Sydney Technical High School


Sydney Technical High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technical College, the school was one of the six original New South Wales selective schools and caters for boys from Year 7 to Year 12. The school is colloquially abbreviated to Sydney Tech, STHS or simply Tech.
Admission to Year 7 is based on an external selective test held in Year 6 during March. Entrance to Years 8, 9 and 10 is based on the submission of an application form and an interview. Admission to Year 11 is based on the submission of an application form, placement tests in mathematics and English, and an interview.

Academic achievement

The school consistently achieves superior results in external assessments, such as the NAPLAN, the ICAS, the School Certificate, and in particular, the Year 12 Higher School Certificate, where its students are regularly ranked in the top ten places in the state across a variety of subjects. On average, over 80% of its students achieve in the top 20% of the state, with a majority gaining an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of more than 90.
In 2010 fifteen students from the school's graduating class received Premier's Awards for All-round Excellence in the NSW HSC. The school won the national championship in the University of Newcastle Science and Engineering Challenge in 2010 and 2011.

History

One of the reforms advocated by the 1903 Royal Commission into NSW Education was the establishment of classes providing courses which would involve technical subjects. Consequently, Continuation classes for students interested in technical subjects commenced at the Sydney Technical College.
In April 1911, these Continuation classes were given the status of a high school, and Sydney Technical High was established. Originally, the school was co-educational with 113 boys and 15 girls. In February 1913, the girls were transferred to Fort Street Girls' High; and, from then on, the school became for boys only.
Since 1911, the school has been located at three Sydney sites:
The current grounds at Bexley include the following physical facilities:

Extra-curricular activities

Extracurricular activities offered to Sydney Technical High School students include:
The SRC also organise various activities throughout the year, including:
Tech is one of the 19 schools of the St. George Secondary Schools Sport Association, participating in inter-school competitions for sports including:
Students also have the choice of participating in the following non-grade sports:

Annual activities

The school's annual activities include:
Fundraising activities include:
As of 2008, the Prefect Body has been merged with the year 11 and 12 SRC members. The current system encompasses School Captain, Vice Captain, four Senior Prefects, an additional six Prefects from year twelve and another ten Prefects from year eleven. Senior Prefect roles and Captain roles are only available to holders of the school's Wykeham Award. The Vice-Captain chairs whole school assemblies. The Prefects of years 11 and 12 are responsible for canteen duties.
The SRC votes internally to determine the positions of the SRC president, the SRC vice-president and the SRC treasurer. The stated role of the SRC is to organize and raise funds for equipment and facilities for the school.

House system

There has been a reintroduced house system, consisting of 6 houses. These correlate with the six Roll Call classes and are named, Williams, Turner, McMullen, MacKinnon, Broome and Gotto. The House Captains are elected from Years 10 and 12. The roll call classes are arranged according to the students' surnames. Students compete together in their houses at the Athletics carnivals, Cross country carnivals, and Swimming carnivals. The winning house is the one with the most points gathered from participating and placing in the top 3 in various carnival events, and receives a sausage sizzle at the end of the year.

Notable achievements

Australian Nuclear Science Competition

Sydney Technical High School won a competition that tested skills in a science and engineering challenge. Students competed in the regional competition at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation recently.
The event encouraged teenagers to get involved in maths and science and promote careers in the fields. Part of the challenge involved constructing a bionic hand. More than 250 year 9 and year 10 students from seven Sydney schools participated.

Canberra Maths Day

173 year 12 students from 31 schools attended the 2014 Maths Day national finals. In teams of four the students took part in mathematical challenges designed to build teamwork skills and promote a love of maths. The day was divided into four challenges: a group of story problems, a Swiss 'find the rule' problem, a cross number puzzle and the day's highlight, the relay – a test of brainpower and physical stamina. 2nd prize was awarded to Sydney Technical High School and the competition is run annually by the Australian National University.

Metropolitan Secondary Schools Chess Competition

In 2014, the senior division of the Metropolitan Secondary Schools Competition was won by Sydney Technical High School.

Associated schools

is considered to be the female counterpart or 'sister school' of Sydney Technical High School, and often engages in Student Representative Council activities, as well as Combined Parents & Citizens meetings.
The school has a relationship with Nanzan High School in Japan, with a two-week exchange program in place.

Notable alumni

Alumni are referred to as Old Boys. Alumni are part of the “STHS Old Boys Union”.
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