boarding
denomination = Anglican
slogan =
key_people = Dr T. A. Wright (Headmaster)
Rev. Alfred Barry (Founder)
Most Rev. Peter F Jensen (President "ex officio")
Mr. R C Corbett AM (Chairman)
Rev. P. Dudley (Chaplain)
fees = AU$12,800 - AU$19,800 p.a (Day)
AU$33,200 - AU$37,980 p.a (Boarding)cite web|url = http://www.shore.nsw.edu.au/Fee%20Schedule%202008.pdf|title =Shore School Fee Schedule 2008|accessdate = 2008-01-28|year = 2008|format = PDF|work = Enrolments|publisher = Sydney Church of England Grammar School]
city = North Sydney & Northbridge
state = New South Wales
country = Australia flagicon|Australia
coordinates = coord|33|50|22|S|151|12|19|E|display=inline,title
enrolment = ~1,600 (K–12)
num_employ =
revenue =
colours = Navy Blue & White color box|#000080color box|#FFFFFF
homepage = [http://www.shore.nsw.edu.au/ www.shore.nsw.edu.au]

Sydney Church of England Grammar School (also known as the Shore School and SCEGS) is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1889 by the Church of England, Shore has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1600 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, including 200 boarders from years 6 to 12. The school is co-educational from Early Learning Centre to Year 2, and these students are housed on separate campus in suburban Northbridge.

The School is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),cite web |url=http://www.ahisa.com.au/Display.aspx?tabid=2230 |title=AHISA Schools: New South Wales |accessdate=2007-10-19 |year =2007 |month =April |work=Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),cite web |url=http://www.jshaa.asn.au/nsw/directory/index.asp |title=JSHAA New South Wales Directory of Members |accessdate=2007-10-19 |year =2007 |work=Junior School Heads' Association of Australia] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),cite web |url=http://www.boarding.org.au/site/school_detail.cfm?schID=25|title=Shore School (Sydney Church of England Grammar) |accessdate=2007-10-19|year =2005|work=New South Wales Schools|publisher=Australian Boarding Schools' Association] the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference,cite web |url=http://www.hmc.org.uk/schools/international.htm |title=International Members |accessdate=2008-03-11 |work= HMC Schools |publisher= The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference] and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS).cite web|url = http://portals.studentnet.edu.au/sports/base.aspx??tabindex=10&tabid=162|title =AAGPS History|accessdate = 2007-10-19|year = 2007|work = Info|publisher = Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales]

In 2001, "The Sun-Herald" ranked the Sydney Church of England Grammar School seventh 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).cite news| first = Frank| last = Walker| title = The ties that bind| url = http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=%22presbyterian+ladies+college%22&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=author&sf=headline&sf=text&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD01072295GNI6E8E6E| work = Sunday Life| publisher = The Sun-Herald| page = 16| date = 2001-07-22| accessdate = 2007-09-12] Ref_label|a|a|none

Foundation

The Sydney Church of England Grammar School was founded on 4 May, 1889, and was the initiative of Bishop Dr. Alfred Barry of the Sydney Diocese of the Church of England. The site of the School's first building stands on that of the Victorian mansion of the legendary gold prospector BH Holtermann. Holtermann was a German migrant who discovered the famous Holtermann Nugget in the Australian gold fields. He used his new found wealth to build a magnificent home in North Sydney which is now a boarding house of Shore. His sons were amongst the first students enrolled at Shore.

The School officially has two names, the "Sydney Church of England Grammar School" and the shore school has long been known by the latter, however it was not until the early nineties when the name "The Shore School" was officially adopted. The name came about at sporting matches where supporters could not chant 'Grammar', as this was already done by the students of Sydney Grammar School. Another reason for the name change was that Sydney Church of England Grammar School was shortened to S.C.E.G.S, which sounded similar to S.C.E.G.G.S (Sydney Church Of England Girls' Grammar School), the sister school of Shore. The name comes from the school being located in Sydney's North Shore region.

Charter

The St James' School Compensation Trust Act (1886) provided for the foundation of: cquote|A school of the highest type, including departments of education for all classes of the community, in which the teaching shall be throughout in accordance with the principles of the Church of England, and which shall be placed under the direction of a governing body of clergy and laity to be elected by the Synod, the Bishop of the Diocese being the ex-officio President.

Headmasters

The present Headmaster of Shore School is Dr Tim Wright. He was previously Headmaster of the All Saints College in Bathurst and holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry.

The School is also governed by a council jointly appointed by the Old Boys' Union and the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. The Deputy Headmaster is Graham Robertson.

