Normanhurst Boys' High School


Normanhurst Boys' High School is an academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the suburb of, on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was ranked 12th in Australia by Better Education and 11th in terms of NSW Higher School Certificate results in 2018.
Established in 1958, Normanhurst caters for approximately 730 students from Year 7 to Year 12, who are accepted on an academic basis. Based on entry standards, it is one of the top ten schools in New South Wales. The school celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2018.

History

In 1957, five schools made up the Hornsby School site, located on the Pacific Highway: a boys' primary school and a boys' junior technical school on the eastern side, and an infants school, a girls’ primary school, and a girls’ domestic science school on the western side. On 30 November 1957, the three western schools were destroyed by bushfires. Over the 1957-58 Christmas holidays, the three schools were relocated into the facilities of the boys' technical school, and the three year groups of boys were moved to a newly built but unopened school at Normanhurst.
From its opening in 1958 until 1993, Normanhurst Boys' High School operated as a comprehensive school. In 1993, the Government of New South Wales marked Normanhurst as one of several high schools allowed to select students by academic achievement. The first intake of "selective" students was made up of those starting Year Seven in 1994, with a new intake of Year Sevens each year, until the school became fully selective in 1999. Presently, Normanhurst is one of seventeen fully selective schools in New South Wales.

Academics

Like other academically selective schools, Normanhurst is known for its academic achievement in the Higher School Certificate. The following table shows Normanhurst's rankings relative to other schools in the state. The rankings are based on the percentage of exams sat that resulted in a placing on the Distinguished Achievers List as shown by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards.
YearRank in state
201911
201816
201713
201611

In 2010, the school was ranked 14th in the state.

Demographics

The school's students are one of the most socio-economically advantaged in NSW, in terms of the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage score, with 82% of boys at the school from families in the top quarter of society. As a result, the school has been mentioned as part of an ongoing debate about whether Australian selective schools accept enough students from less well-off families, and if selective schools create social inequality.

Structure

Normanhurst Boys is not far from its "sister" school, Hornsby Girls' High School, with which joint curriculum and extra-curricular activities are held.

Entry

Normanhurst Boys High School is an academically selective high school and accepts a relatively small intake of 120 students in Year Seven. It is one of the top ten schools in New South Wales, based on entry standards. Offers of admission and matriculation into the school in Year 7 are made on the basis of academic merit, as assessed by the Selective High School Placement Test, sat in Year 6.
A small number of students may be accepted into Years Eight through to Eleven, through direct application to the school and a subsequent internal selection process, consisting of a consideration of character and academic ability.

Houses

The school has four houses, the names of which are based on figures in the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Pupils compete under their respective house in sport and academics. The houses are:
Bukkandi HouseRed
Dinewan HouseBlue
Warrigal HouseYellow
Wayamba HouseGreen

Facilities

The school has an area of 6.3 hectares, and is within five minutes walk of Normanhurst railway station. Facilities include a sporting field, four tennis courts and several basketball courts. The campus includes the hall, library, music and drama centre as well as a careers office. There are two gates of entry, one reserved for senior boys and one for junior boys. Each student has a laptop with wireless internet access.
The drama centre was finished in 2017, as part of an extension to the school's main building.

Sport

Normanhurst Boys High School is a member of the North West Metropolitan Sports Association. The sporting year is divided into two seasons, summer and winter, and boys are able to select sports they wish to play throughout the semester. All boys must play sports until Year 11, and are encouraged to play grade sport, representing the school in inter-school competitions. Sports offered include:
The school also holds annual swimming and athletics carnivals, as well as an annual cross-country event.

Co-curricular activities

The school offers numerous clubs and societies to students. These include:
Normanhurst Boys participates in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, as well as running its own secondary school army cadet unit, 226 Army Cadet Unit. In conjunction with Hornsby Girls High School, an annual play is put on, for which boys can audition and participate in. An annual art exhibition is also run by the school.
Normanhurst Boys runs school camps for grades 7-11, notably a camp for Year Seven students to Jenolan Caves and the Central West of New South Wales. The week-long excursion has been running in various forms since 1959. On the camp, boys are accompanied by mentors from senior years. The school also offers overseas cultural trips to London, Paris, Rome and New York.

Motto

The school's motto, Know Thyself, is a Delphic maxim which is attributed to Ancient Greece. The phrase has been expounded by Aeschylus, Socrates and Plato, among others. It is given as nosce te ipsum or temet nosce in Latin.

Principals

The following individuals have served as Principals of the school:
OrdinalPrincipalTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
1T. A. Pearson19581967 years
2R. E. Murphy19681971 years
3?. Newton19721974 years
4T. Cook19751977 years
5A. McLeon19781981 years
6R. Fenton19811988 years
7J. Abbery19881992 years
8N. G. Warren19922008 years
9J. Bruce20082014 years
10M. Anderson20142020 years

Notable alumni

of Normanhurst Boys' High School are commonly referred to as Old Boys. Some notable Normanhurst Old Boys include:

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