North Sydney Girls High School
North Sydney Girls' High School (abbreviated as NSGHS, more commonly known as NSG) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for girls, located in Crows Nest, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| North Sydney Girls' High School | |
|---|---|
A building at the school | |
| Location | |
Australia | |
| Coordinates | 33°49′49″S 151°12′12″E / 33.83028°S 151.20333°ECoordinates: 33°49′49″S 151°12′12″E / 33.83028°S 151.20333°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school |
| Motto | Latin: Ad Altiora (Towards Higher Things) |
| Established | 1914 |
| Oversight | New South Wales Department of Education |
| Principal | Megan Connors |
| Years | 7-12 |
| Gender | Girls |
| Enrolment | c. 923[1] (2008) |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colour(s) | Navy blue, green and white |
| Website | northsydgi-h |
Established in 1914,[2] the school caters for approximately 910 students from Year 7 to Year 12. Admission to the school is based entirely on academic results through the Selective High Schools Test undertaken by students in Year 6.
In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked North Sydney Girls High School first in Australia's top ten girls' schools, based on the number of its alumnae mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia.[3]
History
North Sydney Girls' High School was officially founded in 1914 with an enrolment of 194 students. The school was originally located on the corner of Hazelbank Road and the Pacific Highway (where Cammeraygal High School is now situated). By the 1980s, it was felt that the site could no longer meet the needs of the school, and years of intense lobbying for improved facilities followed. When the New South Wales Government decided to close Crows Nest Boys High School, the facility was transferred to North Sydney Girls. In December 1993, North Sydney Girls High officially moved to its current location, following a $6 million building and renovations project.[4]
Academics
Enrolments
North Sydney Girls is an academically selective high school; admission to the school for Year 7 is determined by results in the Selective High Schools test, which is open to all Year 6 students in NSW. A small number of students from other high schools are accepted into years 8 to 12, with applications made to the school to sit for an entrance exam.
Award system
At North Sydney Girls High School, awards are given based on academic performance in the senior school only.
Academic results
The school performs well in public examinations, and in recent years has been placed as the leading girls' school in New South Wales in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations. Annually, at least 30% of Year 12 students achieve places in the top 1% of the HSC.[5]
Curriculum
North Sydney Girls High School is registered and accredited with the New South Wales Board of Studies, and therefore follows the mandated curriculum for all years.
Co- and extracurricular activities
NSGHS offers a diverse range of extracurricular activities.
Music and drama
NSGHS has a theatresports troupe, junior drama ensemble, Year 10 drama night, and various clubs available to seniors. They also have a combined annual musical with North Sydney Boys High School.
Instrumental ensembles and bands include the advanced string ensemble, stage (jazz) band, jazz ensemble, concert band, symphony orchestra, wind orchestra, wind ensemble, and beginner band. Choirs and vocal ensembles include Year 7 choir, junior choir, intermediate choir, combined (NSGHS & NSBHS) choir, senior vocal, and the a capella group.
Sport and outdoor activity
Co-curricular sports include basketball, skiing, hockey, cricket, badminton, table tennis, taekwondo, rowing, kayaking, touch football, water polo, fencing, netball, tennis, and volleyball. NSGHS also has a chess club, dance ensembles, and a cadet program at Marist Catholic College North Shore, and has had students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
Notable alumnae
Academic
- Dame Valerie Beral – breast cancer epidemiologist
- Anna Katherine Donald – Rhodes Scholar (1989)[6]
- Dame Janet Ritterman – former director of the Royal College of Music in London, from 1993 to 2005.
Entertainment, media and the arts
- Benita Collings – Play School presenter[citation needed]
- Ruth Cracknell – actress
- Ceridwen Dovey – author
- Jill Hellyer – author and poet
- Nathalie Kelley – actress
- Nicole Kidman – actress[7]
- Samantha Lang – film and theatre director[8]
- Catherine Martin – production designer
- Lucy Maunder – cabaret and theatre performer
- Janet Patterson – costume designer and production designer
- Cassandra Pybus – historian and author
- Margaret Throsby – ABC Classic FM presenter[citation needed]
- Naomi Watts – actress
- Wengie – YouTube personality, singer, voice actress
Politics, public service and the law
- Nicola Wakefield Evans – lawyer and company director; partner of King & Wood Mallesons (1993-2013), non-executive director of Toll Holdings, Lend Lease Corporation, Macquarie Group and BUPA Australia & New Zealand; member of the University of NSW council of the Law School and director Asialink, University of Melbourne
- Verity Firth – Chief Executive Officer of the Public Education Foundation in Australia, a former NSW Minister for Education and Training, the former member for NSW Legislative Assembly seat of Balmain
- Shelley Hancock – teacher and parliamentarian; elected as a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for South Coast (Liberal Party)[9]
- Justice Lucy McCallum – Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW[10]
- Nancy Grace Augusta Wake – resistance fighter known to the Germans as "the White Mouse"; the most decorated woman of World War Two[11]
Sport
- Elise Simone Ashton (née Norwood) – Olympic water polo player[12]
- Renée Kirby – World Championship-winning rower[13]
Principals
The school principals have been:[14]
| Years | Principal |
|---|---|
| 1914–1923 | Janette Grossman |
| 1924–1937 | Ida Slack |
| 1938–1941 | Lilian Geer |
| 1942–1949 | Vera Howard |
| 1950–1955 | Elizabeth Booth |
| 1956–1958 | Edith Kane |
| 1959–1962 | Jessie Simons |
| 1963–1968 | Dorothy Dey |
| 1969–1976 | Joan Morris |
| 1976–1982 | Shirley Hokin |
| 1982–1986 | Joan Whittaker |
| 1987–1990 | Betty Anderson |
| 1990–1996 | Isobel Seivl |
| 1997–2005 | Louise Robert-Smith |
| 2006–2012 | Meredith Ash |
| 2012–2018 | David Tomlin |
| 2019–present | Megan Connors |
See also
References
- ^ "North Sydney Girls High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
- ^ As the school historian pointed out in History of NSGHS, the correct year of commencement was in fact 1912 when classes were temporarily formed at North Sydney Superior Public School in Miller Street
- ^ Walker, Frank (22 July 2001). "The ties that bind". Sunday Life. The Sun-Herald. p. 16. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "History of NSGHS". North Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
- ^ "Academic Excellence". North Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ "NSW Rhodes Scholars" 24 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine—University of Sydney list, (retrieved 16 April 2007)
- ^ "Nicole Kidman". Hollywood Pulse. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ (PDF). Cherub Pictures. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
- ^ Alafaci, Annette (2006). "Hancock, Shelley (1951 - )". Australian Women Biographical Entry. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ "Swearing-in ceremony of the Honourable Justice Lucy McCallum" (PDF). Supreme Court of NSW. 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ "Wake, Nancy Grace Augusta (1912-)". Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Australia. National Centre for Australian Studies. 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Elise Norwood
- ^ . Australian U23 Women's Quad. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ This table was copied from a display plaque in the school office.
External links
- North Sydney Girls High School