Sydney Grammar School

</div> Sydney Grammar School is a non-denominational, independent private school for boys located in Sydney, Australia. One of the oldest and most famous schools in Australia, it claims to offer the "classic" or "grammar" type of education thought of as a liberal, humane, pre-vocational education (according to its prospectus). The school has a particular emphasis on academics and the arts, with many different extra-curricular groups existing including a sterling Chess Club, a Classical Culture Society, a Philosophy Club, a Maths Club, a school newspaper known as the "Tiger", an Asian Education Club, the oldest Air Force Cadets organisation in Australia, an Army Cadet Corps, and a Ceramics Club. Established by an Act of Parliament in 1854, and opened in 1857, it has produced many of New South Wales's leading citizens in Law, Medicine, Business, Politics and Art. The school is situated on College Street, Sydney, on the former site of the Sydney University. Former students of the school - known as "Old Sydneians" - include Prime Ministers Edmund Barton and William McMahon, High Court Judges including Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason, author Banjo Paterson, Academy Award-winning cameraman Andrew Lesnie (Lord of the Rings 2002), Film editor Richard Francis-Bruce (Harry Potter 2001), Julian McMahon, an actor and son of Prime Minister McMahon and former barrister and merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull, who has recently been elected as the Federal Parliament Member for the seat of Wentworth. As well as being the only selective private school in Australia, Sydney Grammar is the most selective-entry school in Australia, as measured by the scholarship entry examination results produced by the Australian Council of Educational Research. At over $18000 per annum, the school fees are amongst the highest of any secondary school in Australia. Located near the heart of the Sydney Central Business District, SGS is excellently situated with regard to all City amenities. The grounds are not large, but substantial, while the school extends upwards seven floors. Sydney Grammar is situated on the southern side of Sydney's Hyde Park, next to the well-known Australian Museum. The grounds extend from College St, all the way down to Yurong St, . The school illustrates many different architectural eras; from the grandeur of the colonial era "Big School", dating from the early 19th Century, the Blacket Buildings, which are annexed onto either side of "Big School", the Palladium Building, exhibiting a rather unsightly example of 'International Style' architecture, to the Science Building, featuring the A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson Library, and Stanley Street Buildings, including one cottage, still used as a classroom, dating from 1867.

Sport

Sydney Grammar School is one of eight Sydney schools known collectively as the GPS Schools. GPS, or "Great Public Schools" sporting events are contested keenly, as are other disciplines, such as debating. Competition in rowing culminates in the Riverview Gold Cup (for Junior Crews) and the Head of the River for Senior Crews. Grammar participates in the Tri-Grammar Cup (Cricket) in which Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne Grammar Schools each send a cricket team to compete for the title, known as the "shield". Sydney Grammar School and Melbourne Grammar School compete for a "bat" in the same competition. The Sydney-Melbourne match dates back to 1876.

In 2001, a new rowing competition - the Tri-Grammar Series - was begun. A rowing regatta between Sydney Grammar School, Melbourne Grammar and Brisbane Grammar held in each city in rotation. To ensure a friendly atmosphere and spirit, each member of the host crew offers accommodation to their counterpart from a rival crew.

The school's main sport field is Weigall, named after former Headmaster A.B. Weigall, which is located in Edgecliff, in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. It contains two rugby fields, one soccer field, six tennis courts and four cricket nets. It is routinely used for Saturday sports matches, Physical Education and as a recreational area for Grammar's Edgecliff Preparatory School.

In May 2005, the Headmaster announced that Sydney Grammar would lead a consortium to purchase 30 Alma St Paddington, known as White City, from Tennis New South Wales. Apart from the school, other consortium members include John Alexander Clubs, White City Tennis Club and Sydney Maccabi Tennis Club, and SGS will sell portions of the property to them in due course, retaining the parts congituous to Weigall.

Other sports, notably Rugby, Soccer and Fencing are played.

Structure

Sydney Grammar has a total enrolment of 1840 boys across Years K-12. The main High School campus is located on College Street, Darlinghurst and has an enrolment of 1100 boys in Years 7-12. Sydney Grammar also has two primary-level Preparatory Schools: Edgecliff Preparatory in the Eastern Suburbs, which has 300 boys, and St. Ives Preparatory in the Northern Suburbs, which has 440. Each year, approximately two-thirds of the incoming Form I, or rather Year 7, at College St are from the two Preparatory Schools, and the rest are from various other schools around Sydney. Edgecliff Preparatory neighbours Weigall, the school's main playing field.

Evaluation

Relative to all the other traditional GPS schools, Grammar has a stronger emphasis on academic performance, and has usually been amongst the top ten performing schools in the Higher School Certificate. Supporters of the school would suggest that it provides a truly intellectual grounding. Detractors would argue that the school provides a "spoon-fed" education without true independence of thought, and that its high examination results are merely a reflection of the extraordinary quality of the intake. This view becomes more and more incorrect with time under the current headmaster, Dr J. T. Vallance. The school not only has a strong academic emphasis, but seems to prosper in all areas. 'Spoon-feeding' is now much more of an accusation held of other Sydney schools such as James Ruse Agricultural High School and Sydney Boys High School.

External links

• Sydney Grammar School website (http://www.sydgram.nsw.edu.au)
• The Old Sydneians' Union (http://www.osu.com.au)

Categories: Schools established in the 1800s | Sydney high schools