Former Headmasters

Campuses

The Sydney Church of England Grammar School is situated on two campuses:
* North Sydney (5.5 ha)
* Northbridge (9 ha) - ELC to Year 2 and sports grounds

North Sydney

In the Senior School, in addition to the administrative centres and classroom blocks there are:
*Four Boarding Houses
# Barry House
# Hodges House
# Robson House
# School House
* War Memorial Chapel (1915)
* The War Memorial Hall
*Ken and Joan Smith Auditorium (1994)
* BH Travers Centre, including the Library and Basketball Courts (2000)
* The Benefactors Building, including the Bob Gowing Museum incorporating the School Archives
* The Centenary Building, including the Art Department
* Sporting facilities, including one oval, cricket nets, tennis courts, a 25 m outdoor swimming pool, a diving pool, basketball courts, squash courts and weights rooms.

Shore has thirteen day houses named Anderson, Burns, Burrell, Colebrook, Dixon, Eldershaw, Emery, Gillespie, Mathers, Pascoe, Sawkins, Tiley and Whight

The Preparatory School, originally constructed in 1926, was completed renovated in March 2006.

Northbridge

Opened in 2003, the Early Learning Centre is a Kindergarten to Year 2 learning facility for boys and girls. With Long Day Care facilities, the ELC is open 48 weeks per year.

The School's main sports facility is also at Northbridge, on land purchased in 1916. The School was given a choice of either purchasing the neighbouring "Graythwaite" property (the former home of Thomas Allwright Dibbs), or the land at Northbridge. The School chose the land at Northbridge as playing fields, since the school was desperately in need of more fields. This campus now features six full-sized ovals, tennis courts, pavilions and dressing rooms. The grounds were opened in 1919 as a memorial to the 880 Old Boys who served, and the 122 who died in the Great War.

Northbridge is currently under redevelopment as the previous grandstands had become severely dilapidated. When complete, the redevelopment will include new grandstands and changeroom facilities.

The Gym and 25 m Swimming Pool are also in need of an upgrade. The proposed plans include an updated gym, Squash courts, Basketball court and an indoor/outdoor 50 m pool.

Co-Curriculum

port

Shore students may participate in a variety of sports, mainly within the GPS competition. Sports include rugby union, soccer, cricket, tennis, taekwondo, basketball, rowing, cross country running, athletics, shooting, surf lifesaving and snowsports. Furthermore, the school is currently trialing new sports such as AFL and hockey.

Until the arrival of Headmaster R.A.I. Grant (1984-2002), the choice of sports available to students was very limited. For example, during the winter months, there was only Rugby Union unless a medical exemption was available. That changed after 1984, with sports such as tennis and soccer were made available to all students.

Performing Arts

Shore has a comprehensive performing arts program, including Music Ensembles and Drama productions. Music ensembles include 2 concert bands, 2 stage bands, an orchestra, 3 string groups and the Shore Chapel Choir, as well as a number of other smaller ensembles. Previous musical productions have included Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2008), Guys and Dolls (2007), Crazy for You (2006), Grease (2005) and Les Miserables (2004).

Publications

The school has a weekly publication, "The Shore Weekly Record", which, along with informing boys and parents of upcoming happenings and sporting fixtures and results, gives a certain group of boys the opportunity to express their writing and artistic talents in their own section, usually the inner part of the publication. Over the years this variously-named "inside section" has fostered the satirical talents of the Chris Taylor from "The Chaser", and provided a unique perspective on the school and the wider world.

Other publications are the "Shore Reports" (quarterly) and the "Torch Bearer" (yearly).

Notable alumni

Alumnus of the Sydney Church of England Grammar School are commonly referred to as 'Old Boys', and may elect to join the schools alumni association, the Shore Old Boys Union (OBU).cite web|url = http://www.shoreoldboys.org.au/|title =Welcome to the Shore Old Boys Union|accessdate = 2007-10-19|year = 2007|work = Home|publisher = Shore Old Boys Union] For a list of notable Shore Old Boys, see "List of Shore old boys".

Notes

* Who's Who of boys' school rankings: 1.Scotch College, Melbourne, 2.Melbourne Grammar School, 3.Melbourne High School, 4.Geelong Grammar School, 5.Sydney Boys High School, 6.Wesley College, 7.Shore, 8.Fort Street Boys' High, 9.North Sydney Boys High School, 10.Sydney Grammar School

References

See also

* List of non-government schools in New South Wales
*List of boarding schools
*Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

External links

* [http://www.shore.nsw.edu.au/shore.html Sydney Church of England Grammar School website]
* [http://www.shoreoldboys.org.au/ Shore Old Boys Union website]